Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Bathroom makeover on a budget


For the past two days, I have been giving my bathroom a "facelift." This is the main bathroom on the main level, meaning that any and all guests usually use this bathroom. I wanted to make it clean and fresh looking, despite the not so clean looking rest of the house. Also, I wanted to do it on the cheap level. Everything I do is on the cheap level, so why not try the bathroom? Here's how I did it....


When we first moved in, this bathroom was purple. PURPLE. Not a pretty purple. It was more of a 13 year old little girl's room purple. What were the owners thinking? To make matters worse, the tub, toilet, sink, and linoleum were all BLUE. I had painted the bathroom a khaki color just to get rid of the purple, and because the paint was sitting in my parents' garage. It also matched the shower curtain I had at the time. It worked, but it absolutely was not my favorite. 

So fast forward to Sunday:

I went into my basement and looked at all of my leftover paint from other paint jobs. I had about a gallon left of the Antique White by Sherwin Williams that we used for the trim in the whole house. Knowing that I wanted a clean feel, I thought white would be the ultimate solution. So, I spent zero dollars on paint. Cha-ching. 

Next, I needed some curtains. But I couldn't really afford the kind of curtains I knew I wanted. I have been a fan of Miss Mustard Seed for quite some time now, and her favorite material she uses is Antique Hemp fabric. Thats exactly what I wanted in my bathroom. 

Well. As my budget would have it, I can't afford antique hemp, so I had to find a good substitution. I remember in past posts from Miss Mustard Seed that she used canvas drop cloth for almost everything before she found her love for the hemp. Ever since reading her blog, I have become OBSESSED with canvas drop cloth. ITS MY FAVORITE THING. I use it for everything.

So I packed my kiddos up, and we went to Lowes. 


To make the curtains, I measured the length that I wanted them to be, which was exactly four feet. I wanted them hung almost all the way to the ceiling because it acts as an illusion. I have hideous linoleum, so I wanted the eye to be drawn upward instead of straight to the floor. 

See? Oh, I just cringe. 
And don't even get me started on that sink.

Once, I measured, I laid the canvas on the living room floor. 


I cut the four feet in legnth. I wanted each panel to be about a yard so it would have room to bunch, so I also cut the width. 

Ta-da. I had two panels. DONE. 

I hung them up using clips.


But once I hung them up, I felt like they needed something else. Something with some "fluff". So using the left over material, I cut two small panels of 14 inches tall by three feet wide. 

(That creese is where I marked 14 inches. I also made sure I did it against a seem so I would not have to hem the bottom)

Then I just clipped them over top of the long panels. 

TA-DA.
No sewing involved. That's my kind of project. 

Next, I did my shower curtain.


Same concept, different dimensions.
I hung the curtain almost to the ceiling too. You would not believe the difference it makes. 



Using some things around that house, I hung a few things that needed a new purpose for the bathroom. The "R" was a clearance find at Target for just a few dollars, the plate was sitting in a box in my parent's basement, and that picture was a cross stitch that I made when I was in high school. Don't laugh. Cross stitching was a secret hobby. That beautiful frame was one that I fell in love with when my mom owned a frame shop, so when she sold the store, I snatched this beauty. It was actually silver and I spray painted it white. 


Now that I had everything in place, and a fresh new bathroom, I needed to iron out the wrinkles in my curtains and shower curtain. What a dreaded task. But thankfully, my mom has a dress steamer. She's so handy to have around!

Funny thing is, I don't have an outlet in my bathroom or in the hallway. So I had to use a 25 foot outdoor extension cord just to be able to use the steamer. 


Hilarious, right? 

What's that you ask? Where are my three screaming minions and how was I able to do all this?

The older two were just "hanging out...."


And my sweet baby was with me...

See the shower curtain in the back ground? It was cute at the time I received it, but it's worn out it's welcome here at the Redman Roost. 


And there you have it folks, a cheap bathroom "facelift.'' The whole project cost me a whopping $26. 

