My new chairs!!

I did it!

I have not had a matching table and chairs in years. First a couple of chairs broke, then we were given a couple of chairs. We kept the folding chairs in the dining room to fill in as needed. Then,last weekend I found 2 mismatched chairs at a garage sale for ............

ONE DOLLAR

All they needed was a little love :) I had planned to post a poll asking everyones opinion because I honestly couldn't make up my mind what I should try to make them all look good around my table! Finally, this morning when I had no more time to be fussy about it I just decided that black was easiest so I did it :)

I even took before and after pictures for this post

BEFORE


AFTER



Spraypaint in my hands.......nothing is safe....muahaaahaahaa

I miss my boys :(

Today is the 6th day since I have NOT had a sweet hug from one of my little guys.


I have 4 days to go!

It helps to remember the sweet little things.

Last week during dinner we were doing our "minus's and plus's". Davis said his minus was his BOOK REPORT (he was really nervous and had to do an oral presentation for the first time). He took a big breath-hitching sigh right after telling us this and I could tell he was just recalling the terror he felt right before he had to talk in front of his whole class.
When we went back around to hear the plus's he said it was his BOOK REPORT. I looked at him quizically and he said "Mom...it feels really good to do a good job". yes, yes I cried a little with pride for my big 3rd grader.

I wasn't able to be at home when their Dad picked them up for their spring break vacation but Jeff was. He was giving each of the boys a "hug from Mom" and Michael came back for another round and said he wanted 2 hugs to pass on to Mom.
I PROMISE you that the first thing I did when I got home from work was to take every bit of those hugs from Jeff's arms.

Travis is turning 14 soon and is paying to have unlimited texts on his cell phone because he is a texting maniac!
I have decided that I will never complain again because this week I have had the most thoughtful conversations with him in the middle of the day about things he misses, stuff happening with his friends, advice seeking about a crush and even wanting me to intervene in an argument with his brother. It is definitely getting me through till Sunday night.

Thanks for letting me reminisce a little, I'm really doing OK even though i did go by baseball practice (something i usually get weary of) and watched all the little 9 & 10 year olds playing just to feel a little better yesterday.

What has been keeping me so busy?

SPRING CLEANING!!!!!!!!!

My family groans when I bring out "the list"

The words "I have a plan" send them running to hide

I have to start keeping my to-do list hidden for protection

What do all these things mean? It's time for Spring cleaning!!!!


We have been very, very busy the last month but I have been limiting it to weekends and have divided the house into very specific projects. So far we have accomplished all 3 boys rooms, our master bedroom & the living room.

I'm not just cleaning either. We are cleaning, we moved everything out of each of their seperate 3 bedrooms (one at a time, i'm not completely crazy)including furniture and beds and cleaned the carpet and windows. BUT, as we put things back in we took the time to rethink their rooms. Anything that was broken was fixed, we hung on walls those things that needed hanging, hung dragons from ceilings.

Davis finally decided at 9 that he was ready to pass on Thomas the train and his table to his cousins Drew & Ben. That was a BIG decision but it made his very cramped room a little bit bigger.

We created a reading corner for Michael
along with the dragons for imagination.
But the biggest change was in Travis's room. He likes change a LOT and decided that he wanted his walls painted.
This was fine and even gave us a little bit to look forward to once he agreed that he would do the bulk of the work AND be the repainter when the time came. However, he came down with the flu & bronchitis the day we started and so.....you guessed it........I was in his room covered in paint along with his best friend Zach until midnight trying to finish it. I was praising God for Zach when he was the one at the ceiling and the floorboard leaving me the middle section. You know your child has found a great friend when he refuses to be given a ride home while his best friend is sacked out and he says "I can't wait for Travis to see how cool this is!" (I promise I fed him well, even snacks and thanked him often)

I am rethinking each of my rooms with the idea from Nester when I read her posts about the rooms in your house! You have to go to her site and click on this button. We have faithfully followed each post and I have brought in fabric in my living room
and now have 3 working lamps and many candles.
We really focused on our bed in the bedroom and eliminating clutter.
I also painted 3 canvases to go above the bed that I think turned out great. I wish I had a better picture! (please ignore the ugly headboard that i hate hate hate)

I have more to do in the bathrooms and the kitchen/dining but I am stumped with my dining chairs so we may have a poll coming soon.

