i struggle with my stairs--just sayin'

i must have spent 30 minutes cleaning 14 stairs today.  between the cat hair, my hair, and general dust bunnies i could have ripped every other hair that hadn't already fallen out and attached itself to our burgundy carpet runner on our stairs.

i swear i am going to rip that mess up before the end of the summer...just sayin'.

i've had in my mind for over a year now that i wanted to do this, but just haven't done it because i just don't know what's under there.

well, if i get around to it this summer, i will certainly post pictures.

Cameron's "new" room

I've been wanting to rearrange Cam's room since we got her "big girl bed" but I just haven't gotten around to it.

The best part about this transformation is I did not spend a single dime!  I just found stuff around the house and utilized what I had!

In this progress I definitely wanted to incorporate a 'reading nook' in the closet.  I've been dying to do that in one of the kids rooms for awhile...I think i even blogged about it.  The one I created today is no where near as fancy as the pictures I posted of the reading nook closets I found online and in magazines, but it certainly didn't cost me as much either!

Here are the befores...

Yeah, we're THAT messy.  Well, I should clarify, the GIRLS in this family are THAT MESSY!

and the afters...

drum roll for the closet reading nook please...

yay!

EOY Gifts

So, I didn't get to clutches as I mentioned I was going to try to do earlier.  I am really happy with what we ended up giving L's support staff though. 

We put together "Time to Relax" bags for his teachers, therapists and aides.  Luckily Target had beach bags on sale for $5 a piece.  I then headed over to the travel section to pick up some summery items and finally swung through and got nail polish, toe separators, and a face mask for a nice pampering effect.  When I got home I used the Sharpie paint pens I had left over from L's bday party and put the last name initial of each support staff member on the clear part of the beach bag.

We wanted to give Ms. Darnell, L's assistant an extra special gift and I found this perfect necklace.

While I was at my fav store good ole Tar-jay I picked up some additional relaxation gifts for our amazing secretaries at Henley.  These ladies have taken such good care of me during my transition to Henley.  I wrote on each of their bags, "You've taken care of us all year, now it's time to relax."  I got them a freezable tumbler--and yes, I hope they put something they can't drink at school in there in the evenings and on the weekends! and a beach towel.  I'm sure they still have plenty of work to do this summer, but at least we are out of their hair!  I adore these ladies and can't wait to see them again in August!

An Orange Party

If it wasn't orange, we didn't have it!

L's favorite color is orange and that is the theme he chose this year for his 7th birthday party.  I spent months planning and, of course, there were things I forgot or didn't get to, but all in all, I was pleased.

Menu~

• Buffalo Chicken Tenders
• Pizza Bites with Orange shredded Cheese
• Mac n Cheese
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Carrots and Orange Peppers with Orange Ranch Dressing (I just added food coloring to the salad dressing to make it orange)

• Cheese Balls
• Tortilla Chips with Queso Dip
• Cheezits
• Mandarin Orange and Pineapple Fruit Salad
• Cupcakes with Orange Icing
• Carrot Cake
• Orange Sherbet
• Orange Gummy Bears
• Orange Tic Tacs
• Orange Slices (candy)

• Orange Gatorade
• Orange Juice Boxes
• Orange Water (I just put food coloring in the drinking water)
• Orange Soda (regular and diet)

Activities~

• Photo Booth with props where guests could send a birthday message to L via a photo

the following series of pictures shows how i changed some Dollar Tree fake mustaches into ORANGE fake mustaches for props...

these didn't get much use as the photo booth wasn't as popular as i had hoped, but i made these signs out of colored pencils and paper plates for folks to hold up as they took pictures...

• Interior Design Center where guests designed a lampshade, pillowcases, and sheets for L's new orange bedroom (tutorial to follow)
• Nail Salon where guests could paint their names in a variety of orange hues

• Orange Toss Game where guests tossed artificial oranges from bucket to bucket
• Gone Fishin' for Goldfish where guests used nets to scoop as many orange plastic goldfish as they could
• Ping Pong Squirter Race where guests used pool squirters to move ping pong balls from one orange hula hoop to another down the yard
• L's brand new bounce n slide courtesy of his grandparents
• Jewelry Store where guest could make friendship bracelets using a variety of orange thread and/or hemp and orange button bracelets

Favors~

Each youngster received an orange personalized BPA-free tumbler.  The boys' names were written in orange using a Sharpie brand paint pen and the girls' names were written in pink using the same kind of pen.  I wrote the names on the top as well as on the outside wall.  The boys also received super fly orange shutter shades and the girls got orange nail polish in addition to the tumbler.