I love shopping at the Habitat Restore. I always find great stuff that, with the right vision, can be painted and changed and become something awesome again! Like my beautiful, custom DIY lantern  light fixture... :)

This time, we simply fixed up a couple of old, outdated nightstands with paint and some new pulls.

Now, we have these fun, statement pieces in our bedroom that cost less than $35 for the pair!

Check it out!

The 2 nightstands were only $20 for the pair, and I ordered the pulls from CabinetHub for only $1.14 each! That was the absolute best deal I could find on cup pulls. If you know of a better one, let me know! I have plenty of projects coming up that will need new pulls! 


For the paint, we bought a Valspar sample from Lowe's, and it was enough to cover both nightstands.


So, altogether, we paid about $35 for the pair. And that, my friends, is why the Habitat ReStore and paint are two of my favorite things. :)

What do y'all think? Let me know in the comments below! 

Last weekend we celebrated Micaiah's 5th birthday with a Lego party! Don't even get me started on how overwhelmed I am that my biggest lil man just turned FIVE. :( 

Anyway, this was a pretty simple party with pretty simple decorations, but M loved it and we had a lot of fun! 

Check it out! 

First up, always my favorite party decoration: the photo booth! 

The photo booth was really simple and inexpensive. Plus, it was so big that it really helped make decorating easier! The boys had a lot of fun playing with it after the party too! 

I also created a "Pin the Head on the Lego Man" game. I wish we had gotten a picture of the kids actually playing this! It was pretty cute. 

I made a whole pile of individual Lego faces for the kids to choose from. I should have made more character faces because, of course, those were the favorites! Everyone wanted to be the minion. :)

The awesome thing about having a Lego party is that you can build a lot of the decorations with the toys you already own. So, we made this awesome Lego #5! 

We also picked up the storage bin on clearance at Target right before the party. Perfect decoration and even better toy room storage! 

The easiest party decoration by far were the hanging and wall block legos for the entryway! 

I created this Lego Block .pdf and printed it out on primary color copy paper. Super easy, super cheap, super fast! 

We also had this game out for the adults and kids to play! Everyone had fun taking a guess. 

Note: You  may want to get an extra prize in case you have 2 winners! I made it an even 100 blocks, thinking no one would actually guess an even 100. Two people did! :) 

And, I saved the worst for last. ;) The cake did not turn out how I hoped, but it tasted delicious so it didn't really matter. Ha!

Once I finished, it just looked like a giant smily face instead of a Lego man head. So, we stuck a tiny body in it, and called it a cake. :)  

And that was that! Lego party done. Micaiah loved it. And so begins another year...

What do y'all think?! Let me know in the comments below! 

And if you loved the party, I would love for you to pin and share it. Thanks!

Super Mom: the female Chuck Norris, the woman who's got it all together. 

She has perfectly behaved, always clean and neatly dressed, non-fighting children who are the perfect size (not too skinny, but not too fat). 

She makes delicious home-cooked breakfasts, lunches, and dinners every. single. day. And, she bakes cookies in the afternoons.

Her house is so clean it sparkles. Literally.

She works out every day, and has the perfect figure. She wears dresses with gorgeous, shiny locks, manicured nails, and high heels. 

She sews, she crafts, and she earns money while being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. (And her kids are all geniuses.)

She never runs out of milk.

She's always smiling, and she never yells. 

She never fights with her husband, and never complains. In fact, they have great sex every single day. 

She reads her bible every morning, prays about everything, and her faith never wavers. She never questions or worries about things.

She has a beautiful yard with colorful flowers and tall, strong trees in the front yard, with a huge, luscious garden in the back right next to her chicken coup where she gathers fresh eggs every morning. 

She goes all out for every holiday. (Even the made-up ones, like Dr. Seuss day. And, her kids are always wearing green on St. Patrick's Day decked out with their newly found leprechaun coins!) Every birthday party is a royal celebration, and she dreams up and produces Leslie Knope-worthy gifts for every occasion. 

She has tried and beautifully mastered every single pin on her Pinterest boards. 

She's totally perfect, but humble. And, she's totally relatable, she even has a tattoo. (Gasp!) It's the most beautiful, inspiring tattoo you've ever seen. 


Have I gone far enough?!

