Of course we couldn’t forget Wryder’s room! He’s officially moving upstairs AND into a toddler bed – Lord help us! Sawyer was in one at 18 months…but he sleeps a little wilder than she does. We haven’t made the switch just yet but we have a few months.
I mentioned in a previous post that I had bought him some John Deere curtains and I must say, I think they look adorable. Plus, hearing him yell, “Tractor!” every time he runs into his new room (and then hug them) makes them well worth it.
The famous curtainsView from the door
We kept the big bed in the room so that we can still use this as guest room as needed. He’s small and flexible enough that he can sleep anywhere else in the house when company comes.
Wryder’s side
Guest side
I didn’t know what I was going to think of this room with all we had to make fit but I think it turned out pretty cute. The fact that he loves it and that sister is SOOOOOO excited to have him as her “neighbor” is enough for me! I just don’t know how my little boy got so big…….
Sawyer got a little room upgrade, too. We moved in a piece of the kitchen and she’s been dying to have her own little table and chairs upstairs WITH a tablecloth. Done and done!
And the best part of her room?? The girl that sleeps there.
So today we worked in the toy room, which is now going to be Sayble’s room when she comes along (hopefully not anytime soon). We left the toy box and the bookshelves but added a few touches to make it a little more girly. I still have a little more work to do on the curtains (if my nesting energy prevails) but until then, here’s the {somewhat} finished product.
This changing pad cover was my inspiration for the room.
Cute, yes?
Wrex said it was a little gypsy…that made me like it even more!
Looking in from the door…
These hold all the good stuff…BOWS!SHOES!
I’m so excited about all of this pink that is returning to our home! Wryder hasn’t seemed to mind too much either…
Ok, so I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about it by now but that weather yesterday – killer, right?! I’m not sure how yesterday afternoon could have been any more perfect. I need to find someplace that’s 75-80 all year round, little wind and low humidity. Where, oh where, would that be, do ya know??
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Daddy had a really short sale yesterday so Sawyer went with him and as soon as Wryder woke up from nap, he and I headed straight back outside.
It’s nice to have one-on-one time with each kid from time to time. Wryder’s usually going 100 miles an hour and I’m usually attempting to keep him from hurting himself, his sister or just general mischief and outside time is so nice just to let him be a boy!
I’m coming to get you, mom!Look! There’s a kitty!So cute…There’s a kitty under here, too!
He’s a bundle of energy and joy and rough-and-tumble goodness! We washed about a pound and a half of dirt off of each kid last night come bath time…usually an indication of a good day.
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We’ve talked about how Wryder is moving upstairs so as part of that process, I’m getting his room all ready, just for him. I’m not real big into themey rooms (Mickey Mouse or Disney Princesses, etc.) but I caved the other day at WalMart and bought the boy a John Deere curtain.
I had been online looking and looking and looking for something I liked and hadn’t found a THING. Bleh. In the store, I wandered over to the bedding to find him a pillow case that matched his toddler bed comforter and I stumbled upon John Deere, uh, everything.
The curtain was the perfect color combo (with some good ole green thrown in) and I just couldn’t resist it. He was THRILLED! He held it in his lap for the rest of the shopping trip and proudly held it up and shouted, “TRACTOR!” to anyone who’d listen.
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The dresser upstairs is his new room needed a little face lift to look a little more boyish and a little less like this-used-to-be-mom-and-dad’s. I kept the frame the same off white color but made the drawers a little funky!
I had bought some wrapping paper in the dollar section of Michael’s the last time we were in Denver and with the new John Deere curtain *ahem* it was the perfect accent piece to tie everything together.
Wrex cut the strips to size, we mod podged them on and voila – “new” dresser!
To die for, yes?
I am soooooo in love how with how it turned out and I have a little bit of dresser envy…
Don’t mind the mess on top…
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Little man is down for the count right now. We got a surprise visit from Aunt Deb (whom he adores) over lunch and now he’s catching some zzzzzs before he’s up and at ’em again.
My word, the weather was B-E-A-UTIFUL today! 71 degrees in January, are you kidding me??! It was gorgeous!
