A gardener I am not!

Thursday Thoughts

So I have come to the conclusion that I am NOT a gardener. I have big dreams of having a thriving garden with lush veggies and then canning all of our goodies but in reality this is not happening AGAIN. I have tried to grow a garden for 2 years now maybe even 3. My sister came over last night and was in my garden harvesting some of the veggies (if you could find them). Honestly I was a tad embarrassed because it is so OVERGROWN. I think that might not even be the right words for it. It looks like a jungle in there. I had mentioned to her my frustration about it and had said that it is just something else that I feel like I am failing at. I just can't get to everything. She basically told me to "lighten up" and quit being so hard on myself. I said to my husband I AM NOT SUPER WOMEN. He's so sweet-he said it doesn't matter if you can't get everything done you are still a super women to me (smile)!!

So I have decided to just poke fun at myself from now on. I think it is going to be the best way to approach this life. After all  this is Life 4 Real.

~Gwen

I am blessed

I have been struggling for the last couple of weeks, maybe even a month now with the way my life is going. It just seems like I have no control over anything. Maybe it is because this is the first time in my life that I do not have a job and I have been thrown into this stay at home mom role. Maybe it is because there are too many people living at our house. A friend of our lost is home and had no where to go so he is living here along with his son. His son is here every Tues, Thurs, and every other weekend. My father in law lives on our property, in a seperate dwelling, my mother in law and her husband live here right now in their RV for the summer. Maybe it is because our 'income property' that we bought (when I had a job) is taking a toll on all of us. It is draining our bank account and Doug's time away from us to get it finished and on the market to sell. Maybe it is because I feel this desire, and need to have everything be a little more simpler. Kind of like a Little House on the Prairie life.

I had mentioned to Doug the other day that I am drained from doing all the dishes and housework and taking care of the kids and cooking and everything that comes along with it. I said " I am NOT cut out for this home-maker job." He said something to me that honestly kind of surprised me. He told me that I should take pride in my job now, more than I did when I was actually working. I thought fooey on you!! Take pride in this. Be proud that my dishes are done, be proud that I cooked a meal. This is something that I HAVE to do EVERYDAY!!

So anyway, yesterday I talked with a girlfriend of mine for about an hour and she helped me figure somethings out. I need to sit back, take a look at everything around me. Find out what I can change and what I can't. I can't change the fact that the house needs to be cleaned so we just do it, we need to eat, we need clean clothes and so on, I can't change the fact that bills need to be paid so we just keep chugging along. I CAN change the way I look at everything around me. So last night as I was laying in bed I thought about my day yesterday and everything that I have been feeling lately and this is what I came up with.

I realized that I am very lucky and I mean VERY to have a home to take care of. Alot of people in our area are losing their houses. We are very fortunate to actually own 3 houses (1 is a rental, the other is our project house, and the house we live in). I am blessed to have all the in laws here because it gives my children the opportunity to see their grandparents everyday and I have to admit it is VERY nice when my mother in law comes over and helps me out when I need it. I am blessed to be able to be home with my children and to take care of my nieces because I get the opportunity to watch them grow. I am blessed that I have a husband that wants to work and wants to work hard to provide for us. I am blessed to have some great girlfriends that I can call when I need a reality check. I am blessed to have a fantastic sister that takes my children when I need a break. So from this day forward I am going to count my blessings and really really try to look at things with a different attitude and keep an open mind about things and try to find the good in every situation. Maybe this will bring me closer to the calm I am looking for, the peaceful, less stressed, simpler, Little House on the Prairie life that I am craving. Count your blessings!

Finally Friday

It is indeed finally Friday! The weekend is upon us-YEAH!! For my "finally Friday" I wanted to share with you my "finally" purchase. I love the look of these letters. You see them everywhere. I have always been on the look out for one. I have probably been eyeing them up for about a year now.  The W, for our last name, Wright. I didn't want one of those paper mache' kind. This is nice, sturdy, and the perfect size. Just want I wanted it to represent for our last name. The best part is I got it for a steal at Kohl's- $4.00 on clearance. You can't beat that. Now I just need to find the perfect accessories to go along with it. Maybe a nice family photo will do the trick.

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Today I am going to show you a glimpse into Life 4 Real-this is real life at our house. Right now I have 6 girls here and a boy. You would think that they could all find something to occupy themselves-NOPE. Hailey is crying because she got hit in the face, Morgan is crying because she can't find her ba-ba, Kendra is screaming because someone is in her way, Olivia is mad because no one will play with her, Bryce is hiding out because he doesn't want to be involved and Jordyn is crying because Hailey licked her Chess piece. REALLY can you say chaos. A bucnh of beads just fell down the stairs. The dryer buzzer just went off, I found a bill that was suppose to be paid on the 30th of June (oops) it is now almost the 30th of July. It is raining at our house so no one can go outside and play. The kids want to know what we are having for lunch--lunch? I haven't even thought about that yet. All I can do right now is walk back and forth debating on what I should do first.

