The hubster and I have made a few BIG decisions lately. I guess I'm just going to have to space out the details on these so I don't have one very long post to torture you with.

You're welcome. :)

One of our decisions is to look for a bigger home. We need at least one more bedroom {we live in a 2 bedroom home right now}, a nice sized yard for our littles to play in, and a basement {preferably finished or partially finished}. We came to this decision in a chat about our children's future and what we wanted for them.

My oldest boy is almost 5 years old. Can you believe that? We feel that it's super important for him to have his own space in our home rather than a shared room with girls. Also, the girls are going to need "girl space" as they get older.

We have another use of a bigger home but I'll get into that bit another day.

{I'm NOT pregnant so don't even go there. lol}

What's happening as we hunt for homes, though, is somewhat amusing to me. I find a house and swoon over it while the hubster has to get all "practical" about it. Picking on a home for having too much land or being too old is what he tends to do.

I guess I need that.

My little creative mind just flies away with some of these homes. Words like "charm" and "character" are not what moves my hubster, though. No sir. He wants to make sure the house isn't going to have structural issues while wondering how much land we can properly care for. Silly me. I just don't think like that.

Is this why most agents say "The wife buys the home"? I like to look at it from the angle of how I might decorate it and if the house style fits my overall style. I look at flooring and wall colors, light fixtures and window treatments, to measure the cosmetic work that needs to be done.

Anyway. Wish us luck on our hunt. We agree on the areas that we would be comfortable with relocating to but our clashing minds are searching for the perfect compromise in house style.

{You can all guess that I would be leaning toward a "farm house" or "early 1900's" home, right? It's the perfect dream. *sigh*}

On A House Hunt

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As a stay at home mom to {now} three little ones {ages 4.5, 2, and newborn}, I have to admit how easy it is to allow my TV to come to my rescue from time to time. Maybe you know what I'm talking about. On those days when I'm not feeling well or one of my kiddos aren't feeling well, it's almost a "no brainer" to allow things like Comcast and Netflix swoop in to save the day and pacify the situation. My husband and I aren't always weak to this temptation, though.

After reading research articles and speaking with the pediatrician, we came to agree how important it is to actually put a cap on how much exposure our little ones get to things like TV or even electronics/video games. We now know that 2 hours a day should really be the most "TV time" our kids have. This will help them to build important skills they need for school and everyday life. We've decided, in our home, to abide by this 2 hour maximum and have found a technique to make it easy for our little ones to keep track of their own screen time.

{I'd like to add that screen time for us is not just TV. We also consider items like the LeapPad, V.Reader, and other video games to count toward screen time.}

Upon recommendation from a fellow co-worker of my husband, we've implemented the "5 Penny Rule". It's been very simple to use and we've had no issues with transition to this. Basically, the rule is that each child is given 5 pennies a day. Each penny counts as 20 minutes of screen time that can be used toward watching a show or part of a movie {if the child chooses to not use multiple pennies to watch the whole movie}, playing on the LeapPad or V.Reader, or playing a video game {we have a V.Motion system for the little ones}. If, for example, my son wants to watch a show on Netflix, he gets a penny from his dish and politely asks if he can watch one. I take the penny and put it aside and set the timer while he settles in for his show. As soon as the timer goes off, the show goes off. It's as easy as that. And if he uses up all of his pennies in the morning, he doesn't get any more.

Also, in the Five Penny Rule, there are NO ROLL-OVER minutes. This means that he can't use today's minutes tomorrow should he have a penny left over. We don't want him to go over the time we've allotted for him. I've learned to beware of the temptation to give in also. If I stick to the boundary, my kiddos will learn to respect it and me.

I'm a HUGE fan of this rule and am so happy we've started using it. I'm not the bad guy anymore. If the pennies aren't there, they aren't there. It's no longer seen as my saying "No" because I'm in a bad mood or I don't like my children...my son used to suspect that I didn't like him if I told him "No". This has eliminated battles in my home and made room for more constructive play and together time.

