Bathroom Painted, Take 2

I painted our half bathroom last fall using leftover paint from the kids' bathroom.  

upstairs vs. downstairs

While I love how the paint color looks in their bathroom, I wasn't loving it downstairs with the different lighting and set-up.

So Ryan graciously re-painted our half bathroom a few weeks ago and I love it!

The color is Fossil Grey by Glidden.

I found this paint color through this blog and took a risk because Home Depot and Walmart did not have a paint sample.  But I am very happy with it and have several other places where I want to use it.  

Another good source I like for paint colors is this book:

  

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DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY CURRENT GIVEAWAY HERE!

Linking here.

betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com

todayscreativeblog.net 
  

Ice Blocks, Take 2

My kids enjoyed playing with these ice blocks last summer.  

I decided to put a twist on this idea (thanks to pinterest) and made ice blocks last week with small plastic animals frozen inside.

The kids chiseled away for...45 minutes!

Kept them cool and busy and happy!  

 I'm going to be keeping a stash of frozen ice blocks in my freezer all summer!

For more summer activities click here and here.


And don't forget to enter my current giveaway here!

Linking here.  

todayscreativeblog.net

betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com 

A Giveaway!

Happy Monday everyone!  I am excited to be hosting a giveaway this week!  I was recently contacted by a company called My Memories and they asked me to review their digital scrapbooking software.

The last completed scrapbook I have is from my semester abroad in Europe during my junior year of college.  I started one for our wedding, but 8 years later it is still only half finished!

The My Memories software is very easy to use and I was amazed by how quickly I could complete a page...literally just by a few clicks!

You can send your entire album to be printed and easily have a book of memories for any occasion.

The scrapbook software offers templates to use or you can create your own.  I was amazed by the options even for paper backgrounds and textures that are available.  

(3rd child Ellen might actually end up with a nice keepsake!)

You can use the software to create lovely scrapbooks, photo pages, or even to make personalized calendars.

To win your own My Memories software:

1.) Please follow me.  :)
2.) Leave a comment telling me a favorite childhood memory.

Winner will be announced on Friday.  Good luck!

Cutting College Costs

I graduated from in 2003 from a small private university with a degree in Business Administration.  Going to a private school meant a bigger price tag on my college education.  For me that meant working every summer and Christmas break at the country club down the street from my parents throughout my high school and college careers.  I always cringed when I took my class list to the campus bookstore each semester and handed over a small fortune of my hard-earned cash to pay for my books.

Thankfully Campus Book Rentals has entered the picture and today there is an alternative to buying your textbooks.  Renting books was not an option 9 years ago!

One elective business class I enjoyed during my college career was Game Theory.  We used a book similar to this one:

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Most of the books I bought 10 years would cost me anywhere from $50 - $100.  This book would have only cost me $25 to rent for the semester!

Some perks to renting from Campus Book Rentals include:

• Save 40-90% off bookstore prices
• Free shipping both ways
• You CAN still highlight your textbooks
• Flexible renting periods

You can watch the video below to learn more about renting from Campus Book Rentals.

How does it work?:

**This post was sponsored by CampusBookRentals**

Our Summer Reading Getaway

I brought the tent from Santa into the loft the other day...

...and stashed it with books for everyone.  

They added their own blankets and pillows...  

...and have really been enjoying this new reading space!

Meet a Mom Monday...

Join us!

Monday Menu {No Oven Required!}

We fixed our oven Friday night and I you can bet I will be using it this week!  It wasn't the biggest inconvenience, but did make me think when I was planning menus the past couple of weeks.  (Yes, I'm OCD and plan the week's worth of meals and go to the grocery store once a week.  This schedule was implemented when Jude was about 18 months old and im-possible at the store so the least amount of time spent grocery shopping the better!  Now I grocery shop with enough suckers for any children in tow with me and book it through the store.)

Without further adieu, this was our week's menu while our oven was out of commission.  Also a good way to keep the oven off in the summer months!

Monday 

Pasta Alla Caprese (with grilled chicken)

Tuesday

Shredded Chicken Tacos (crock pot)

Wednesday

Strawberry Chicken Salad

Thursday

Chicken Penne Pasta

Friday

Black Bean Soup

Saturday

Hamburgers and Hot Dogs

Oven Success

I have been without an oven for the past 2 weeks.  And tonight all of that changed when we successfully installed a new heating element all.by.ourselves.  (Do we know how to rock a Friday night or what??)

Major accomplishment here, people.  

(True success will be measured once said oven has successfully baked something...)  

New part has arrived!

Before...not so good.

Old part out.

New part in...and working...without the house catching on fire.

I can't lie and say we figured any of this our ourselves.  But I can thank youtube for giving me my oven back!  This video was very helpful for non-DIY-ers like ourselves.  

Jude will be happy we can finally make sugar cookies (from refrigerated dough) tomorrow!

Out and About - Quick Takes Style

Happy Friday!
Summertime is here and we are surviving enjoying the free time and time together!  

--- 1 ---

Unknown to Clare, I took Jude and Ellen to an event put on by the city department of transportation during the last week of school.  Jude was in heaven.  

--- 2 ---

Clare started swim team last week.  She was in her room the other day and I was calling her and not getting a response.  I went upstairs to see what she was up to and found her sound asleep.

Maybe Ellen can join swim team??  

--- 3 ---

During our recent visit to see my family, the married siblings and their spouses went out for an alfresco  dinner at the country club my sisters and I all worked at during high school and college.  It was a full circle moment.

Thanks for the photo, MJK.

My parents were kind enough to babysit...and even took the kids out for ice cream.

    

--- 4 ---

We have been enjoying the school park near our house.  It is close enough to walk there, but I chickened out and drove the other day (which ended up being wise because we had to leave when a bathroom emergency hit).   

It was actually cool that day and Ellen was making quite the fashion statement with some high-water pants and WHITE tennis shoes.  

--- 5 ---

Miss Ellen loves to swing.  No, not in the baby swing on the swing set or even on a big swing slowly by herself.  She likes to swing as high as possible on the glider...with me.  Of course.

"Higher!"

--- 6 ---

We went to the local movie theater the other day for the free summer movie.  

Ellen actually did better than what I anticipated and I thought the whole thing went pretty well.  Then on our way out  Jude sat on the 6+ foot 3D Madagascar 3 cardboard cutout (right where it says "DO NOT SIT") and the whole thing fell over.

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We may be blacklisted at the theater, especially because when we went back this week that 3D promo was not to be found.

--- 7 ---

We officially signed up for summer reading at the library.  Clare and I have been enjoying the Pippi Longstocking books together.  And Jude checked out about half of the dinosaur section.
  

Hope your summer is off to a good start!
Have a great weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Foyer - Before & After

I have made some small changes to our foyer and am happy with how it has turned out.

Here's how it looked shortly after we moved in...

And here's how it looks now.

I painted the same khaki that is in the kitchen awhile ago and I like how it's so much brighter.  

 I recently bought a new rug for this space.  It's a gray indoor/outdoor rug and should wear well, can be washed with dish soap and rinsed with a hose, and won't fade.  Perfect for a high traffic area.

And of course we love the newly-found privacy on the sidelight windows!

 To see how I "frosted" the glass (with contact paper!) click here.

To see the entry by our back door click here.

Linking here:
betweennapsontheporch.net

First Official Ice Cream Cone of the Season...

So very proud of herself.

(It was not a Budweiser cone...)

Big girl!