tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61499312024-03-19T08:17:50.559-04:00Always Family AdventuresOur New Life Adventure: Exploring Boat Living with Our Family & Friendsbyn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-34050516325482488032015-08-09T23:46:00.001-04:002016-11-01T12:45:07.225-04:00New Blog for our Boating AdventuresYou can find the continuation of our boating adventure on our new blog Oh Sail Yes!
byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-37557348597122910012015-07-13T07:30:00.000-04:002015-07-16T21:31:24.193-04:00What About Your Business? What is 'The Plan'?
A question that I'm getting a lot about this whole new adventure of living on the boat is "But what about your business?" and "What's *The Plan*"?
Back in February, we leased a space and started working towards opening up our own business. Patrick would be working on fixing up used cars and reselling them for a profit. I would be building a creative-artist's environment in the byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-90854774609691694322013-06-24T15:37:00.000-04:002013-06-25T13:18:00.267-04:00My Vintage-Bohemian Style BathroomI started out wanting a Bohemian theme bathroom with a purple like this:
Alas, I couldn't find any color even remotely close... so I went with this (from one of those $1.99 bottles of acrylic at WalMart leftover from one of the kids projects):
When we moved in, the walls had about 6 layers of hideous wallpaper on them. The original layer had been glued straight to the drywall, so byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-91295177544564857932013-06-24T08:00:00.000-04:002013-06-24T08:00:11.252-04:00Shel Silverstein Inspired Kitchen Mural
I added some painted frames to pull the other colors over and Viola! Done!
byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-58373575709776858612013-06-20T19:43:00.000-04:002013-06-20T19:43:14.799-04:00House Updates! Where The Wild Things Are, Harold & the Purple Crayon, Dr. Who Murals!For my colorful happy house!
Our front room is evolving a little
(and see the peek of our Happy Good Morning bird? That was a random painting moment on my part. He makes us all smile:)
The gray lockers beside the "desk" are waiting for pretty, colorful paints... but I have to get the supplies for the sandblaster first.
Then, just as you come around the corner:
byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-15988588132239711102012-11-09T07:30:00.000-05:002012-11-09T07:30:00.421-05:00Fall Inspired Simple Kitchen MuralWe had this wall that was just... there. We want to eventually build a shallow counter top and cabinets there for all of our counter top appliances that we use/want to use often (blenders, crock pot, juicer, mixer, pop corn popper) because it gets tedious always having to lug them in from the garage/pantry.
Anyway, I got inspired the other day and decided that for the time being, I'd paintbyn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-78726113378958520702012-11-07T07:30:00.000-05:002012-11-07T12:20:41.437-05:00Epic Online Charter School Review... a Peek Inside our Homeschool DayWe've homeschooled the kids almost exclusively since they've been born, really. Learning doesn't start at some specific age as far as I can tell. Out of my five kids, not one of them seems to learn the same things at the same rate. They're so incredibly different, I'll admit its been a challenge to be their teacher.
Back to School! Wonderful weather, so we can do work byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-61483094712882445322012-11-05T13:34:00.000-05:002012-11-05T13:34:12.384-05:00A Day in the Life Picture Post: Fall, Campfire Dinner and Family Time
This weekend, while the kids worked on yard work and helping Patrick get wood hauled in, I worked on artwork for Bean's Monkey Business on our deck. I feel VERY spoiled with such a gorgeous view and PERFECT weather! (Notice that small pile of wood from early in the day? You can see how much it grew at the end of this post!)
Patrick found these landscaping lights marked down byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-32081073782148184422012-11-05T11:35:00.000-05:002012-11-05T11:35:18.449-05:00Fun Zombie Make Up for Halloween & More
My daughter, Paris, figured out some amazing make up techniques this year. She did a bunch of Halloween tutorials on her youtube channel... and she did three different looks for her, her sister and her dad. The end result was crazy awesome!
Abyni as Cruella DeVille
Patrick & Paris as Father of the Zombie Bride
Close Up... Ewwwww!!!!
