Redecorating Befores and Afters

As previously mentioned, we have been undergoing a rather large re-decorating/organizing project the past few weeks and in response to those who have expressed interest in seeing befores and afters, here are some pics. There are still some pictures to be hung and touch-ups/refinishings to do, but this will give you the general idea.

Front entry (after -- I don't have a before, but we just painted the door white and the walls beige, Shaker Beige to be exact. I love that color -- the picture doesn't do it justice.)

Study (before) -- to the left as you enter the door (supposed to be the dining room, but we needed to use the study as a toy room and so we turned this into the study).

Study (after) -- I never realized that red paint requires so many layers!

Living Room (before) -- and no, the Veggie Tales DVD is no longer one of the accessories we are using in the room.

Living Room (after)

Family Room 1 (before)

Family Room 2 (before)

Family Room 1 (after)

Family Room 2 (after)

Wet Bar (before) -- sorry for the mess! This space thoroughly puzzled me before (many Texas homes have these wet bars, but we haven't really had a use for it). I've been wanting to rip it out and make it a closet or lockers for the kids stuff, but my mom had a more economical solution for how to make it work as it is.

Breakfast bar (after). We brought our bar stools down from the attic and the girls have loved using it as a breakfast/homework/coloring space.

Breakfast nook (before) -- please excuse the laundry and garbage bag.

Breakfast nook (after) -- we were able to find a few of the accessories (like the old-fashioned washboard) at a local consignment store.

Kitchen (before)

Kitchen (after)

My Mom

I love this picture of my mom as a little girl! I think it shows her spunk (similar to the kind of spunk shown by Jane, her namesake)

I just had to post something about my wonderful mom -- the most amazing woman I know! Not only is she endlessly loving, faithful, and selfless, she is also brilliant, tenacious, and determined. Once she puts her mind to something she does it and to an extraordinary degree. She is a woman of amazing vision and would go to any lengths to help any of her seven children. She is one of my dearest friends.

My mom is extremely capable. She works miracles. In December, she directed a resoundingly successful production of Scrooge -- as in the musical! -- using the autistic kids she works with (many of whom have difficulty speaking) as the actors -- something people at the school and the parents of the children themselves never believed could happen. This month she put everything on hold to come visit for 10 days to help us fix up our house (she's something of an organizational genious). Armed with books with titles like "Use What You Have Decorating" and paint samples, she helped me transform our house into something that feels more like home. She should seriously work for a show like Design on a Dime! It has given me such a lift and was such a fun project for us to work on together (even though we were working non-stop)!

I'm grateful to have such a mother and cheerleader! Below is a poem I wrote for her last Christmas.

SHE

In answer to a child's prayer

She enters, sits, to comfort there

And sings a lullaby to soothe.

The fears of darkness soon remove

Into a forgotten place.

A teenage girl with hurting heart

Feeling shunned, alone, apart

Shares her pain in running tears.

She listens with a loving ear

And a safe embrace.

In hopes to help a girl achieve

A dream in which she scarce believes,

She works late into the night

To paint the girl's name in flashing lights

To help her win the race.

Once a smiling beauty queen,

She's sacrificed all it seems

To a world who doesn't know

How much it takes to grow

A home that is a sacred space.

Her pure faith and wisdom guide

Each son and daughter sorely tried.

She comforts, counsels, prays, and yearns

And slowly each one grows and learns

From her loving grace.

Return to Blogging

I wish that I could say that my cyber-silence of the past month or so was due to something important like my being busy writing the next great American novel or being engaged in the saving of the planet, but, alas, we've just been plain busy around here and blogging has been one of those things that has gone by the wayside. I know how disappointed I am when I repeatedly check friends' blogs for updates and there aren't any :), so this is an attempt to assuage anyone's disappointment in not hearing the latest and greatest from the McLaughlins.

