Curtains and other stuff

Linking up here and here today!

I finally got around to finishing Makayla's curtains for her bedroom last week!  I feel like I have so much more time to get things done around the house since Damon has returned to work!  Its a double blessing, you might say!  Sure..we miss him while he's gone..but a man has to work....

Ok..so I'm pretty ashamed to show these 'before' pictures..but I had to let you guys see how it looked in her room before I got the curtains all made up!!  The first picture is her makeshift nightstand.  Its an old tv stand we used to use before we had her in our spare bedroom.  Works fine..but the bottom where all her toys and everything was just open for all eyes to see..just spelled clutter to me everytime I walked into her room.  So I devised a 'curtain' for it!

Much better, right?!  I used a spring action (I think thats what it was called) curtain rod..kinda like a shower curtain rod only made for windows.  It worked GREAT and made it look less 'cluttery'.  Of course her stuff on top of the nightstand is still a little busy..but one thing at a time!!

Now for her actual curtains for her window.  I've yet to make tiebacks (note...project for this week!) but again..was thrilled that I don't have blankets hanging all over her windows to keep the room dark enough for when she sleeps?
       SIDE NOTE~ Any other moms out there have that problem?  The kiddos have to have a VERY dark room to sleep well in?  Makayla has always been this way..hence the whole blankets-on-windows deal.

How is that for change!!  I honestly don't know why I didn't do this sooner.  Maybe because I had so many other projects I'd been working on throughout the summer!  Oh and I actually made her a RUG out of the same material a while back.  And yes..I forgot to take a picture!  But I got the idea on..you guessed it..pinterest!  I'll take a pic sometime soon and post details on how I went about doing it.  Its not perfect by any means..but something different than a regular old store-bought rug! 

(a closeup of the print)

So onto some other things happening around here.  We're still trying to get into the 'swing' of things with him being back at work.  Those words are still surreal to me!  It never gets old saying 'he's at work' though I must admit!!  I'm LOVING having time for myself..time with just me and my little girl..and time as a family too of course.  Its such a wonderful blessing I'll NEVER take for granted!

I had choir practice last night at our church.  A very blessed and unexpected suprise was thrown in my direction though!  Our 'choir director' mentioned she thought it would be great if I'd sing a SOLO at our candlelight service when the choir will be performing for Christmas!  Whaaaaaaa..was the first thing of out my mouth of course..namely because I never thought I was a very good singer.  I LOVE to sing..but I know I don't sound that good.  It was a HUGE compliment to myself and made me smile all evening long!  I did tell her however I thought it might be better if someone sang with me (aka..a duet) because I didn't feel I could carry a song all by myself.  So me and my church BFF Lucy are going to be singing "Child in the Manger".  I'm anxious to actually learn this song as it is one I'm not at all familiar with! 

On a sad note..after choir practice last night and some phone calls Damon made and received from various people, my good friend and next door neighbor called me.  I knew something wasn't right..and come to find out that her brother had just passed away.  She is a very dear friend of mine and I hated to hear about her brothers passing.  She just lost another brother a couple years back..both fairly young (in their 50's).  Bonnie (my neighbor) and my mom went to school together..so she's sorta an "aunt" figure to me as well.  When you pray..lift Bonnie and her family up in your prayers.

Ok I think thats probably enough randoms to get you caught up on our life here since the weekend without boring you to death!  Just so ya know..I may or may not do anymore posts for the rest of the week..just depends on how things go..what all I want/need to get into around the house, etc.  I've had projects upon projects stacked up for the past few months and now that the hubs is back to work..I'm going to use my free time wisely and try to play catch up!

Hope everyone has an awesome week!!