August Fields

friday favorites

i really like this journal.  you can use it for four years.  it captures about 4 lines of journaling each day.
post it pockets.  my sister in law, heather, introduced these to me.  instant organization.
i have two in my pantry.  i keep stamps in one and activity schedules in another.
i have two more inside another cupboard door.  i keep the checkbook in one and misc. papers in the other.  i found mine at target but most office supply stores have them too.  i add a label from my label  maker to the front of these.

boy bunk room

the boys bunk room!  yay!  i’ve been trying to get this post pulled together for some time now so thanks so much for your patience 🙂
can i just say.  the bunks are a total blast.  the kids love them.  often times those top bunks will have pink pillows and quilts from sleepovers with deanie and dancy.
you can see more of the building of these bunks here.
in our home we have a boy bunk room, a girl bunk room (no bunks), a nursery, and the master bedroom.  
we do have a guest room as well in the basement.  when we first were working on the floor plan we were going back and forth with who would be in what room and what if we are blessed with another baby?  
we scratched it all and went bunk room style.  it has been a very good choice for our family.
we gave the picture that i found in a magazine to the builder.  one of the finish carpenters literally sketched a plan and built them according to the picture!  
i don’t know how big the beds were in the magazine picture, but we decided to make ours to fit an extra long twin mattress.  they are nice and roomy.
for bedding i just use a fitted sheet (size twin xl) and a duvet (regular twin size).  i do not mess with a flat sheet on the bunks.  there is space around the mattress so changing the sheets is not a big deal.
the stairs are pretty narrow, with the top landing being a little deeper.  i do have a rule of no jumping off the stairs. 🙂  in the future i’d like to put a fun picture right up in the center of the back wall.
since we all love to read, incorporating book shelves all over the house was at the top of the list.  in the bunk room we added them to each of the bunks.  this is boone’s bunk.  typically he has books spilling off the shelves and tucked into the sides of the bed! 🙂  i took them off for pictures so you could see the shelves.
each bunk has it’s own light that turns on independently.  my dad sells classic cars and his showroom has a lot of period style fixtures and features.  he has push button light switches in the bathroom and i always thought they were so cool.  mr. daddy reminded me of these and thought they would be a unique feature versus a normal light switch.  
the lights do get hot but not scalding.  they’re totally safe.  they do cast a slight glow into the room at night but not enough to keep hank awake.  
we also have a rule that when it’s lights off, it’s lights off.  period.  so turning them on in the middle of the night or whatever is not an issue.
we also put an outlet in each shelf unit of each bunk for the future.  cell phones? ipods?  or whatever will be invented in the next 10 years 🙂

across the bunks we have a window seat and more bookshelves.  the 3 drawers under the window seat are operable and provide more storage!

obviously, we’re still getting settled in figuring out what decor we want so i’m keeping it empty until i find what i like 🙂

reading corner.

cd player/radio.  favorites are jonathan park and adventures in odyssey.

the right book shelf.  this has some of our audio series and boone’s chapter books.

the left shelf.  this has board books, picture books, and some beginning readers.

 the doorway to the right of the mirror is the bathroom.  this bathroom also exits into the hallway.

okay…here is one end of the bunks.  you can see how its finished off.  also, this is hank before his nap.  you can see where he keeps his books since picture books are too big for the shelf. 🙂
i snuck back in later….totally cashed out.
i hope you enjoyed the tour of the boys bunk room!  i will list sources below.  i’m sure you’ll see more of this room as we continue to decorate 🙂
bunk room sources:
color of bunk beds:  benjamin moore fieldstone  (same as the kitchen)

color of the walls:  benjamin moore winter orchard
bunk lights: access lighting
bunk light switches: van dyke restorers
bunk light switch covers: van dyke restorers
orange mirror:  ikea
striped curtains:  ikea
orange lamp: thrift store
number lamp shade: helen rawlinson
picture above the radio:  fly away by sarajane studios etsy
play nice poster: john golden etsy
i love you vase:  dollar spot target
little orange clock:  target
orange blanket on reading chair:  ikea

happy 8th birthday dancy.

happy birthday sweet girl. 
daddy and mom pray you grow to love the Lord Jesus more and more each day.

dancy is a very creative free spirit!  she had so many ideas for a “theme” that we just did all of them 🙂

for the “candy” theme we made a candy cake.  yummy duncan hines.  adorned with mike & ikes, skittles, and gum drops.

for the “american girl doll” theme, we lined all the dolls up on the couch.

for the “pink and white” theme we rocked pink and white balloons.

and finally for a horse theme, yup…that’s four themes, we mad a horse banner.  that was accomplished with googled horse silhouette pictures cut and glued onto scrapbook circles, strung with ribbon and tacked in place 5 minutes before guests arrived! 🙂

she loved all the decorations! 🙂

i usually set up an extra table for the kiddos.  i used two table cloths from my collection, over our card table.

