Displaying Family Photos and Children's Art

Am I the only one who struggles with pictures and art.  I love all types of art, but I have the hardest time purchasing and hanging it in our house and then changing my mind later.  Which is why I don't often wan to pay a hefty price tag, just to take it down later.  I've also been known to say I will make a piece of art instead of buying it.  So it's been a slow process around our house.

So the easy way out is to put up family photos if you have them.  And with the new canvas photo prints, it makes it super easy.  I have ordered many different types of pre-printed art.  There is the normal canvas prints, metal prints, photos that I have framed, or had professionally framed.  I have used many different companies and haven't had a complaint yet.  I would say a great time to order is near the Black Friday sales, or to just keep your eye open for deals.  Canvas on Demand has great deals, so I would keep them on your list.

There is a case to be made for having too many family photos.  So the key is to find a couple of places in your house where you really want to display them.  I grew up admiring my grandmothers house and all the family photos she had up on the stair case walls.  She was rocking the photo gallery long before pinterest.  It has always stuck in my mind and so, I have followed suit by putting up our family photos in the stairways and upper hallway.

We also have a few family photos in the family room, although I am slowly leaning towards taking some of them down.  Especially the older ones that don't include the youngest child :-)  She might mention it all the time.

The next best thing to family photos, or sometimes I think this suggestion is even better, hanging kids artwork.  I love my kids artwork.  And framing them in simple white frames with a bold paint background really makes them pop.  We just recently painted our hallways with black paint on top, and I love it. 

My white frames happen to come from two different stores.  I like these Ribba Frames from IKEA (12"x16"size), but they keep switching out the back of their frames and how they are hung, so it can kind of be all over the place.  I also got these from Michaels a few years ago.  The frames themselves are a little bit thinner and they were a little pricier, but easier to hang.

We also repainted the entryway white.  We had some drywall damage from foundation settlement issues that needed to be fixed.  Plus the original paint color, while lovely in the natural light, turned a little neon with interior lighting.  The entryway itself has therefore gone through quite a few changes.

Entryway when purchased - 2009

Entryway after first remodels - 2016

Current Entryway - 2019

One of the next big projects on our radar is changing out our front doors and adding a porch and discreet handicap ramp this spring.  We love the double front doors we added years ago, but unfortunately our daughter's wheelchair barely fits on one side.  And opening both doors every time she goes in and out is not practical.  So stayed tuned for more changes.

Looking at Front Door Currently - 2019

Dance Party and a dress

When it gets cold around here during the winter, we break out the trusted dance party to get our energy out.

I haven’t posted much about Bella lately.  I thought this video of Oliver dancing with her, shows her getting to do her favorite thing….spinning!

Bella has been having an off winter.  She is still non-verbal, and always will be, so trying to figure out exactly what is going on has been hard.  To those of you who are new, I thought I would write a quick explanation of Bella.

Bella was born with a chromosome abnormality affecting chromosome 11 and 13.  She is the only one that has this particular makeup that we know of.  Which means we don't have much information on what to expect.   She has extremely low tone all over her body.  Basically meaning anything that has a muscle acts like it is extremely weak.  So this affects being able to sit, move, eat, etc.  She is non-verbal, nor does she have the capacity to use sign language.  We are working on an adaptive form of communication, but we have no way of knowing how far behind she is mentally.  We can tell there is thought process up in that head of hers, it's just really hard to be able to prove it.  It seems that at nine years old, Bella is more like a 6-9 month old.

Our holiday party was postponed due to an impending ice storm back in January.  And can I just say that the whole ice storm just totally threw me off for more than a week.  As I mentioned it was supposed to be a huge ice storm and it had a possibility of hitting early Friday morning.  So they cancelled school on Friday, they cancelled the holiday party on Saturday evening, they even cancelled churches on Sunday.  The ice storm came early Sunday morning and it was minor.
I was supposed to have all the kids out of the house on that Friday so I could have a much needed catch up day.  Then Saturday we had babysitters (grandparents) lined up to come over so we could get out to a much needed time away, not to mention what should have been a good party. 
Instead all of the kids were home on Friday.  On Saturday we did not get out to our party, nor even out of the house for that matter.  On Sunday my husband had to work all day, so again I had the kids stuck inside the house.  On Monday it was a holiday from school AND AGAIN all the kids were home and stuck inside the house. 

I think it took more than the next week to get my sanity back.  Also, if I’m being honest here, my house still hasn’t recovered.  I just haven’t had to energy to pick up after the kids anymore.

My “real job” has picked up and I’ve been working enough hours that we have justified putting Gray in school.  Here she is going off to school for her first day.

She has really enjoyed going to school and the first week she did great.  This is her second week and she is a little more hesitant to leave, instead wanting to stay home with mom.  I think it’s been great for her to get to play with kids her own age.

Our holiday party did get rescheduled and occurred this past weekend.  Even with the three week extension on making the dress, I was still running behind and finished it up on Saturday with only hours to spare.

I may have sewn the bodice twice.  The first time I got the dress all finished, tried it on, and ….blaahh.  The top just wasn’t right.  So I took the bodice all apart and modified it to look a little less school marmish, but still keeping things covered up.

I meant to get pictures of us all dressed up.  The party location was at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum.  Would have been a great spot for pictures.  Zero were taken.  I guess that just shows you we were having such a great time we forgot to take pictures.

It's been an eternity

It's been an eternity.  Let's see, I last posted 6 months ago.  That made the total for the year - 4 posts.

