Long Beach ate me

I came to visit my friend in Long Beach for her daughters birthday parties. I came a few days early to help with preparations...and decided I would take over as nanny for 2 days. They also have a 3 year old they watch in addition to their 3..and my 2. Oh boy. I forgot how it was to have a baby....well the baby with 5 other kids at the same time part. Here was my day...seriously:

-wake up far too early to have 6 kids in your house

-go to grab a cup of coffee...only to realize the creamer is gone...grrrr.

-1 year old wakes up, change her stinky diaper

-give the one year old a bottle

-feed the one year old breakfast

-wipe the 3 year olds boogers

-get the 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 year old cereal

-change the one year olds diaper again

-take the trash out

-change the 3 year olds pull up (your potty training??...oh.:)

-wipe the 3 year old boogers...again

-pick up toys

-clean up breakfast

-sweep

-start laundry

-someone comes to get some tables

-read the kids a book

-have a baby race

-color

-wipe the table

-wipe boogers

-change poop

-change pee

-plumber comes 

-bottle

-snack for all 6

-sweep again

-wipe the table again

-take the trash out again

-play doh

-read

-go over homework with the 7 year old

-bottle

-put baby down for nap

-change poop

-change pee

-wipe more boogers

-go outside to play

-put a band aide on an owie

-wipe boogers..(seriously kid?!?!)

-the extermintaor comes

-I change a diaper

(By this time its only 10am)

Thats all I have time for.

I need to rest:)

Project "Princess Pony" party underway. 2 days and counting.

And yay for Friday. Trish is taking me to IKEA tonight...

Im an IKEA virgin.

Consider this cherry popped.

Too much?!?!

i'm still here!!!!

no internet = no blogging = sad day

im at the inlaws for a moment, so thought i would say 'hello' to the blog world real quick. to all 18 of you followers...i have missed you.

just a quick update in the lytton life:

-we had an awesome time in colorado (will post sooon)
-had two more bday parties(brando and emmy)
-macie lost her first tooth
-we did our taxes, which means we are getting enough back to move home!!
-our move is scheduled for april 6(happy bday mom!)

(quick insert for all of you im driving crazy. hehe:i have decided i already suck in the punctuation/grammar dept., so why not let the capitals go too....saves time:)

i cant wait to decorate the house in idaho(again!). im pinning new decor ideas like crazy(i know you already know this...because i have more pinterest followers than i could ever dream of having on my blog:) which is crazy if you think of it. people like following what 'i  like', but not so much what i actually make and think up myself. silly, right?? so ill say it again...follow follow people...i promise more furniture to come soon!! I am so excited that we will be renting my dads place again and we are right by the furniture makeover meka (how DO you spell that?!?!) of the world!!

i am already planning all the makeovers my dad is going to help me with (he doesnt know yet, but he will love it:)

here are my mudroom ideas for papas place. we could so pull these off:

  as for the kitchen, we have a lot of red from our wedding gifts, so i want to incorporate some blue in there....like this:

and this....

all of the above via my pinterest..you can go to them from there)

i have also been doing a lot teal, and a lot of white furniture, so this is my idea for the living room and maybe master also....white furniture, with pops of yellows, aqua and ( and a little orange ):

via(my fave new site for beautiful design, DIY and directions!!)

via( love this blog too!)

via

so now that i almost finished decorating here, its time to move...dun dun dun.....but the upside: at my dads house, yes its a rental, but its my dads:) so i can paint, and hopefully do some building of furniture and maybe just maybe.....cabinet painting. shhhhh, dont tell my daddy yet:)

so theres my plans. this is what i lay in bed at night thinking about....im a little strange i know. i cant help it. i have to pack and pack and pack, and i need something to look forward to at the end of it all...something to make the packing and unpacking a little less painful. just talking about it is making my heart race.....yikes. here we go again.....

(good thing we saved our boxes!!!)

The flu on your bday???? Not cool!

Macies par-tay was a hit! We had to put it on hold for a day because she got the flu! On her bday! Now that's just not fair right? I didn't think so either. So on her real bday we had a family dinner. The house was already decorated for the canceled party so we just partied it up on our own. Macie picked out daddys outfit. She made him wear a dress shirt(we call his 'sherbert shirt', he has had since we met. Its light orange and baby blue) and a tie. Didn't they all look so lovely?

I cant show all my pictures that I was so excited about yet. I had put in a new SD card that night and for some reason they wont load onto my computer. Ay yay yay. But here are a few from my phone:
More to come later.

