A Pinterest Inspired Wall Decor

I am a member of Pinterest and a little while ago repinned this image to one of my "virtual" boards:



Now, when I click on this image to go to the original site, the internet says the blog that originally showed this photo has been removed, so I don't have a source to give credit to this picture. But, anyways, I fell in love with this layout of pictures and wanted to try to do something similar with the wall above my living room couch. Here are the before and after shots:

 Now, I have no idea how tall the wall was in the original inspirational post from Pinterest, but my living room is pretty tall, so the picture frames I chose are a little higher up the wall than in the inspiration pic. Also, did you notice something similar between the sconces of the inspiration pic and my pic? They are the same--and that was not intentional! I found my sconces at Gordmans. When I went looking for sconces, I looked over several different styles, I even looked at decorative vertical metal art pieces to perhaps go where the sconces were to be, but decided that I liked these the best. I brought them home, and it wasn't until a couple of days later when I was showing Hubby how I wanted things hung and he was looking at the inspirational pic that I realized I had bought the same exact sconces!

Here are the pics that are on the wall so far:

I got this huge frame for Christmas this past year and love it! The family picture in the middle is an 8x10 so that might give you a good idea of just how large it is. The pink, purple, and white paper have 3 of my favorite Bible verses on them, but because the frame is so high on the wall now, nobody can really see them to read, so I may at some point have to switch them out for pictures.

The Family frame I have had for a really long time and have never used it until now. Most people put snapshots behind the letters, but I decided to put different kinds of scrapbook paper behind them to make it fun and more colorful. The tiny writing under the Family letters is the Bible verse that says "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord".

I have since moved the lamp that is shown by the couch, and my wall is still so large I know I need to add some more pics in the remaining empty space, but I'm still trying to figure all of that out. For now, what we put up there makes the big empty wall look nicer. A big thanks to Hubby who got out his laser level, measuring tape, and hammer and nails and put it all up for me.

YMCA Waterpark

Our plan this summer was to visit the YMCA waterpark many times this summer. Well.....our first, and probably last, time was yesterday. A friend from homeschool co-op asked if Evan could come join them at the waterpark, so the kids and I went. While Evan and his friend played together, Lauren and I played. She was happy to find out that to go on the lazy river by yourself there is no height requirement, you just have to be 8 years old, which she is now. I am so glad that she now enjoys going down waterslides, and swimming under water. Every year she seems to get braver when it comes to the water. After a little while being there, two other homeschooling families from co-op showed up. I was able to visit with the moms for a long time while Lauren had no problem going off and doing things by herself, and once in a while joining up with the older co-op girls to play. We were there for 2 hours. I was worried the water might be chilly since the outdoor temps were in the 80s when we first arrived, but it was actually quite refreshing. Lauren and I did venture into the indoor pool for a brief time, and that water was nice and warm.

The Runaway Floating Soccer Ball

Tonight we were outside kicking the soccer ball around when it got away from us and ended up in the lake. This happened the other night and it wasn't a big deal because the breeze was blowing in a way that the ball stayed close to us and Roger waded in a little to reach it. Tonight, the wind was blowing the ball a different direction and it reached the middle of the lake before Roger waded in to try to get it. Thank goodness we have a great neighbor who has a canoe we could borrow. Roger went next door and knocked but nobody answered. We all were discussing the fact that our neighbor did say we could borrow it--he even lets the neighborhood kids play with his trampoline and other outdoor play equipment he has even when he's not home. Roger decided to go knock one more time in hopes they just didn't hear him the first time because the cars were in the driveway. What luck--they were home! Roger climbed in the canoe and went to get the soccer ball that was floating towards the south end of the lake where there are no houses and it is difficult to get to the shore through all of the tall grass and trees. When he reached it, Evan had the bright idea of Roger just pushing the ball to shore with the paddle. I had the bright idea of sending Evan into the house to get my camera the first time Roger went next door and knocked because I knew this would make a fun blog post!

Do you see the ball out in the middle of the lake? It's there.

Lauren singing about the saga of the runaway soccer ball with her guitar.

Evan waiting on the shore for the ball.

Italian Crescent Roll Casserole and Zucchini Fries

I decided to try two more recipes I've pinned on pinterest for supper tonight. The first one was Italian Crescent Roll Casserole. So easy and yummy. Even my picky eater ate most of it, but not all. My other child kept saying it reminded him of sloppy joes, and I agree. I didn't have the bay leaves called for in the recipe, buy I'm not a big fan of bay leaves anyways, so I don't think I was missing out on anything. Here's the before picture...

Now for the after picture...I can't believe I forgot to take an after picture! Oh well, just click on the above link in purple to go to the site where the recipe is to see an after picture. Sorry.

I decided to make Zucchini fries to go along with the crescent roll bake. Very easy to do as well. I simply seasoned them with some Mrs. Dash. My picky eater did not like them, but my other child did. Hubby said I put too much oil on them so they were a little soggy, and he's right. So in the part of the recipe where it says to carefully put about 1 tablespoon of oil on your veggies, be very careful with the amount you put on. However, that being said, they still were yummy. I can't wait to try making carrot fries sometime. Even my picky eater likes carrots, so I'm hoping those will be a hit with everybody.

Pinterest Brownie/Cake Recipe

I love cake and really felt like some tonight. Roger took the kids to church and I really needed to stay home and have some by myself time, and I really wanted some cake. I had pinned a recipe from Pinterest I had been meaning to try so I made it tonight. It's a single serving microwavable chocolate cake you make in a mug that only takes about 1 minute to cook. It's like those Betty Crocker microwavable cakes you can buy in the store. It was rich and very chocolaty; so much so that the next time I make it I might even cut the recipe in half because a little bit will satisfy. It's definitely a great one to go back to the next time I feel like chocolate cake again, but nobody else in the family does--this way I won't have to bake a regular box of cake mix and most of it ends up going in the trash like so often happens because we don't get it eaten up quick enough before it goes bad.

In the recipe, I did forget to mix up the dry ingredients before adding the oil and water, and did end up biting into some little lumps of brown sugar, so that was pretty sugary sweet, so I need to remember to do that next time. Also, it says you can use milk, water, or coffee; I used milk. I also cooked it in the smallest Pyrex bowl I had instead of a mug. If you like chocolate cake try this recipe that the recipe actually calls a Two Minute Mug Brownie.