Before and After

Waaay back in 2008, when we looked at this house, one of the first things I said was "The yellow has to go."  No offense to those who have mustard yellow on all their walls.  It just wasn't my taste.  I fell in love with the rest of the house, but never fell in love with the yellow.  Despite my feelings, it only took six years to finally getting around to repainting.  I think the main reason was because there was just so. much. yellow. We knew it was going to be a big job. Also, there was a strange faux painting technique on the kitchen walls which we also knew was going to take some elbow grease.

Dan was "in between" jobs in November so we, I mean, I thought it would be a perfect time for the yellow to make it's departure once and for all.  Dan was a superstar, rolled up his sleeves, greased up those elbows, and made it all happen in 5 days.

Some during pictures:

Before we could start, Dan had to sand down and prime over all the faux painting

My super brave hubby isn't so super brave when it comes to heights,
so I had the privilege of painting the vaulted ceilings...

...and the two story foyer

Had to pull out the "extension" for the spots we just couldn't reach

Here are some before and after pictures...also known as a Picture Dump:

Entry Before

Entry After

Upstairs Hallway before

Upstairs Hallway after

Hearth Room Before

Hearth Room After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Kitchen After

Kitchen After

It was a BIG job, and we are definitely happy it is DONE!! I am so happy with the outcome. However, because we changed out the yellow to a more brown/gray color, we had to change the living room color. :) (Yes, you just heard a groan from Dan).  A friend of mine who has much better decorating taste than I do, suggested going out of the beige/brown color wheel. GASP! I so happy she gave me that suggestion because I LOVE the new color.

Before

after

Before

After

Before

After

It's amazing what a gallon (or 7) of paint can do!!

PJs, Pancakes, and a whole morning of fun!!

This year is our "Birthday Party Year." Starting in Kindergarten, each kiddo gets a "friend party" every other year.  The "off year" you get to spend your special day celebrating with your family. :) In two years it's going to land with Simon and Taryn having their friend parties two weeks apart. Oye. Who's idea was this?  Anyway, that's nothing to worry about today... let's focus on this year!!

Taryn's birthday fell on a Saturday so it was a perfect time to do a super fun (and actually quite easy) morning birthday party.  The theme was "PJ's and Pancakes."  The main reason this party idea was perfect for Taryn was because she would love to stay in her p.j.s every hour of every day. The girl loves her comfy clothes!

Thanks to Pinterest the ideas were endless.  I asked my super-talented sister to help me out with the invites.  I think they were the cutest part of the whole party!! Don't you agree??

The setup

The lime green "poof" kept falling down... thankfully Annika is tall. :)

Even poofs off the chandelier!

Table is set...girls worked on fruit loop necklaces while waiting for the rest to arrive

The Pancake Bar

Breakfast of Champions!

I should add that the sweet little girl who made this went back for seconds!!

For the craft, the girls used fabric markers and paint to decorate white pillowcases

The girls each took home their own "breakfast" as a party favor...these were a big hit!

The Birthday Girl

Crazy girlies!

And, of course, we ended the party with singing Happy Birthday and MORE SUGAR!!! That is why the party was only 1.5 hours long... sugar 'em up and send 'em home.


Happy Birthday Taryn from Our Plain Life on Vimeo.

My goal was for her to feel loved.  I think we accomplished that.  Happy Birthday my sweet and sassy Taryn.  You light up our lives every day with your kindness, spunk and smile.  I can't image our lives without our sweet "T."

Phew! Our January Birthdays are done! Yes, Dan's birthday was on the 23rd, but, sorry, babe, it didn't make the blog. :/ Now I have until June to plan for the next one....