I used these cute alphabet cookies as 'place cards' for everyone

She had so much fun on her day-late-birthday! Yay for Mac! Now its 2 days til Brandons and 9 til Emmas. Oh February. I'm thinking I overshot for the first one and now I may disappoint the other two:)

Tonight we head to Colorado to visit our AMAZING family/friend for the weekend. Her birthday was this week too, so we are going to have a quadruple bday celebration. This is our first family vacation if you can believe it. We have never all been on a plane together, so here we go!!!!!!

Here we come Chuchie!!!!!!!

DIY Heat packs for the babes

Who doesn’t love to be comforted when not feeling well? My girls have always been big on ice packs when they are not feeling well. Any owie needs an icepack in this house. 

Bump your tooth? You're going to need an icepack.

 Bonked your head? Your going to need an icepack.

 Didn't get that toy you wanted? You're going to need an icepack.:) 

 So I thought it would be fun to have a warm pack too.  For belly aches, head aches or any other aches. I made these rice packs for the girls last week and now they want some HUGE ones to warm their whole bodies. 

Just stick them in the microwave for 60 seconds and you feel better.

Taking this picture made me realize I need to clean my microwave:)

Now, go, get your ice or heat pack and feel batter!

Old Chair repaint (17)

I have this thing with chairs. I think they are so interesting, especially the old ones. And the more mismatched the better. I always think of where they have been, who has sat in them and what they were used for. I don't think you can ever have enough either. I have one right now that I got at a flea market that my hubby uses at his desk and for playing his guitar and I steal to use at my sewing machine. (Which means I better be on the lookout for another extra chair:)  Our other extra one we use as extra seating at the kitchen table.  I decided he needed a little redo.I got this chair at goodwill last year and have been trying and trying to decide what to do to it. It has so much character already and you can tell it has been used and through a lot. It was dinged and dented with paint splattered on it, but so cool looking. The hubby wanted to take it on as his own project and stain it….but has yet to get to it, so I decided it was time to get er done.

BEFORE (I forgot to take a pic until I had started priming it)

 I painted it my favorite blue. I decided it had been through too much in its lifetime to be painted so perfectly, so I got out my sander and went to town. I love how she looks so worn, but in a beautiful kind of way. 

AFTER

I didn't realize how long it can take to paint a little old chair. All the sides of the rungs underneath...almost threw my back out:) But now that shes done I'm ready for another to keep her company.  I'm on the lookout.

A pinterest Valentines Day

I just thought Id give a little pinterest love on this Valentines day...(and also my hubbys bday..Happy Birthday Bubba! 29! )

( all via)

And I will be wearing one of these two dresses tonight!!

lace nude one

OR

Vintage red one

Ok, not really. But a girls gotta dream:)

Hope you all have a great Heart day filled with pink, red, hearts and LOVE!!

From trash to Apothecaries

I have been seeing beautiful apothecaries around blogland lately and fell in love with them. They have a pretty high price tag, so I thought Id fashion my own out of some vases and candle sticks. I have seen a few people doing these and also finding a piece to be the lid as well. I haven't gotten that far, but am on the lookout. I found these 4 pieces at goodwill for $1 each piece. I was going to spray paint the bases to match (I want to try out the mirror glass spray paint), but for now am loving how the look just as is.

Im excited to switch out their contents whenever I get bored with them….and also to use them for candy for Macies bday party this week!

Nightstand makeover (16)

Part Three in a four project series….

Part 1, a gate turned headboard HERE and 2, a yellow armoir redo HERE.

 Trishs father in law gave her this nightstand awhile back and she wanted to use it for her new room and paint it white. After painting it white we distressed it with some Martha Stewart coffee stain. Isnt she adorable. Trish and her hubby now plan on doing their kitchen cupboards with this same look. Distressed and yet clean feeling at the same time. 

BEFORE

After

We have one more project we did with a pallet she had laying around. I think this is my favorite. But we didn’t have tome to get some holes drilled in it. So…..this one to come soon. Trust me, you’re going to want one.

Yellow Armoir (15)

This is the second peice of furniture we did at my friend Trishs recently. And marks the halfway point of my 30 before 30!!!!
 This large, heavy, old armoire was left in her room by the previous tenants.

