stretching the $

Trying to furnish a house isn't cheap. I've been accumulating furniture pieces over the last few months, trying to buy them when they're on sale, shopping at markets, begging for discounts, etc. I've learned that more places than you think, negotiate on prices. I bought a dresser last week that was already marked down 40% because it was a floor model. I pointed out some surface level scratches and they waved the tax for me. Not a bad deal. A little TLC and it was as good as new. I learned last year (when we were selling our house), that if you rub a walnut into wood scratches, whether floor or furniture, you can barely see them. Our 1950's wood floor looked great after a bag of walnuts. Who would have thought?
Okay, back to my post. So since the bills are piling up and I still have rooms to furnish, I'm looking for every opportunity to cut corners. Here are some projects that have kept me busy the last couple of weeks.

This was Ben's old lamp from college. A little hot glue and flowers and viola, it's now on Addi's dresser. I may paint the base dark pink or off-white..any ideas?

This idea, I stole from Whitney. I found this closet door in Round Top for $5. It was pretty nasty. Ben asked why I was buying other people's junk. I painted it, added a cute door knob from Hobby Lobby and it now shows off Addi's art work.

I found this on Craig's List a few months ago. Who needs PotteryBarn when 3 cans of spray paint will do the trick.
Next on the agenda, some wicker chairs that I bought from a garage sale last week...

Sweet Sydney

A new friend of mine took some adorable newborn pictures of Sydney.

Thanks Maleigh!

Home sweet home

Well, we've finally moved in. I still have boxes to unpack and closets to organize, but it's so nice to have a place of our own. It took an army of friends and family to get us in here. Ben's mom helped pack boxes for us and then babysat the girls while a group of guys from our Sunday school class, through sweat, tears and rain (I cried because of the rain), moved everything we own to our new house. In just 3 hours, we were done! Well, almost. My parents showed up the next day loaded down with more furniture that I had bought in Ft. Worth. It took another round of Sunday school guys to finish the job. Thank goodness for hard working boys and for Jennifer, who brought the pizza! The next weekend, our good friend Matt came into town to help Ben with the landscape. Actually, Ben helped him. Matt has an incredible eye for landscapes and with Ben's help, they planted 90 plants in one day. Whew! And it looks great! Thank you to all who helped out with this great process. This project has been my life for 6 months and although it's been fun, I'm more than thrilled that it's behind us.

Addi watched Mickey Mouse (her new favorite)

while we brought in boxes.

Sydney is pretty easy going these days.

New lights and sounds were enough entertainment.

Deer freely roam the neighborhood. Ben took this from our driveway.

Addi wanted to help with the landscape.

The dirtier, the better.

A view of the boys' hard work.

The front porch.

Here's the front living room. I still need to decorate.

Moving is hard work.

Here's the kitchen.

I love the stripes and chandelier in Addi's room. Very girlie.

She loves the new, clean carpet.

Aggie Football

We've been so excited about the A&M football season starting back up. Every year, we have high hopes and high expectations of how we'll fare in the BIG 12. This year is no exception. It probably doesn't help that we're now inundated with Aggie spirit on a daily basis...(A&M flags everywhere, college kids living above us, etc.) Not to mention, that Ben can see the stadium from his office & watch the guys practicing throughout the week. You can imagine that by the time game day gets here, we're pretty excited. We took the girls up to campus to enjoy all of the pre-game festivities. We had a chance to watch the band march in before heading to the luncheon at Ben's office.

All decked-out in Aggie gear

The calvary guys let Addi pet their horses (and this mule). Random to have a mule, but she didn't care.

We forgot how loud the band is up close. Addi wasn't a fan.

Sydney, on the other hand, could not have cared less.

Addi was back to her old ways by the time we got to the luncheon. Here she is jumping on the stage of which Dr. Davis (Pres. of the Foundation) was about to speak. Oops.

This is the look I got when I told her we had to get off the stage.

Addi's 1st day of school

I dropped Addison off this morning for her 1st day of school! She sported a new hair cut (from Mrs. Susan), her favorite leopard skirt (from Aunt Tami) and her very own backpack, of which she carried all by herself. I was so proud of her! My baby girl is growing up!

I probably took a million pictures before we even made it to the door.

Addi even remembered where her classroom was.

She practically knocked these boys over to get to this toy. She was still giggling when I snapped the photo. Hopefully "sharing" is on today's lesson plan.

We haven't mastered our fruit shapes yet, but she nailed the triangle.