Sneak Peek

Painting 3 bedrooms at once is NO small project. We're making progress though. Room #1 is almost finished. It's waiting on the Mister to find some time and borrow a tool or two.

 Oh what fun it is to work with pink and ruffles!

Room #2 is painted and awaiting curtains and decor. But, I got an oh-so-fun, package in the mail today. Breaking out the sewing machine tomorrow.

Room #3 is still in chaos. It just might stay that way for a while. (See above!)

More Before and Afters coming later.

Half a Dozen

*eggs---would cost me 75 cents.

*cookies---would only cause fights around here.

*roses---would look nice on my table but my birthday isn't for another month or two (and I have other ideas for that. :)

*Boys--- the perfect amount for a real good time!

I borrowed a couple of really nice boys for a few days last week while their parents were on a mission trip. They just so happen to be cousins and best friends to the boys I keep here on a regular basis. It was really one of those deals where it's much easier, not harder, to have more. They played together non stop without arguing or fighting at all. I pretty much went about my usual business of laundry and cooking (there did seem to be a need for a bit more of that) while I eaves dropped on their conversations/play. I heard things like......

.....we're going to go figure out how to destroy the world!

.....can I have a snack?

......if you want to be a real nerd you have to examine specimens. (I didn't ask, I don't think I wanna know!)

.......Rush Limbaugh (said over and over, in a strange combination of their version of a German accent and weird throat noises. Again, I have no idea!)

 .......how about I weigh 12,000 and you weigh 10,000.

......can I have a snack?

.....how soon is lunch?

......oh, that's what slippers are for! (a moment of great revelation when I sarcastically asked a certain little boy if his feet were warm enough. he was wearing his monkey slippers on a 102* day.)

.....what color is that green box?

......can you make popcorn?

.....chiggers! (again, repeated over and over and over and over at random times for no apparent reason)

.....when can they come back? tomorrow?

......can I have a snack?


There was lots and lots of time spent with these.

These guys spent a whole morning building this tower. They were trying to get it up to the ceiling. Future Architects?

The boy fort. I think this was during half time.

Imaginations in Overdrive! These two have got it!

And what's a sleepover without popcorn and a movie?

I'm so glad my kids have great cousins to make memories with. Let's do it again soon. Really, a half a dozen boys isn't THAT many, but I may need to hit the grocery store and restock first!

Projects: Trash to Treasure

Well, at least trash to useful.

I always yard sale with the promise of what a little paint can do for my bargains, on my mind. Only problem is sometimes those bargains end up stored in the attic or the barn for quite awhile before I get to them with my paint brush/can. I finally got inspired  (or more accurately, took the time) this spring to tackle them. I'm having so much fun with my little projects and it doesn't hurt that my house is finally receiving a bit more of the TLC it was hoping for back in the fall when we moved in. Most of these projects have been finished for a month or more so don't go gettin' all impressed that I did all this yesterday. I'm just a little slow about getting the pictures taken and posted.

Project A: Take this 

(found in a stash in the barn, Free with the purchase of a property :)

and turn it into THIS.

A little sandpaper and paint was all she needed. 

 Project B: Desk from somebodies yard sale leftovers free pile. (Remove a gazillion Spongebob and Diego stickers with razor blade. Paint chair with leftover paint from the basement stash. Free projects are my favorite kind!)

Project 3: Another yard sale find and some more leftover paint.

But how did this get there?

(sorry for the bad picture quality)

This

 is what happened to the high chair for now. I'm still scheming and dreaming on that one though.

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And we've made it to the middle of July with some life and color still present in the flower beds! So there not exactly prize winning gardens but we're making progress!

Plus this little ongoing project....

...messes to clean up.

...hugs and kisses to give.

...treats to share.

...little people to grow.

******

The big painting project continues.

It's taking longer than planned thanks to

triple digit temperatures.

It was just too blasted hot up there.

But it's all better now that we're back in the 80's.

I'm super anxious to see it all finished!

Summer Fun Minus the 101

Last summer I challenged myself to make 101 Memories with my kids between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It was a smashing success. It really helped me to stay on track and take time to do fun things instead of working my life away. You can read more about our adventures here.


Several people have asked me if I'm gonna do it again this year. I debated it for a bit but I think we would have ended up with many of the same ideas. My creative juices are limited. But I've been trying to be intentional about making the most of our summer vacation. Here's a peek at what we've been up to.

In addition to our visitors from Ghana, 

We also had visitors from Florida.

Aunt Sherri and Little Miss Abigail

A family reunion.

A chance to reconnect with cousins and friends we only see every few years (or less.)

These guys hadn't seen each other in 7 years.

We celebrated Grandma's 60th birthday with a special cake at the reunion and then a family dinner at Olive Garden. (Or as one of my clowns dubbed it, "Pickle Garden.")

A little bit of cousin time.

8 kids looking in 1 direction -- Yeah right! We tried.

There has been  few baseball games but nearly as many as other years. Daddy is taking the year off

from the team this year and Ty played with the school team so his games were all over

before summer vacation started.

My little slugger!

The 3 oldest attended Bible School. I've been looking for a good place to make this happen for 

awhile but I wasn't able to make schedules and locations work for us before.

They loved it!

While they were gone I tried to do some special things with the little ones.

Love me some Rita's!

 We renewed our library card that had apparently expired in 2009 or 2010. REALLY? 

How did that happen? It's sad to think we haven't been taking advantage of that resource

but  it's all the more exciting now. 

Soakin' up the lazy summer days.

We even spent a day at the truck parade, where we soaked in plenty of sunshine and diesel fumes

and tried to pretend Daddy wasn't brain washing us. :)

Look at that shiny truck.

We braved the fireworks madness for the first time in many years. We've either been
gone over the 4th or just weren't up to taking the crew out for a party that started
long after bedtime the last few years. We tried a new spot this year and had a fabulous time.

And we're off and running!!
Time for some more fun!
 (or at least time to get the breakfast dishes done :o)

Made Me Smile Monday

{a  snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

 the beginning of long awaited projects.

so exciting!

can't wait to show you the end results but there must be 

some sweat and sore muscles first.

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in other news, special thanks to the $10 (yard sale) carpet cleaner for your 

help in saving the day (and the carpet)

i challenge you to find the spot where there was once a quart (or more) 

of white paint on my carpet next time you visit.

What festive plans do you have for the Holiday?

It's all about the projects here.

Well, with a side of golf and fireworks.

Happy Monday to you!