 It had so much character Trish just knew she wanted to keep it. We decided to paint it yellow and distress it. After a long debate at Home Depot about this yellow or that yellow Trish won out over my ‘baby poop” yellow choice. The next morning when I went to distress it though, I kind of got my way, on accident(I promise Trish!) I started staining over the paint and loved the look so just kept going and going so much that it kind of turned out a little baby poopy. I was sure Trish would hate it, but she says she likes….so here it is in her room. Its hard to get a good picture of it now that we covered up a window with THIS project. OopsJ

Gate turned Headboard (14)

I went to Long Beach recently to help a friend move. We had a whirlwind weekend trying to tackle too many projects in 2 days. She had been living in a teeny one bedroom apt. as associate pastor at their church. Now they are taking over as lead pastor and were moving into the front 2 bedroom house. She finally got to get her beautiful belongings out of storage and I was happy to help. (Thanks for flying me over Trishy!) We moved in all her things, decorated the living room, repainted 2 pieces and dreamed up and made 2 pieces of our own. Here's the first and my second favorite piece. We get so craft-excited when we finally get together that we throw out like 50 ideas and are complete scatter brains. We were going to make a fabric, tufted headboard for her room, then found one she had in the garage and were going to paint and distress it……and then it happened. This

                                            No, not her helpful bro Chad cleaning up!

You see it right? What we saw?? Yep, that old fence piece…..perfect headboard right?

We had her hubby and brother help us cut it down to size and we went to work.

 It was great because her room layout was strange and this solved the problem. Because of where the windows were her bed had to be sideways. And you walked into the side of it when you came in the room. So, if we made the headboard HUGE and tall we could cover the back window and put the headboard there. Yes, this gave her less natural light, but that outweighed the alternative which was the room being unsymmetrical and so not TRISH-SHUAY. We sanded it, painted it gray, then distressed it so that the white showed through. Isn't it lovely??

I'm in love! I want one now:)

And look at her beautiful living room:

Someday we will live in the same town...and then watch out people!! Great things happen:)


Partying over at:
PRIMP,
Redoux,
Funky Junk Interiors,
Meg and Mums
Primitive and Proper

Macie Grace is turning 6!!

I cant believe our little girl is 6 this week!!!! Where did the time go?!! I remember bringing her home from the hospital, her first bath, her little badger baby cooing sounds, cuddling her up in her blankies….oh the memories.

I know, even though I say I don’t, I like to have my birthday be MY day. Brandon and the girls make my meals, get me things, do whatever they can to make it MY special day. So I want the same for the girls. I want them to remember their birthdays as special days. I want there to be traditions they look forward to and cherish. This year are in Vegas away from most of our friends and family, so I don’t want Macies mind to be on that. We are having a little party with just us and her grandparents ( thank goodness for them), but we are going all out. Well, $20 all out. No, really! I am challenging myself to only spend $20, but make it big. I have so many supplies already and so many ideas floating around in my head (and on my pinterest board) So, I'm going with the motto: “why buy, when I can make” Now on the third hour of making the giant ‘6’ pinata I was seriously questioning this motto, but I forged on. I have made a bunting banner, a pinata, tissue paper flowers, cake stands, cupcake flags, painted trays and frames and still have lots to do. Brandon is also making a slideshow to music to show at her dinner. She chose hamburgers, hot dogs and fries as her bday dinner. I cannot wait for Wednesday and to show you all the pictures of the result. I want to show how much you can make without the party store. I think homemade is way nicer looking too. I'm also hand making some gifts for her. A quilt, a mermaid costume for her doll, a chair and a birthday tshirt. Here is the shirt for her to wear on her birthday to school.

Who wouldn’t want to wear a giant number shirt???? Well, I guess at a certain age you wouldn’t, huh? Please no one make me a giant 3-0 shirt in 18 months. I may cry. But, 6 is cool.

We also made cookies for her class tomorrow and cupcakes for the party.

Heres a couple sneak peaks at her bday preparations. Ill be back in a few days to show the party.....cant wait!!!

You getting the color theme here?

Happy Birthday tomorrow baby girl!!!

Traveling Randoms PART 2

Im here now. Sunny Long Beach. Waiting Waiting for the tv delivery man so we can our grab some coffee and an everything bagel. Oh yeah I said it. "THE EVERYTHING BAGEL" Who doesn't love these? I mean they have it all:) Literally. It's one of Trish and I's traditions when we hang out .

So the plane ride...not so good. I would like a full refund on the five dollar "Motion Sickness" medicine I purchased. Now that I think about it it didn't say. "Motion Sickness RELIEVER"  Well duh! I must have bought something that CAUSES motion sickness:) Cause who doesn't want a little taste of that sometimes.....

So I was fine until the Final Descent. It was not pretty. My whole body started sweating profusely, my leg was tapping out of control. Ill bet at this point the ladies next to me either thought 1.) I was scared to death or 2.) I had a bomb strapped to my chest. They figured it out soon enough...............when I had a plastic bag strapped around my entire face. Literally. Really seriously. I started rummaging through the pocket in front of me when I knew the horror was coming. All I could feel around for was the stupid inserts from my magazine I had stuck in there. So I grab the bag that my magazine and snack came in and start pouring it out onto the floor. And then it happened. 4 times. I was so humiliated I just stuck my whole head into the bag. ( I was thinking about my friend Kelsies advice 20 minutes before about asking for a trash can so you wont gross people out.) Then we landed. The two women would not make eye contact with me and my eyes were watering. I then looked up and saw the white bags in the seat in front of me that I had mistaken in my panic for paper. The airplane not only has chinced up on the bag quality so badly that I thought they were magazine inserts, but it was so dark on the plane I had no way of seeing them until the lights came on when we landed.