Hallelujah and Amen. 







Monday, September 28, 2015

In a week's time


What a wonderful week it has been. 
It was just a typical week, but it was still wonderful. 



We started everyday at the breakfast table, or should I say coffee table, with Cheerios, Apple Juice, and good spirits. Although the good spirits only lasted about three minutes. Toddlers are a roller coaster of emotion, ya know. But they really are the best part of waking up. And Folders in my cup. Thats the second best part of waking up. 

Giggles, giggles, and more giggles. That sound is my very favorite. It can put a smile on my sleep deprived, dark circled, worn out face every time. Even after a stern scolding to my middle child. Just the other day I had to say "If you poot at the breakfast table one more time, you're going to get a spankin'." The laughs that came after that statement were uncontrollable. I couldn't keep a straight face. Thankfully, he didn't poot anymore (at the table) because giving him a spankin' while laughing probably wouldn't have been a good parenting move. 


The weather was pretty nice all week, so we went outside just about everyday. That's their favorite thing. That swing set was a Godsend. My husbands grandmother gave it to the kids as their birthday present. I'm not sure who got the better end of the deal, me or them. Ha!


I also decorated for Halloween. I just couldn't stand it any longer. I know I should have waited until October 1 to put everything out, but waiting is no fun. It was just a really long hot summer so I'm ready for the fall season. And I'm kind of homesick for Christmas, so orange strung lights almost fills that void. As Aly says "I just can't wait for my Halloween!"


I'm going to brag just a tiny bit. The Redman Roost dining area got a little bit of an upgrade: a new table! I could pretend like it's no big deal to just get a new piece of furniture, but in our neck of the woods, IT'S A BIG DEAL. I could not be any happier if I tried! 


It also serves as a laundry table, so I'm getting more bang for my buck!




This week Aly has started a "chore." Her new job is to put away the silverware whenever I empty the dishwasher. Knives excluded. My husband says she's too little to be doing that, but I say "teach 'em while they're young." I'm the mom, so I win. A little responsibility never hurt anyone, right?

The other two babies aren't nearly old enough to even comprehend chores, so their only job right now is to tell me what the "Letter of the Day" is on Sesame Street.


It was "G," by the way. 



However! My middle one thought he might try the potty! I'm thrilled. I can just see dollar signs whenever I think about having only one child in diapers. He's not anywhere near being ready to fully potty train, but it's a start and I'm willing to try! 


Oh and the baby discovered crackers. Not on purpose, because I don't normally give a gummy baby salty crackers, but his big brother found the box and helped himself to a snack. My tiny nugget loved every nibble of it. 



To end the week, we made cookies on a Friday night. Because thats what any perfect mother would do. I remember the days of going out with friends, or maybe catching a movie with the boyfriend, but now my Friday nights have completely changed. It's been the best change I've ever had. I would much rather be watching Elmo with my minoins, any day of any week. 

And for all this, I'm thankful to the One who gave me the desires of my heart. 





Tuesday, September 22, 2015

repurposing my treasures

Since football season is here, that means Saturdays are my husband's "reserved day of deep couch sitting." If you want to know where my husband will be on a Saturday, it will be in the den on the couch watching ESPN or whatever the channel a game is on. 

So with that being said, I like to find simple projects to do to keep me occupied. I'm not what you call a "football kind of gal." I mean, I'll watch it, but I would rather be doing something else. So this past Saturday, I made this cute little project...



This was originally a door to the cabinet that we use for the tv in the living room. I had taken the doors off because they served no purpose and were in my way. I had put the doors in the garage and forgot about them until I stumbled upon them again while doing laundry. See? Chores have their advantages. 


This is what they looked like before

I also have wallpaper sample books. Because, why not? My mom got them years ago from a store down town that was going out of business. They were just collecting dust in her garage, so I took them home and put them to good use. 