Check back for more insanity!

phew....it's been a while

Writing a post when it's been a long time has been hard! It is almost like it has to be something major and so just an everyday post isn't good enough but since I havent had anything really big I've just not put anything up!

Does it sound weird to say I have missed my blogging friends?

I finally just decided that a month is long enough and to just say something. I can't not just go on without saying something on here about a hard loss. I'm sure NO one will notice unless I point it out but I had to erase the part over on the said of my "about me" that said........a father in law that will never be an ex. I didn't think it was right to just erase that from my side bar and go on like I was erasing him.

We lost Grandpa Jack in February and it was much harder than I had expected it to be even though I thought I was prepared. In a way it happened very suddenly, but that was just the accident. Once we knew he wasn't going to wake up, the days that we had to tell him goodbye and to watch my children grieve were life changing. My boys were his only grandchildren and they were quite simply his entire world. They will always have that legacy of love and I will always be his daughter. I don't want to be sad anymore or make anyone else sad I just didn't want to not acknowledge his passing. We miss you Jack and are so glad you are up there with Kathy and showing off your pictures to a new audience!

I thought I was going to continue this, but I am going to end it and start a new one. It just seems right.

The Titus Project

I am so excited about this!!! I have decided however that I need help from anyone who is willing to share with me some ideas :)

Our church is sponsoring this for our youth girls (the boys will be having a subsequent Timothy project). I have been asked to sponsor a table. This means that I will have 4 girls at my table that I will serve. The idea is to be a mentor/friend/example and I am really glad to a part of things.

First we will be giving them a night where we will honor them. We will uplift them and serve them. We will prepare a banquet for them with gifts and food. The food is covered, but the table decoration and gifts (small ones) are to come from me and my imagination......THIS IS WHERE I NEED YOU GUYS AND YOUR IDEAS!!

Second we will be providing a night where we will pamper the girls with hair, make up, nails and any other kind of girly thing you can think of.

Third we will be giving each young lady a Titus Project book. This is a book of wisdom from us to them. This is a compilation of submitted stories and advice from ladies in our church. We would like it to be fuller than it currently is so if you had anything that God places on your heart I would love to submit and use it.

Lastly, pray that this will be a great night and that with HIS guidance will be just what these girls need and will be life changing and impacting.

And lets not forget about the boys (which will be my oldest 2 included) and their Timothy project.

Coming soon.....

I am so excited! I have been in a really creative mood lately and I think it has pushed me over the edge. yikes! I typically take forever to make a decision after I spend lots of time pondering, praying and debating the choices. For quite a while people have told me I should sell the things I make and each time I give a gift at a wedding or baby shower I get an order or two.

Now...........i'm ready. I made something new over the weekend and I LOVE it. It was a gift for my best friend who is very unique and special so she needed a gift that was unique and special. It turned out so well that I have decided it is just the addition I need to give me enough interesting products to open my own shop. I will be opening an etsy shop to be exact.

I don't have it ready yet, but I am working on it. I decided to go ahead and put this post up to keep me accountable. For now it is "coming soon....."

Something new

sorry........this is really a fake post.

I was so tired of seeing the old one I just had to make something different. I don't really have anything to post!

I know I shouldnt have let it go so long but life has intervened and I just couldnt get to it! Davis was just released from the hospital after a week and we were out of town before that and I just can't seem to get pictures off my camera and I know a post would be boring without them so......soon i promise.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Thank you Lord for the best gift of all.

I love the time we have had with family.
I loved seeing how much they appreciated their gifts we chose.
I wanted to take a few moments and remember about the best gift.

We are flying home tomorrow (Jeff & I). The boys are coming home and we will finally get to celebrate Christmas with our small family. Everything is ready and waiting for the excited sounds of the boys as they see their bulging stockings and the early morning wake up to open all their gifts. I wait all year for that moment.

I never updated but we did finish our projects...we strung popcorn and cranberries

I also made the silhouette ornaments and my "S" monogram wreath.

Since I believe Christmas is a frame of mind and not just a day, I am eagerly looking forward to getting home and having my family all around as we drown in wrapping paper and ribbon and watch their precious faces as they see what they are given. I can't wait to drink hot cocoa and apple cider and nibble on Christmas snacks. I'll see you all soon for new years!!

