At Home With The Hinsons: July 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Boys' Bedroom Makeover: Perfectionism Kicks In

Hi all!

I hope all is well with you. :)

Today I ditched my mama work
and chose instead to finish painting.

Bright and early this morning
I finished up the khaki wall color.

While I was still feeling froggy
I decided to paint one stripe white.

The problem??

We loved it!

Yep, that meant I had seven more white stripes to paint.

So I struck a deal with Joseph,

if he'd tape off my lines then I'd paint them.

Lucky for me it he took the bait,

and together we finished in just a couple of hours.

I have to say I'm really glad I listened to your advice,

pushed through the "I'm so over this project blah's"

and added that pop of white.

I LOVE the results!!!

Now I just need to play catch up

on all my abandoned mama work.

Clean clothes, dishes and house OR

a fresh coat of paint for the boys' bedroom makeover?

Yep, you read my mind

and knew exactly what I chose. ;>

Tomorrow's agenda?

Reassemble the bedroom so the boys'

can stop sleeping on the couches.

Not that they mind.

I'll update when there's more progress to share! :)

Beach Vacation 2010

Hi all!

I'm a bit behind on my vacation post.

Once we got home I hit the ground running.

Now that I'm ready to slow down a bit,

I thought I'd share some of our vacation fun.

Since we were all ready to get our vacation started,

we headed out early.

Early is in,

we were hitting up our local Redbox

for movie rentals at 4:52 AM.

Here are the kids still sporting their jammy tales.

Dontcha' just love that packed out car?

This was our first beach vacation with friends.

We had a wonderful time

and enjoyed several new adventures.

Here are a few of our favorite things...

We'll start with the first night when I thought

it was a good idea to set up the Wii in the living room.

Rock Band at the beach anyone?!

This set up was promptly moved to the

kids' room, the following day.

How about a nice henna tattoo?

The three little people all loved their ink!

Swimming with friends is great,

but swimming with friends at the beach is even better.

Probably not the boys' favorite part of vacation,

but still a necessary piece.

Joseph working on his English summer reading.

James taking his daily afternoon "rest".

Daddy doing a little beach watching.

Here are those Hinson boys after a

delicious dinner at Tacky Jack's.

I'd say they're being true to form,

wacky!

One of the fellas' treasured memories

is saltwater fishing at Alabama Point.

The fish were really biting this year.

So much so that Andy's

first catch snapped his rod in half.

Luckily it was no biggie for my veteran fishermen,

they just kept on casting!

After James had enough of this,

he rode back to the condo with me

for a quick dip in the pool to cool off.

Followed by a shower, dry clothes

and a nap, err make that beach watching.

One of the fellas' new treats was a boys only trip

to watch the Blue Angels fly.

My peeps thought it was the coolest!

While the boys were having their time,

the girls snuck off for a day of shopping.

We had a blast and came home with some incredible deals.

Needless to say all the children now have

back to school clothes.

Of course Emily Margaret got her share of prizes too.

These were the adorable deals I just couldn't resist.

Her first yoga pants set,

an I <3 USA shirt and tiara

and my fav, a yellow tutu bathing suit. :D

I'm praying that yellow suit makes

it's debut appearance on our next summer vacation!

The Hangout was a first time dinner treat for us.

While the kids waited on dinner

they had a blast in the foam machine.

How precious is this trio?

But don't be fooled by those smiling faces.

There's a wild-child hiding behind every grin!

Here are our vacation cohorts.

Aren't they a cute couple?

Ours is a rare friendship that is such a blessing.

Finally, I want to say thanks to these great guys.

Joseph, I couldn't have done it without you.

You are growing into such a wonderful young man

that I am proud to call my son.

Thank you for all your hard work,

before, during and after our vacation.

Andy, without you vacation wouldn't be a year long event.

Thank you so much for all you do for our family.

You provide the very best for us

and still manage to share your passions and time.

I think we enjoy our beach vacation

so much because for one week

it's all Daddy, all the time.

Thanks prince charming, I love you!

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our beach vacation.

We are already planning what next year holds! :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Boys' Bedroom Makeover: Day Too Many

Hi all!

Hammer the lid on the paint cans,

cause this girl is done painting Auburn stripes. :)

Yesterday I had to get my real work done

so I'd have time to paint today.

I tried to paint some last night,

but after a long day I didn't have much left to give.

So I ate take-out and crashed on the couch early.

Then this morning after I finished my Mama work,

I got right back at it.

Here's the paint as it looked last night.

The orange stripes did get one coat of their new paint.

When I went to the paint store we realized

they'd mixed the wrong color.

If you look close you can see

the pale shade of orange on the tape.

Today the orange and navy blue both

got one more coat.

That's takes the orange paint to a total of five coats.

Remind me to never try to paint over that.

Here's the BIG reveal,

and yes, all the blood, sweat and tears were worth it.

It still needs some touch up

but I am very pleased with the results.

The only thing that might possibly change

is that I might paint a thin white stripe

on either side of the navy blue.

Per Mr. Hinson's request.

The paint has to set for three days

before I can re-tape,

so we'll see how I'm feeling this weekend.