I went through and I cut out all of the wall paper samples and picked my favorite. You would not believe all the different shades of yellow. I then cut each piece into perfectly proportioned squares. Okay, probably not perfect, but no one will be the wiser. 

This is also what I did when made my "wallpaper wall" at the bottom of my stairs...

This is still my favorite thing I've done!


Then I just made a collage with all the squares, taped them all together, put them in the doors as I would a frame, and used a piece of card board as a backing. I hung it up and called it pretty. 



I think for thirty minutes and no cost to me, this was a pretty nifty creation. 

Because this only took me a short amount of time, I had the "itch" to do something else. I have my mother's gene of not being able to sit still for any amount of time, so my mind is constantly thinking of things to do. I decided that my dining room table needed an update. This table was a hand-me-down that I received when my husband and I first got married. I'm sure it was beautiful its prime, but now it's a little outdated. I painted it white about a year ago, but I still felt like it needed another change. So, I tried to "antique" it with an antiquing glaze I had in the garage. 

I failed. It did not turn out like I imagined. I don't like it at all, so I will need to repaint it. Another project for another day. Thats what I love about paint. If you don't like it, just repaint it.


Don't feel bad for laughing, I'm laughing too. Love my heart, I tried. 


I bet you are wondering what the minoins were doing during my "craft time..."


This one sat and watched...


He played "Superman...."


And the tiny one did what he does best, just being cute. 

I'm so thankful for wonderful Saturdays at home.








Monday, September 21, 2015

Tis the season for stuffy noses

I've said this before, but I LOVE FALL. 

However, fall is also the beginning of the "stuffy nose season," which lasts from September til around the end of March. And at our house, everyone gets that nasty cough, watery eyes, and the dreaded stuffy nose. 

Any other moms out there feel my pain?

This past week, The Redman Roost have all suffered from a small cold. Even the tiny baby accrued a horrific sounding cough. But for those who have seen us in the last couple of days, we are all better. No need for fretting, I promise I do my best not to spread germs. 

Aren't they just pitiful?

But, really, am I the only one that cringes at the sound of the first cough? When I first hear that dreaded nasty sounding cough, I also hear "dun, dun, duuuuuuuun." Not because I'm cold hearted, but because I know if one baby gets it, the rest of the babies will get it. And that includes the biggest baby of all.....the husband. Raise your hand if you feel me.


There's always whining and wiggling....




And lots of crying.

But most of all, there's all kinds of cuddles. That's my favorite part. So, I suppose sickness has it's advantages. 

Good news is that we are all recovered and back to feeling like our typical toddler selves.


Any body else giggling at the fact that my house looks like a Toys R Us?

I could pretend and say "My house usually doesn't look like this" but I'd be lying. Toys are everywhere about 99% of the time. At first, not having a tidy house would bother me, but I've learned to accept the things that I can not change. Because after all, if you're not tripping over toys all day, then what kind of a life are you really living? 

Toddlers, man. 

It won't be long before this one will be a toddler. THEN WE WILL HAVE THREE. Three toddlers. My mind literally can't process the thought, so let's just leave it there. 



Their favorite day is "sheet changing day." Who would have thought that a once dreaded chore now has become such a fun activity. Having kids will do that to you. I always take off the comforter of the bed and the throw pillows, and I pile them in the floor. Their job is to run and jump canon ball style onto the blankets. My favorite part is the giggles that echo through out the house. And we do that every week. What a great life we live.

Seriously though, what a great life we live. My God has been so good to the Redman Roost, and to me personally. I can remember back to my high school days, and I would only dream of having a hard working husband, a bunch of babies, and a home. And now I have all three. Even when days are hard, long, and filled with stuffy noses, they are still the sweetest days I have ever had and I'm so thankful to Him for giving me all of my heart's desires. 


And....


I'm also thankful for new chairs. They make me happy too.








Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Couponing is my drug

Today has been an eventful day. I have organized the babies' closets, put away clothes that they have outgrown, did 300 loads of laundry, washed 200 dishes by hand and through the dishwasher, and put together a meal for the hubby to eat for dinner. Basically, I'm worn out. 

