Friday, January 9, 2015

Big Boy Bedroom!

I have thought long and hard about what I wanted James' "Big Boy Room" to be.
I wanted it to be coordinated.
I wanted it to be functional.
I wanted it to be organized.

Toddler rooms are difficult. And while these photos are a bit staged, the fact the the top shelf of his closet clearly is just storage is true and it is what it is! I cannot afford to hide everything that is "ugly" in baskets. I wish! 

All in all the room is coordinated, grays and navy blue throughout.
It is functional (the bed rail in collapsed for the photos), I can get to all the necessities, James can get to his toys and the room is SAFE!
And the organization is coming along, we still have a LARGE box of toys out in the garage that need to come in and be gone though, so when that happens, I may update this post, but for now; welcome to James' Big Boy Room!


Barnabas is James' bear, he goes everywhere with us because I (mom) take him. James really only has one tiny attachment to an object and that is his Thomas blankie!

The quilt at the end of his bed is his new quilt from his nana (my mother-in-law!) He doesn't use it on a nightly basis as I would still rather keep his room warmer and have less blankets in his bed. When I go into his room to help him get back to sleep, however, it is my go to!!


We keep books in this crate, James chooses a few each night before bed, they are easy to get to and easy yo pick up. I love the vintage look of the crate and think it adds some character to his room, Bonus! He has had this in his room from day one, it used to hold diapers.



Go! Go! Wheels racetrack ... Santa was good to our boy!



We found this dresser in the basement. It's old. It's metal. It's pretty awesome if you ask me!




I was shocked at the price of children's furniture... so his old rocking chair and and old side table work PERFECT for puzzle putting together!





I put these hooks at little man's level so he could hang his own coats and capes! 


We removed the closet doors in both kids room for better use of the space, I love the stage the book shelves provide and that they are James level. His clothes are so short that the bottom of the closet was just too much wasted space for me to handle!








One of my favorite things about his room is the same thing I love about our master bedroom, nothing was purchased new and together for the room as a whole. I am sure you can recognize the items from other locations in our home...

The closet book case used to be a sofa table in our living room, the dresser was found in the basement, the rocking chair was from a yard sale, the table from Jimmy's "College Furniture", the fish tank stand was in his nursery and the bed we found at a local thrift store for $25!!!

Everything comes together with a coat of paint and some fixing up :) 

I think that's about it! I love his room and I hope that it can grow with him. There are still jobs to be done, but for now, its perfect! 

Thursday, January 8, 2015

High Altitude [Banana Bread]

After moving to western Wyoming, there were a few things that really highlighted just how much higher we are in altitude than where we lived in ND.
1. the feeling (which i assure you was DEATH) that I felt when I attended my first Zumba class. I was in shape, had been at the gym daily and when we moved I seriously thought "oh my gosh I need a lung transplant because clearly mine are NOT doing their job!!"

2. the sudden jolting awake in the middle of the night gasping for air. yeah, talk about freaky. This happened to me (and my dear husband) for the better part of two months before we confessed to each other and decided it was our lack of oxygen and recent move.

3. the glob of "banana bread" that slimed through my cooling rack half an hour before I was supposed to bring treats to church... yeah. "Hi, I'm Paige, and I can't bake!"

While the first two were bothersome, the last one just would not fly. My family loves banana bread, so I needed to figure out a fix ASAP! 

My old recipe still lingers in my cook book, but I have found a new recipe that has yet to fail me at 6900 feet!

I enlisted the help of the cutest kitchen assistant on the planet, of course!




    



I totally spaced taking pictures of the finished muffins and bread.

Here is the recipe, for all my friends in high altitude places:

High Altitude Banana Bread
4 TBS Butter
2 Eggs
2-3 Ripe Bananas
2/3 C. Sugar
1 1/3 C. Flour
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder

Optional:
Splash of vanilla extract
Chocolate Chips
Nuts 

be sure to grease your pan of choice and pop it in at 350 degrees for around 50 minutes.

IMPORTANT:
The bake time is very ballpark. I don't think I have ever actually left it (muffins, mini muffins OR loaf) in for the full time. Once I hit 30 minutes, I usually poke it with a knife or toothpick and use my judgement for how much longer to bake!

I usually double, if not triple the recipe and it turns out great!

I also just dump everything in my mixer. I don't separate dry/wet ingredients.

Happy Baking!
~Paige 





Saturday, January 3, 2015

Fur Babies

I don't know if everyone knows of the other two "kids" we have added to the family since we moved to WY!

Meet Dakotah and Moses

"Kotah"

"Mose"





Friday, January 2, 2015

High Five For Friday!

High Five, It's Friday! 

 ...and these are the top five events of my week:

My Dining room is complete!


I chose fabric for Harper's Nursery!


We painted the lower cabinets in the kitchen blue, which I have ALWAYS wanted to do!


