One Kings Lane

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If you haven't heard of One Kings Lane, its an online site that offers tons of different interior decor for up to 70% off. Right now they have Melissa & Doug toys!! I've been in search of wood blocks for Gavin and almost bought them on Amazon. Guess what? They are cheaper on OKL!! Take a look!

family night

Confession: Ryan and I have NOT been good at having family home evening, which for those who don't know is something we are told to do in our church. We are to hold a special time each week (usually on Monday evenings) together as a family and teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ or other appropriate topics that are needed for our family and spend time together in prayer, music, and an activity. Well, with a baby/toddler I have just struggled with how to implement the gospel into Gavin's life. I mean seriously, he won't sit down and fold his arms for a prayer or really have any idea what I'm doing. I've attempted to read him scriptures from the picture books and he just turns the page faster than I can read one caption. It feels unnatural because he is my first child, but I have heard on more than one occasion in church that infants can feel the spirit and comprehend more than we realize. We are to start young. I DO know that Gavin responds to music and loves to look a pictures. So, after too many years of not doing it, I have taken the counsel seriously since October's General Conference and we are now on week 3 of family night. I had the thought to use the Nursery Class manual "Behold the Little Ones". It is proving to be a big help as it is short, uses music and pictures. Gavin pays attention for about oh point 5 seconds. Tonight he was especially energetic. We were trying to teach him how to pray. Riiiiiiiiight! So the song from Primary came to my mind as he was jumping around. It was much more successful and realistic rather than explaining to him the process.

Then came the closing prayer. Ryan said it while I attempted to hold Gavin in my lap and fold his arms. He resisted. The funniest part didn't even have anything to do with Gavin.

Ryan said: "Dear Heavenly Father, We are grateful that we have been able to have family night for 2 weeks in a row now."

I said: (Cutting Ryan off) "3, 3 weeks not 2!" as if I was bound and determined to get credit for 3 weeks in a row!! (Just in case the merciful Man upstairs didn't know already). Ryan and I busted up laughing, had to regain composure and finish the prayer. Have mercy on us, we are still IMPERFECT!!

So, I am very curious: How did it go for you when it came to starting family prayer, scripture study, and FHE with your first baby/toddler? Any tips?

bathroom inspiration

I know I promised after photos of the dining room but I'm still working on the final touches. Plus I've been sick for a week now and November went by in a flash with all of the activities we've had going. I don't even want to think about how it will be when (if) we have multiple children. I can't begin to imagine how so many of you moms juggle it all!!

So, I don't have any dining room photos but I do have an inspiration photo to share for our guest bathroom. Its been on my mind A LOT! I decided I wanted stripes and started out determined to put them on the ceiling, but I don't think that is something I want to tackle on my own. Maybe someday when I can pay a professional to do it. So, this image came to mind and so I hunted it down in my files of thousands of inspiration photos. It is less traditional than the evenly spaced stripes and I think it will work great with the rest of the home. I am also considering 2 DIY round chunky rope mirrors above the 2 sinks that Nate featured on his show a couple weeks ago. Looks very simple!! We shall see. This will eventually be the kids bathroom too so it has to function for them. Before I get started though I have to remove some trim and pine cone border wallpaper that I've ignored for long enough!

*image credits: Lonny Mag

cruisin'

Gavin is crusin'! He is 19 months old. His new name is "I will take my sweet time!" I can't tell you how many times people would tell me, "Just wait, one day he'll just start running." NOPE!! I'm still waiting. He took his first independent steps mid-September and its been a progressive month or so. Just the past week or two he has developed a lot more confidence and now he will appear around corners in the house walking instead of crawling or scooting. He is growing so much these days and he really seems like a toddler now. He is learning how to stand up on his own in the middle of the room. That will take more time... Needless to say we are ecstatic! My guess is he will be running by New Years 2012! hahaha!

gray-licious

Well, if we're friends on Facebook you know I've been busy with various projects around the house. I'm so excited because our house is finally feeling like "our house". We've lived here for over 3 years now, but I never painted but just decorated around the colors the builders had picked. You see, every room in our house has some color it seems except 1 bathroom. It was one of the model homes. So, now that we're putting our spin on things I am falling in love with this house and have warned Ryan that if he wants me to never want to leave Orland it will be through making this home MY OWN so that I absolutely love being here.

