Operation "Rec Room".

Every year when the hubs goes to Deer Camp for 8 or 9 days, I do a project. 

Why do I wait til he is gone? 

He can't say "no" to any of my ideas! The kids call him "The NO man". 

He says no a lot, so I just wait. "The Wife Wait"-- I am good at it.

This year I choose our sad, plain, boring rec room. I figured that on days I am too lazy to brave the snow, we will just play down in the rec room. 

See!! Pathetic.

Sad. Dumping ground of sadness.

Blinding white. Like my legs in the summer. 

Can't bear to look at.

Again, like my legs in summer.

So, over the last few months I have been scheming and planning.

Operation "Don't tell the hubs anything" was in full swing.

I borrowed a paint sprayer from a friend. Wonderful invention.

Amazing. Won't ever paint spray indoors again. 

I was a hot mess of ridiculousness.

I did love how the ceiling turned out.

And so it began...

Progress. 

I saw these great Scrabble tiles on Pinterest and decided they

would be perfect for the wall. Cut, sand, paint, glue. Free craft that

turned out to be my fav.

Oh, sweet nilly. The furniture. 

Laminate + Krylon = awesome

I have to admit, I wasn't sure how it would turn out but 

I did a lot of prep and sanding and it worked great!

Cut down a shelf. 

I wanted a high gloss bright, fun red. 

After 2 cans of spray paint it was great. 

Cans  $3.47 each so, not bad.

I found this water color world map from Imagekind. 

I loved it instantly. 

I picked the color palette from the map colors. 

I went to Kinko's to have it laminated and hung it simply

on a curtain rod.

All for you guys! 

Swoon!

I absolutely love how these came out.

Exactly how I wanted.

My friend, Sarah, and I went to IKEA. 

For this.

Kids, if your toys don't fit in here, off to the donate

pile they go. 

Since I have to make it appear like my kids do more than watch tv, I had to make a

Craft/art table. I had this table top sitting on two file cabinets. (Classy) Perfect!

I wanted to be able to sink buckets of crayons and colored pencils

into the actual table. 

Measure. Cut.

I heart power tools.

Not going to win any circle cutting contests, but it will do.

I cut some 4x4 for the legs, attached a cleat to the wall and SHAZAM! 

A table.

Love Shutterfly

After a couple days of hard work....success.

My kids have a space that is functional and fun.

There are still a couple things to finish up.

FINAL coat of paint on the door, hang the pallet wood

picture, and get some baskets for the green shelves. 

I couldn't be happier!

Andy came home tonight and was really very surprised.

He loves that it is done and I love that

it is done the way I pictured in the Crazyville

that is my brain.

Next up is the "Guest Quarters". 

I heart projects.

2 out of 3 ain't bad.....

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Andy, Kate, Cole, Logan and Reese.

My new fav kid cups.

Sippy cups get gross. 

Like....I would rather throw them out then try to clean them, gross.

We have tried a bunch of different kinds.

Some with straws. THE WORST!

Some with spouts.

I had been getting lazy about the whole cup thing so the kids were getting juice boxes *gasp*!

I stopped by Babies r Us to see what some new options were and man, did I hit the 

kid cup jackpot! 

Meet the Sassy No spout No spill 12oz kid cups!

Unique, huh?!  

How do they work?

These squiggly lines!

 The kids just start drinking and the water gets drawn up the squiggly lines and SHAZAM! Thirst quenched!

NO spilling! No leaking. 

Whoever Sassy is, she came up with a phenomenal product! 

We have been using them for a few days now and the kids love them. 

I will definitely be going back for another set!

Babies r Us has them $5.99 each and when I went they were "Buy one get one 50% off" 

If you are frustrated with the sippy cup situation at your house give these a try!

Is your birthday on the 4th of July?

The hubs often wonders how we ended up together.

Hello, Pot, this is Kettle. You are the pickiest eater and I am a food lover.

 I sometimes think  the same thing with each passing hour.

He is an only child that loves all thing small town America. Fireworks, Parades, golden retrievers, stopping and talking to EVERY SINGLE PERSON, EVERYWHERE.

 He circles the block just to see what's new.

I don't care if someone put up new siding just drop me off at the end of the driveway, I will hoof it home.

We drove to Indiana for a family reunion (this, I liked.).

On our way back from Indiana on Sunday there was a double rainbow.

I took a picture.

See, I love....stuff.

We love Goldfish....

For the 12 of you that so kindly read my blog, you know that I love grkids.com. It is jam packed with wonderful things to do with the family. A few months ago they had a giveaway of free swim lessons at the brand new Goldfish Swim school over on Thornhills. 

I entered.

I won.

My boys would learn to swim.

The beautiful new facility is at 28th and Thornhills. 

Waiting for their first lesson. 

"We take our shirts off?"

"Are you taking your shirt off, mom?"

oh, son.....there aren't enough therapy sessions in a lifetime 

Good thing these are free cause mama ain't paying to watch you cry. 

This is Mr. Will. He is co-owner with Mr Matt. 

Mr Will is up there with Mother Teresa in patience. 

Don't cry Mr Will. There is only 26 more minutes of class.

That is Mr Matt. 

These guys are amazing. They have a ton of tricks and games up their...in their....brain to engage the boys and get them to relax and learn. 

The facilities are so nice. The thing that struck me is there is no chlorine smell. I fully expected to get hit with a heavy chemical smell like a high school pool. Matt explained it was because they use salt. 

Fabulous.

It's bright and interesting with plenty to keep non-swimming kids busy during lessons.

Changing rooms.

Trust building. 

Random green ring holding.

They are rewarded with different ribbons and small toys. 

Each ribbon corresponds to what the lesson was about. 

This makes the medic in me happy. 

More floaty, kicking, swimming stuff. 

Look at that sweet face. My Cole is loving swim lessons. 

sigh.....Mom, what did I ever do to you?

Dear Mr Will, 

I am sorry about the whole tongue thing. 

It's an Albright thing....THEY ALL DO IT. 

I have to remind them every 5 seconds to close their mouths. 

I make sure they brush before lessons. 

Getting better each lesson.

Hitting the showers after another rigorous lesson.

Logan and Cole. 

My swimmers.

Each lesson they get closer and closer to putting their heads under. 

I can't swim and being in open water gives me a little freak-out  trepidation. 

So this opportunity is not wasted on our family. 

I am so glad my boys will be able to enjoy the water. 

Again, I apologize. 

Mr Will taking time to talk and explain things. 

Building trust. The boys talk about lessons all week. 

Love it! 

They have come so far in just a few short weeks. 

Our next swimmer..

If you are thinking about lessons, go check out Goldfish. 

The facility is wonderful and the people are so warm and friendly. 

We never once felt pressured to purchase lessons after the free ones were done. 

Matt and Will are two down to earth guys that run a fantastic swim program. 

Visit http://www.goldfishswimschool.com or 

on FB http://www.facebook.com/goldfishgrandrapids

These opinions are my own and were not influenced by the free lessons.