This is always what happens whenever I feel like I'm done with dishes. Am I the only one? Surely not. 


So for down time, I put the toddlers in the baby proofed den, cuddled with my tiniest, and finally sat down to blog. It's kinda my new favorite thing. 


I tried to sneak and check up on the two older babies, but as I walked down the stairs, this is what I saw. I stopped and went back up. I didn't even want to know what they were doing. If they ain't cryin', I assume they are perfectly fine. 


Lets take about groceries.
A few people have joked and said "wow, I bet your grocery bill is outrages." And to be honest, it's really not. I usually spend around $300 a month on groceries, toiletries, formula and diapers. People ask me all the time, "How do you do it?"

Like I mentioned in a previous post, my husband used to be a car salesman. Sometimes we would be sitting pretty, and other times we would be scraping pennies just to survive. I had two babies under the age of two, and I had just quit my job to stay home with them. TIMES WERE TOUGH. So in order to save money on diapers and groceries, I learned how to coupon and learned how to bargain shop. And it slowly began my passion and hobby.

I just went to the grocery yesterday, got two weeks worth of groceries, formula, diapers, and spent a total of $148. That's crazy, right? 

Comment to find out how you can get one too!

I start by making a meal plan with my handy dandy Honeydouri. I plan breakfast, lunches, and dinners for the next two weeks. This is also when I started to be creative about dinner. We don't eat steak or shrimp every night, but we do eat really good (and not so healthy) meals. Pinterest has some really great ideas for budget friendly dinners for the family. 

My next secret is to shop at Kroger. It's my heaven on earth. I walk in the doors and most of the cashiers know me by name. I just love it. The reason why I love it so much is because they have the best deals in town! Always! Just this past week, they had their MEGA SALE. This is like Christmas to me. Weird, I know. 

About one to two days before I do a big grocery trip, I do the meal plan like I mentioned, and I make my grocery list of everything that I need to buy. I write down the toiletries, diapers, and food that we will need. And when I shop, I don't buy anything that's not on that list. This has helped me so much in keeping the grocery bill down. (Of course, occasionally, if they have a really good deal on toilet paper, I won't pass it up.) I also leave the husband at home. Haha. 

After I make my list, I go to my big binder of coupons, and I just "look" at all the coupons I have. I have a good memory when I comes to coupons, so I can glance at them and remember what I have. Its my only special gift I have! I have to mentally prepare myself for a grocery trip. You might think I'm going a little over board and that I'm over thinking a typical grocery store run, but this is the only way that I can stay within my very small grocery budget. 

When the time comes, I make my trip. With my big binder of coupons, and my three kids in tow. 

But how do I afford my diapers for TWO babies? COUPONS. And Sales. This week, Kroger had Pampers and Huggies on sale for $7.99 a pack. A pack typically will last me a week for each child, so when I go to the store, I buy two packs of each size. I've done the math for the boxes and my coupons, and it's more logical to buy the packs. I had a $3 off coupon for pampers, and a $3 off coupon for Huggies. So, I got two packs of diapers for $3.99 each. Then, I bought a box of the Kroger brand diapers that was on sale for $12.99. A WHOLE BOX. I had a $2 off coupon for that, so for a 58 count box of Kroger brand diapers, I paid $10.99. So in total, I got two weeks worth of diapers for two babies for $18.97. HOLY COW.  

And let me just add that the Kroger brand diapers are my FAVORITE. 

I normally am a breast feeding momma, but I have a heart condition that has to be monitored by taking medicine. With this particular medicine, I can't breast feed because it will affect the baby. So, at 6 months old, I had to wean my tiniest nugget and put him on formula. It was heart breaking because that stuff IS SO EXPENSIVE. I have signed up for every formula coupon you can get, so on average, I get $20 in coupons each month. That helps. 
BUT, yesterday was the best coupon deal that I have ever had in my life. The Kroger brand formula, which is compared to Similac, was on sale for $13.99. When I went to grab a can, there was a COUPON just laying there beside it for $8 off. EIGHT DOLLARS. So I got a large can of formula for  $5.99. HOLY FREAKING COW. I did the tiny mom dance in the baby aisle. 