I just had to leave a picture of the view from the back deck of Jeff's house in Mass where we just had a wonderful Christmas with our family. We love you!

wrapped around his little finger

(Davis coming home from school, Jeff in the kitchen doing dishes)

D: Hey Jeff! What is this paper for? Can i have it?
(J looks over and notices it is leftover christmas wrap)
J: OK. What do you need it for? (with D you just never know)
D: It's a surprise!
(5 minutes later he comes back and asks Jeff to sit down)
D: Merry Christmas! (handing him a small "package")
(Jeff opens the package and discovers a quarter)
J: WOW! Are you sure you want me to have this? (Davis is very big on saving and a quarter is a big deal)
D: Yes, I saved it for you.....but there is something more in there too, just make sure you don't tear it.

This is the point when Jeff discovers the true gift. A handmade certificate that says:

World's Best Step-Dad

Could there be any better gift ever? And yes it is proudly displayed on the fridge!

Excessive energy painting

What is that you ask?

It is the result of all the excitement from holiday decorating still churning through me at 11:30 pm at night when there are no more twinkle lights to hang, garland to create or Bethlehem villages to arrange and something in me is begging to create something great.

OK...great is a relative term but my 8 year old thinks I created a masterpiece!

Do you remember a few posts back when I showed off my new painting for over the couch? It was my inspiration for this project. I have a table/lamp combo that needs a makeover in a big way.

So far all I have changed is the lampshade, but I think it has huge impact. I have been thinking about it for a long time but I couldn't decide if I should. I really liked the idea of painting the shade and because it is across the room from the painting I wanted to mimic it to create some cohesiveness. BUT I also worried if a painted lampshade would make my painting less artistic and more design. The painting was a very big release for me and when I started I had no idea how it would turn out, I felt like I was just releasing myself and I didn't want to lose that feeling I get every time I look at the painting. When my sister in love Kelli was visiting over Thanksgiving I mentioned my idea to her and she thought it was a good one so it is thanks to her that I took the plunge :)

Guess what? I painted the lampshade and i STILL get the feeling!!

These are the AFTER pictures:
you can see the painting in the background along with our Sam sleeping on the couch
The little strange things on the top are tiny Santas hanging from the top of my shade (thank you Davis)
I still need to decide what to do with the ugly white post, the ugly brass thingy ma bobbee and how I should treat the table/legs part. Any suggestions? PLEASE help me out. It is better with the shade but it still doesn't go with everything else.

Comments, Comments, Comments!!!!!!!!!

decorating heaven

(a dark picture of my garland that doesnt do it justice)
I love to spend time planning and preparing when I decorate and I especially love just jumping in and making a huge mess and coming out with something that is beautiful to me and makes my family feel at home. Christmas decorating gives me all that and more.
(this is a picture of the garland close up)
I have a tree in every room....not just every bedroom but EVERY room in the house. Some rooms like the bathrooms and kitchen have small ones, but the ones in each of our bedrooms are my favorite! The big one in our living room is our family tree. It has the collection of the boys ornaments that are added to each year and lovingly remembered as they are hung. It also has all the ornaments collected as we travel and a million memories from our families and our trips. That one is special and i'm usually crying before all the ornaments are hung. This year I am planning on stringing popcorn and cranberries (i'll let you know how it goes).

The bedroom trees were each planned according to the person who lives in that room and are the most fun :)

***Davis's is a candyland dream and we have collected candy ornaments from all over. He also has candy garland and lights and the most elaborate room because he takes all of my castoff decorations and finds a place for them.
***Michael's is new this year because he finally has his own room and is of course "Colt's blue". So far it just has white lights and balls but we are on the lookout for sports and colts ornaments and will probaby make some.
***Travis is my patriot and his room has an american flag and a texas flag hanging on the walls along with a complete red white and blue thing going on and so he has the Texas tree.
***Jeff & I used gold and blue to pick up the accents in our room and also put on the first ornament we ever bought together every year together. He holds the branch and I hang it. That is part of the rule, each person puts up and decorates their own tree.


We did all this yesterday and it felt so good i ended up with so much energy at 11 pm last night I took on a project that I have been undecided on. Thanks Kelli for the push! (more on that to come)

He's a natural

This is so cute I had to post it!!! This is my adorable nephew Drew playing Guitar Hero World Tour with his Daddy in our living room.....ignore the obvious mess from unpacking Christmas presents (yes we have already had 1 of our Christmas's with my family)
even more rockin.....

