Movie Playroom Reveal!

Lights, Camera, Action! 

It's been a busy day full of Ikea assembly, ironing, and fluffing--- but totally worth it because the boys' Movie Playroom is a wrap!! 

We've been in our new house for almost three months and practically every room has been decorated since Week 2.  Maybe I'm an overachiever... or maybe my husband left for an entire month almost immediately after we moved here! Either way, we're settled and loving our house.  

Before moving in, I'd pretty much planned out each room based on the rental listing photos and ordered the few new furniture pieces that we wanted.  The only room without a plan was the playroom.  I had never seen any photos of the loft and ---let me tell you--- it was a HUGE bonus! (Have I mentioned how lucky we are that our house ended up being great!?!) When we drove up on move in day, and I took my first tour of our new rental, I was shocked at how big the room was and slightly regretted selling our old couch before we moved! Even though it's a big space, I wasn't sure how much the boys would actually play up there.  I assumed the boys would bring their toys downstairs, so it became the lowest priority on our list. As it turns out, they love it and we spend so much time up there that I decided it should be a little more comfy and cozy.  Don't get me wrong, reading with 3 people in one rocking chair is cozy, but not exactly comfy!  This weekend we added the new couch, a rug, lots of pillows and hung up all our movie themed artwork. 

And, without further ado... 

When planning Owen's 5th birthday party, we purchased some adorable movie themed signs from Hobby Lobby.  They made a great backdrop for the movie concessions table at the party and seeing them in the playroom now reminds me of all of our sweet friends that were there to celebrate Owen! 

The room has a movie theme {and a very ironic teeny-tiny tv} but my favorite part of the entire space is the reading corner.  We purchased this Rolling Utility Cart from Ikea and filled it with books.  It could hold many more books, but Momma's learned her lesson and no longer gives the boys access to ALL the books.... because picking up ALL THE BOOKS takes forever! Now, I rotate out the books each week. 

I wanted bean bag chairs for the Owen and Luke to lounge on. And, of course, I found perfect red corduroy bean bag chairs... for $40, which may not sound so bad until you buy two! I refuse to pay $80 for bean bags. Come on-- It's a giant pillow that two little boys are going to flop around on! I knew I could make them and hoped it would be less than $80 bucks.  

These ended up being $24 total!! 

Cha-Ching! 

I practically stole the red fabric from JoAnn's ($4.50 for 3 yards --- it had a flaw in the fabric that I noticed while it was being cut and I got the entire 3 yard piece for 75% off!!!) Then, Meamaw sent me a picture of her newly reupholstered living room cushions and I copied the black and white fabric she used, $10 for 2 yards!  I bought a set of two Memory Foam Cluster Pillows that was $10 and then cut open 4 old pillows that I had been storing in the closet instead of throwing away. (I'm really not a pack rat, except when it comes to items that "I might make something out of one day")  

They are six 22"x22" square pieces of fabric sewn into a cube and filled with tons of stuffing! Easy and *Warning* very messy to actually filled with stuffing.  It was worth the messy craft room floor! 

I found these two canvases sold as a set for $30 at Kirklands and grabbed the popcorn and ticket pillows there too! Plus, a Labor Day discount code and free shipping. Woohoo!!

Brendon was super sweet and offered to go to Ikea today to buy the White Ektorp Sofa that I'd been internet-window shopping for since the first day I saw the playroom!  He also bought the black and white rug that I've been drooling over after seeing it on Fixer Upper (Season 1, Episode 6).  

After about 30 minutes of ironing the white slipcover and hanging the artwork, the room was DONE! I absolutely love it and really like that the theme will grow-up with the boys.  I sure hope they like that couch because it's probably going to be make an appearance in their college dorms! Mark my words... mwahahaha! 

The BIG 5!!!

How is this possible?!? Owen turns 5 today! 