I had another Mom tell me yesterday that I was Super Mom. I immediately went, "Pfft!" and laughed out loud. 

I guess as she struggled to bring her sick daughter to soccer team pictures, running on zero sleep with a preemie at home, and her husband out of town, it is easy to see a mom with three boys, hair fixed, and seemingly together as Super Mom. 

What she didn't see is that 30 minutes prior,  I had to tell the older two boys about 30 times to put their pants on. I broke up multiple fights over Lego men. I had a super whiny, teething one year old. At one point, I may have even yelled. :/

Girl, the Super Mom we all imagine isn't real! She doesn't exist. 

You exist. You are struggling, but not giving up! You are fighting through the struggle, and doing your best. That is what Super Mom is. You are Super Mom

If you've accomplished even a couple things on that list, way to go! Be proud of yourself. Keep making goals, keep trying. But don't ever, ever denigrate yourself because another Mom out there seems to have it all together. She doesn't; she's just another Mom trying to do her very best! 

Keep your chin up, keep going! Do your best, and please don't ever compare yourself to Super Mom again! Because, guess what? 
She isn't real.  

We're having a Lego party this weekend! Can't wait to share with you on Monday. 

For now, here's a sneak peak... :)

Have a great weekend! See y'all on Monday!

Y'all have probably seen the "Cupcake for Dinner" Youtube video that has been flying around the internet lately. It popped up in my newsfeed a few times, and I just ignored it. Some people were saying how hilarious it was, how this was just the cutest/funniest kid, and I've heard others say, "Oh no way! My kids will never talk to me like that. They'd be in so much trouble." So, with all the talk, I finally had to check it out for myself. 

If you haven't seen it, you can watch it first...

Y'all, this video just made me sad on both ends. Sure, it's a little funny. But toward the end, you can hear that both the mom and the kid are frustrated and beginning to get angry with each other. Obviously, this kid feels like he isn't being heard. He isn't yelling, "Listen, listen, listen!" just to be funny. He means it. And the Mom is trying her best to stick to her guns because he did something that he shouldn't have.

But here's the deal:
Kids are people too. 

Obviously, he did something wrong. It sounds like he is receiving a punishment, and that's not fun. And yeah, no cupcakes for dinner. I get that. 

But, can't you just hear him out? Make him feel like he is being heard, like he is important, and his ideas are important. Let him tell you his whole schpeal. And then, sit down with him and tell him, "I hear what you are saying. I appreciate your thoughts. But, this is why the answer is still no." 

I feel like so many people think that kids can't think through things. Like "No" should mean "No" and that's just that. But really, what do they learn from that? If the answer is no because they did something they shouldn't, can't you tell them that? Maybe next time they will think through to the consequences of their actions! 

Of course, kids need consequences. They need parents who are firm, and won't back down when they aren't behaving how they should. 

But they also need to be heard and taught. It's our job as parents not just to say no, and keep them within the boundaries. We have to teach them about how and why they should stay within those boundaries. We have to teach about consequences. Because when we don't teach, they don't learn.  And they sure aren't going to be respectful to a parent who doesn't show respect to them. 

Hear them out. Listen. Reallllly listen. And then, talk to your kids. Walk them through the whole situation. Be firm and give consequences when necessary. 

And make sure that while you are doing so, your actions and tone of voice are always saying, 
"You is special. You is kind. You is important." :) 

 Because...

So, just like I mentioned in my Kitchen Command Center and Weekly Preschool Schedule posts, if I don't have something written down - a box to check off - there is a good chance that plenty of things will get skipped throughout our crazy day. 

This weekend, Chris and I realized just how badly we need to have some sort of system in place to monitor the kids' iPad and video game time. We have really tried to crack down on that over the last couple of weeks, and it has gotten a lot better. However, we still felt like we needed some sort of accountability, something written down so we can work together as a team. 

Also, we needed  a way to make sure we were getting everything done that really needs to be done. Brushing teeth, making beds, etc... AND, we really feel like they are old enough to take on some chores. They've probably been old enough for a while, but like it said, if it's not written down...

So, I made these daily accountability charts! I'm really excited about them. 

The kids are excited because they include fun stuff like iPad, outdoor time, and Wii time. (They also loved that I made each of their iPads unique to them. Micaiah has recently become obsessed with Minecraft and Colton loves Handy Manny.) They also include everything else that they need to do in the day... Bible Reading time, brushing teeth, some chores... 

