The Art of Vinyl Wall Art

I had been eyeballing vinyl wall art for quite some time.  I’ve seen some really neat things like Bible verses and whatnot on all sorts of walls.  I’ve liked it, but I never had a place for it in my house.  I already had most of my walls situated the way I wanted so there was no room.  And since I know why my grandparents house looked the same my entire 28-33 years they were alive, they liked what they had and didn’t feel the need the change anything (yes, that’s me), I knew I’d never have any vinyl wall art.  Then Camryn came along and I thought there might be a possibility.  Then my cousin Diana told me about Groupon and a place called Dali Decals….wouldn’t you know it the very next day there was a Groupon for Dali.  For $20 I got a coupon for $50 to use at Dali.  Yay!!!  So then I just had to wait until I knew what we were doing in Camryn’s room and if vinyl art would work.

Last Monday UPS delivered my little triangle shape tube that contained my navy blue branch with red apple blossom piece of vinyl wall art.  Then Jay promised me we would get it up the next night, then the next night, then the next night.  Finally on Thursday about 8pm I saw it lying on Camryn’s floor.  Charity and her kids were supposed to be here Friday night so I knew the wall art wouldn’t stand a chance with those 4 feet running around.  We started on it.  Then I got in trouble for bossing.  Even though someone didn’t watch the instruction video or follow their recommended hinge method.  He’s put so many stickers on trailers he didn’t need to read any instructions.  And of course the way the decal place told him to do it was the wrong way to do it.  Anyone who’s ever spent at least 5 minutes around a man knows what I’m talking about.

I finally decided I couldn’t watch him putting the branch up any longer so I moved to the rocking chair to give Camryn a bottle.  I’m not even sure of what I heard but I heard something that made me think it was not going well.  I asked Jay if he was having a problem.  He said No.  I didn’t believe him.  I knew something was wrong.  I asked him if he was lying to me.  He said he wasn’t.  I didn’t believe him, but I went back to looking only at Camryn and not the mess going on in the corner.  Then Jay needed something so I handed it to him.  He looked so much like a little kid.  He was trying to hold a piece of the backing in his hands to hide the fact he had ripped off one of the braches.  I knew he had messed up something!   He told me it would be ok.  I told him he should’ve done the hinge method.  But that was like the nails that come with curtain rods and the hangers on the back of pictures….they are incorrectly constructed and will not work to hang anything.  Even thought millions of curtains in homes across America are hung with the nails that came with the rods.  So anyway, I decided to leave the room and get a trash bag.

When I got back in Camryn’s room Cade asked me the definition of a word. It’s not unusual for him to put me on the spot like that so I didn’t think anything about it. Except this word was micro-manage. I thought for a second and I defined it as “what Dad thinks I do to him all the time”. I hit the nail on the head with that one because Cade then said “Dad told me to ask you”. Caught Again! Jay said Cade needs to quit telling me everything they talk about. I think Jay would’ve learned by now that if it needs to be a secret don’t tell Cade.

After ripping off yet another branch Jay finally got the thing on the wall. Then I started with the flowers. Apparently it takes more time to stick 32 apple blossoms on the wall than you would think. It was almost 11 before we went to bed. I finally had to stop. I had a pull in the back of my neck which was giving me a headache. I finished it the next morning.

I still have one more thing to do in her room then I’ll post pictures of the finished product.  Camryn was completely concerned about the branch last night.  I put  her in the crib while I worked on the flowers.

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Back to School

The last couple of weeks have been a blur.  Between school starting, the Sheldon Picnic, finishing Camryn's room things have been a little wild and I haven't had much time for blogging.  Actually, that's not the whole truth and since I've always tried to be honest....Jay is back in school he has to take his lap top with him.  It is just too much work to boot up the home computer and sit in the hard wooden chair to do my blogging.  I prefer to do it from the comfort of my couch.  Yes, I'm spoiled that way. 



Cade will have been in school 2 weeks on Wednesday.  It's hard to believe our boy is in the 4th grade.  I'm not sure how much he weighs now, but this has been a summer of him filing out.  He doesn't look like you could break him in half anymore.  He's definitely got some substance to him now.  If he grows into his ankles and thighs he is going to be a big boy.  We always assumed he would be tall, but I thought he'd be one of those tall string bean kind of kids.  I don't think that will be the case anymore.  Every day we find another pair of shorts that no longer fit.  I've got my fingers crossed that we make it until pants weather without anymore short casualties, but I don't know.  My mom had bought him new pajamma bottoms a couple of weeks ago.  He wore them last night and they already look like they are getting tight on him.  We've lucked out with him and he's never taken very many big growth spurts to where he totally grows out of his clothes before they wear out, so it's probably time.



