Accent Walls and Textured Paint

As part of our Master Bedroom painting project, we decided our room needed a little umph. Our room gets very little natural light so if we were to paint it a color darker than its antique white it would look like a cave, and not in a good way. So, we decided to paint just the wall behind our bed. I had been campaigning for textured wallpaper, but Chris didn't want to deal with wallpaper so textured paint won. We went with  Valspar brushed suede paint from Lowe's. It was the right blend of color and subtle texture.

The instructions had you roll on the first coat and brush on the second coat. Chris rolled the first coat and it went on FUNKY. It had spotty coverage and you could see every spot of the roller made as you can see in the picture below. We considered painting another coat on, but decided to follow the directions exactly. No, it wasn't the way Chris rolled it because I intently watched it and it was all paint.

To paint the second coat, the directions instructed us to use a 4 inch brush and brush in a combination of short and long X's. The second coat went on so much better! In the picture below, the paint is really wet so it didn't dry with that much texture but it gives an idea of what it looked like.

The end result is awesome! The paint had a type of grit in it which left a physical texture in addition to the textured look.

So here is the before...

and after!

Our First Bedroom Painting Project

As part of our DIY projects, we decided to paint our bedroom. This was the first time that we painted the room where we slept. With our previous painting projects, we have been able to retreat to our room from our painting. This was the first time where we couldn't retreat from the mess. As with any new project, we learned new stuff about each other like when you have to move the bed away from the wall and 6 inches to the right to paint the ceiling, it could drive one of us a tad nuts. :-) Its never dull in our house.

Here are some before pictures.

We repainted three walls and the ceiling with the same color, Antique White. We still had original builders grade paint so we went with a higher grade paint for better durability. We did quite a bit of painting in the evening so the lighting for these pictures is rough.

Yes, we did leave the pictures up on the accent wall until we could decide on the exact color. For the wall behind our bed we chose to do an accent wall with textured paint which I will show in more detail later.

Finally done with the walls and ceiling! And what kind of parents would we be if we didn't show our cute "helpers"

Derekisms

Its about time for another round of Derekisms. Derek never ceases to make us laugh with what he comes up with and we like to share our amusement so here goes.

Conversation 1: Derek upon entering our room early one morning.

Derek: Daddy, I growed so much my bed is too short. 
Chris: Derek, you have a full size bed. I highly doubt you outgrew it overnight.

Conversation 2: Derek's reaction to finding out that we were going out to dinner that night.

Derek: Daddy, this place is stinky-pee-you-e
Chris: They have chips and salsa
Derek: Ok. We can go in now.

Conversation 3: Derek walking into our bathroom one morning

Derek: Daddy, you cough.

Chris: Yes I did, Derek.

Derek: You have to cover your mouth when you cough even in the shower.

Conversation 4: Derek after waking up from a very long nap

Megan: Hey bud. Are you awake?

Derek: Mommy, you have pretty brown eyes. I have blue eyes.

Conversation 5: Derek upon seeing a van with a Christmas tree on top

Megan: Derek, what does that van have on its roof?

Derek: Why do they have a tree on their top? Christmas trees come from the aggic [attic] and then we put decorations on them.

Conversation 6: Derek at breakfast

Chris: Eat your breakfast

Derek: I have to stir the cheerios until they are dizzy before I can eat them.

We don't make this stuff up folks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

http://pinterest.com/pin/15410823694693581/

Car Wash

**The diy-a-thon continues. We will have lots to update you on early next week. Until then enjoy the cuteness of the kiddos.

Last week, when the weather was actually warm, the boys washed the cars. Derek was THRILLED to wear his bathing suit and play in water again.

Operation Christmas Child

**As an update to our diy-a-thon, we have finished most of our bedroom projects. Today starts laundry room projects with electrical. Things haven't moved as quickly as we had planned, they never do, but we are happy with the progress so far and not too far off track.

Our church was participating in Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child. This ministry receives packed shoeboxes full of toys, toiletries, and other fun items for needy boys and girls around the world. As a family we packed a shoebox for a little boy who was roughly Derek's age. The kids and I went to the store and picked out presents that this little boy would like. There are no pictures because wrestling 2 kids through the toy aisle was enough of a workout.

The night we packed our shoebox, Derek put in the shoe box all the goodies from the store.

And since I forgot to include the shipping costs and tape on the label, I did it the Saturday night before we needed to turn them in at church. :-) What? You thought I had it together? Ha!

This was from a friend's Facebook post showing all the boxes on stage this past Sunday. Some of the rows are even double stacked! I am so glad that we are able to be a blessing and show the love of Christ to kids around the world.

Reading Time

Currently we are working on various house projects during our DIY-a-thon. We will update with all kinds of projects that we have done once we finish them all. :-) In the meantime, you can enjoy so pictures of our kids doing what they do best.

Brooke enjoying some quiet time reading a few books. I am so thankful our kids like to "read" by themselves as well as have stories read to them.

Zephaniah 3:17

Bedroom Updates

Since Chris had some extra time he needed to take off for work, so he decided to take several days off and I decided to fill it with projects. :-) And yes, the project plan has time allotted for golf.

So, before we decided that the master bedroom projects made the DIY-a-thon, we decided to hang some pictures that we driving me nuts sitting in a pile on the bookcase. So, without further ado...the picture collage and the cutest little helper.

And also before pictures, because like I mentioned we will be working on the master bedroom doing some painting and such so this is more to a baseline for before and after photos.

Family Time

We decided to make a quick trip to the mall at Short Pump. Both kids really enjoyed playing in the train station while waiting for the train to arrive. They both LOVE the train! Once the train arrived, Megan took took the kids for a ride and they had a blast.

Thankful Board

We have made a conscious effort with the kids during the month of November to talk about things that we are thankful for. I've seen friends post daily on Facebook about things they are thankful for and while that's great we have been working on it as a family. During our family meal, whether it is breakfast or dinner depending on Chris' schedule, we talk about things we are thankful for and write them down.

Last year, I made this thankful board out of a piece of foam board, some little coin envelopes, and some left over scrapbook paper. 

Last night when I asked Derek what he was thankful for he told me "Gee-Gee and her Chick-o-lay nuggets". Well, I know what they had for lunch at Mimi's house yesterday. :-)

At the end of the month we will go through and read them together, but I may leave them in the pockets to read next November.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

You don't have to be around Derek long to know that he loves planes, trains, and automobiles. He loves this busy book that Gee-Gee got him for his birthday with little Thomas trains and Harold the helicopter. He also has a Cars2 busy books as well that he loves to play with as well. They usually comes out during Brooke's nap since it has little pieces.