The truth is, I lost my creativity.  I lost all my energy.  I lost my determination to get past pinning things or looking at things.  I didn't make anything.  I didn't want to cook anything.  I just wanted to sleep ALL THE TIME.

I have stresses in my life.  Everyone does.  My youngest two have displayed extreme sibling rivalry for over a year.  As in near constant screaming, crying, hitting, biting, whining.  I was losing my sanity.  I will admit since Oliver started Kindergarten this fall, it is finally getting better.  And I need it to get better.

My oldest has many needs.  As in she can not do anything for herself and needs a constant caretaker.  We do not have any help for her outside of her going to public school.  She does not have many medical needs, which is a blessing, but it is getting harder and harder for us to take her places.  She has a wheelchair or stroller, but honestly prefers to laying on the floor most of the time.  This basically translates to - if she is not in school, either my husband or I am at home with her.  I was going to say "stuck at home" which is what I do feel, but it sounds so harsh.

I have not been working outside of the home as much this past year.  I have had more of a stay at home mom role.  Let's just say, it's not my ideal job, but I'm getting through it.  I still have hopes of having a professional career.  Although with my eldest child's needs, it will only be a part time career at best.  It's a constant battle trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, versus what is best for my kids and husband.  I know there has to be an answer somewhere!

My interests are expanding.  I still love home renovation and home decor.  I still like the idea of sewing and making things.  Lately my energy and time has been spent on nutrition.  As I mentioned above I had lost all my energy.  I blamed it on my having three kids, one with special needs.  I'm beginning to think that while they definitely add "work" to my life, they are not the sole reason for my lack of energy.

I'm still in the process of figuring it all out.

I can tell you that I miss talking about things.  I miss creating things and sharing things.  I miss this blog.

I hope to start over and begin a new life that is finding the calm amidst the crazy.

Mid-December we had a family baking day.  We made sugar cookies...all day long.  Mom and Dad did most of the work.

The kids ate.  At least they started with apples before they moved on to the baked cookies.

Happy New Year to everyone from our crazy bunch.  Here's hoping we talk more often this year!

Happy Halloween

Oliver picked Batman this year for his costume....and the rest of us followed along.

I did make all five costumes this year.  It was a lot of work, but as I stated earlier, they look so much better when they resemble clothing versus store bought.  And the added bonus is you can wear them more...I do believe Oliver's costume will now be in rotation as pajamas!!

First up Bella had her costume parade and party at school.  Bella was Harley Quinn, and Batman caught her and sent her to jail.

Oliver a.k.a. Batman, had his school trunk or treat event on Thursday evening.  He actually had more fun playing with his friends and forgot to go around and trick or treat.

Gray had a small Halloween Party at her school on Friday, but she wasn't too excited about walking around in her costume.  She was excited about eating cupcakes, and even swiped one from the girls plate next to her.

And then of course Saturday was Halloween itself.  The whole family got dressed up in our costumes to go out and trick or treat.

Meet the "Batman Family"

Batman, his sidekick Robin, and the villains:  Harley Quinn, The Riddler, and Catwoman.

That evening The Riddler and Catwoman went out to enjoy some adult fun, which included watching the Kansas City Royals win.  It was a fun evening out with friends.  But man are we getting too old to stay out late!

Someone was told he had to wait until after Halloween to wear his siblings costumes.  He was so excited to be Robin after wearing his Batman costume for weeks ahead of time.  Doesn't matter that Robin's costume fit his one year old sister or includes a dress.

First Day of School

Here is our first day of school photos.....2 months late!

Bella got a new wheelchair right before school started.  She is able to sit in it better, but it's quite a lot heavier for us to transport around.

Oliver is quite silly now in front of the camera.  He is actually in two different preschool programs this year.  He is a child that definitely needs structure and to be around a lot of friends.

Gray at 11 Months

At 11 months, which was basically the month of September, we were busy transitioning Gray to daycare.  She really has done well and loves to play with all the other babies.  Minus the fact she is still a sketchy napper, it's been good for everyone.  Of course we still have had issues with teething and already got our first cold of the season.  With being in daycare this year, I'm sure there are many more to come.

Still busy crawling around and also, already enjoying walking around while holding on to mom or dad's hands.  Our balance is a little off, so I think it's going to be a little while longer before we start walking on our own.  Has been pulling up on furniture, but hasn't figured out how to hold on and move around while standing.

Loves, loves, loves books.  In this picture she is looking up at all her books!

Gray @ 11 months

A Good Day at School

Bella has adaptive PE at school.  They get to bring some fun things over for her to play with.  I believe this happens around once a month.

This week she got to ride an adaptive trike and it looks like she was having fun!

Out Crawling Around

It was a beautiful day so we headed outside to crawl around and Oliver got to fly a kite.

Or maybe Dad did most of the flying!

Gray at 10 Months

Technically this was three months ago and to be honest it's hard to remember what was going on then.  I do know Gray started crawling 3 days before she turned 10 months old.  So at this point we started to get mobile!

And we were getting in lots of teeth!!

She was a huge crab up until the point she finally started crawling, so about the whole previous month she was super frustrated she couldn't crawl and she was busy bringing in those teeth.  That made for one fussy baby....ALL THE TIME!

Gray @ 10 months

Costumes

I'm making family costumes again this year!!!  Store bought costumes are just not the same.

So we are doing a family theme and Oliver was in charge of picking it out.  I'll give you one hint for now....Jesse's costume consists of bright green spandex.

His costume isn't much of a clue....it's more of a riddle!