We went to work with Wrexy today. Wryder went grocery shopping with me, Sawyer stayed at the barn with daddy and then we all met up again.
Learning from the best…
We watched cows sell for a little while and then the kids and I took advantage of the weather and hit the park. The kiddos had a ball and were covered in sand from head to toe.
Riding a squirrel? Chipmunk? What IS that thing??Wryder loved this yellow horse…Wheeeee!Going down together!BeautyCHEEEEESE!
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We got home, unloaded groceries and decided we STILL couldn’t drag ourselves indoors so we saddled up sweet Ozark and hit the road.
My evening view…
Old man looks really good these days. We are so thankful for all of the days we’ve had with him and we’re praying for more…
After supper, they weren’t quite done riding horses so Sawyer volunteered.
Ride a little pony…
It turned out to be more of a bucking bronc fest but it was good watching!
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I posted this picture of Sawyer on Facebook a day or so ago…
Fancy nancy
I love this girl’s style! She loves accessories and shoes and fancy dresses; she is all girl and I love it!
She went upstairs to grab some jammies tonight and brought down some beads for me to put on her, too.
🙂
Jewelry with pajamas?! Of course!
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With all of the nesting/cleaning/rearranging going on, Wrex and I decided that our room would officially be downstairs and the kids would each have a room upstairs. I always feel like our room gets neglected – does that happen to anyone else?? It’s the place we sleep and get dressed and other than that, we don’t spend much time there and I feel like it shows.
We used a little paint, bought a new bedspread, made some paper flowers, rearranged the room and voila – “new” bedroom! I’m really happy with how it turned out…Hoping to get lots of rest in there tonight. I feel whooped!
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It was just SUCH a good day. A REAL good day. And tomorrow…with 75 degrees as a high…I hope is even better.
Nesting has hit an all time high around here. We’re rearranging rooms and making plans and cleaning things out and organizing nooks and crannies and and and and…
I’ve been on Pinterest a bit more than usual lately. One, because the nesting just puts me in that creative mode and two, because at the end of the day, after all the nesting, I can’t move anything but my fingers. Kidding. Sorta.
Here are my latest and greatest Pinterest Picks!
Appropriate.How incredible is this cake? Swoon.I can see this happening to pink teddy in a few years…YES. Holy, not happy.I need this quilt for our room STAT. Isn’t that divine??EVERYTHING about this room is great but I love the little nook in the corner…What a FAB bag…How cute is this??Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.Who doesn’t need a gold metallic cow hide?
This poor thing has been neglected! I wish I had some deep, revelatory reason as to why…but I don’t. The Lord didn’t tell me to take a break…I didn’t take a sabbatical to make sure I was spending x amount of hours not on the computer and with the fam…I haven’t been suffering from writer’s block and there certainly hasn’t been a lack of happenings to talk about…I’ve just been absent. Shame on me!
Alas, I’m back! So let’s catch up!
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We had a fabulous Christmas break! My husband’s job affords him quite a few days off, so we had daddy around (all to ourselves, mind you) for two weeks! YIPPEE! We ate well, slept well, played lots of games, watched some fun shows, cuddled a lot, talked a lot – took full advantage of our time with him.
We were all dreadfully sad a little sad to see him go Monday morning but we all survived!
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I have been in MAJOR nesting mode. My poor husband.
The past two days, I’ve decluttered/deep cleaned our ENTIRE house! Six bags of trash and six bags of give away later, I’m feeling good! (Except for my feet, lower back and hip – but hey, it was worth it!) Now if it will all just say this way until baby comes……..
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Speaking of baby….we’re having a GIRL! Sawyer called it from the beginning and she was right again…and quite proud of herself. 🙂
Yay for Sayble Jean Phipps!
Sayble Jean Phipps is due May 1st and doesn’t seem to be near as active in utero has her siblings. 🙂
We are over the moon about having another sweet little princess. I’ve already ordered a few *ahem* hair bows. The selection of girly, frilly, adorable clothing, footwear and head wear is astounding. I’m already thinking I made need to order a new debit card so I won’t have the new number memorized like I do this one. Ay yi yi…
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We got to see a lot of family over Christmas break. We got together with all of Wrex’s family over Thanksgiving and snuck in some family pictures! How cute is this set of grandkids? I mean, I know I’m a little partial, but come on!