{It makes no sense because he was just born yesterday! Yesterday, I tell ya}

Somehow, in the blink of an eye, this little tiny baby has grown into a big boy.  And, five is definitely a big boy age, a milestone -- a perfect time to celebrate! 

This year Owen made lots of contributions to his birthday party.  We decided on a MOVIE party theme and Owen jumped at the chance to help plan!  He chose the movie,  Cars 2 -- an oldie, but brand new to him! His requests for the party were cotton candy, "Taste the Rainbows" (aka Skittles), and popcorn.  

Going to Sam's Club with the intentions of ONLY buying CANDY was a dream come true! Owen found all of his favorites in GIANT bags and he even let Luke choose his favorite candy, lollipops!

We're still not sure how Luke was able to haul that giant bag of DumDums.  He was certainly determined to get them in the shopping cart --- Even after we removed them, Luke went back to get the bag and proceeded to carry it around the store.  He was like a little tiny ant carrying 50 times his body weight in lollipops! 

I made the invites, which will be available in my Etsy Shop, and delivered them to his friends. All together, we had 5 families and I wasn't quite sure how we'd fit everyone in our house.  But, after rearranging some furniture (Think: Living room furniture in the dining room--- but in a strange way, it worked and was very comfy) everyone fit and had a great time! 

We hung a pair of old curtains next to the tv to create The Theater using our tv as the screen and set up a full table of sweets!  All of the movie themed decorations are from Hobby Lobby (whoohoo for 50% off!)  and will be the playroom decorations at our new house!  {P.S. We're moving next month! Surprise -- If I were better at keep up with blog posts, you'd all know that already!}

After buying all the sweets, I happened to say out loud, in front of Owen, {and he is always listening!} that I wasn't planning on making a cake. He thought that was wildly unreasonable and looked at me as if I was crazy. 

"No cake at a party?!?"  

It wasn't hard to convince me to add cake to the menu! At the last minute, I ordered a cake from Retro Bakery.  It was delicious and perfectly held his #5 candle.

The candy was a hit! 

We served pizza, veggies and fruit --- prior to pumping the kids with a weeks worth of sweets.  They may have all left the veggies on their plates, but I at least felt better giving them the option! There was one sugar-free option at the party--- bottled water! 

During the movie, each child got a basket with a swirly straw cup (both from DollarTree), popcorn and room for their candy bag.  I had them all prepped before the party started with popped popcorn and license plate labels! 

These baskets and cups became part of the party favors.  Prior to the end of the movie, I filled up a second bag of candy for each kid because if they didn't take it with them I'd eat it all and sent them home with candy, bags of cotton candy, a cup, and "Thanks for POPPING by" party favors. 

These are simply a popcorn wrapper and a bag of microwave popcorn! 

My absolute favorite part of the party was the cardboard box cars! Brendon bought large moving boxes and with a little tape, he turned them into cars.  

The kids were each given a gallon ziplock bag filled with all the supplies needed to make their car.   

5 large black plates {4 wheels + 1 steering wheel}, 2 red dessert plates {tail lights}, 2 yellow dessert plates {headlights}, and a personalized license plate.  I asked Office Depot to print them on sticker paper so it would be easy for the kids to do themselves. While I was at Office Depot, I picked up two packs of 1.5" brads - Each car needed 9 brads and they needed to be slightly longer than the typical brad to accommodate for the thickness of the cardboard. Brendon predrilled holes in the colored plates and in the cardboard boxes.  

Luke's car was our example and the kids quickly jumped at the chance to make their own! 

Kyle loved driving his car!

 After the party started, we realized the added bonus for having cardboard box cars  --- their messes were trapped inside their vehicles! The carpet was spotless after the party.  It was the easiest party clean up ever! 

Luke finally got to eat the lollipops! I'm pretty sure he ate more candy than Owen. 

After food and gifts, we let the kids fill their candy bags and started the feature presentation!  

 It was such a fun party for all of us!

