Dinning Room Dilemma

When we moved into our home I got to pick a majority of how things were decorated, painted, etc. Matt REALLY wanted a red dinning room. Hmm... not really my choice for a color but I decided to let him win one and thus we have a very red dinning room. Well, now that its here I have NO CLUE how I want to decorate it.  We have one painting up ( that Matt picked as well) that really isn't my style . But in the spirt of compromise I'm TRYING to deal with it. So how do I decorate the rest of the room?! 

Here are some pictures of my "Fall" ish table. ( I find if I keep my table set it does not become a clutter catcher and stays looking nice) The coasters were made by my friend and her husband as wedding favors - brilliant huh?! Ignore the fact I need to iron my place mats. I like to think of them as looking "rustic." :)

Any ideas?

Pine Cone Invasion.

Gage. Oh Gage.

 I am pretty sure he has now realized we are about to bring another human into the family and is revolting having another child; ride him like a horse, pull his tail, and chase him with their toys, by doing EVERY annoying thing possible he can to us. 

What does this have to do with pine cones? Well these aren't just any pine cones... these are the super smelly cinnamon Christmas pine cones. 

Last night around 9:00pm Gage decided to play with a skunk. A skunk whos spray smells like burnt hair  and baby throw up. Matt then let him in the house not realizing that our foaming at the mouth dog had been sprayed by a skunk. So now our entire house has this wonderful scent. 

During a 10pm Walmart run to get carpet deodorizer, air freshener, and any other scent killing product Matt could find he threw two huge bags of these pine cones in the cart. When he got home we placed them ALL over the house...

So now our house smells like burnt hair, baby throw up, and cinnamon. 

I think a new baby is going to be easy compared to what Gage has thrown at us lately ha. 

On the other hand, when B woke up this morning and saw all the pine cones she informed me how pretty they were. Glad you like them B. 

Time To Simplify.

Do you ever enter a space that makes you instantly relax? 

I have slowly realized that unfortunately it really isn't my home right now. Now when I walk in I am met with piles, messes, clutter, and more clutter. It stresses me out. 

So in order to de-stress and become more organized before our life takes another crazy turn I am on the "simplify, less is more" train. I am tossing, donating, and organizing as much as my pregnant self will allow. 

 I started with simplifying my blog. 

Little things right? 

Be Sweet?

Maybe my Mother knew I would need extra reminders to play nice growing up- thus why every time I left the house I heard " Be Sweet!" behind me. 

Sometimes even as an adult its hard to "be sweet."

When Bristol throws her head back in anger and gets me right on the nose. 

When Matt puts his dirty clothes NEXT to the hamper instead of in it. EVERDAY. 

When you are sitting in traffic and a car zooms by you in the break down lane, only to cut the line of 50 plus cars. This makes me want to yell out my window like a preschooler,

" Hey, you cut me!" 

Sometimes its not easy to practice self control and play nice. More often than not instead I take the easy way and say exactly what I think. 

I know its not January yet but I would like to start my resolution early - to be sweet, play nice, and think before I speak. 

I mean shouldn't we all? 

Bristol's Second Birthday and Halloween

Lately B has been obsessed with all things Ariel. I really wanted to do a cute bumble bee themed party but after seeing her excitement over Ariel, combined with her fear of "buggies" I figured I should stick with an "Under the Sea" theme. That and Matt reminded me it was HER birthday. Ha. 

My friend Danielle made B this adorable outfit for her wear for the party! 

I didnt get any great shots of the decorations and table but we did light food and did a few "Ariel" decorations without going too Disney. 

B is still singing Happy Birthday to herself... apparently in her world its a birthday month...

Its tough being 2...

Some of the girls watching the snow fall during the party... yes snow in October. 

And the next morning... minus power and plus 8 inches of snow. 

A grumpy and cold Little Red Riding Hood...

I made her costume using a basic tutu tutorial and made up the cape as I went along... which you would think would be easy but it actually took me the longest. I lined it and used fleece to help keep her warm  so she would not have to wear a coat over her costume... was not prepared for snow though. 

Such a lady ha. 

So our Halloween we ended up in the dark handing out candy to a few trick or treaters and eating the rest ourselves. :)