Not nice

I still love you red raiders :)

Go OSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Red Raiders!!!!!!!!

if you are thinking to yourself that you don't care about football or Texas Tech, go ahead and scroll down, I made another post today.
I just had to add this video I found on Steph's site. We have all been affected by the fever and love the feeling of pride we feel when we get to watch Tech have the kind of season they have had.

We were lucky enough to go to the Homecoming game....thanks Mom & Dad!!!!!!
We also know one of the players and it is thrilling to see Bryan #57 flying across the line and the power in his tackle.
In this video from ESPN, the fireman Brad Jones is a friend of mine and it is just surreal to see him on national television.

Raider!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.......so I can move on

I am making this post because I have been thinking Christmas thoughts and I am playing catch up :)

I have loved seeing all the other "fall" posts and cute halloween costumes on my friends blogs but have been negligent about posting mine.

This is me carving my pumpkin, I don't have a picture of it and it is long ago in the trash :(

I did get a picture of Jeff's pumpkin, it won 3rd place in the carving contest we went to :)

I actually had decided not to post any fall/halloween pictures but Davis has been asking me when I am going to put pictures of him in his costume so here they are...................beware they are a bit scary :)

He has already been a pirate previously so this year he wanted to be a skeleton pirate.

I told him I had never seen a skeleton with dimples :)

He did get sad because he scared the smallest children at the carnival so I'm not sure he will go scary again.

I heart Kimba!!!!!!

I won!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe it :)

I am just browsing through my regular blogs that I must check daily and am kinda talking to myself about how Kimba has me adding ANOTHER item to my to-do list with her new silhoutte ornaments when I have just got my husband to thinking about making the monogram wreath that i forwarded him last week (also from her sight). Imagine my surprise when I continue reading and discover I have won a mother's necklace!!!!

Kimba is part of a group of popular bloggers that are featuring Mom crafters this holiday season. Click here to shop!! They are encouraging us to buy from these Mom's that help support their families by creating and selling their creations. There is a wide range of choices and amazing items to choose from and the idea is to buy from these Mom's instead of from commercial chains. Kimba has taken it a step further and is highlighting different Mom's on her blog and offering giveaways! I know!!!!!!! I have been inspired and even considering how I might make my own "shop" but as most things go, I will stew about it forever first.

Can I just take a minute to tell you how beautiful this necklace is that I WON.......I am in awe of this wonderful talented woman that Kimba featured so I am putting her link here for her Etsy shop called MoppetsClosets (even the name is sweet). Here is a picture of it :) Thank you Kimba and MoppetsClosets!!!!!!

sidenote: now I know why I had a TON of visitors from Kimba's site this weekend and I am so embarrased that I have been a lazy blogger lately :( I wish I was as talented as her but I am inspired and trying!

Valerie needs........

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was pretty funny.

Just Google your name and the word "needs" and see what the top 10 results are.

Here are mine...

1. Valerie needs to weed out those who seek only to ...
2. Valerie needs a very committed and supportive home.
3. Valerie needs to be deported.
4. Valerie needs a beauty makeover.
5. Valerie needs help periodically ...
6. Valerie needs numbers!!
7. Valerie needs attention
8. Valerie just needs to be played out a bit more with Danny
9. Valerie needs to beware of deceiving herself and allowing others to take advantage of her ...
10. Valerie needs more time to catch up...

This was really funny and even a little bit scary! Please do it.....I want to see what all of you "need"

****addition*****

after i posted this, i clicked on images to see what images came with "valerie needs" and I got this with the following title:

Valerie needs rotating..............i'm not kidding...........I HAD to add it :)

This window stuff can be addictive

I couldn't quit staring at Travis's window.

It was mocking me.......bare and naked taunting.

I didn't have months of thinking and inspiration but I DID have a sense of accomplishment from Michael's mistreatment and the desire to cover Travis's.

What I didn't have was any extra money for supplies (or old giftcards laying around).

What I did have was nester's words running through my head AND a top sheet that I have given up putting on Travis's bed because he refuses to use it and it was constantly wadded up at the bottom under his comforter.

The sheet was the right color and even though it wasn't being used i didn't want to cut it because I might need it someday! However, I didn't want anyone who saw his window to think I had just hung a sheet up there. My dilemna was:

• how to make it unrecognizable as a sheet and look just like navy cotton fabric
• how to hang it with no rods or boards using the only thing I had (furniture upholstery nails)

My solution was:

• Window Mistreatment 101

Here is my end product! And since it is so dark you really can't see the detail at all, but trust me it looks just like Nester's did!