The dining room/kitchen/hallway color,as you know, is Benjamin Moore's Senora Gray. I love it and it works so well with our living room color and with all the wood in our home. I feel like it actually makes the wood more beautiful and love the distinction now between the ceiling beams, walls, floors. I actually love the wood now and love my dining room table now more than ever before. Amazing that one gallon of paint (and primer in our case) can do that. It is so true that one of the most inexpensive and most impressive ways to get a new feel in your home is to paint.

I'm not ready to do a full reveal, still need to hang wall art and add some furniture, but I will give you a sneak peak. Before I do, I must say again we had a GREAT experience at Knight's Paint in Chico. Richard is so awesome. He even goes as far as to mop the floors if he knows we will be in that day so that Gavin can scoot and crawl around as he pleases. He has offered to give any of my friends and family the same contractor's discount. Their premium paint (eggshell) ends up being just under $29 a gallon!! Not bad especially for Benjamin Moore! I think that's even less than Home Depot's Behr.

In prepping to paint I had to move the bookcase that has been in our dining room. I've never liked it much there and a few months ago realized that a little cut out area of our hallway was a perfect spot for a bookcase. Although the ideal would be a built-in I don't want to spend money on it and this sucker would fit right in the spot. I really like it more now there and once we finish painting the hallway the wall behind it will be gray. You like my color coordination. These are all of our religious books (except for the Arnold book and NO we are not Arnold fans when it comes to politics. Ryan admires his days as Mr. Olympian!).

and just to give you even more of a taste of the changes going on around our house, here is a sneak peak of the magnetic chalkboard I painted on the front of our kitchen island. More to come on that!!

Discovery At Last!!

It has been discovered...the paint color!! Hallelujah!! We will be painting the dining room/kitchen this weekend if I have it my way and I think I have bribed Ryan into helping in my madness! He has his second to last assignment due this Friday night so he said he would have time to help me Saturday. I'm considering it my anniversary gift, although I did have to sweeten the deal a bit. Who said bribing and bartering wasn't good for a marriage? LOL!

So, here is the color. Benjamin Moore's Senora Gray 1530.

I first laid eyes on it here. And of course colors on your computer monitor screen NEVER look like they do in real life and especially not when you put them on your own walls in your house. Lighting is so very tricky. I have learned a lot about color between picking colors for the living room and dining room/hallways now. It makes me want to take that color theory class I've had my eye on for a few years now. Because the light in our dining room is coming from north facing windows, it is very cool. Thus, we needed a color with warm undertones to counteract the coolness of the light. I wanted gray and thus knew I was in for a long road of torture. I am on a first name basis with Rich at Knight's Paint in Chico (Benjamin Moore paints). He has been so very helpful lending me large color swatches, even an entire color deck with generous sized samples. He is even giving me a break on the paint price, making it cheaper than Home Depot and Sherwin Williams paints. We loved how it covered in the living room and having great help and someone to teach more more about color and painting methods has been key. Plus, it feels good to support local businesses. I promised Ryan I'd have everything prepped before Saturday, so I've got my work cut out for me.

happy anniversary!!

It's been 4 years and it just gets better all the time! I love that as time has gone by we feel more and more comfortable in our skin and with each other. All of the challenges of early married life have melted away and I feel more confident about myself than I ever have before. I can honestly say that our happiness in marriage has increased enormously with Gavin's arrival. My personal happiness and they love that Ryan and I have for each other and for Gavin has really brought us to a new, more wonderful level. No doubt we have our challenges, always will, but I love feeling more confident about where we have been, what we've overcome, and the future is bright! The more we both strive to put the other before ourselves and really strive for our spouse's happiness the closer we feel to each other and the more loved we feel.

In August, Ryan and I took a quick overnight trip to Ashland, Oregon. Love that place and dream of living there! Anyway, on the trip we listened to the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. We still haven't finished it but what we did listen to was a great reminder of how to continue to grow in our love for each other. We discussed the ways we feel most loved and were reminded of how we can have greater happiness as we strive to love each other and recognize and express gratitude for the efforts of the other to love us. It has been a true testimony to the power of marriage and that it is indeed a sacred union blessed by God. Everyday I gain greater appreciation and love for my Heavenly Father for giving me the gift of family and marriage. It has the power to help us become our best selves, provide us with eternal happiness, and bring some of the most tender moments life has to give.

Happy Anniversary!