Pictures of the Girls' Rooms!

It's true- the girls' rooms are finished!

Jane's is all about ice cream. When we first moved in she wanted a zoo theme. Then the girls' cousin gave her old colorful bedding set to Jane, which happened to coordinate with the existing paint in the room. But it wouldn't go with zoo stuff, so I suggested decorating her room with all my ice cream paraphernalia. I was so happy when Jane agreed to it. I hated to think of my cute stuff sitting unloved in boxes, since I "can't" put it all up in my kitchen anymore.

Here's Jane's lip-smacking room.


For some reason there was a strip of wood on the wall with 4 screws evenly spaced out in it, so I used it to hang these cute pieces of ice cream art, which I threw together a few years ago (using greeting cards, scrapbook paper and little to no skill). I repainted the frames, glued some ribbon on and there I had it.

I got this cool frame (11x14) at Ross for $5 and inserted these cards I had lying around (in a safe place). The silver adds a nice '50s touch.


I spray painted this shelf. It was a grubby white before, and I kind of wanted to get rid of it. Now I like it. I like spray paint!


The wall to the left of the doorway upon entrance.


I painted this shelf as well. I like that shade of green with the yellow walls.


Some shadowboxes I "filled" while living in Chubbuck when I first started finding ice cream stuff everywhere. I was so proud of them. I got my black belt in shadowboxing.



I love sprinkle scrapbook paper! Sorry this one's blurry. I must've been trembling with excitement as I took the picture.


Oops. Here's an ill-placed closer view of the pictures I already talked about.


We replaced the existing chandelier with a ceiling fan, a much better lighting choice for Jane. I knew from the start that I'd be moving the chandelier to Cora's room.


More scrapbook paper, glued onto cardboard this time. Ric-rac makes me happy. I had some handy so I slapped it on around the edges.


If it were up to me, I'd not display all the stuffed animals, but I had to keep in mind that it was Jane's room, not mine. And she likes the abundant animals.


A cute desk handed down to us from Ryan's mom. I got the chair at Idaho Youth Ranch for $6. I think it's just perfect. The thing hanging from the ceiling is a paper lantern I found at Hobby Lobby. Super cute, but I didn't quite know where to put it.


I love the turquoise curtains with the yellow paint. I'm not crazy about yellow by itself, but with some accent colors it can be so cute.


More ric-rac on an otherwise boring lamp. :)



I know it looks a little over the top, but I had so many things in my collection and I didn't want to leave any out. Plus I was hiding some big scrapes on the left side of this wall.


Now I'm craving a dipped cone from DQ.


I discovered this big ice cream cone "sticker" at a craft store. You should have seen my face when I first saw it!
I knew if I put it straight on the wall Jane would peel it off and move it around, thus ruining it, so I decided to frame it. I used some sprinkle scrapbook paper as a background.


It's actually ripples of frosting with sprinkles. Even better.


I got this sundae candle recently at a thrift store. I love my luck sometimes!

Now, thanks to the tender care her mother took in covering her room with ice cream treats, Jane will be assured many, many sweet dreams.



And now for Cora's bedroom! She wanted a forest themed habitation. It took me a while to accumulate things, and I wasn't sure what I was doing or how I was going to make it all work. I started by painting the walls turquoise. I realize that's not the most accurate sky color, but I was determined to make at least one room in the house turquoise. Cora and I decided which hue to use. The pictures don't do it justice. It really is a beautiful color.

Ryan's mom gave us the antique furniture that has been used in their family for a long time. She painted it all a nice cream color. Cora and I noticed that the knobs on the top drawers look like eyes and the pulls below them look like smiles. See? I hope with all that subliminal positive energy around she'll always be happy in her room.


Somebody my parents know was getting rid of an artificial tree so my mom snagged it for Cora. It looks so real! Also, have I mentioned how much I appreciate free stuff?


Dang it, I just realized I didn't take an up-close picture of the stuff on the desk. The owl lamp belonged to my maternal grandma, who lives with my parents now. Cora inherited it because, well... she loves owls.

The tree stump acts as a chair for now. I like the way it looks, but it's rather heavy and not exactly practical for a child's bedroom.


I was happy to come across this pillow while shopping around for room stuff. It reminds me of owl feathers.


This is the little wall right by her door. I got those animal candles (hedgehog, squirrel and owl) on clearance at Pottery Barn.


This is the chandelier that was in Jane's room. Ryan gets the credit for installing it, along with the fan in Jane's room. This light was a brushed gold color, so I took the liberty of spray painting it a brownish color. I should note that Cora's ceiling is 10 feet up, so it looks neat with a chandelier. I knew it would!


I found this little deer picture at a thrift store, so I painted the frame and it was ready to hang.



My friend, Jaime, had the idea to make these shadow boxes with flowers. This is the one I arranged, and Jaime did two smaller ones. I thought they turned out nicely.


I took these two pictures (above and below) in Eastern Idaho last summer. I'd forgotten all about them until AFTER I searched the town and internet for forest posters. I had already bought two large posters, otherwise I'd have liked to get my own photos enlarged to poster size. These are only 8x10.








