WELCOME

I'm a full-time wife and mom of two adorable boys. When I'm not busy trying to keep up with them I enjoy photography, traveling, planning parties and a little bit of reading.

In February of 2008 I was diagnosed with an incurable terminal lung illness, though God promised me a full and complete healing. While we wait for His timing, we're taking it one day at a time, and standing in awe of how God's using all of this for His glory. The tough road we've traveled has given us a new perspective on the fragility of life. Memories are more important to us than ever before. The goal of this blog is to share some of our family life - the ups and downs, the joys and probably some of the pains as well. It's mostly meant as a personal journal of sorts, but you're welcome to share in it. We'd like to take this opportunity to say ...

WELCOME TO THE FEITNER ADVENTURE!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"chicken"

i guess playing "chicken" is instinctual for boys ........

????????




Over and over...



... and over and over ...





H: I won! I won! You can't catch me!

A: Wanna bet!


(sigh)

the joys of having a sibling!

OOOOH .... KITTY!

(vroom - vroooooom)


A: Nooooooo!!!!!


the kitty has NO IDEA how close it was to a PERMANENT nap!!!


NO IDEA!


But I guess all's well that ends well ...


(sigh .... THIS is why I'm greying prematurely ...)

lesson #2

Last week Alex asked me to teach him chess ... so I did.  Unfortunately we only played 2 games before other responsibilities needed to be attended to.

Yesterday Alex got lesson #2 !




He loves chess!
(And is determined to beat me one of these days....)

sneak peak

Monday evening the boys and I drove the 3 hours (round trip) from my mother's to Dogwood (and back again).  Aaron and I attended Alex's kindergarten orientation, and the boys played with Grandpa for a couple hours.  The fellas had a blast, and Aaron was glad for a sanctioned painting break!  I was glad for a sneak peak at the massive painting job that's under way... (and yes, they DID paint the ceilings!)








The main area's now totally complete (just waiting for new lights to be installed)!  It's even cleaned up!  And tomorrow the fellas will finish painting the master bedroom and Harrison's bedroom!  Less than 48 hours till we move back to Dogwood!  I'm giddy excited! (just wish the colors in the pictures were more accurate so you could appreciate the transformation even more...)

Thank you, fellas, for all your exhausting, hard work!!!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Lighting Decision

I'm sure that wondering what lights we chose hasn't kept most of you up at night.  But I've gotten several emails asking, so I thought this would be the easiest way to answer those who have asked.  I returned the "napkin ring" ones - you could "see up their skirts" from bellow, and that just didn't seem lady-like.  A friend recommended I check out a local store, and sure enough, they came to the rescue!  Everything has been ordered, and now we're just hoping they all arrive in time!

For the foyer (above the door when you enter through the living room):

For the 2 sconces in the 1st floor hallway & the two above the fireplace in the family room:


For the 3 sconces on the "second floor":


... Painting starts in 48 hours (and lasts for probably 10 days).  Here's hoping I have the energy to have everything prepped before that, and that the guys are ultra-productive!!!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The "girlfriend"

So ... Alex officially has a "girlfriend".  They've been "going out" for almost 5 months now, and when you're 5 (and she's a respectable 4 1/2), that's an eternity!  Well, she and her family came to spend most of last week with us on Dogwood.  Alex was convinced that they came so she could see him (never mind that the MOM is one of my closest friends).  He even asked if "his girlfriend could sleep in his room" (in a sleeping bag) ... ummmm ... innocent as the request was, I drew the line on that one!


Well, the 4 kids had a MARVELOUS time together - despite a few punches, pinches, pushes, screaming matches, and an impromptu water fight in the kitchen and family room while the grown-ups were tackling a project upstairs.  But it's not every group of 2-5 year olds that can play together for 2 hours at a time without adults having to intervene!

Here are some highlights of the week, from Alex's point of view.



Inspirational Road Trip

My girlfriend and her 3 kids spent last week here on Dogwood.  While they were here, she and I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment road trip to ...


We left when almost everyone was napping (and the kiddos couldn't voice their opposition to the idea).  It's only about a 45 minute drive and we spent a GLORIOUS 2 hours of drooling, sighing, and talking about decorating ideas.  She stuck to her budget.  I almost stuck to mine ... but phoned the hubby to discuss a higher priced purchase.  So, I blew my budget (with his blessing) - but we're SO happy with the purchase. (more about that later)

Each time I go I always notice so many things I think would work so well in our house, or ideas of how to use what I do have in a different way.  So, this time I was finally smart enough to bring my camera along.

Most of what I found was ideas for Harrison's room (which should be painted a nice blue before Christmas) - so I now FINALLY have some ideas of what to do with it.  I haven't started it yet, because I lacked any inspiration.  IKEA came to the rescue!  Take a look at this wall art - and most of it I could replicate myself with scrapbook paper or art from the internet!


At some point I'm gonna shell out the (I think) $16 for these lights.  Every time I see them I fall in love all over again.  They'd go so well in our guest room.  The photo's a bit deceiving - they're a glorious white.


And I can think of at least 5 places in my house that this mirror would fit perfectly!

And then ... there's the hubby-approved splurge.


I've had such a hard time decorating our bedroom - so it's not too girly or too masculine -  too dark or too light.  I bought a painting last winter (which will eventually move from its spot above the bed to just above the soaking tub).  I selected a paint color (a soothing green) which might, just might go up on the walls by the end of the month.  But it's sooooooo hard to decorate a bedroom (for me, anyway), without a bedspread since it takes up so much real estate in the room.  And I FINALLY found it!  Our douvet.  The one thing that the whole room will be based upon - the colors, the textures, the whole enchilada.

... And THAT, my friends, is the green that we purchased for the walls during Home Depot's Memorial Day Paint Sale!

It's the perfect mix of masculine and feminine colors.  It's even striped on the other side, so the print doesn't have to be overtly feminine.  (Currently the stripe side's showing on our bed, but we've agreed to switch back and forth each time we change the sheets.)  We bought the duvet cover and two floral shams.


My decorating block for TWO rooms has been broken through!  I now can go on and create inspiring and relaxing rooms ... once I finish painting that built-in bookcase in Alex's room.  (I'm getting there - it just needs a coat or two of wipe-on poly, and to do touch-ups where the white got on the yellow walls.)

The "real" reason I wanted to go to IKEA was to pick up one of these dignitet curtain wires for all the art I'm sure Alex will be bringing home from KINDERGARTEN. (how did he grow up so fast??!!?)


Aren't they absolutely FABULOUS!!??!!  Sigh.  I LOVE the IKEA kind of impromptu road-trips!