Piano Recital

Today was Acadia's winter piano recital.  This was a hard one.  She chose two very difficult songs for her.  And even earlier this morning, she was still really struggling with one of them.  I knew she would do okay, but when it was time for her to perform, I think she did way more than just okay.  She really did great!  There are a few mistakes but nothing huge and she pushed through ... I think she was awesome! 

Here is the video, what do you think?

Acadia's Extreme Room MakeOver

I have searched and searched and cannot find any photos or blogs about the last time we made over Acadia's room.  I can't even remember exactly when it was.  It was after Rori was born, but it was before Rori moved into a "big girl bed" because Rori inherited Acadia's old bedroom theme.  Cadi's room had been "princess" for quite some time and she had outgrown it.  Her new love was horses so we redid her room in blues and browns and lots of horses.  But now that she's preparing to enter her teenage years, she's ready to move on to even more grown up stuff.

For Christmas, we gave her new bedding and a few accessories with the promise that a new room was coming.  This weekend, we delivered.

Here are some before shots.  The room was really messy, in part because she didn't have the right storage, but also in part to the million (give or take) stuffed animals she owns... well, and that she hates to clean her room. ;)  She has had to let some of her stuffed animals go, but she still managed to keep a lot. lol  When I took these pics, she had already been clearing off her shelves, they were usually stuffed full of things.  She had already given a lot of the horse decorations to her friend who loves horses, so you can't even tell it used to be a horse room. :S

Cadi and I did most of the work and she used this as one of her Young Women Personal Progress value projects.  It definitely took her more than 10 hours!  But we did ask Ryan to help with a couple of things, particularly in regards to demo.  He can't pass up a chance to break things take things apart, nor an opportunity to use his power tools.  If he knew the pics were going to go on the blog he might have dressed better. lol

After everything was taken down and cleared out, we prepped and painted.  Then we had a ton of furniture to put together!  3 tall bookcases, a headboard, captain's bed, and the cool cube shelving that would go over her bed.  We also installed the curtain rods.  We used Ryan's power tools more than he did!

The room looked nice with a fresh coat of paint, but we knew it would look even better once we got her furniture moved in...

It was turning out just as we dreamed it would!  Today, we started putting everything back in.  She is still rearranging some things, but this is pretty much how it looks now...

Our goal was to give her a more efficient space that better reflected who she is and who she wants to grow to be.  She now has a really, really cool room that totally matches her style and personality.  She loves it and so do I. 

If I were Ty Pennington, I'd say, "Welcome Home Cadi, Welcome Home!"

Funks

So, I've been in this blog funk.  I haven't posted a "real" post since Dec. 23rd.  I have a lot to post about!  Christmas, a trip to Idaho, the new year, etc.

But I've also been in a funk in real life, too.

No motivation.  I've done laundry and dishes and I've straightened here and there, but I haven't really had a good cleaning day for a couple of weeks.

I haven't worked out at all in more than a couple of weeks.

I'm just not motivated. 

So, last night I prayed to get that motivation back. 

I like my life.  I like being a stay-at-home mom.  I don't like cleaning, but I like the way the house looks and feels when I'm doing my job right. 

I like being healthy.  I don't like the actual workouts, but I like the feeling afterwards knowing that I'm doing something to make my body healthier.  And I like the results, too!

I know my motivation will start picking up again.  I know because whenever I pray for help, I get it.  This is not the first funk I've been in.  I always wonder why I wait so long to make the request.  But now that I've made  it, I know things will be better. 

So, stay tuned. :)

Hmmmm...

I seem to be in a blog funk.

I really do love keeping a blog and I really do have a lot of great things to blog about.  But I just haven't been feeling it lately.  So, bare with me.  I'll be back soon...