Luke @ 11 Months Old

Just look at those eyes... He's working on something BIG!  (And it wasn't anything big in his diaper)  Luke's big move to ring in his 11th month was taking his 1st STEP!!!  

Just 3 weeks ago, Luke stood by himself for the first time.  Then, he took one small step on his own! I can't believe how strong he is. 

It must be all the time he spends working out with Daddy! 

Maybe he's so strong because of all the food he's cooking on the grill.

He loves to eat and grunts at us when he sees us eating. He especially enjoys when we share our food with him.

He learned how to drink from a straw this month!  We gave him a baby food pouch and he immediately started sucking. That skill transitioned into drinking water from a straw --- wish I would have thought of that technique earlier! 

He's very vocal about food and uses his signs the most when talking about food.  He can say more please, all done, water, milk, and eat.  He has also been known to sign all done when he's hot and ready to go inside or tired of riding in the car or when he's just had enough of the activity we're doing! 

One thing he can't get enough of --- Daddy and Big Brother! He even enjoyed watching them play water balloon toss at Brendon's work picnic.  

This month, Owen had a few big accomplishments too.  The biggest was finishing his first year of preschool!

We celebrated the first day of summer by playing at Owen's favorite park and splash pad! He chose his outfit (if you couldn't tell).  What's the opposite of a school uniform?! Wearing a character on every piece of clothes --- Thomas hat, Monsters University shirt, Pixar characters on his swim trunks,  and monster socks! It was a good day. 

Now that preschool, MOPS, and bible study are finished for the year, we've been spending more time at home and going to the gym.  Both boys love playing in the back yard pool and eating lunch on the back patio. 

Summer nights have been full of grilling and eating dinner outside! 

Brendon and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on June 9th! We ate dinner at Buddy V's and dessert from Carlos Bakery.  

Luke and Owen have been playing really well together lately.  Luke has always been interested in what Owen is doing, but now he's able to crawl over and be a part of the fun.  

Owen's found new ways to hide from Luke when he needs a break.  He plays Lego at the table or trains behind the baby gate.  I wasn't very excited about having a huge baby gate in the front of the house (but you gotta do whatcha gotta do to keep Luke The Climber safe) and it's made managing the toy war much easier! 

Speaking of The Climber... Luke will climb anything and everything! I turned my head at playgroup and seconds later found him like this--- halfway up the stroller.  Can you guess what he was climbing up to get?  .... The snack tower! 

He doesn't always need to climb up stairs, strollers, packages of drinks, or the dishwasher... he's also perfectly happy climbing IN cabinets! 

The boys and I have been going swimming a lot at our friend's pool or going with Daddy to the pool at the Y on the weekends.  Swimming days = 2 boys napping  Whoohoo!  

The boys' favorite time of day is when Daddy comes home! They both want to wrestle with him.  Luke's internal timer starts going off around 5:15pm and he spends the rest of the day checking on Daddy and calling out "dada" as loud as he can.   

We all missed Brendon during our trip to Shreveport, but had so much fun with Sara Beth, Tristen and their families! 

Traveling by myself with both boys was actually easier than I expected.  I was quite thankful for this little invention.  The "Child Protection Seat" was a real lifesaver! 

The Ergo was my saving grace while walking around the airport (hauling the carryon, kids, snacks, and all the other flying necessities). I held Luke in the carrier during the flight too.  He was the in-flight entertainment the entire flight to Shreveport.  He was supposed to be sitting in my lap, but he was pretty much dancing/climbing/escaping every chance he had.  He also loved playing peek-a-boo with the lady behind us!  Thankfully, the ride home was during nap time so he was asleep almost the entire time! 

It was so much fun for me to spend time with Brandi and Diana.  We kept thinking "Wow! We have 7 kids!"  We've come a long way from being 3 new mommas with one baby each. 

And, look how happy they all are!! 

hahaha 

No really, the trip was amazing and all the kids played together really well.  Getting a picture to prove it was almost impossible!