So far, again my fingers are crossed, but we seem to have had a breakthrough with school.  Im not sure if it is his teacher or just 4th grade in general, but he seems to be liking schoool.  We were all excited about the teacher he got.  We had known for years she was the 4th grade one we wanted.  I think their personalities are similar .  Last Friday they dissected an owl pellett.  Leading up to it the were reading books about owls and taking reading comprehension tests.  He was so proud because he got a 90 or 95% on the test.  Finally, he is learning about stuff he cares about.  It is making such a difference in his attitude towards school.  This weekend we were in line to get ice cream and the people behind us noticed Camryn so they asked how old they were.  Before I knew it Cade had answered all their questions plus informed them she was adopted (he said that with so much pride in his voice) and was telling them in detail what he found in his owl pellet.  That was withing 10 seconds of meeting them.  He doesn't know a stranger.  If he tells that much to strangers what is he telling his teachers?  I can't think about that too much or it will probably keep me awake at night.



It's also a tradition for each of us to have our picture with Cade.  This year was a little different. Normally I'm on my way to work and we usually both take him and walk him in.  He didn't want us to take him in.  He thought that would embarass him.  So Jay dropped him off like it was any other day.  Since I didn't take him to school and I wasn't going to work I was still in my pajammas.  I didn't feel like a picture.  I also wanted Camryn in the picture but she was in bed.  I wasn't about to wake a sleeping baby!  We got our picture a couple of days later at the picnic.  I'm sure by the last day of school both of these kids will look different!

Big Accomplishments

While the boys are in school the girls have done some big things.

After a couple of weeks of working on this Camryn finally did it...






The big toe finally made it to her mouth.

And my accomplishment is that after trying for 3 days the kitchen is cleaned. There were countertops under the mess. I hope Jay and Cade don't think they've walked into the wrong house this afternoon.

Back to School

School starts tomorrow. I've felt a little weepy all day. Cade will be in the 4th grade. I can't believe it. I'm also sad that my time at home is winding down. I've enjoyed being home with them this summer. I think also that I've been communicating with Camryn's sitter this week, getting things ironed out has made me sad. I'm very pleased with who we have watching Camryn, I'm just sad I have to leave her. I really thought it would be easier the second time around. I guess not. Oh the curse of a working mom!

Yesterday I left Camryn for the first time for a whole day. I've left her with Jay for a few hours to grocery shop or take Cade to the pool but never for a whole day. It was good practice for me. I wanted to do something fun with Cade to end the summer. We though Silver Dollar City or White Water would be a good way to celebrate. I should've checked the website first. Both places were closed which we realized
After driving to Branson. We ended up going to Tanger and buying new school shoes. He was so funny with them. He said he looked really cool since they were black! He made me smile all day yesterday with comments about his shoes.

He also ate me out of my money yesterday. That boy is putting away the food. I lost track of everything he ate. I'm afraid he's really going to start keeping on my goes with making sure I have groceries in the house at all times. Tonight we had his Back to School night. We are dinner about 5 so we could get
There by 6 because we also had 4-H at 7. About 6:30 he asked what we were eating for dinner and could we go to Sonic.

Oh, I am sad to see this summer go!













Camryn was really concerned when I was sad tonight!

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Two Months

Camryn was two months yesterday. She is changing so fast. She smiles several times
a day and she "talks" a lot. Her most talkative time is right after her mid morning bottle. She responds to our voices and Big Brother usually can get a lot of smiles from her.

She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes but some of the onesies are getting snug across her belly. 3-6 months are also fitting. She has a few size 1 diapers left and we need to get them used because they are getting tight. She will be in size 2 by the end of the weekend.




She had her 2 month check up today. She weighed 12 lbs and 2 ozs (85-90 percentile). Her length was 24 3/4 inches (100th percentile). Her head was 16 1/4 which is the 100th percentile. Even though she is not genetically related to Jay she still has a big head. It doesn't seem as big as Cade's did at this age though. He was pretty old before the rest of his body caught up with his head. Until then he always looked like he could knock someone out if they accidentally bumped heads with him.




She also got four shots today. She really handled them well. I've heard her cry harder, louder and longer when I've put her in her car seat. Actually she acted worse when I gave her some Tylenol later. That caused a serious mad fit. She got so mad her hands were shaking and she cried and coughed and gagged for several minutes. Yea! Can't wait for our first antibiotic!

She is still sleeping through the night except for a few times here and there. She is still using the smaller bottles because she only takes 4 oz at a time. I did start giving her a little cereal Tuesday because it seemed like she was eating all the time. It seems to have helped and she is getting on more of an eating schedule.



This week she had also started moving her head back and forth
When she is in her swing or car seat. It reminds me of a cat swishing its tail. She has also started sticking her tongue out. I think she feels something on her gum or lip. It's pretty cute.

I think that about covers it for 2 months.



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