Boy's Room: In Case You Were Wondering

We got the decals for the wall from Amazon. (Hat tip to our friend John for the Amazon gift card for Christmas! We also bought a new kitchen food scale to help us with our weight management. Thanks!)

They stick very well, even though our house has textured walls.

We bought the paint from Walmart for $7.99. I didn't even know walmart had their own line of paint, but they do! I read some reviews on it and, admittedly, it doesn't have the highest quality. It is manufactured under the ColorPlace label for Walmart by Sherwin Williams. Most reviews say that if you are willing to do a couple coats it will do just fine for you. We did 2 coats of the "Spring Garden" color. 

I think I spent $18 total for the letters & brown paint for their names (and Lauren's initials for her room.) 

So all in all, it was a pretty inexpensive way to jazz up the boys' space. We decided to go for it before we moved them together to try and make Ian feel excited about the move. New paint, wall decals, his name on the wall... all ways to show him he wasn't moving into Aaron's Room, but into a completely new room for both of them. Due to illnesses and baby-fussies, it ended up taking us a month to finish the project. I actually think that was really good, though, because it allowed the boys/all of us to get used to the changes gradually. We finished the painting over last weekend. The decals arrived yesterday (& I bought & painted the brown letters yesterday, too) so we pulled it all together before dinner last night with a big, exciting finish! Ian & Aaron helped move Ian's things (bed, dresser, books, etc.) over & it all went great!

They are both over the moon about the new space. For less than $50, I'd say that's a major win. 

New Boys' Room

**UPDATE**
They slept all night. Somehow, Ian went to bed without his blankie and raggie, though, so when he heard Roger leaving this morning, he realize he didn't have them and came out to get them. It was too late by the time I caught up with him... Aaron was awake too. So we got up at 6:00. I know that's not horrible, but it is a full hour earlier than we usually get up. So today is going to be a long day. Now to figure out how naptime is going to work...

**UPDATEI** 
Roger put the boys to bed at 9:30. At 10:15 he emailed me from the bedroom, where the monitor is, to tell me there nothing but silence. Too sleeping tots up in there! I know it will not always go so well, but  the first bedtime together was a success! Praise the Lord!

At some point, I will hopefully replace these pictures with non-phone-camera pictures. It cost us a grand total of $33 for the paint & decals. The walls are green, though you can't really tell in the pictures. When Ian is ready for a bigger bed, we'll probably do bunk beds and change it up a little again, but right now, the boys are pretty excited about their new digs.

Since tonight's the night, though, I figured I'd put the photos up to commemorate the occasion... hopefully it isn't a disaster.

Sneak Peek

I'll be back to blogging next week, hopefully! 

Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Casserole

Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Casserole 
- 6 English Muffins, torn into 1 in. pieces *I used a knife and cut them. So much easier than tearing.
- 1 cup half & half
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar *I cut back on the sugar a little, it was too sweet for me the 1st time.
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tart apple, peeled and sliced
- 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces (best cut when frozen)


Butter the bottom of an 8" x 8" casserole, and scatter half of the English muffin pieces on the bottom. Place half of the apple slices over the muffin pieces. Whip together the half & half, eggs, 1/4 cup of sugar, spices and pumpkin puree in a small bowl. Pour half of the pumpkin cream mixture over the apples and muffins. Repeat the process, layering muffin pieces and apple slices, then covering them with the remaining pumpkin cream. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of sugar and the butter pieces. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for one hour at 350º F, or refrigerate overnight and bake before serving.
Serve warm.

NOTES:


This recipe is from my friend Joanna Masters. We've both made it a couple of times and determined it needs a little extra liquid. I usually just add extra milk (we use 2% most of the time.) I've also made it a couple times with day old bread. It's still VERY good. And once I omitted the apple and it was STILL very good! I usually do it the night before and let it soak in the fridge until morning, then pop it into a cold oven and add a few minutes to the baking time. 


the * notes in the recipe are Joanna's notes. 


Let me know what you think if you make it. 


Also, I do realize it's very funny for me to pull a recipe out of the coffers because I'm not feeling super, but wanted to blog something! Maybe I should make some Breakfast Casserole to help me feel better? 

When mama gets sick

I know my posts this week have been lackluster.

I've have been overcome by  the crud that the rest of the family has been fighting. I resisted long and hard, but tonight, my face feels like I got kicked my a horse & I'm coughing.

So I'll be back to more meaningful posts soon, I hope!

Soccer Shots - Ian's turn to shoot

Soccer Shots - Ian Dribbles

Oliver's Labels

My sister introduced me to Oliver's Labels at the beginning of the school year. We were both looking for an alternative to hand writing with permanent marker. Since Ian hands most of his clothes, especially outerwear, down to Aaron, I was looking for a way to uniquely label our things so we could use them for multiple children.

My favorite are the shoe labels. They are stuck like cement in the kiddos' shoes!

If something gets lost? The person who finds it will log on to Oliver's website & they will, in turn, let me know that our lost item was found*.

*We haven't lost anything lately, so it is my hope that this would actually work.

Here's the link to shop through my page. I will also put it in the side bar as soon as I remember how.

First time on the swings

At Frick Park's Blue Slide Playground on 2/13/11

Fell Asleep at the Table!

If you know the Vandervort kids, you probably know that they never sleep.

Ok, maybe that's not true, but what is true is that our kids rarely fall asleep anywhere but in their beds. It doesn't usually matter how tired, how much running, how late, etc. They just aren't the kind of kids to lay their weary heads down and just sleep.

We had a surprise visit from Emily & Adam & co. today. We went to 2 playgrounds (outdoor until we got cold, then to the indoor one) and they boys played straight through naptime. After we were done playing we went next door and had lunch/dinner. Neither Isaac, nor Ian, nor Aaron, nor Asher misbehaved at dinner. They sat nice and ate well. As Aaron was finishing up his meal, I kept looking at him thinking, man, he looks tired! He was holding his own, but then literally before our eyes he started to sway. I asked Roger to pick him up because I was afraid he was going to hit his head on the table.

He absolutely, 100 percent fell asleep in his high chair sitting at a restaurant. 

Hilarious! And pathetic!

I wish I had snapped a picture of the rare occasion. 

That is how hard they played today!

I can't wait until spring/summer & the daytripping with the cousins the warmer weather will bring!