Not so much a "high five" but one of the top events of my week, main street in our little town caught fire... no injuries, quite a few business losses, but Dubois will survive! Thankful it wasn't any worse then it was!!


and number 5.... I get TV today! woo hoo! we haven't had TV since we moved here (about 8 months ago). We also have never had satellite television, so I think you can all imagine what we might be doing this weekend...... :) 

What were the top 5 events of your week??






Thursday, January 1, 2015

Dining Room Reveal

Good Morning! As I write this, my husband is removing all of the hardware from the cabinets we are about to paint... but thats another post for another day ;)

The house we just moved into is our church's parsonage. When we moved to Dubois, it had tenants mid lease so we rented for a while before moving in here. The house was functioning as a children's center (preschool and daycare). I know what damage ONE little boy can do, much less a whole bunch of little kiddos, so as you can imagine there was quite a bit of sprucing up to do! One of the biggest things was that the dining room had carpet in it. 

If you have a toddler, you know what the floor looks like after any given meal. food. everywhere. Don't even get me started on the adjustment of learning how to use utensils.... 

This was what the dining room looked like when the day care was still here:

Sorry its not the best photo! But take note of the carpet, the sweet 70's light fixture and the awkward carpet/different carpet/linoleum combo at the breakfast bar, OH and the killer curtain rods.. every room people, they were in EVERY ROOM. And last, the child gate around the (then unused wood stove & surround).

We first painted the walls, the wall straight back in the above photo is Sky High by Sherwin Williams  color match at home depot (1/3 the PRICE!!!) and the rest is just an off white we grabbed at Home Depot. 

Christmas morning, after stockings, gifts and breakfast we* got to work.

*My Husband and Father in law

They tore up all the carpet, and got the underlayment down



Next was flooring! Let me tell you, I have always loved Home Depot, but after this experience they are TOP NOTCH in my book. During our 3.5 hour visit on black friday the associates were SO helpful and really had our best interest in mind. We really appreciated them and their insight as we embarked on this crazy home-reno adventure!!

The flooring we chose was Kingston Peak Hickory 

It is wonderful!!

Merry Christmas to us! our floors (dining room, kitchen and entry) were all done by dinner time on Christmas day!

Once the floors were complete, Jimmy put down the trim and boom! it was done! 


CHECK OUT THAT NEW LIGHT FIXTURE!!!!!!!!! BOO YAH! so. much. better. 

And the new stove safety gate! A good friend up in Montana made it for us! We love it. Its sturdy (bolted to walls and floor) and makes the stove look so much cleaner! We have only had two fires so far this year, but more are to come and I am happy knowing a certain little boy cant climb up the stove.... ha!



Jimmy got me the runner for Christmas, so far it had lived in the entry hall, kitchen and now here. I like this location because our poor dogs crash nearly every time they round the corner and this gives them some traction :) 





I just love the flow from room to room now that it has consistent flooring throughout. 


Oh, hey Moses!



Click on the links below to check out the newer pieces in the room! 

I absolutely love how this room has turned out, and I ADORE the natural light that this house has! 

You might recognize the desk.. It used to be red. I love having it in the dining room because it serves as a great buffet when company comes over, provides storage for.. well 7 junk drawers worth of stuff... and It also gives me a place to edit photos, blog and such all while still keeping an eye on James! 

Just for fun, I want to post the "Before" and "After" shots next to each other!




Well, I think thats it! I hope this inspires you in some way! :) 

Happy New year!
~Paige






Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year!

I trust everyone had a VERY merry Christmas! 

As promised, I am back, and plan to be more active with my posts this coming year. I have a few fun ideas and a house mid- remodel for you so buckle up! 

For today, though, Lets look at the top five posts from the past year! 





















There you have it, I hope you enjoy looking back on the past year in the life of the Tolles!

Stay tuned tomorrow for....
drum roll please....

The DINING ROOM UPDATE!
GASP!

Thats right, we have completed the dining room in the new house and I can't wait to show you!

I will leave you with this gem which I have titled, "Day Care Dining", just so you can get as excited to see the new finishes as I am to show them to you!


Happy New Year!!
~paige



Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Time Gone By and the Holidays

HEEEELLLLLOOOOO there!

I just realized my most recent post was from September 6th.....

SEPTEMBER 6th PEOPLE!!

... I apologize for my lack of creativity and communication.

That being said, and I know I've said before, things are a changin' round these parts!

We have so much to be thankful for, and I am especially thankful this season for a new opportunity that awaits me, as a 100% stay at home mom!

YIPPIE!

I am so so so happy that I can dedicate my time and energy to our handsome son and that when our sweet daughter arrives in a few months, that I will have ample time to bond with her.

I am sad to leave my current position at the bank, but know that home with my kiddos is where my heart is, and where I need to be.

That being said....

We will have family here for basically the entire next month, but once the new year arrives, Lord willing, I plan to get back at it with craft projects, home improvement, family, ministry and photography posts!

Enjoy the holidays!