these pictures are blurry but i love the excitement of answering the door to welcome guests!

the menu was s.i.m.p.l.e.  sun chips, stouffers lasagna, homemade mac n cheese, clementine oranges, juice and water.

enjoying the food together!

the kids all ran to the window to see the deer crossing the back yard.

dancy, you always think of others before yourself.  you prepare meals for others, offer to clean up, you always show concern when someone is sick, your heart aches for the children who are suffering in uganda and around the world,  you pray with no inhibition…often leading the prayer when someone gets hurt or is hurting.

i know God will continue to grow these characteristics in you and i pray you will always use them to His glory.

present time!  breyer horse books.  perfect for dancy 🙂  i am really pleased with these books.  hard cover, illustrations, easy chapter reading……great for transitioning from picture books to chapter books.  and there are a lot of them to collect!

my sister made this cute shirt and headband for her!

i love this picture.  look how happy she is waiting to blow out her candles……

make a wish!

sweet 8 years old.  the next day we continued to celebrate!

hank gave you pictionary jr.  this will be fun for family nite!

here you are showing your love.  dubs wanted to open a present so bad….you didn’t even hesitate and pulled him in the chair to help you.

we moved on to the jump house place and had fun bouncing on all the mega bounce slides and houses.

our family had the entire place to ourselves because of the looming snow blizzard of 2011.  nothing stops us from celebrating!!  we bounced and played silly arcade games.

dubs was enamored by the trains that catch tokens…..

i’m not sure how all these tickets came out at once but i had the lovely job of counting them 🙂  576.

we rounded out that second evening, braving the snow and going out to dinner with the other side of the family.

kanani!!

deanie and dancy.  best friends.

happy birthday dancy.  your smile lights up my life. 🙂

you can check out our other birthday parties here

typical.

this little bugger got into daddy’s hair stuff.  like two scoops worth.
here’s dubs totally caught.  

we can work with this…..

that is a LOT of hair goo.  it took 4 good shampoos to get that little head clean.

f.a.q. the kitchen

**these posts are part of FAQ series that will include answers and further details to the questions i receive about the house.  if you have questions please use the email me button over on the sidebar and i’ll include them in this series**  click here for more FAQ.

q:  where did you get your chandelier?
a:  the chandelier is the madison twelve light legacy chandelier purchased online from  lampsplus.com.  here is a post about that purchase.

q:  what color are your kitchen cabinets and island?
a:  benjamin moore fieldstone

q:  what kind of hardware to you have on your cabinets?
a:  gilmore pulls from restoration hardware in polished chrome.  

q:  what kind of countertops do you have?
a:  marble.  white italian ice. 

q:  do you like your white marble countertops?  do they stain or leave marks?
a:  i LOVE our countertops.  the builder and countertop store guys advised against it.  ðŸ™‚  glad i went with what i wanted 🙂  i am very honest though….you WILL get spotting.  i wipe my counters daily with a washcloth.  and dry them.  but we live here!  and its marble!  so spotting will happen.  we knew this though and it does not bother me.  when guests come to visit you can not notice it UNLESS they specifically start to ask about the countertops and we angle our heads just right to see them.  its a water spot on white so it blends in.  if this bothers you then don’t go with marble 🙂  if not….go for it!

q:  what is that little door under the microwave?
a:  this is a peek through door to the school room.  it is GREAT!  its open most of the time, so when i am preparing lunch or dinner or loading the dish washer…i glance over and can see what is going on in the schoolroom.  ðŸ™‚

q:  what kind of faucet do you have and where is your faucet from?
a:  the faucet is from efaucets.com online.  it is rohl perrin & rowe bridge kitchen faucet and sidespray.  the model # is U.4764L-APC.  ours was purchased in polished chrome.  the prep sink is from there too….the matching one to the main.  

q:  do you like having one large, undivided sink?
a:  yes. yes. yes.  fits large pots and pans and i can stack lots of dishes for quick clearing during entertaining. 

q:  what kind of sink is it?
a:  shaw

q:  what kind of tile is your backsplash?
a:  we purchased all of our tile through a local tile/carpet store.  the kitchen backsplash is a 3×6 white, beveled subway tile.

q:  where did you get your pendant lights?
a:  the pendant lights were purchased through a local lighting store.  they are the chrome pendant by quorum.  #801-15-14

q:  what kind of wood is your island?
a:  walnut.  we ordered it from blockhead blocktops

q:  what color are the walls?
a:  benjamin moore vapor trails

q:  what kind of wood floor do you have?
a:  5 inch oak flooring.  finished and stained on sight.

q:  are your beams solid wood?
a:  no.  they are hollow.  our builders made them, hand hewn and stained.