Fred Meyer happened to have a foresty collection available, which made my hunt a lot easier. That's where I got the bookends, owl and the fake book thing with a bird on it. I also got an acorn shaped trinket box there, which is on the desk. Oh, and the squirrel pictured below.


Those frames are a really pretty sagey color in real life. I also took the photos that are in them. I can't believe how many nice forest pictures I had in my personal collection.


Yeah. I took these, too.

And that's it for Cora's room. I hope she likes it as much as I do. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Odds and Ends

Here's what we've been up to, in no particular order...

-I am almost done decorating the girls' rooms! Jane's is done, but I haven't taken pictures of it yet. I'll wait until Cora's room is finished, then I'll do one triumphant post detailing both. My next project is painting the living room, kitchen and front room. I can't wait to get it all done and pretty. I need happy colors in here!

-We took a few pictures one Sunday after church. March 8, specifically.

Sweet Oliver no longer likes to be called "Ollie". He always corrects me when I mistakenly call him the wrong name.


I actually had time to curl the girls' hair that day, so I had to be sure and document it.

I found this adorable sundress for Jane. Soon she can lose the sweater so we can fully enjoy the cuteness of the dress.


Cora sure is growing up pretty.



Ryan's parents went on a trip to Arizona the end of February. They brought us a box of chocolates from Trader Joe's. Mmmmm... I've been hiding them, savoring one or two at a time on quiet afternoons when Oliver is napping and the girls are at school. Naughty mommy. As I was returning them to their secret spot one day, I carefully dumped the box on the rug. Dang it. Now I have no idea which one is which! Good thing there aren't any yucky ones.


Here's what Ryan set out for me on Valentine's Day morning. Can't go wrong with chocolate! Neither of us care for V-day, for different reasons, so it was nice to get it out of the way first thing in the morning, deleting any possible stress from the remainder of the day. Before I noticed what was on the table, I presented Ryan with the box of donuts I'd hidden for him. (Yes, I like to hide stuff.) He smiled and directed my attention to the table. Awww, how sweet. What a nice, even exchange.
(I did give the kids little gifts, too.)


I didn't include this picture in my earlier "Ryan Can Draw" post. He had it put away somewhere and I'd forgotten about it. Isn't it cool? Look at all the detail. He must have spent forever on the chain mail around the middle guy's middle.


Per Stacie's request- Here's a pic of the sectional we got for our bonus room. It's quite comfy.


I bought these tulips a while back for muhself. I love tulips!


Here's Cora's "reading face". She looks so calmly intrigued. It's hard to get her to put down a book. Speaking of Cora, she got accepted into the Challenge Program (like GATE) at school. She's one smart cookie. I'm so glad she's doing so well in school. I always had a hard time focusing and "getting" concepts. I wonder what it's like to be really smart.


Oliver still plays with his tracks every day! We all take turns helping him build. This time Daddy helped.

He loves his train hat and wears it almost every day, even if it's only for a few minutes.


- I am now a Wolf Den (8-year-old scouts) leader in our new ward. So far, it's been good. But I haven't been in charge of a meeting yet. Cora thinks it's pretty funny that I have to work with the scouts. :) The first time I came to a den meeting, one of the scouts groaned, "Oh, no! More torture for us!" Little does he know. . . Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

- I am gearing up to go on another trip with my sisters in May! We are driving to Anaheim to see Glee Live! We are just a wee bit excited, like last year. While the TV show's writing has gone downhill this season, we still love (most of) the music and the characters, so the stage show will undoubtedly be amazing. Plus we're going to Disneyland! Erin has never been there, so she's pretty pumped. The whole trip promises to be a barrel of fun. I can't wait!

Thoughts

I feel bad that I post about such trivial things when so many people of the world are going through hell. There have been so many heartbreaking events in recent news.

There was the Pennsylvania family whose house caught fire, killing 7 of their 8 children. How does a mother continue to live after that?

There was the Meridian attorney who was shot to death, leaving behind a wife and 5 kids, not to mention the beginning of his career. I "heard" some of the "reasons" that drove the shooter to kill the attorney. In my mind, there is no good reason to purposely take the life of another. What a horrible event that is affecting the lives of many.

And of course there was the monumental natural disaster in Japan.

I feel guilty about my own safety and health. Grateful, but guilty. I can try to imagine the magnitude of what happened in Japan, but since I'm not there and I don't know anybody over there I will never be able to comprehend the anguish of the survivors. The physical destruction, along with the thousands of lives washed away is unreal, and I don't know how they'll even begin to pick up the pieces. It's so sad.

A few Sundays ago in Relief Society, our closing hymn was "Be Still, My Soul". This song has special significance to me. A few months after my dad died, a stake choir I was in began singing it. I'd heard it countless times before, but that evening was the first time it really meant something to me. The words and melody struck me to the core. Since then, every time I've heard that hymn and tried to sing along, those feelings come rushing back, and I have to fight back the tears so nobody will see (because I know if anyone sees and asks me if I'm okay it will only induce more tears).

"Be still. my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end."

"Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below."

"Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last."