RaRa and the grand-girls…All the grands!
We met up with my family halfway in Kansas and spent the weekend together – soooo thankful for the time together! Sawyer was so excited to have another cousin to play with, hold hands with Gramps and swim at the motel pool, of course.
Cooking a feast!
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Other happenings (in no particular order, thank you pregnancy brain)…
I had four teeth pulled. Not my favorite experience, especially pregnant, but I survived…
We had a little New Year’s Eve party with Sawyer. We let her stay up until nine and then we watched last year’s ball drop on Youtube…
Fun fun!
I made Sawyer a set of Disney princess felt ornaments for the tree in her room. I LOVE how they turned out. I see more of these in my future…
Can you name them all?
We got to witness two beautiful unions in the past month. Sawyer and Wryder danced their little hearts out AND met Santa at the first wedding – how cool is that?
JOY!Sittin’ with Santa
I thought I was getting a stand mixer for Christmas and I got a handgun instead! (MUCH better, in my opinion!) We’ve been so busy and it’s been so cold, I’ve only shot ten rounds through it, but I’m excited to get more familiar with it and take my concealed to carry class…
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I’m sure there’s more to tell but that’s a good start, yes?
I love a good handmade, put-together costume. For her first halloween, Sawyer was a Chia Pet. We made a little pattern and glued a LOT of moss on it. It was highly original, albeit itchy.
Chia Pet (2 months)
The next year, my sister in law sent me an adorable idea for a peacock costume that she had seen online. I loved it so much we made it happen! We found peacock feathers at the floral shop, glued them to a belt, paired them with a tutu, dyed some tights and voila!
Peacock (1 year)
When she turned two, she was really into Dora the Explorer so we turned her into Dora!
Dora (2 years)We even had Map and Backpack!
Wrex and I even got in on the fun; he dressed up as Swiper the Fox and I went as Boots the Monkey. 🙂
The whole gang!
Last year, a friend of mine gave us the cutest little Indian papoose costume for Wryder so we went on the hunt for something matching for Sawyer. We found the main piece of her costume at the thrift store in Denver. We used some leather, ribbon and feathers from home to make her head piece. We gave her a few stripes of paint and some little braids and she was one cute Indian girl!
Indian (3 years)With brother (6 months)
This year, I wanted them to be able to be something together so we were trying to think of famous duos and Miss Piggy and Kermit the frog came to mind. I knew she would love all of the frilly, girliness of Miss Piggy so we went for it!
We made some felt ears and glued them to a head band, bought a pig nose on Amazon and a feather boa from the dollar store and paired that with some pink, fru-fru clothes and Miss Piggy was born!
For Wryder, we used sister’s green tights and a green hoodie to make the base of his costume. We cut a Styrofoam ball in half, painted on the eyes and glued them to the hood. We then made Kermie’s famous pointy collar, hands and feet out of green felt. Easy, peasey!
All in all, we spent less than $13 on both costumes – score!
Miss Piggy and Kermit
Seriously, are they not to-die-for adorable?! I really couldn’t get over how cute they looked!
My little Kermie (18 months)Cute toots
Our church hosts a harvest carnival every year so we put on all of our garb and headed to town. They played games and ate snacks and rode the horse and buggy until they were worn out!
Trying to win a bottle of pop!A little tic-tac-toe cheatingRiding the horse and buggy with our dear friend Jim
We’re not just uber Halloween fans nor do we (remotely) get into the dark side of the ‘holiday’ but I do love the innocence that can be found in dressing up and getting to be whimsical and downright silly.
We still proclaim the name of Jesus and worship (only) the one true God, but we do let our kids dress up and trick-or-treat. Dressing up in costumes doesn’t make us satanic evil-doers any more than wearing a suit to church makes you a follower of Jesus; it’s all about the heart, ya know?
