What a Difference a Weekend and a Rug can Make

Happy September friends! Now that school is in full swing, and our days are (kinda) getting cooler, I have FALL on my brain! And to me, this time of year is like a new beginning...a way to get re-organized, look at your rooms that you spend the most time in and get them all cozi-fied. A place where you LOVE to spend time in! 

Last weekend, I got to spend the most amazing 3 days with my 3 sisters and my mama in Chicago. It was my oldest sister's birthday celebration weekend, and it couldn't have been timed any better. It wasn't until we were away for 24 hours that I felt like this was so needed. Spending time away from all your responsibilities, for just a few hours or a few days, is a great re-start for your soul! 

{All 5 of us in our hotel bathroom!}

And it may have helped that I could do some serious shopping at my favorite store .... 

{Ikea near Chicago}

It's probably a good thing for my wallet that the closest Ikea stores are at least 3-5 hours away.

For starters, I didn't want to put anything on a credit card, so I could only use the cash that I brought. This is a great way to keep me in check, so to speak, because I could SERIOUSLY have spent another $500 easily!! And because I DO want to stay married, I only spent what I took with me. And I didn't really need to eat the rest of the weekend, so I spent almost ALL OF IT. (HAHA) 

{Lake Michigan at the Navy Pier}

The best part of being away on a little "Mama Vaca" is coming home to my family, all rested and recharged. Some of my purchases aren't going to be revealed until after a certain boy's 10th birthday :). But my favorite purchase EVER in the history of EVER is this....

MY NEW COWHIDE RUG!!! 

Now people...I have done my research, and this was a huge steal!! Ikea already has great prices on cowhides, the one currently in our bedroom came from a trip to the Minnesota's Ikea last spring break. But I have been stalking black/white cowhides forever. I have heard nasty rumors that if you ordered one online from several different online shops, that it wasn't always what you want. Most of the time it is mostly black with maybe a small spot of white. Not what I wanted or ever pictured for us. I did find an online shop that advertised you get what is actually pictured, so it was going to be my choice for when/if I took the plunge to buy (yet another) cowhide. I know....but one is NEVER enough! :)

My cart was already kind of full, when I saw my dream rug...after making a sprint for it before anyone might see it, I quickly swiped it up....and noticed this....

{A tiny cut about an inch and a half long}

To make a long story short, I swindled them down 20% in their "AS IS" dept. (Who knew there was an "AS IS" in Ikea?? Next time, I'm starting there!) 

I really don't even notice the cut, or even care! (Shhhh...don't tell them that I would have paid full price). Baileyhusband has already promised to stitch it up with taxidermy needle and thread, but in the meantime, our coffee table is covering the cut...no problem! 

Our front room is one of my favorite rooms. I read, use the computer, listen to Wyatt play piano, have gossip sessions with my girls, do my morning devotions, and see the view of our front yard in this small yet loved room. 

But something has always been missing....and I knew it. Never wanting to be a dissatisfied homeowner/ decorator...I made due with what I had. And I was fine with it! But now...HOLY COW! (pun intended) And when someone asks what I would grab in case of a fire....this is it! 

Do you see that branding? JC...the initials of the greatest man who walked on this earth. Yet another reason that this is THE. BEST. RUG. EVER.

So thank you to all my sisters and my mama for a fabulous re-charge weekend. What a difference it has made as a mom and a wife for me. 

And also so happy to have finally purchased my dream rug!

 I hope you all find some time for yourself or for your home that may make a difference in how you feel. Happy Weekend!! 

p.s. I have made some changes to the blog...do you notice them? Let me know what you think! 

Spring Break Shenanigans

When you work for a school system, and all your children are BEGGING for a little vaca 

for SPRING BREAK.....why not?

Last year, it was just me and my girls heading off to Chicago. What a fun experience that was, and a huge eye opener that we needed more little get-aways in our life!

So, this year...we took the whole fam-bam to Minnesota. This was a little closer option and more appealing to the boy-folks in our family. The lure of an indoor waterpark/ hotel and a mall that had a amusement park inside was too much for all for us to deny! 

{the all-too-original family selfie}

I left the ol fancy camera at home for this trip, and so all pics were taken with cellphones.

But sometimes the stress of worrying about taking pictures and keeping a close eye on your camera is not my idea of vacation....so not-so-good-pictures it is!

First stop: CABELA'S

Giving the kids a small budget each could use helped in moving things along faster....

I think they enjoyed the taxidermy animal displays more than anything :)

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel which has "The Waterpark of America" attached to it, for an additional fee of course. But well worth the money paid, endless hours of play for all of us! 

{Took this image off of Google, this was a much better photo than any I took}

My kids didn't really play in the "Kiddie" area too much, they have graduated to the big kid areas, and so have I, hence the NO PHOTOS AT ALL OF US ON ALL THE FUN STUFF! :(

Except the surfin...my boys all tried it, but Baileyhusband doesn't want his photo posted :)

{Gunny}

{Wyatt}

Our hotel room was perfect for a family of six. We slept on a queen size bed, and there was a bunk room for the kids...I highly recommend bunk rooms, so much entertainment to hear them all together in one room....there is a little sarcasm in that comment, but it was a perfect setting! And better than someone sleeping on the floor and having to share our bed. 