Maybe I should start with this MOUNTAIN of dishes that need to be done. That way we can actually eat some lunch!!!

Please girls STOP SCREAMING I am coming!

It's a Whirlwind life

A post a week~that's pretty good for right now I think. I would love to be able to post everyday. Maybe when a thought hits me I will do just that. I am still deciding exactly what I want this to be. Project updates, life updates, maybe all of the above.

Today will be a life update just because I have no projects to show as of yet. There are a TON on my list to get done. Olivia's bedroom needs to be painted along with a desk for her and a new bed to be put in her room, new curtains etc. I still need to add some finishing touches to Hannah and Hailey's room. There is a hutch that I would like to repaint and add some wall paper to the doors, a craft room that needs to be reorganized. I have a ton of things that I need to take pictures of and get them on Craig's list. It seems the list goes on forever and right now I don't have the time or energy quiet honestly to get it all done. I am feeling a tad frustrated lately. Our house seems to be closing in on me. I NEED some re-organizing, prioritizing and some good storage solutions. Time to scourer the magazines and the Internet.

I wish I had some wonder women power to magically sweep through my house and get it and keep it clean at all times, the laundry would be done and put it away. The dishes would magically be washed, you get the idea. Actually at times I feel, really something like this...

Stairs I dream about

We live in an old farmhouse. We moved in here about 4-5 years ago. It was Doug's dad house. The house that Doug and his brother's lived in since high school. It still isn't finished. When we moved in it was really not in good shape. With 3 boys and a bachelor living here for all those years-you can imagine. It was dirty and run down. We came in and redid the kithchen-to a livable state at least, moved the bathroom, changed the living room, bedroom and den. The upstairs received 3 new bedrooms and a bathroom. I should say that the upstairs had no electricy. It was all run on old gas pipes through the walls. While everyone was living here the upstairs was NEVER used-only for storage. We totally gutted it and added rooms.

Now, after 4 1/2 years of being here you would think that things would be done already. Nope-there are rooms that still do not have trim on it, doors that do not have handles, a kitchen that desperatley needs a new floor and layout, I would love to have a dining room with an open kitchen concept and on and on.

And then there are the stairs-right now they are covered with carpet remnants, there is no banister, and the landing at the top has a make-shift 2x4 area with a old crib railing attached to it so the kids don't fall over the edge!! It is NOTHING like you would see in House Beautiful or Better Homes and Gardens. But this, this is what they will look like someday....

(Sarah's House/HGTV.CA)

I love that show and everything about it. I love the look of the beadboard down the stairs, the white of the banister, the painted risers, and the numbers are way to charming. Total farmhouse appeal for me!

New Chairs

Happy post 4th of July! So, my intention when I starting blogging was to be able to post everyday. If not everyday than at least every couple days. It has been almost a week-GEEZ! I need to get it together. I guess that is what happens when you have 4 girls you are chasing after everyday!

My oldest daughters (the twins-they are 8) wanted an updated bedroom. Something more "grown-up"--what 8 year old is a grown up? Anyway-we went to the paint store-they picked out a nice lilac. The picture on the paint card showed a bedroom with browns, tans and purple. "I can do this," I said. They wanted it to feel like a 'hotel'. So we are in the process of making their room feel like a hotel. Once I get it all done I will post a final picture. They needed to have a writing desk for each of them. Thanks to my sis she gave me one that they were no longer using and thanks to my FB friends I picked up another one for FREE!! FREE I say!! They are both painted a crisp white--now for some chairs.

This is what I started out with..... My hubby had gotten a bunch of metal folding chairs from his work. They were throwing them out so of course he HAD to take them. I thought, these will be perfect. Originally I wanted to get them some cute wooden, white chairs with some great fabric padding, but I need to work with what we have around the house. I spray painted them a nice lilac color. The paint I had stashed for a different project I was going to do about a year ago and then changed my mind. I covered the seats with a tan striped pillow case. One pillow case covered 2 chairs. I cut down the sides of the case and got out the trusty staple gun. Now, I was in the garage looking for MY staple gun-you know the old fashion kind that you need to put a TON of pressure on to get the staples to go in. It was no where to be found. Hubby had it at our house that we are remodeling. He ran to town and brought me back HIS!! Whoo-hoo an electric staple gun. LOVE IT!!! It made the job so fast. I will always be using that tool. He might have to go and buy a new one for himself.

Once I got the seats covered I reattahced them to the chairs. I thought they needed just a bit more so I used my CriCut and cut out a nice little fancy swirl for the back and a nice monogramed H for the front. I decoupaged them on (two coats) and finished!!

I have a matching flat sheet that will be getting used for their headboard. I will be using an old door from our house in town to be making this!!