We Do Hard Things: And we live to tell about it

Last week I was sitting on my bed just in awe over this battle that I had fought and won with the school to get Elijah a printer for his ipad. You would have thought it would be easy, but the amount of red tape I had to cut through was alarming and after 6 months, and weekly meetings he finally got that printer! It was a sweet victory and I was reflecting on that when Elijah walked in.

He said, "Mama, I'm sorry that you had to fight so hard and that it took so long just to get me a printer." I smiled at him and said, "Buddy that's okay, it was a hard fight but it was worth it and you got what you needed and do you know why?"

Elijah looked up at me and said, "Yeah mama, I do. It's because We Do Hard Things."

And just like that... my work was done.

Over the past weeks, as I've been sharing with you this family motto, I have been amazed at how many of you have been using it. You've told me about your little victories and your massive life struggles. You've laughed, you've cried, you've opened up your heart and you've done it all in the name of 4 powerful words.  These words are the battle cry I'm hearing as some of you are heading to the hospital or just simply making it through the day.They are the words that you whisper when you feel near defeat or that you scream when you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. It's not just what we say to ourselves, it's what we say to each other.

It came to me so clearly through a text message I sent to a friend of mine. I was telling her about having to put our beloved dog Sadie down. It was gut wrenching and terrible. And her response to me was "We Do Hard Things." I could just laugh and cry at the same time! When there is no right thing to say; what a response, what an encouragement.

And after that, I just knew I couldn't go another moment without it being on my wall for me to look at when I need it the most. A little 4 word pep talk on my wall. So I searched the internet over and came upon a lovely little etsy shop named RustiCreations owned by a doll of a woman named Laura. She made a custom, hand painted sign for me that I just absolutely love! Once she heard my story, OUR STORY really, she went even further and offered all of the warkymom followers an opportunity to get a custom made sign just like this one at HER SHOP.

Not only a custom sign, but also a 20% off coupon code for all you warkymom followers on ANY ORDERS in her shop. And guys, let me just tell you, there are some really amazing pieces in there!
She's a sweet mama from Nevada who's just doing hard things like the rest of us.
The coupon code for this amazing deal is: warkymomblog20 and it expires May 31, 2015 so if you need a little pep talk on your wall, now would be a good time to get one. P.s. Mother's Day is so close!

As you can see, I hung it up in a place of honor in my livingroom, where I fight my hardest battles and need the extra encouragement.

I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you who have shared your battles with me. There are moments in every person's life when they are in the trenches and it's been amazing to see how many trench buddies I have and how many of them are carrying their flags to victory! You guys truly inspire me and I am in awe over your love. Keep fighting guys... We Do Hard Things... we just do.

Patterned Curtains using canvas drop cloths and acrylic paint

 Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted a DIY blog. I've been involved in several projects for my livingroom this summer and I'm eager to share this one with you!

So I have this extremely big sliding glass door and have spent several years trying to find the perfect curtains to go on it. Because it's so hot here, I try and get sun blocking curtains. But, as anyone else can attest to, those are not the "pretty" curtains you want to use to accent your home.

Last summer on a whim, I decided to buy the pre-packaged canvas dropcloths from Home Depot. They come with one side already pre-hemmed so they are no-sew. I cut them down the middle and then hot glued a hem at the top for the pole to go through. I'm telling you, hot glue is my best friend.

We have loved them and they have kept out that hot sun in our home, but their canvas color makes our white walls look, well pretty drab. I have spent months just staring at them, trying to come up with a solution. I have spent countless hours scouring pinterest, to no avail. I wanted some kind of pattern on them, but everything on pinterest seemed very complicated and I was terrified of messing up.

One day at Michaels I happened upon a Fleur De Lis stencil on clearance. I have always loved a bit of french charm and took a big leap and bought it and some wine colored acrylic paint. I bought 4 bottles of it. I spread out that curtain and measured (ok I somewhat eye-balled it) how I wanted to pattern to look and commenced painting. It took me a couple of hours.

This is the rough shot of what it looked like when I was half way finished. I think the hardest part of the project was replicating the same pattern on the second half of the curtain. It took some effort.

                           But this was the end result and I couldn't be more thrilled with it.

There were definitely splotches occasionally and each time I painted it, it always came out a little differently. But I actually like that they looked a bit different. It didn't seem like something I bought at Pottery Barn. It felt handmade; organic and a little retro.

In total, I spent $15 on the dropcloth, $5 on the stencil and $8 on the paint to make curtains that spanned the entire length of a very large wall. $28 isn't bad, and it's fun to know that I made them myself.

Can't wait to share my new office with you guys soon! For more DIY tutorials check out my DIY link at the top of the screen. I love to meet new friends, hit me up on Pinterest.

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I heart Craigslist....and RockBand

Just this weekend, we were discussing how much we wanted RockBand. We talked about how to save for such a thing, since Christmas was only around the corner. Then I checked my favorite guilty-pleasure; Craigslist. I was shocked to discover that there was a band kit plus video game on sale for $60!! Retail price is $150. So yeah, we jumped right on that.

As soon as we got home, Tim set it up. I felt like I had let loose a kid in a candy store. The boys really got into it too, watching daddy they got really excited. I must say, I play a mean electric guitar. Though I need some practice...oh darn guess I'll have to spend my nights working on that.

While I was so glad that we had gotten a game we had wanted forever, I think I was more excited about the fact that I got a ridiculously good deal for it. There is nothing like the thrill of the hunt. I think I can just enjoy things so much more knowing that I didn't pay full price for them.

So yeah, we're starting a band. Once our children turn 4 months old, we require them to contribute financially to the family. I think that it's going to be successful. Nothing draws a big crowd better than 2 cute children.