A MEGA SIZED Craft for Under $100

I have been busy re-doing my entire home office. I've painted all of my furniture and I can't wait to show it to you, but first is this huge, but simple, craft project. 

I knew I wanted a Union Jack in my office, since it's sort of British themed (more on that in another post) office. I ordered this gigantic flag - it's five feet by eight feet. Originally I was just going to put it on the wall and call it a day but then I had a great idea.

Thankfully, I have a great husband to go along with my great idea, and while I was painting furniture, he made me this:

It's a GIANT cork board. 

And I LOVE it. It's exactly what I wanted. 

Here's how to do it:

Supplies:

1 sheet of MDF cut to size (mine was 4*8')

12*12" square pieces of cork purchased 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby (get the kind that come with adhesive backing)

1 flag

Six 1/4" by 3" lag screws

Duck tape 

Staple gun

Directions:

First, adhere the cork boards to the MDF. Wrap the flag around it, making sure it's centered and tack in place using duck tape. Once you have the flag where you want it, tape it to the board, then shoot the staples through the tape to keep the flag from tearing. Screw board into wall studs (it's heavy!). We put a screw through each corner and 2 in the center (see above picture).

For less than $100 I have a useable piece of art that fills up my wall! Big impression, small investment! Win-Win!

First Day of Kindergarten & Pre-K!

I can't believe I'm writing this, but I have a kindergartener. 

How did this happen?!

I used to think people just said that "it goes by in the blink of an eye" to be cute, but it turns out they're telling the truth. It really does fly by. 

Last Thursday was Brayden's very first day of elementary school. His first, first day you might say. I've been crying all week at the last first day pictures on Facebook of friends who are sending their seniors off to school, so I'm grateful that this was just our "first, first" day.

Even the kindergarteners at our school get dropped off and picked up via car line. On Brayden's second day, he was escorted to class by three senior girls (we walked him in on his first day). Needless to say, he loves carline.


Brody also started school - Pre-K! We love that he has Brayden's pre-k teacher. She is so nice and really loves our kids.

Brody took a spill on his bike the night before his first day of school, hence the scratch on his face.

And here are both boys on Brody's first and Brayden's second day of school:

I'm so glad that they both love going to school. Brayden is ridiculously excited over getting homework. Do all kindergarteners get homework? Is that a common thing now? It seems like when I was a kid we didn't really get homework until the second or third grade.

We are looking forward to an exciting year!

A Fancy Night Out & Telling Our Kids We're Going Back to Disney!

This weekend was pretty eventful for us. We started out by going to the Arkansas Children's Hospital gala. We enjoy going every year and this year was no exception!

Each year they have a specific color you're supposed to wear. Last year it was tangerine, and this year it was turquoise. I looked high and low for a cute turquoise dress. I ordered several and sent them all back. Finally I gave up and purchased this black dress and accessorized with a turquoise necklace. Next years color is white, which will hopefully be a little easier to find!

The next day, we decided to tell our kids we are going back to Disney World!

A friend of ours made a video of Chris and I talking about what we have coming up for this year, and how we wanted to take a trip but we just don't have time. Eventually, as we're talking, Disney characters would pop up on the screen and wave at the kids. Finally, we both yelled, "We're going to Disney World!" and then the video cuts to the Disney World promo material. He did a great job making it for us!

We have two excited kids!

We're staying onsite this year, so I pulled up the Animal Kingdom Lodge so that they could see the hotel. We picked that one because of the view we will have from our room of all the safari animals. We also get to take part in the free dining this year and I showed the kids videos of the new restaurants we are trying out this trip!

Is it November yet?!

What Can You Tell Me About Mexico?!

The title says it all, but specifically we're looking at the Mayan Riviera. We've never been and are seriously considering taking a trip for our 10 year anniversary (which is not this October, but next). 

Image Source

Here's what we think we want:

• Beach front property
• All inclusive resort with lots of restaurant options
• A infinity pool or jacuzzi on the terrace (it looks like a lot of the all inclusive resorts have this as an option)
• Close to activities (like zip-lining, ATVing, etc)

We want this to be a really nice trip for the two of us. We've looked at a LOT of places and found some that really interest us like El Dorado Casitas, Secrets Maroma Beach and Excellence Riviera Cancun. 

If you've stayed at any of these and have feedback on them, or if you have another resort to suggest, please let me know in the comments! If you've been and have some activities suggestions or things we should stay away from, let me know that too! 

Pirate's Paradise: My Boy's New Bunk Room

For about the last year, my kids have been begging to share a room. We finally decided it was time to go for it, and we picked a pirate theme, since they LOVE all things pirate related!

We actually had this bunk bed already (long story) so we decided to use it. We draped decorative fishing netting on the end of it. 

I ordered their bedding and drapes from Target because it was both cute and affordable!

Here's a closeup of the bedding:

We hit up Hobby Lobby on Saturday and scored all of our little knick knacks and frames for half off (including the netting!). 

 See these maps I have around the room? They were FREE. I customized park maps of all the Disney parks online and they mailed them to me free of charge.

And finally, this is their little play area:

They absolutely LOVE their new room and are having the best time sharing it. I know that sooner than later they will want their own space back, but this will be so fun while it lasts, and I'm sure they'll cherish these memories as they grow older!