Kiddie Decor

The only rooms in the house I have not done any decorating in are the MAN CAVE (a.k.a. Boom Boom Room- lol) and the kid's rooms.

The Man Cave I have not touched for OBVIOUS reasons... I am NOT ALLOWED TO. =P

The girls rooms are a different story! I want to decorate them so bad!!
We just have so much going on with birthdays and family roadtrips, I don't have the money to do what I want yet.

I'm hoping by the time the warm weather is gone, when we get back into hibernation mode, that we can do some more projects around the house. The kid's rooms are one of my priorities.

Decorating for kids can be tricky.

You work all hard to make things look nice, but the bottom line is that kids mess things up. LOL
They write on furniture. They get fingerprints on the wall. They NEVER keep collections arranged attractively (think bookshelves and stuffed animals).

I want their rooms to look as nice as the rest of the house is progressing to look, but I don't want to spend a lot of money and then be angry when they don't take good care of it.

I've been looking an inexpensive kiddie decor ideas to satisfy my two concerns: Affordable & Durable Style.

Here are a few ideas I'm toying with...

1. A Fresh coat of paint!
The walls of our house came in flat paint, which sucks when you have children. I need to put a nice semi-gloss on the kid's walls so the fingerprints can wipe of with a washcloth like they were never there.
The girls have already selected their bedroom colors: Sarina wants green and Mimi wants purple. Now I just need to get busy finding ATTRACTIVE tones of those colors that go well with the warm muted sand of our trim and floorboards.
Paint is an affordable quick fix to change the look of a room. This would also be a good starting place as the color of the room can help me visualize the accessories to add.

2. Wall Decals
I want to go for a more modern style in the kids rooms, so I've been checking out websites that have elcletic removable art (b/c I like to redecorate often. =])

Tai's Birthday Ideas

Okay so birthday 4 out of 5 for our kids is upon us, and this may be my biggest challenge yet!

I'm really not sure where to begin because:

1. Tai is a boy.
I'm great with little girl theme's because I only had girls before. Things that boys are into are not really my forte...

2. Tai is a PRETEEN boy.
Which makes it even more difficult! He is well beyond Cowboys & Indians, Cops & Robbers, Tonka Trucks & Dirt!
I want him to enjoy his birthday as much as the girls have, but I want to make sure I'm not picking a theme that's too "baby" or "lame". LOL

One good thing I have to work off of is that Tai definitely has a passion for gaming.
I think my safest bet would be to plan something Gamer Related for him.
Now the important thing is picking a game he thinks is "cool"...
Is Sonic the Hedgehog still what's hip? LOL- Ok, just kidding!

I think it's safe to say that with gamers, HALO 3 is universal.


But now that I've started to look for party stuff- man, it's really hard to find party favors for ANYTHING beyond Mario! What is the DEAL with that?

Looks like I'm going to have to get creative on this one...
And the best place to start is with a cake!!

I found this really cool one online and I think it will be my inspiration...



As a gift I think we are getting him his own gamer tag on XBOX live- Apparently it's not "cool" to share a screen name with your dad!
(Even if your dad is TRE! lol)
I want to get him a couple of other things too but not sure what yet. Like I said, this is tough for me. I don't want to screw things up!!

Wish me luck!

Wedding Inspiration...

So we just got back from my cousin's wedding in Ohio, and I'm so proud of my little girls- Their wedding party skills are impeccable! =)



Sarina gave out programs and wedding favors to guests as they entered and exited the church, while Madison did her part as a flower girl.



My mom kept encouraging me to "take notes" since Latrail and I are planning a wedding next fall. Unfortunately the only thing we have really decided on thus far is an ANTICIPATED date. I still have no clue what I want my wedding to be like.

There are a few ideas floating around in my head, but nothing concrete yet.
Carrie's wedding was a large, beautiful formal affair with a Black/White/Red theme.
The color theme was sophiscated, her gown stunning, but for my own wedding I'm thinking something on a much smaller scale...

...And now that I'm actually thinking about it- A year is really not a lot of time to organize a wedding!! I need to get moving on some ideas!!
What to work on first??!

Mimi's Princess Party Recap

I LOVE this picture of her!! Isn't she so darn cute?!! LOL


Ok, so the cake did not totally come out as planned (and I beat myself up over it all night!) Several factors came into play- I didn't have the right size dimensions for my cake pans, and the heat made one of my cakes fall (and my sugar cones begin to unravel!!).

Oh well, certainly not professional level, but here goes.


And her princess decorations...
(Around only $6 TOTAL spent on this table set up and it came out great!)


Mimi loved it none the less!
Here is a picture of her eagerly waiting for the cake to finish baking...


And here are all of the ingredients (Baked Diabetes, I think)


The first layer was the most time consuming...
(note the time on my stove clock!)


Her she is with her present.


The envy of other babies, haha!
(Lesa I know what Jada wants for Christmas!!!)


And a couple of highlights from our day at the Renaissance Festival!

Grandma gave the girls temporary purple streaks and nail polish



Ok, I begged her to give them to me too!! LOL


Mimi arrived like a true princess, carried by her ninja bodyguard! LOL
My brother is slightly retarded, but She loved it, and he pretty much MADE the party with his goofy ninja antics!


Some of the girls showing off their painted faces.


The "fairy store" where they bought their wings


Parrots of the Carribean, Bird exhibit


The Guys trying their hand at archery


By the end of the day, it was determined that we NEED for our home:
1. A Talking Parrot (with pirate accent)
2. Bow and Arrows & Bullseye for the backyard
3. I should start making "turkey legs" for dinner!
4. And possibly ninja suits for the whole family!! =D

We had an AWESOME experience, kids loved the festival, and then they topped it off with a sugar high from my cake! LOL

Tai, the ONLY boy, is the next birthday on the calendar- in another week!
Now I'm working on my plans for him....

A Royal Birthday Affair

So my baby Madison's 3rd birthday party is tomorrow and this is the cake I am making for her tonight...



I decided to go with a castle theme for her cake since we are having her birthday party at the Georgia Renaissance Festival. I found this adorable and easy cake from one of my FAV blogs- Hostess with Mostess!

Now I have to scramble to my local SuperTarget at lunch with my shopping list so everything can be prepared tonight.

I must say though, this is the funnest shopping list I have EVER had!

-Strawberry cake mix (no time to make anything from scratch tonight)
-kids ice cream cones
-pink ice cream cones
-sugar cones in various sizes
-bubbletabe
-smarties
-runts
-gummy lifesavers
-necco wafers
-pink and purple balloons
-Dora the Explorer wrapping paper
-big purple bow

I already have my cake pans in various sizes, a glass cake stand and a giant, industrial-size vat of cake icing from my splurge on Tre'stin and Tayler's cake.
Hopefully this cake will turn out a replica of the picture above!! (fingers crossed)

After our day at the Renaissance Festival I get to WOW her with her present, which I'm sure she is totally unexpecting...
Being the Dora fanatic that she is, and seeing the sheer delight she has playing at centers in daycare, I decided to combine the two for her gift!



I can't wait to see her face when she opens the box, which also happens to be bigger than her!!

WE ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!

I Love you Mr. Rachal!!!
Hahah, Ok sorry, just had to let that out....