Emerging from the Craft Room

I got a wild hair last week to redecorate/paint my craft room. We were set to do a whole makeover with cabinetry and all. Have you priced cupboards and countertops lately??? OH MY! For the space we were wanting to put in cupboards, I figured we’d spend around $500.00, but hopefully less. Little did I know! We chose the cheapest cabinets and by far the cheapest countertop and still ended up with a bill of $750.00 for a 54” space. CRAZY! It consisted of 4 total cabinets.

After a humbling trip to Menards we decided to just forget the cabinets. Instead I decided to paint and just buy a white table to put up. I also decided to do a chalkboard wall, which Joel wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea of. As much as I said it wouldn’t happen, my children have managed to write on almost EVERY single wall in my house. No matter how many coloring books they have (believe me there are probably 10 for each kid!), they’ve managed to get a wall. I decided why not let them have a wall in the house they can color on and NOT get in trouble?! Plus I figured if I inform them this is the ONLY wall they can color on, and if I catch them writing on any other walls they’ll be in trouble. It could work……

So I spent most of the day painting on Saturday. I’m pleased overall so far. We left one wall white after getting three of the walls painted. Of course it’s going to need a fresh coat of white paint because it’s a wall the kids have managed to mark up. Watch for pictures to come soon. That is if I ever make it back upstairs to blog again. Someone want to come organize for me?

Happy Birthday Dahrran

I’m a little behind on the blogging bandwagon, but that seems to always be the case around these parts! In an effort to be a better blogger,  I’m going to sit down a few nights a week and just blog.

We celebrated Dahrran’s birthday by having  a sleep over again this year. They seem to have a little more fun when they’re in their own surroundings. We did take them out to the farm again like last year, thankfully this year we didn’t come home covered in Mud like last year!

These boys will be friends for life! Dahrran had three of the four over last year, and has since added the fourth. They’re all great friends. Dahrran has had sleepovers with two of the boys as well. I love that he has a great group of friends already!

The kids have been asking for Nintendo DS’s for about a year now. They really started asking for them around Christmas. At the time we decided it was best if we didn’t have to buy 3 of them at one time. We decided birthdays would be best since they’re all spaced out. Poor Kaitlynn though will not get her’s until August!

And just a little walk down memory lane if you want! Birthday’s past.

Get your craft on!

Let’s just say I have a bit of craft envy going on. You see there are these blogs that I love to read. I dream. I dream of the one day making my house look as wonderful as theirs are.

You see there is just one problem. I’m not creative. Seriously not a creative bone in my body. (okay so I can sew, but really these ladies I’m about to showcase have tallent, serious tallent!)

One of the projects I actually have the nerve to try is this one, from Kindra. Except I’m using a large window that was given to me. I was so excited to find the Mirror Spray paint on Amazon so I could have it shipped instead of driving to Lincoln just for a can of paint. I’m sure I could’ve found it cheaper, but oh well. Not dragging everyone out was totally worth it for me!

Oh so cute!!!!!

I cannot say that I have anything in the works for this next example, but I would LOVE if I did. It’s so cute, and I wish someone would just make one for me! Shelley is so talented, and I LOVE her work!

(click on the picture for full directions!)

Another thing I’d love to do  is this makeover of my laundry room. Although it’s in the  basement, so it probably wouldn’t look as cute! :( Maybe our next house….a girl can dream right? If we did, I would totally do this project by Sausha, she has a way with furniture.

I TOTALLY want this for my laundry!

Show me your projects! I love all things that are a little bit not so “modern.”

Wow, it’s been awhile

Yes it’s true we’re still alive here in the Cast household.  We’ve been super busy with well, nothing really. Just life I guess.

For the last 6 months I’ve been working 3 part time jobs simultaneously. My house has gone to the wolves, and it was a fend for yourself kind of household. Within the last month I was recently let go from one of the jobs I love due to lack of funds. It didn’t really hit me how bad the economy is until then. But it’s been a blessing in disguise. I’ve had more time to work on the relationships that mean the most to me.

Since December Joel and I have been having a hard time being husband and wife. We even separated for a while to figure out who we each wanted to be, and to be sure that we still wanted to be with each other. Most people wouldn’t put this on their blog, but I feel why not. It happens all the time.

Thankfully we’re back on track to working things out, and back together. I wouldn’t recommend separation to everyone, but if you’re at your final straw why not try it for a while. It will either make you realize how much you truly NEED the other person in your life, or will just reiterate the facts that you’re better off apart. We’ve both done a lot of growing, and Joel has found his faith again through all of this.

So back to  blogging I’m a coming! Be ready, I’m going to be a better blogger…..you know now that I have a little more “free” time on my hands! :)

Did you miss us?

I’ve had my computer back for about a week now. Life has hit us with full force here lately, and I’m struggling to get back into the swing of things. I loved not having a computer. I hated not having a computer. (only because the same time the computer cord went bad, the Direct Tv box went bad) We were outside as a family, we played together, we talked. I loved it. But I have a job, online which requires me to blog, facebook and tweet. A job that I love, but after being away for so long, that takes time.

Just like blogging here. I love it, but lately I’ve gotten so lax it’s not even funny. I’m not sure what happened to me. Taking pictures has also taken a back seat. I used to download about 200 pictures a time every couple days, weeks at the most. The last 3 months I’ve downloaded about 200 pictures per MONTH! I feel HORRIBLE. I hate that I don’t have them there for my kids.

Since I realized that fact a little under a week ago, I’ve already got 200 pictures for the month. And I’m working on more. I’ve just decided I need to get my camera out more often. My kids need these memories. Just as much as I do. I need to get my mind off of things. Baby #4’s due date is fast approaching and it sucks every time I see someone who is hugely pregnant. Someday the wounds will heal but for now they’re fresh and open. Maybe getting past that date will just make it easier.

We’ve got a lot coming up in the next two weeks. Two weeks from tomorrow my step sister will make the biggest mistake of her life be getting married to a great guy! And we’ve got a lot to do between now and then! I just can’t believe it’s that soon already. This weekend is her bachelorette party, and we have some fun things planned.

If you’re still here thanks for reading. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. There are TONS of pictures to blog about!! Okay so you know that isn’t true if you really read this whole post. But there are lots of different things we’ve done that need blogging!

Signing on

Things have been quite heavy here lately, but such is life.

This blog was supposed to be about our life. But instead it's just become a "sometimes" place where I write. You see instead of documenting our life, I've been slacking! After watching the Movie "Julie & Julia" last night I realized I want to be a better blogger! I want to set a goal and stick to it.

Here's to me. Signing on to blog daily (or every other day it seems) this year. I want to have something I can turn into books and have our children go back on. I'm setting goals for weekly themes, and setting my sights high for things we NEED to do around here.

More fun, less grouchiness is my motto right now!

Goals for the year!
*Make & blog one recipe every week that is new. (with pictures of course)
*Make & blog one craft every week. (hopefully with video's as well!)
*Share the "real" life that goes on around here instead of JUST the happy times. (Guess I've been doing good about that the last few weeks)

That's it! Simple. Motivation!