Now don't be shy,

I can't wait to hear what you think!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Boys' Bedroom Makeover: Day 2

Hi all!

As promised,

I'm here with a bedroom update.

After many hours of prayers and hard work,

we now have paint. :D

Let me tell you, this was no easy project.

There were times I questioned my sanity

as I was sure horizontal stripes were my arch nemousis.

The problem was that I was trying to use

a laser level to guide me as I taped off the lines.

For whatever reason that thing and I

just couldn't work out our differences.

So I went old school and used a yard stick.

I taped off my lines on the yard stick.

Then every several inches I used it to mark small dots.

Once I'd dotted all the walls,

I used frog tape to mark off my lines.

Now it was around this time that my straight lines

started waving like Old Glory during the star bangle banner.

And that's when I lost coping skills.

Before things got too ugly

Andy came in and saved the day.

He offered to help and then

sent me to Lowes' for a few more supplies.

While I was gone he finished taping the room.

Hooray for Big Daddy!

As I thanked him repeatedly,

I promised not to ask him for anymore help...

on this project anyway. ;>

Now it was time to get paintin'.

The orange was a little trickier to paint

than the navy blue.

I'm not sure if it was the paint color

OR the different roller I used.

Whatever the reason,

I ended up applying several coats of orange.

I'm considering having the paint store

darken the orange a little.

I'm not completely convinced it's

the right Auburn orange.

I'll also apply a second

coat of the navy blue.

Now that I've filled you in on the details,

here's Joseph working on the results.

Tada!

I'll update you on tomorrow's progress.

But please don't leave without first
telling me what you think. :)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Hi all, happy Saturday!
This week was super busy.
So I gotta tell ya,
I'm glad it's finally the weekend. :)

As you know I promised to start
the boys' room makeover after vacation.
I want it done before they start back to school.
Since there's no time like the present,
I chose today as my start date.

This morning the boys and I
picked up all the needed paint supplies.
We had to get both navy and orange for the stripes.
We also scored some cute Auburn wall decals.
Joseph was great picking out the colors.
And really, as long as they're happy
with the results, then I'm happy.

After lunch the work began.
But before I could start painting,
I had to rearrange the furniture.
Now let me say I thought this
would be a quick task.
Nope!
To move one desk out and one bed in,
I had to take three doors off the hinges
disassemble and reassemble the bed.
Oh, and don't forget wash all the linens.
Whew.
Five hours later I revealed phase 1
of the room makeover to the boys.

The original layout had the beds in an L shape.
Needless to say, it didn't work.
So even though the windows are partially covered,
we like this arrangement much better.

Tomorrow after church I'm planning
to tape off the walls for the stripes.
If that goes well (read: quick)
then I'll gladly start painting.
Truth be told, painting's my favorite part!

The boys' are loving their work in progress room.
James' keeps asking if he can sleep
in Joseph's room tonight.
Each time I reply "No,
but you can sleep in your new room."
He thinks that's awesome!

So now that I'm good and tired,
I'm needing some feedback.
Do tell, what do you think??

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Home From Vacation

Hi all, happy Saturday!
The Hinsons are home safe from vacation.
We enjoyed a fabulous seven days
at the beach with friends.
But more on that later.
For now, I'll leave you with
a cute pic of the pups...
I think they missed us
while we were gone.

The dogs spent their time at the vet.
I think it's safe to say,
they didn't enjoy their vacation as much as we did.
If I were to guess they're thoughts,
here's what they're wondering.
Next year we could opt for a
stay-cation instead of a vacation?!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Boys' Shared Bedroom Inspiration

Happy 4th of July!
This morning I stayed in my jammy tales
and had a little quiet time.
After I had finished my devotional
my mind wondered to my current design dilemma.
While my mind was fresh and the ideas
were flowing, I created a visual.

Here's the 411:
1. We have a three bedroom home. At present each boy has his own room.
2. Joseph sleeps in his room and James occasionally watches TV in his.
3. We spend ALL of our inside, awake hours in the living room.
4. It's time to prep for Emily Margaret.
5. Our plan was to combine our offices and convert my office into her room.

Now here's my thoughts:
1. As Emily Margaret because more of a reality, I'm struggling with the thoughts of her being on the other side of the house. Even though we all know she'll sleep with us.
2. The boys are ages 14 and 7 so there is a considerable age gap.
3. Neither child ever "hangs out" in his room.
4. At some point I will combine the boys together anyway.
5. So it's starting to be clear that my wisest investment of time and energy is to go ahead and do it now.
6. The bonus?? The boys would have an awesome room AND the extra office would be converted into a den/playroom.

Early in our adoption process,
the boys asked to keep their own rooms.
But I know that with the right plan
they will quickly jump on board.
SO, here's the visual I created to illustrate my thoughts.
A plus, both boys have already asked
to redo their rooms in Auburn colors.
AND they already have matching beds and TV's...
hello, is anyone else sensing God's hand here??

Since I haven't revealed this to the boys yet,
I'm needing your creative ideas.
Thanks for your feedback and encouragement!