And Jaedin as "byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-81169261392884675032012-10-23T16:29:00.001-04:002012-10-23T16:29:07.521-04:00Dress Up Photo Shoot
Paris aka MsFashionablyChic is my 14 year old daughter. She does makeup tutorials on her youtube channel and comes up with some super fun looks and effects. She's studying makeup special effects on her own and has come a long way in a short time.
I've been wanting to do a photo shoot with her for a while with her smoky eye look, so the other day, the lighting hit just right and webyn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-59525756570289965722012-10-23T15:38:00.000-04:002012-10-23T15:38:00.163-04:00Two Toned Pink & Brown DeckIf you've been reading much of anything I write, you probably have a clue that I like color. Lots of color. Bright colors, unusual colors, whatever...
We this weekend, we finished our deck. Last week Patrick and the boys finished power washing it, and it made SUCH a difference, I couldn't believe it!
Patrick looked everywhere for stain for me, but we couldn't find any "byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-60599517894823712292012-10-22T12:14:00.001-04:002012-10-22T12:14:41.341-04:00The Avengers Theme Room: The Bathroom... Part 1
Welcome to our awesome "The Avengers" bathroom!
Inspired by this artwork "The Painted Avengers"
Even though I am the furthest thing from a comic book fan, and generally avoid "super hero" movies, my son took me to see The Avengers and I LOVED it. The kids all loved it as well, so when we were trying to decide how to decorate the kids/"public" bathroom in the house, it was a no brainer byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-36623642320233659192012-09-04T14:28:00.000-04:002012-09-04T14:28:11.222-04:00Family Movie Nights! "Easy A" Family ReviewWe love movies. LOVE THEM. Before the housing market crashed, my husband had a full-time Custom Home Theater business. Now, it has to squeeze between home and his "part time" 40 hour a week post office job.
However, because of that business, we ended up with some pretty nice home theater equipment. We don't have it properly installed yet, but we couldn't wait any longer. byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-13307562494754999042012-09-02T14:00:00.000-04:002012-09-02T14:00:58.749-04:00Pets! A New Member of the Family: The Newest DivaI have never been an animal lover. For years I said that we weren't going to have pets at all...
Then we lived out in the country and stray cats were everywhere and my kids fell in love.
So then I said, "Okay, no INSIDE pets. Ever. Period. No matter what!"
And then we got Sedona. She was part wolf, part Siberian Husky, and she was the most gloriously beautiful dogbyn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-2455544282699418482012-08-30T21:41:00.000-04:002012-08-30T21:57:21.058-04:00More Sneak Peeks! In Progress!Things are SLOW going here. My husband has been working insanely long hours in the intense heat and its wearing him out. I'm dealing with physical and emotional issues that have me just drained. Add to that financial strain, and its really hard to get things done!
SCROLL DOWN FOR NEW HOUSE PICS!
My oldest daughter and her fiance moved out, so we were able to finish unpacking byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-39192465611345081222012-08-11T19:01:00.000-04:002012-08-11T19:31:40.937-04:00Our "New" Vintage Roper Stove Install & Deep Cleaning
This is not a terribly interesting or entertaining blog post... mostly just pretty photos of my beautiful "new" vintage stove & double oven!:)
We have a Habitat for Humanity "ReStore" in Tulsa. We have found some GREAT deals there, including this 1950's Roper double oven for $75.00!
We also bought a single oven that was cuter, but less useful for a family of 6-8. Besides byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-10459339956953660172012-08-05T20:38:00.000-04:002012-08-05T20:38:30.723-04:00Yay! Nice Weather!!
After nearly a month of 100+ and at least a week of 110+... We got to enjoy the back yard today!
It has been SO freaking hot since we moved that I honestly haven't even walked into the backyard more than a couple of times, and then only long enough to take a couple of photos. Today it only got into the 90's and it was AWESOME.