I can't forget to add that we DO enjoy special nights like "Movie Nights" in our home. These nights are always parent initiated and don't cost any pennies. We pick up the tab on that. ;)

How about you? How do you handle things like Screen Time in your home? Are there any other battles you face that you've developed strategies for? {I love trading tips with other moms so don't be shy.}

**I received no compensation for this post. Also, this is not a review for any of the mentioned children's electronics. This is strictly based on my opinion and my experience in parenting my children. Others may not agree.**

The Five Penny Rule: Managing Our Young Ones' Screen Time

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So I decided it was time to find something that was more "me" and scaled to my space.

I was on the hunt, high and low, for a steamer trunk or even an old, wooden chest to use. Everything I found that may work was out of my price range or had a curved top. {Curved top trunks can never, as pretty as they may be, find a new use as a coffee table if I can't place a coffee cup on it.}

Well, the other day I was talking about this with my parents and my mom said, "You wouldn't be interested in the crate box in the front room, would you?". This was something my dad found on the curb and was tucked against the wall, holding random things that didn't yet have a home.  I thought it would be too small but I thought I would give it a try. If it didn't work out, I could always give it back.

This crate had large patches of old wallpaper on it. After getting it home, my first order of business was to remove that old paper. Underneath, I found the crate was stamped! {I just love finding history like that}.

Long story short, I removed the paper by scraping it off, vacuumed out the inside to make it nice and clean, and used a wood cleaner to cut down on the build up on the crate's top. Inside, I threw in some cozy blankets, a few puzzles, my son's LeapFrog Tag reader, books, and map, a few of my own books, and a little basket for remotes and called it "done".

This, my friends, is my new coffee table on its original casters and I love it.

It's much better than the $20 table from that "big box" furniture store. *nods head*

I Grew Weary Of My Coffee Table...

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I've been meaning to get to this project {and many more} since moving back in to our repainted/redone home. BUT, you know how life gets sometimes. I was busy, busy, busy.

Today, though, I saw a window of time and an opportunity to get cracking on at least ONE of my DIY projects. I'm happy to say that I completed the whole thing while the kids were sleeping. :) {This is a good thing because it involved a hand-saw, a hammer, a drill, and some sawdust.}

Don't you just love the smell of sawdust? 

No?

I'm alone on that crazy train? Oh, well. 

Here's a peek at just a part of my completed project. 

Can you guess what I made?

Not to worry. I'll be posting more pics and a tutorial soon! {Pssst. Get your "Pin It" ready to post on your Pinterest board. ;) }

Take A Peek: A DIY Project Teaser

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The past couple days I've been working on just one of the projects I want to get done for our little home makeover. This first one was a doozy, though.

Phew!

I was thinking of changing the look of our home a while back and really wanted to update the color as well as find a neat pattern to paint on the entry hall. Enter Pinterest and a world of great ideas. I finally landed on one of them.

Here was the inspiration for the project. {I pinned it on Pinterest if you follow me}

The original tutorial was found HERE and I actually liked the smaller stencil for our *ahem* smaller scaled home.

I started by drawing out the pattern on the wall. Boy, oh, boy was that a tedious job but I was excited when that was done because I could begin painting!

I had only gotten a small portion of the way when I had to update Twitter and Facebook with this photo. I was really liking what I was seeing. Unfortunately, I exhausted myself and wasn't able to finish this project in one day {I had just reorganized the kiddos' closet before starting this} and had to return the next day after my OB appointment while I had someone to care for my littles.

I painted and painted until I was through and here is the final product. {I used the cardboard stencil I cut out on the wall and the paper one for the ends sides and bottom of the wall.}

Sorry for the poor lighting as this picture was taken with my phone but you can see enough of it to know what it looks like.

The walls are painted with Olympic Paint's "Thin Ice" but I had it matched by Valspar {I hope that makes sense}. Then, I just put some of that in a cup with a bit of white and mixed it together for the stencil color. It gives a nice contrast without being too harsh.

Do you like it?

More projects to come!

One Project Down, Many More To Go

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If you haven't guessed yet, I'm a glutton for coffee. I love it and my days are better if I get {at least} my morning portion. Keurig makes getting that morning Cup-of-Joe extremely easy with it's individual K-Cups. I love that I can choose what flavor I want and the next person getting coffee can have whichever he/she prefers. It's easy to operate, easy to keep clean, and gives me more of that precious time I need with my two kiddos.