The third verse is the one I can't get through without crying. It's just so beautiful. It makes me think of seeing my dad again, who I miss so much, and just fills me with hope that my sorrows, and every other human's sorrows, will one day be in the past. It doesn't seem possible, but yet I hope for it.

I would like to dedicate "Be Still, My Soul" to everyone in the world. Love, Shannon

Necklaces!

I have a thing for necklaces. I have a modest collection of very inexpensive neckwear. I don't remember ever paying more than $10.00 for any piece of jewelry. What can I say? I'm a clearance fiend!

The first picture below is not one of my necklaces, but I wanted to include it here.

Cora fashioned this out of stretchy, clear string and an acorn. It looks so darn cute on her. It's just so "Cora".



Here's one I recently got. I like it because it looks kind of vintage-y, and I think it's pretty. It has matching earrings as an added bonus.



The lighting wasn't good in this photo. The rose on the right is a creamy pink in real life, not peachy. I got it at Pier1 for under $8.00. I love its femininity. I also like spelling that word. Femininity.



I don't wear this one very much, but I like it. I just love flowers.



Got this one at Claire's for around $5.00. I don't know why, but I have this need to always report where I got stuff and what deal I got on it. I'm sure it's annoying to everyone, but I'm just happy about my thrifty purchases. I don't want people thinking I paid a million dollars for a dumb necklace.



This one is currently broken, dang it. Good thing I got it at Claire's for $1.00! It's a teapot with a separate dangling cup and saucer. I love mini things.




I normally really don't care for the yellow gold look, (believe me, this isn't real gold. It's from Claire's. Also, it was about $6.00....) but I made an exception with this necklace because of the happy, pretty colors throughout. I like its design and it reminds me of spring, my favorite season.


I found this at Fred Meyer a while back. Yes, on killer clearance... Why do I like so many things that nobody else wanted? Do I have poor taste in things? Or does everyone else? I guess it all boils down to one truth: "Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it." Amen to that, Confucius.

Fancy Pants

My street clothes are nothing fancy-- jeans, solid-colored or conservatively patterned shirts and the same lame flats, day after day. I just don't have the guts or the desire (or the right) to wear anything flashy. Or anywhere to wear such things.

And yet I have an expanding collection of "fancy pants". Why, oh why? Because I like them! I wouldn't dare wear them on a trip to the grocery store. Not by myself, at least. I can think of a few people who might be willing to join me for a stroll downtown wearing funny clothes. Silliness does love company. Actually, I don't think I'd look too out of place at Walmart in any of my special pants, even on my own. I've seen some really choice outfits roaming the aisles there. Maybe if I wore them out and about someone would take a picture of me and post it on Facebook. Someone who has thousands of Facebook friends. Then I could be infamous! Just think of it!

I find fancy pants at thrift stores or even the mall, and I can't "seam" to help but make them mine, never knowing when or why or if I might wear them, but just knowing that I mustn't "slack" and leave them "behind". (No puns ever intended.)

Fancy Pants, Exhibit A:

Found: At Goodwill. $3. I was so excited when I tried them on and they fit so nicely. Woo!

Another angle of the same wild slacks. I like their velvety sheen.


Let me introduce the next pair. I spied these babies at Savers about a year and a half ago. Possibly the best $5 I've ever spent. I can't believe someone donated these! It must have been a dreadful mix-up.

I don't quite know what to call them. Pantaloons? Bloomers? How about fancy pants? The real question is: Could I start a new fashion craze with these things?



For some reason Big Bird comes to mind when I look at this picture. Or maybe a distant cousin of his.


I have a few sets of treats-covered pajamas. One I already posted last year sometime, and the others are not pictured. Now I'm kind of sad I didn't include them. But I guess they belong in the "cute pants" category more than "fancy pants" one.

I bought these for Cora, but they were too big for her. Just my luck! I wonder what would happen if I wore these to church under a dress. Well, I doubt anyone would say anything directly to me about them, but I reckon it would get people talking about me.



Careful, the next ones are bright!


Insert sunglasses....

Aaaaaaaaand....


Ta-da!

These caught my eye a month or so ago at Wet Seal in the mall. A few dollars later and I was the proud owner. I told the cashier I was getting them for my sister. Mostly because I think the gal realized I'm too old to be caught wearing metallic leggings, let alone to be browsing the racks of Wet Seal. Why do I care so much what people think of me? I should be comfortable doing what I want, without feeling the need to fib my way through a transaction. I did think briefly of gifting them to Megan (said sister) , but I just couldn't stand the thought of giving them away. I might need them for something, someday. And Meg can always borrow them if she really wants to.


Many apologies for the rear view, "butt" I felt it was necessary in portraying the seriousness of these pants.


Last but not least, and probably my favorite, my black-and-white-checked bloomers. I regularly wear them as pajama pants. They are so comfy and I like them lots.

I got these at Goodwill for, if I recall correctly, $2. I think they're adorable. They were lovingly handmade by someone. (I would assume they weren't sewn with wrath.) I know this because they don't have any tags attached. Anyway, I am set if and when bloomers make a comeback.

I hope I can find ways to make use of all my fancy pants.