Us country folk, staying in a big city, is something to behold! And getting to shop at all the places that I only see online is something else entirely!! My dear Baileyhusband amused me in a little couples therapy time in IKEA! People, I felt like the Mothership was calling me HOME!!

I am going to do another blog post about all the fun things acquired in that round of shopping!!

The Mall of America, aka the MEGA-MALL was our next stop. 

I felt a little guilty of all the fun home-decor-y stuff that I was fortunate to purchase at Ikea....so the mall was mostly about the kids getting to play.... and eating......

Getting away with the whole family is a very rare occurrence once one goes off to college, so even though this was only for 2 1/2 days, this was much needed!!

The other days of our break have been alot of movie watching....hello?! Frozen anyone? Seriously the cutest movie ever.

And craft making: 

A great friend came over, and we made these barn wood beauties for her sister. I forgot how fun and relaxing that crafting can be! And this big D is going on a new gallery wall for my friend. Can't wait to see the final result, I love a good gallery!!

And one night we heard lots of giggling and general girl-y loudness coming from the basement....and I am so impressed with the result....made from crayons, ya'all!! So impressed with my daughters!!

Now, I am going to spend my last day of Spring Break in my sweats, making cookies, and watching Frozen....again! I hope spring shows up soon, it snowed again this morning.....UGH!!

~Kim

Where I've Been....

I know....

It's been a LONG time since I have been on my blog.

I've been reading all of my favorite blogs everyday, just not been posting any here.

I wanted to ease back into it slowly...

and fill all of you in on where I've been and what we've been up to.

As mentioned on my post about the blogger's Midwest Meet-up, I did go to the Chicago area over Spring Break and was fortunate enough to meet some amazing "new friends" from blog-land. But the unfortunate thing is....ready for this?....I did not take ONE SINGLE PICTURE!!! What?!?!? Here we were all bloggers and all I seemed to have taken pics of were the little shop we met at! 

I want to thank the lovely Jennifer Rizzo for making this meeting a reality....and her post is alot more informative than mine! Now I will show some pics that I did take......

See the large globe in the picture above? Yep, it came home with me! 

Thanks to my friend KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms for talking me into it...

The shop, called Room 363, which has it's own blog you can find here, is stuffed FULL of beautiful finds and inspiration! It is in an old house and each room has it's own look and style, I will definitely be stopping back in on my next visit to Chicago.

And speaking of Chicago.....I took my daughters with me on this little Field Trip to the awesome Windy City, and while there we did some MORE shopping on the Magnificent Mile (aka Michigan Ave.)

Even though this cowhide chair is a little too modern for our home, I would proudly own it....seriously THEE MOST COMFORTABLE thing ever!!!

Some time with my girls is all this mama needed! And a little vacation from reality is never a bad idea! :)

We were there on St. Patty's Day, and Chicago dyes the river green! 

Nice welcome for us Irishman Acres gals! 

My only regret was that we didn't stay longer, another couple days would have been nice!

Oh well, there is always next year! 

Now back to all the other things I've been doing.......laundry, dishes, running kids to practices, working at my day-time "real" job, and reading.....and not just the home decor magazines and catalogs....I have finally rediscovered my love of reading REAL books!!! 

We have also been busy doing not-so-fun projects around the farm.....

more on that another day! 

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

~Kim

Our Famous IOWA STATE FAIR

The Iowa State Fair is probably the BIGGEST highlight of every summer in our family. 

This year, the weather was finally cooperative and the Fair had it's 2nd largest amount of visitors in history!

Some people come for the amazingly weird and original food options: 

think deep-fried ANYTHING, and put it on a stick!

Some love to look at all the horticulture...one of my personal favorites.

Some come for the animals..and there are dozens of species...from farm animals to exotic.

This poor mama was in labor.....totally feel her pain:

Ok, this one is not real....but what fun that the kids get to "milk a cow!" :)

There is a Conservation Building that the D.N.R. has displays. Wyatt was interested in the Project AWARE. This uses junk found in Iowa's rivers and recycles them.

She wishes:

There are TONS of concerts that are on several stages.... we didn't make it to any this year:(

But I DID get to spend my birthday with my family, on the last day of the Fair.

Amazing, creative artists show off their talents all over the fair. This is a piece of art made with a CHAINSAW! 

A chocolate mouse....YUM!

The famous Clydesdale horses were leaving when we walked by, but we did get to pet one of them:

Some of the Miniature Herefords, these were from the breeder that Ken came from: 

Security, the Cowboy Way: 

We spent two days walking around, about 6 hours each., and STILL did not get to see and taste everything that the Iowa State Fair offers!

This is a fun week...so sad it's over. School started before the fair was over again this year (BOO, HISS)

Next year I hope it will be different...we are getting signed up to show our Miniature Herefords, so I guess my children will have to miss the first couple days of school if that happens :)

One last picture..this is what my family agreed to give me for my birthday:

~Kim