It was not good. It was gross and I am now dreading the plane ride home for I know my fate. Ew.

I did however get driven directly to my favorite restaurant, PF Changs and refueled my stomach for 2 hours:) mmmmm. And I tried this desert for the first time. OMG. Delicioso. Banana wantons with Carmel sauce, vanilla ice cream and HUGE berries.

Yay for PF Changs.

Boo for barf.

My random traveling thoughts..part 1

*I wrote these ramblings last night on my way to Long Beach....they are RAMBLINGS. My friend says that's when I'm at my funniest...I was texting her not stop and she told me to blog it. That may be her way of telling me to shut up...but I'm good with it. The only problem is that sometimes I need to be censored. She doesn't  think so, but shes just that kind of girl:) The next few days will be random...so bear with me. I'm trying something new. Here goes.....
I'm in the Las Vegas airport. I'm bored. I'm scared that I may have to use the white bag again. That's embarrassing. I also have to pee. I hate airplane bathrooms. What if they suck u in? Or you get locked in? Hold it, or pee? That is the question. Then there's the seating worry. Who will I sit by? Will they want to talk too much? Will I want to talk to much? Should I pretend I'm mute? Yes...that's what I'll do:)
I'm going to pee. Pause please...
That's the third time since I got here. That's how much I hate the plane bathroom....the plane monster.
Then there's the armrest issue. Who gets it? First come first serve ? Bigger guy gets it? I'm finding its a "nice guy finishes last" kind of thing.
and  there's the complimentary drink....should I? Its free.....but then will have to pee!!
I'm the first in my row....window seat..yes! Thanks Trish!  ooooh, someone enjoyed some garlic delight today and for once it wasn't me:)
Oh man that's bad. Note to self: Don't do it to your neighbors before your flight!
Two people offered to help the girls on front of me life their bags up. So nice that there are still nice people  out there.
Ok, the two ladies are here. She got the armrest. Thats what you get when youre on your phone:) I got the window one though..Im good:) Its the middle seat thats the bad one.
Electronics off....peace out.

#13, Armoir

I got this armour yeeeeeears ago from my bestie, Trish. I just love it. When we were about to move down here I decided it needed to be painted. My only mistake was not sealing it before we left. Holding our tv in our room I didn't really think it needed it. But the move did not do it well. It is covered in scratches, chips and dirtiness.It didn't help that it got loaded and unloaded a few more times than planned and sat in storage for 6 weeks....poor girl. I wanted to paint her a pale gray, but it ended up being a little bluey-gray. I love it though with the black hardware. When we move back she will have to be done again and I'm thinking of a darker gray or distressed white for in my craft room. Here she is before and after.

(Please excuse the mess and lack of props. This moving thing (and moving again thing) has made the furniture pictures a little less than par. In about June we should be back to better quality:)

#13 down. I may need to speed things up. I feel the big 3-0 speeding up on me like a tornado.  (does that make sense?)

And I've been thinking lately...What will I do when my 30 before 30 is up?!??!?! A new countdown....a new goal perhaps. Maybe a goal of how many to sell.....ANY IDEAS from my 'faithful??'' readers? I know theres more of you out there than admitting it:) I have stats people...I know there are more than 18 of you reading...FOLLOW ME!! :) I was very excited to find that I had 1,050 page views last month! Off to Long Beach for a weekend of DIY decorating and moving!!!

#12, almost half way there!

I finally painted this mirror in my room. And I think its MUCH better....

I dont have a picture of this mirror before..darn it. It was laminated wood, like this kind of a look.

I FINALLY got it painted after having it in my room for over a year. I love her.

For whatever reason it doesnt like to stay put, it wants to spin and lay flat....I have to figure out some kind of bolt, washer combo to fix that. Thats is why you will see those little fabric flowers stuck in the side:)

Memo board

I finally made one of these cute boards to put grocery lists on. Its just a frame I painted(to match my new kitchen mat) gray, and put fabric on the inside.(or scrapbook paper.) All the great fabrics I wanted to use made it too hard to read the writing. Maybe I just need some new dry erase markers:)

I'm Loving burlap so I find any reason I can to use it. It made it really easy to read the words here. Once I get new markers I may try one with a cuter fabric. I did use the fabric from my may to tie in the colors with a tie.