We had a very nice Christmas here at home with the girls. Mark's sister and her family recently moved nearby and it was fun to spend time with them. Then we enjoyed spending time with Mark's parents when they came into town a week later. Mark enjoyed going to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to see the Utes (still a true blue BYU fan, though) with his Dad, brother-in-law, and nephew, and we both enjoyed an overnight get-away in downtown Houston (thanks to the McLaughlins for watching the girls!).

Poor Mark has been working long hours (we live for our weekends around here!), but fortunately, he is loving his job. We've been trying to get back into a routine since the holidays (it seems to have taken longer this year) and the girls have been fighting off minor ailments. I am finally done with this year's round of graduate school application essay reviews which has kept me quite busy and we loved having my mom visit for 10 days to help us get our house in better shape (she's a genius, but more about that later). Hopefully my dad can come next time!

This past weekend we had a great visit with my sister Jennifer and her kids who drove down from Dallas. The kids had so much fun making a fort on the back patio with old furniture boxes and did a great job of even letting the "little kids" help decorate them. I enjoyed introducing Jennifer to the wonders of IKEA.

The girls are as busy and imaginative as ever. Tonight Millie fashioned herself an "apron" out of a ribbon and undershirt (I know, very interesting combination) and wore it over her nightgown because she wanted to be Abby's servant (we have very plebian tastes here -- don't seem to aim too high). She relished putting toothpaste on Abby's toothbrush for her, helping her on with her nightgown, etc. This, of course, suited Abby just fine since she is more than willing to let anyone do anything for her -- especially chores and the like. Jane is growing and is beginning to exhibit a few of the typical terrible two behaviors and an iron will. Good thing she's so darn cute!

The girls on Christmas morning.

Millie with her Felicity doll. She especially loved her panda bear and stuffed pony from Grandma. It was cute, before talking to each set of grandparents she double-checked to make sure she was straight with what each had given her so that she could thank them.

Abby with her Nellie doll. Abby is so precious with this doll. She takes such great care of her, puts her down for naps, "feeds" her, and changes her into her nightgown every night before putting her down in the doll cradle. She's such a nurturing little soul!

On Christmas Eve, as we were trying to have a spiritual family devotional, Mark asked, "Who knows what the Christmas tree is for?" Abby replied, "For putting presents under!"

Jane loved her new kitchen and has been "cooking" ever since.

Jane and Grandma McLaughlin at the zoo.

Watching the giraffes with the Craner cousins.

With the Craner cousins at the zoo.

Having a picnic in the fort with the Oldroyd cousins.

Abby's self-portrait at playgroup today.

'Tis the Season for . . .

Trimming the tree
Untrimming the tree . . .

Making Christmas goodies (and eating plenty along the way) . . .Making gingerbread men . . .

Making Christmas cut-out sugar cookies . . .

Christmas class parties . . .

(Abby wearing her pajamas to school and loved making her Santa mask)

Millie with her beloved first-grade teacher.


"Tis the season of Christmas, of course, and I am desperately trying to make it feel like such. Of course, this is hard to do if the weather happens to be 75 degrees and the air sticky with humidity, which it was last week. I am, therefore, grateful for the colder temperatures we've been experiencing the last few days. I can only hope they will last. I know I'm a little batty in this regard, but for Christmas, I like it to be cold! There is just something so un-Christmasy to me about warm weather in December. We have had some fun, though, getting in the spirit of things.

The Joys of Giving . . . Getting?

Tonight for FHE we drew names as a family and went to Wal-Mart so that each person could pick out small gifts for each other and hence, learn more fully the joy of giving rather than merely getting. Millie and I went off together to pick out gifts for Daddy and Abby. Daddy, Abby, and Jane went to pick out gifts for Millie, Jane, and Mommy. We made a big deal about picking out something that the other person would like and keeping it a surprise.