So, when they have used up their 30 minutes of iPad time, we will mark it off and if they ask to use it again, we will refer them to their chart. :) I'm sure those aren't going to be the prettiest of moments, but they'll thank us for it someday. ;) 

So far, they are super excited about these charts and I am too! I just used printed out the charts, put them in some cheap dollar store frames that I painted, and pulled out the dry erase markers. 


I didn't make a printable because they will be different for everyone. Also, not all of those images are mine. So, these are just for personal use! 

Of course, time will tell how they work. So, I'll keep ya posted!

What do y'all think? How do you get everything done in the day? Let me know in the comments below!

I'm so excited to show y'all my desk today! I built this Fancy X Desk pretty much by myself. My husband helped me a little bit, but for the most part, this baby was all me! 

Yep, that's right. I ventured to Lowe's by myself with 3 little boys, I might add. People were looking at me like I was crazy... I just might be! :) I bought a pile of wood, and turned it into a desk! If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about it! 

I put up a curtain behind it because we have some crazy cords back there, but I saw some ideas on Pinterest that I will have to implement soon! 

If you want to build your own, check out the plans on Ana White! 

What do y'all think? Let me know in the comments below! 

If you have been around for a bit, you'll know that we bought our first house about 6 months ago! We got a pretty good deal on a foreclosure, so when we moved in there were plenty of little things (and a few big ones) that we needed to fix. One of those things was our dining room light. 

Whoever lived here before us decided to take a few light fixtures with them when they left. So, for the first month, we just lived without one. My parents ended up with an extra bedroom ceiling light that they let us have until we could figure out something else. 

Well, if you have looked around at lighting, you'll know that it is pretty expensive! Everything I really liked was just not in our budget.  So, I've been waiting and waiting, every now and then looking at Craigslist for a good deal, but also for something custom-looking. Something unique. I just didn't want a cookie cutter light fixture. You can find those all over Craigslist for super cheap. 

I've been toying around with the idea of making a mason jar chandelier, but Chris just wasn't crazy about that idea or the pictures I showed him on Pinterest. And, I really didn't want to put all of the energy into making something, only to end up with him not liking it. So,  I waited some more. 

And then, about a week ago I saw this picture on Pinterest from Tracery Interiors...

...and it hit me. #1: I LOVE that light. #2: I CAN MAKE that light! 

So, I did. Well, we did. My super awesome husband helped me a lot. 

Check it out.

Y'all, this project was really easy, and only required a few materials!

I bought the lantern from Hobby Lobby when it was 50% off! (If the lanterns aren't on sale, you can always use their 40% off coupons!)

Then, I went to the Habitat Restore and found a light fixture that would work for me! I found this one for $5!!!! Score! If you haven't been to the Habitat Restore, you should totally check it out. They have some great stuff!

Last, I picked up some black spray paint from Lowe's (We bought the high heat Rustoleum kind, just to play it safe.) 

We also used a thin piece of wood to hold up the lantern. The top section is not strong enough to hold its weight, so the wood rests up against the top square of the lantern and is held up by the light fixture. You can see it in the spray painted picture farther down in the post. 

So, we first cut off the little ball on the top of the lantern, and drilled a hole so that the light fixture and cords would fit through it. We measured and cut a 7in. x 7in.  piece of wood as I mentioned above.

Then, we put it together to make sure that it all fit how we wanted it to. 

Then, I took it all apart, covered up all the electrical parts with painting tape, and spray painted it. (Notice the black square in the picture...it's the only one i have of it. This fits onto the light fixture and goes inside the lantern, so that it holds up the weight of the lantern and is held up by the light fixture. Does that make sense??) 

Once it was all dry, we put it back together, and hung it up! That was it! 

Less than $50 for a custom light fixture! Makes a huge difference, don't you think?!

Price breakdown:
Lantern: $35.00 (Half off at Hobby Lobby)
Light Fixture: $5.00 (Habitat Restore)
Black Spray Paint: $8.00 (Lowe's)
Total: $48.00!

What do y'all think? Let me know in the comments below! 

And if you liked this post, I'd love for you to pin & share it! Thanks!

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