This handsome brewer is the Keurig Platinum Brewing System in the Platinum finish. {It also comes in Midnight Black and Gloss Cinnamon.} The first thing I did when our Keurig arrived was to set it up on my counter top. I went through the menu options and easily set the time and even set it to turn off after being on {and unused} for an hour. Most of the time I remember to turn things off when I'm finished with them but as a mom who's always on the go, I'm happy that this is something that can take care of itself if I have to dash off.

The back-lit LCD screen makes it easy to see what I'm doing so I can get the right size choice the first time I try. Honestly, I like it dark and quiet in the morning. I don't turn on any lights so it's easy to find me fumbling around in the kitchen. The LCD screen is really the only thing on in my kitchen most mornings and it's not too harsh a glow for even me.

 Did you see that? There are 5 different cup sizes available on the Keurig Platinum. Five! {4 oz., 6 oz., 8 oz., 10 oz. and 12 oz} I'm in heaven. I can fill a latte mug with no problem. On my other brewer {which you may recall my reviewing a bit ago}, I had to brew one cup size and then add in an additional brew to fill one of my big mugs. I didn't have to use 2 K-cups for that, but it did take a bit longer than a couple minutes to get what I was going for. Keep in mind, the drip tray can be removed to make plenty of room for those tall mugs.

My brewer also came with a 12 K-Cup variety box. This is included with your purchase from Keurig. There's a little bit of everything in there and it's a great idea to get a feel for what you may want to purchase first in terms of K-Cups.

"But Amy, the cost of those K-Cups can really add up after a while and I'm not sure I want to use those all the time!"

I see that and I raise you one "My K-Cup". With the My K-Cup, you can brew whatever coffee you like in the reusable filter. I have one {bought with my own money, thank you very much} and I love that I can grind up some fresh coffee beans for a gooooooood cup of coffee every now and then. The clean up is a little messy on that but it can really help out if you're budget minded like my family is. Truth be told, K-Cups aren't always in the budget but my brewing system is used all the time.

Let me chat with you a minute about the new Quiet Brew Technology. See, with my first Keurig, I was a little afraid to run it before the kids got up due to it's loud {albeit short} ways.  I live in a small home and was all "Shhhhh. Don't wake the kiddos" when I just couldn't wait for my cup of coffee. Now, I don't even think twice about it. The Quiet Brew Technology is quite impressive and I'd like you to hear...or not hear...what it sounds like. {Sorry it's sideways. Just consider that a smartphone video fail.}

Ah, yes. Brew away!

There are accessories you can buy to keep things tidy with your new purchase and absolutely loads of different K-Cups available. You can buy coffee, tea, and hot chocolate but don't be fooled into thinking your choices are limited. They are anything BUT limited. Personally, I prefer Gloria Jean's and Donut House K-Cups but that's because I like my coffee on the sweet side. Yum.

If you like to keep things simple and want to give any visitors you may have an option to choose their own favorite coffee, then the Keurig Platinum Brewing System is for you. It's an investment at a $179.95 price point but it's wonderful to have and I feel the investment really does pay off in the long run.

**The opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. Others may have a different experience and may not agree with my opinion. Thanks to Keurig for the product to review. I was able to keep the item at no cost to me in exchange for my honest review.**

The "Oh-So-Quiet" Keurig Platinum {review}

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It's SPRING and that means a lot of people are spring cleaning. Me? I'm just trying to think of what color I want to paint my walls. Seriously. I obsess about it and try my hardest to envision it into existence. {That doesn't work, by the way.}

ANYway. If you know a mom who caught the "inspired" bug this spring, head over to Valspar's Facebook page and nominate her to win 2 gallons of paint so she can makeover her favorite room. Neat huh? 

Just click the pic above to be taken to the Valspar Facebook page and enter someone you know. 

**I was not compensated in any way for sharing this contest with you. I was sent an email and thought it was a wonderful thing to share. :) Go enter! Quick!**

Enter Quickly! Valspar Giveaway Ends Soon!

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