Most of our backyard is shaded, and a couple of the trees have lostbyn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-62950129220636926412012-07-27T07:00:00.000-04:002012-07-27T07:00:07.361-04:00Welcome to Our New Home: The Living Room
Welcome to Our New Home: The Living Room
Ta Da!!!
The living room is my favorite room in this house (at least until my kitchen is done:)
It is so OPEN and there is a sky light.
We bought a new sectional sofa at a furniture store 'Going Out of Business' sale. It was $483.00 with tax (that's exactly how much cash my husband had in his pocket, and what he finally byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-30762808999160340902012-07-26T17:42:00.002-04:002012-07-26T17:42:54.941-04:00Lol: Wisdom Teeth Kids
So this morning, we were sitting around with Sprite and her boyfriend Matt and she decided to show him videos of our family... pretty soon they ended up on the wisdom teeth videos and everyone ended up gathering around. Except Abyni, who apparently wasn't interested.
I thought Sprite was going to pee her pants laughing. Crazy girl.
The wisdom teeth experience was so byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-57208756917753338052012-07-26T07:00:00.000-04:002012-08-27T17:20:57.649-04:00Welcome to Our Home: The Office, Art Room, Den, Ummm... Bedroom???
Welcome to my new home!
This is the first room when you enter the house. You probably actually notice the living room first, as there is a big "window" in between the rooms, but this is technically the first room. It is meant to be a dining room, but its kind of our office/all purpose room.
The color did not show at ALL in this photo, but this is the "window" to the living room.byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-4998319787845570592012-07-25T20:52:00.000-04:002012-07-25T20:52:03.880-04:00Works in Progress: Kitchen Table, Glitter Floor, Colorful Walls and More!
Elephant was NOT happy to be woken up.
Someone thought it was a good idea to paint the sidewalk leading to our house with this horribly tacky "Faux Stone" look... big on the faux. Ugh. I will have to repaint this with something soon because it is such an eyesore to me. Plus, I REALLY don't want people thinking I did it on purpose myself!
So, I don't really have any byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-6579079352475589922012-07-16T13:17:00.001-04:002012-07-16T13:21:09.735-04:00Sneak Peek! Our New House in Progress!
Sneak Peeks!!!
We're HOME!!!
We finally closed on the house after a two week, really expensive delay... and I got sick. All of the stress apparently obliterated my immune system, so here we are, at the new house and I get to sit. And sit. And delegate.
Grandpa came for a visit... just in time to help us move!
He helped Abyni get the hammock set up ($50.00 at byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-31254289594215370972012-07-13T10:05:00.001-04:002012-07-13T10:16:58.686-04:00MOVING!!!
Happy, colorful tiles for my soon to be new kitchen!
I've been keeping myself somewhat occupied with home decor projects for the new house, garage sale shopping and whatnot, but this closing process has been an emotional rollercoaster, including the somewhat nauseating feeling that I always get when I reach the very top of a really big hill. Being bipolar already, these major spikes of byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-25406553523159497412012-07-09T21:46:00.002-04:002012-07-09T21:46:43.457-04:00Picky Cheapskate Family Movie Review: What to Expect When You're Expecting
For the record, our kids are 11, 14, 16 & 17. We're pretty lax about what our kids watch with us when it comes to TV & movies (especially now that they're older), mainly because we have yet to see any negative impact on their behavior/language/respect, etc and in part because we find that it often leads to great conversations. HOWEVER, just because I let my kids watch certainbyn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149931.post-64849794273021212912012-06-27T18:44:00.000-04:002012-06-28T10:15:22.240-04:00Vintage Stove Find and MORE Projects Coming Soon!Yesterday Patrick and I hit the Habitat for Humanity Restore to buy some tiles for cheap for my ink staining project. I had ordered my pink and purple alcohol ink staining supplies online and wanted the tiles to be here, ready to go when my shipment came in.
We were there, moseying around when my husband came upon this gem:
Ahhh!!! It is a vintage stove!!!
It is a Tappan byn alwayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989620867093855329noreply@blogger.com