So because I only spent $25 in the baby aisle, that left me $125 roughly for food. Remember, I only buy what is on my list. And i did just that. I bought everything that I needed and nothing else.

It wasn't my best shopping trip, but it definitely was a good one. Anytime I walk out of the grocery store under budget (in this case by $2), it's a GREAT day. 

I got home, unloaded and put away the groceries, and have started thinking about the next grocery trip! 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Lessons from The Redman Roost

Being a wife and mom has always been my dream ever since I was a little girl. I remember always carrying around a baby doll with me every where I would go, and I remember praying for a wonderful husband at the age of 14. I definitely would call this my "calling." So in my fours years as a wife and three years as a momma, I have gained a little knowledge from experiences that I would love to share:


Advice number 1: 


Never send your husband to the store to get dish soap. He will get the largest bottle that the store sells and return home with a smile, thinking that he just thought of the most logical thing in the world, "I wont have to come back for soap for at least a whole year." Which in reality, you wont be able to actually pick the bottle up with one hand. This is a two-hander soap bottle. Definitely makes washing dishes a little more challenging. Love his heart.

Advice Number 2:


Don't even try to put makeup on. Just don't. Because SOMEONE will always be at your feet crying for your attention. I haven't mastered putting on eye liner while holding the squirmy baby, so the easiest option for me is to just go natural. 

By the way, isn't that linoleum just lovely? That is another project for another day. 

Advice Number 3:


Never sneak a bite of your child's donut. I made the mistake of just "sneaking a bite" of his pirate donut, and he went into panic mode. He thought it was all gone. His dad does the same thing when I "sneak a bite" of his dinner. Ha! Maybe one day I'll learn this one. But probably not. 

Advice Number 4:


There's no point in cleaning your bedroom or making the bed, because 'little minions' will always come behind you and "undo" everything you have just done. Save your energy and don't bother. 

Advice Number 5:


Wait until nap time for cut the coupons. Never "coupon" with toddlers within a 2 foot radius. One or both toddlers will always steal the best coupons and you will never see them again. Ever. 

Advice Number 6:


When the husband says "I'm going to go burn some brush," quietly follow him. I failed to do that yesterday, and he made a fire 4 feet away from the wooden play set, which is roughly 10 feet away from our back patio. He's a very intelligent man, but he just needs a little help every now and then. And that's why God created a wife as a "help meet." 

Advice Number 7: 


Watch something funny or distracting when pulling out the "big boy clothes" for your tiniest baby. You will cry. But if something is distracting you, you can keep the tears to a minimum. 


This guy is wearing 12 month clothing. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep your baby a baby? 

Advice Number 8:


When you're behind on the laundry and have no more blue bibs for your baby boy, it's TOTALLY okay to use his older sister's from when she was a baby.......Just as long as you don't use them in public. But as home is way more than okay. 

And I promise you that he is NOT Daddy's Princess.


And finally, my last piece of advice is:


Never assume that the "swimmies" are a good substitution for a diaper. Last night I was too tired to run to the grocery store to get a pack of diapers, so this morning when I was desperate for just one more diaper to hold me over til I had a chance to go, I used a "swimmie." WRONG. It's not a diaper. I repeat, it's not a diaper. By the time we pulled in the parking lot of Kroger, my middle child was yelling "I WET!" 

Lessons learned. 


Of course, all of these are just in fun, and the real lessons we learn are from our own experiences. I rely on The Lord to guide me on this journey of motherhood, and I pray daily that I am the wife I need to be for my husband. I don't always get it right and some days I fail, but the beauty of it is that there is forgiveness. And my family loves me anyway!