For the first 1o minutes we managed to keep the two groups apart (only occasionally passing each other in the toy aisles). Millie desperately wanted to get Abby a large My Little Pony stuffed baby (one of the ugliest toys I've ever seen) that she desperately wanted and Abby had picked out a game that she longed for to give to Millie. Jane just tripped up and down the isle pointing out any and all Barbie items (she is obsessed!). After that, somehow the two groups merged into one and the girls began an excited campaign to convince each other what to get for them, hence no more focus on giving and no more element of surprise (aside from Jane who, I believe, will still be surprised when she opens her Magnadoodle on Christmas morning). It was in this moment that the whole FHE experience fell flat and we entered the world of gift-getting frenzy. Even though we made each of them carry the gifts they were giving to the checkout counter, they spent the whole ride home talking about what they were getting and wanting to play with it when they got home. Hopefully, we'll have better luck next year.

Recent Millie-isms: While making gingerbread cookies: "How did you even make this dough? It's terribly good!!"

Pointing to the Catholic church accross the street from our church building: "I know that church. It's the Cadillac church."

Coming in from church: Millie: Mommy, can I help you with anything? Mommy: Thanks, Millie! That's so nice!
Millie: That's what Christmas is all about! (matter-of-factly)

Jane-isms (or should I say Queen Jane-isms? She's going through a commanding phase these days):

While listening to Christmas music on the radio in the car:
Jane: "Momma! I want "Anise Dabidab!"
Mommy: "What?"
Jane (louder and more demanding): "I want "Anise Dabidab!!!"
Mommy finally realized that she is referring to "Feliz Navidad", but can't quite get her to understand that Mommy cannot control what they play on the radio.

Jane Turns 2!

I remember the excitement of throwing Millie a party for her 2nd birthday. When Abby turned 2 we had a fun family celebration with a special dinner and decorations. This year for Jane's 2nd birthday, Jane was lucky to get sprinkles on the ice cream in her waffle bowl after a dinner of leftovers (granted, it was the week before Mark got home). Poor Jane! But what we lacked in pomp, we hopefully made up with in love and attention. She loved the light-up birthday tiara (couldn't for the life of me find an ordinary birthday crown at Wal-Mart) and opening her presents.

Jane is such a delight -- full of personality and determination. She was the earliest walker of the bunch (10 months) and moved quickly from walking to running. She amazingly agile and resilient (she picks herself up after she falls saying, "I okay!"). She is also full of mischief and has a twinkling, mischievous look whenever she is doing something she knows she's not supposed to do and is waiting to get caught. She has a ready smile and a willing hug. She'll often pause what she is doing to come and give me a hug, say "Hi Mama!" and then run to resume her activity (heart-melting!).

I love when I ask her to give me a kiss on the cheek and point to my cheek, she leans in and gives me a kiss and then she says, “Other cheek” and I turn my other cheek for her to do the same thing.

Jane is a real ham and most of the time gets silly when she is the center of attention. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head and makes funny noises. Another funny thing she's started doing after brushing her teeth at night is saying, “’pit, ‘pit!” and makes a spitting sound over the sink. She has seen her sisters spit out their toothpaste and so she wants to do it, too.

Lately her greatest love has been Barbie movies. This is hilarious since she has no interest in any other TV, but almost every morning she wakes up and says, “Wanna watch Diamond Castle!”. She knows all of the songs word-for-word, and loves to dance to the music (apparently she watched it every day while Mommy was visiting Daddy in NYC). When Mark came home he brought her a Diamond Castle Barbie that plays music from the movie when you press her hand (this is the toy that I take off the shelf each time we go to Wal-Mart to keep her occupied and which, of course, she screams for every time when I leave it in the store)
and she looked like she had died and gone to heaven. After continually hearing the songs belting from the Barbie's belly for the past week, we are all wishing Diamond Castle Barbie herself would die and go to heaven.

Jane adores her big sisters and they adore her. They are both content to have just her for a playmate because she is ready and willing to do anything they want. Each night, after I put her in her crib she summons them each to her room, calling "Millie, hug!" "Abby, hug!" We just love our little Miss Jane!

AHHHH!

MARK IS HOME!

Let the heavens sing. Let the angels rejoice. All is right with the world (in an ideal world, of course, which this world isn't, but things certainly are beginning to look up!).