For a TREMENDOUS read on a wise-woman’s opinions on Halloween, read this lovely little blog post. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
This year, the Phipps’ celebrated 60 years of wedded bliss! 60 years, people!
They made the choice in 1954 to love each other for better or for worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, never to divorce…and they’ve succeeded! I’m sure they’ve had hard times and disagreements and stressful months/days/years…but they made the choice to love each other regardless and stick it out for the long haul! We are so proud to be from this long line of love…
Wrex and I have actually attended two other 60th anniversary celebrations, one of which was Grandad Phipps’ brother. The Lord has put some incredible people in our path, it’s true…
We had the honor of decorating for the grand occasion and I regret to inform you that I didn’t get too many pictures. I left my good camera at home, my iPhone was full and in my nauseous state, we just tried to survive.
With that being said, I’ll share what few I do have!
We went with a neutral theme…lots of white, off-white, gold and a buttery yellow.
The happy couple – matching, no less!
My favorite part of the party was a display of Doug and Alice’s wedding ensembles. How incredible is that going away outfit?! Grandma was so tiny when she got married we barely got that thing on the mannequin!
We had pictures from their biggest anniversary milestones…
Through the years…
We had this little pretty at the entrance of the banquet room…
Really, they do…
and this right above the welcome table. That really puts it in perspective, doesn’t it?
By the numbers…
About a month before the party, I put together a list of questions to ask the Phipps’ and then called them up on several occasions to interview them. It was, honestly, one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do. There is sooooo much rich history there…stories we need to know! We laughed so much, it was almost unbearable!
Did you know Grandma left her wedding and went straight to the dentist to get a tooth pulled before their two week honeymoon?? The dentist did the work for free as a wedding gift, but Grandma told him he didn’t need to do that because she’d been waiting to marry a rich rancher so she could get her teeth fixed and she just had! HA!
I took the interview and turned it into 60 facts about 60 years. We printed them out and then (painstakingly) put them on a huge board to display at the party. We loved how it turned out and people really seemed to enjoy reading little tidbits about their life together.
60 Facts About 60 Years
There was cake and punch and a popcorn bar…boisterous conversations and laughter. They had such a great turnout; there were well over 100 people that came to hug them and bless them and celebrate with them!
Before we left, Grandad told us thank you for all we did and he said, “I hope you guys have 60 years, too.” And he didn’t say it in a “I hope you actually make it!” way…he said it like 60 years is worth it.We’ll make ya proud, Grandad…we promise!
****If I gather up more photos from the rest of the fam, I’ll be sure and share them as an update!****
Sawyer has been asking for a superhero birthday party for quite some time and while we didn’t make plans for a big, invite-the-entire-population-of-the-eastern-plains party, she wanted to hang out with the “Kruegers and they” so that’s exactly what we did!
A friend of mine had bought this CUTE cape-included shirt for her daughter and when I saw it, I knew Sawyer had to have it for her party; it served as the inspiration for everything else we did.
Super Sawyer!
We made her wrist bands out of felt and foam and attached them with velcro…
We made a little mask, but she mainly wore it as a headband (which I thought looked cuter anyways).
As I was taking pics of her, a special guest was getting ready in the mudroom…
She had NO idea and her face was priceless!
She loves her super daddy!
For the background of the party, we made a foam city scape, sprayed it black and then glued on foam squares to act as windows.
We had the big ‘S’ from a previous project so we added a cape and called it cute!
I hung some star adorned poms from the light fixture and did my best 5 minute free hand of the logo from her shirt…
threw some cute bunting and balloons on the stairs…
and added super Sawyer to the backdoor and called it good!
Sawyer doesn’t really get into cake I made an ice cream sandwich cake…which she also ate none of. She did think it looked cute – that’s half the battle right?!
We made some picks out of paper and foam and stuck them to the whipped cream topping on the cake and I must say I really, really like how it turned out!
We made a few cake pops, adorned with capes, obviously…
and had her favorite pink punch!I was really happy with how everything turned out for as quickly and cheaply as we put it all together. Most importantly, the birthday girl was stoked!
