Coffee Table Makeover

While I was visiting my parents last week, my Mom and I always make a trip to her Goodwill to see what finds we can score. Her Goodwill always has the best home decor items as well as furniture, and when I saw this coffee table, I immediately saw its potential. Not a bad find for $15!

Before: Hallie and I worked so hard to scrape that felt off the top of the table. I bet you can guess what color I painted it. I seem to have a fetish with painting things black lately.

After: the Pottery Barn candlesticks (yes, someone donated a Pottery Barn item to Goodwill... I'm thinking they're crazy too!) are also a find from my Mom's Goodwill and I spray painted them silver to match the decor in our living room. Someday when we're sick of the table, we'll add some molding around the edge of the top of the table and reuse it in a toy room or the kids' room as a train table. So many purposes, but for now I love it in this room.

A Mini Vacation of Our Own

While Cam was in Utah for his sister's wedding, the girls and I drove to MI to visit Grandma and Papa Drake and Uncle Ryan and Aunt Stacey which was so fun.


The girls spent a lot of time playing air hockey with Stacey and Ryan and we took the kids to an awesome indoor water park which was a blast. It was so much more fun spending the week with G&G than at home alone.


The park had a lazy river that you could float down in tubes. That was Sydnee's favorite part until she discovered the "toddler section" of the pool.



Hallie did a great job swimming around everywhere. Her favorite thing to do was jump off the edge of the pool into Grandma's arms.

This was Sydnee's favorite thing to do... not neccessarily Mommy's favorite thing, but that's okay. I was just as worn out as the girls were at the end of the day. Our admission fee got us all free pizza, pop, and cake so we enjoyed that after hours of swimming before heading home.

During the week the girls enjoyed pestering Abby (G&G's dog), playing board games, playing with Grandma's dollhouse, and going on walks every day with Papa.

A Wedding to Celebrate

Last week Cam flew to Utah to attend his sister, Katherine's wedding in the same temple we were sealed in. She married Justin Hansen, which brings our total to two Uncle Justin's on top of our already two Uncle Ryan's in our family. Yes, very confusing! He really enjoyed spending time with his family and did a stellar job taking pictures! She looked so beautiful, the girls and I wish we could have been there, but we were there in spirit. Congratulations Justin and Katherine!

Their reception turned out beautiful, Kath did a great job planning it all.







While there, Cam got to meet and spend some quality time with our first (and only) nephew, Rock. So jealous, isn't he such a cute chubba-bubba!? I just want to squeeze him! I love this picture of them, what a proud uncle.

Rock looks like such a stud in his little suit and tie. Here he is with his Mommy, Nicole.

They also got to attend the temple with Aaron before he leaves for Tokyo, Japan on his mission in a couple months. What a handsome pre-me missionary.

You've Been Leprechauned!

For FHE last night, we talked about the legend behind St. Patrick's Day and then we put together a couple bags of green goodies for some friends of ours and their kids. The girls decorated the bags then filled them with silly bandz, bubbles and candy.

Hallie's testing the green rice krispie treats... looks like they're good enough to give away. I just noticed that Hallie's shirt is sporting the WRONG holiday... oh well!

Then it was on to the fun part of letting people know they've been "Leprechauned!"

We doorbell ditched the Routsong family first and Sydnee got to be the one to leave the bag on the porch then knock on the door. I picked her up and we bolted for the car, as Sydnee yelled, "I want to stay and play with Cooper!!" She didn't really get why we were running instead of waiting for them to answer the door. Although we didn't get to stay behind and see the kids' reactions since they don't have any landscaping yet to hide behind, we were able to at the next house we went to which was our neighbors. Hallie and I ran around to the side of their house and watched Rose answer the door with excitement! Hallie was a pretty good doorbell ditcher, we had fun being leprechauns for the night.

Multi-purpose Use for Scotch Tape

What do you do when you're bored with the cold, bored with the snow and just bored with being cooped up inside all day all winter long? The solution is so simple! Find a new use for scotch tape... we did.


BTW, this week it's supposed to be sunny and 40s and the last pile of snow has officially melted. You know what that means... bundle up with gloves and a hat, we're goin' outside to soak it in!

The Girls' Favorite Toy

The girls love Cam's ipod Touch and use it almost more than he does to play games and watch movies on Netflix. Hallie insists that she needs one for Christmas... I don't know about that. Syd's not much of a morning person... can you tell? Everything about her face says, "Leave me alone" in the most loving way :)

Daddy's Night at School

Hallie's school hosted a Daddy's night where just Dad got to go have ice cream and do a craft with Hallie in her classroom. They read a story about monster's and how they are just a part of our imagination, and afterward they got to make their own monsters.


The kids ended the night with a song and dance for the Dad's. Hallie was so excited that she got to have that special time with Dad. Cam forgot to take a picture of him and Hallie together, they must have been having way to much fun.