love tokens

After reading this, I wanted to start trying something very similar with my little man. We both went to AC Moore and picked out a couple dozen wooden 'tokens'. We painted each one together, and I explained to him what the whole thing was about. He picked out the different prizes and I listed them on his new giant art pad of paper. He is so excited about it and I can already tell the difference.

From mockabee7:
"The system lasts for one week.  They also get tokens removed when they are not showing love.  Tokens are not freely given all day as most of our routine is required or expected, but going above and beyond surely deserves a reward!

At the end of the week, we have a family meeting and "cash in" our love tokens.  All of the rewards are usually time-based and not really working towards toys or treats (although there is an opportunity to acquire something sweet on the list)."

Gingerbread Men Pancakes

We cheated and used Aunt Jemima buttermilk pankcake mix, added brown sugar and cinnamon to make a few pancakes. After cooking round shaped pancakes, we used our large metal gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. I ate the scraps, he ate the gingerbread men...he 'couldn't wait to eat the heads off'.

Kitchen Before/After

We are still finalizing our kitchen reno so this is just for marking progress.  I gathered a ton of information and inspiration from younghouselove.com, housetweaking.com, pinterest (my kitchen board), and others places for months while we saved money.

I knew:

• I wanted to paint our golden oak cabinets white
• I wanted a light countertop (white Corian like my grandmother has or marble)
• I wanted wood floors to continue throughout the house (including kitchen)
• Our scratch and dent refrigerator would be painted with chalkboard paint
• Appliances wouldn't be changing anytime soon so we'd make do with what we had

Details to follow later but here is the before with tan tile floor, tan tile countertop, tan tile backsplash and golden tan oak cabinets:

The after (in progress):

My Entry/Hallway

I'm back! Re-energized to start journaling our progress again. It's been crazy the last year and a half. Future posts to include:

-Kitchen before and after DIY
-Hardwood floor install DIY
-Various upgrades
-Planning for our Master Bathroom Reno

For today, my entryway and hallway (still in progress). No baseboards yet and I'm still deciding on a Dash and Albert runner for the space. Ikea Trones shoe bins, we used 8 to line the wall. They are $39.99 for a 3 pack, we purchased 9 and have one leftover. My son has the bottom left 'cubby', Mike and I share the rest. This has been a huge timesaver in the mornings before school everyone knows where their shoes are.

The cheap Ikea runner we purchased has been just okay. I want to add more color and I love Dash and Albert rugs. I'm considering the following in the 2.5' x 8' runner.

Any suggestions on colors for the space or runners you like?