He didn't need to cover the whole window since it is at the back of the house and not everyone driving by will be looking in as they were in Michael's. Plus he had already been using the sill as a place to keep his trophies.

YAY!!! Another window covered and for $0

My first window mistreatment

BEFORE

AFTER

I am so excited about this you guys! I thought about it for a couple of months but didn't have the nerve to just do it! I have been so inspired by all the posts you talented bloggers have put up about your mistreatments and have really been wanting to try it. I am the perfect candidate....we are in a rental and I don't want to spend money on curtains that only work for this house and honestly.....you can spend a small fortune just for one window after buying the actual panels AND the hardware. Add in the fact that my son Michael wanted something nascar and so I wouldnt have been able to settle for something found on sale.

I got this specific mistreatment idea from Kimba at A Soft Place to Land and you HAVE to read it first because she makes more sense than I do!

Michael also needed a shelf for all the nascar collectibles he has that really didn't have a place to live in his room. Here they are piled on a table in his room.

I went back to the Nester's sight and read back through all her posts on the subject......thanks Nester!!! You MUST go visit her blog even if you just read the window posts your life will be forever changed :)

I went to Lowe's because I had $11.42 on an un-finished giftcard. All I had to buy was the board, furniture tacks and 2 brackets.....I even HAD to buy 3 mum plants for my front bed to finish up the card!

One thing I do have in my linen closet is a TON of extra sheets.

With 3 boys and 4 twin beds we are never short on sheets. I used a black flat sheet that is all by it's lonesome (this is pretty common in my house) and I also used the 2 extra nascar pillow cases since the other 2 boys are no longer using them (the third is still on Michael's bed so it is a great tie-in) I didnt want to cut anything just in case I might need it as a sheet again (i'm glad to read on the other blogs that I am not the only one who thinks this way). I did open the pillow cases on the seam but I know if need be I could stitch them back up again in a jiffy.

It may be hard to see here but all I did was use the tack to hold up each corner. After that I tacked up the middle making a pleat first. I then kept going half and half while making pleats and just tacked it up as I went. This is the back panel.

This may not make sense to you since it really only makes sense in my head......but go read the this post on Kimba's site (with much nicer fabric) and then it should start to come clear for you.

This is just 3 halves of the pillow cases (i have one leftover) I used no sewing at all in true mistreatment style. I bought a 1x6 board that was 6 ft long so the length was just perfect, no cutting.I used the upholstery tacks to put the fabric onto the board and hubby hung the new valance/topper/shelf over the window using the brackets. I used my hot glue gun to connect the 3 pieces of pillow case and make it look seamless. Now we have a back panel, a valance and a shelf! I know it is hard to tell from this picture but it looks really good!

I LOVE THEM! Michael loves them!!! Even Jeff thinks they are great (even though he made this face when he saw me tacking a sheet over the window)
















I also got a shot of Michael happily arranging his cars on his new one of a kind shelf :)

A lesson learned

I just read the funniest story on Liz's blog and it inspired me to come post my own!

You know Jeff and I have been married just over 2 years and there is a LOT of learning to do about each other still. It is pretty common for him to say "must be a southern thing" or "we don't do that up north". I think it is more indicative of us just growing up in different families.

Leading into my story......I grew up playing jokes on people and the people I knew all played jokes on each other. In my house we were always trying to come up with a good joke. We loved to jump out and scare each other, we hid things that would cause a scream. My Mom taught us early how many screams you could get dumping cold water on someone in a hot shower. She also could be found chasing David and I around the house spraying us with a water bottle until we could find a place to baracade ourselves in for protection and find something water filled to fight back with. I apparently passed this on to my boys because they are constantly practicing how to quietly sneak up on someone and love love love to jump out and cause a yell. I can't tell you how many times I have "found" snakes, spiders and mice all in unexpected places (they have some very realistic fakes out there now).

About a year ago, I was washing dishes and accidentally dropped Jeff's favorite paring knife. It fell in such a weird way that the stainless steel blade just broke in half.

He was in the shower so he was clueless about it and I thought to myself....this is too good, I could never plan on this happening but i HAVE to use it! I thought it sounded like fun!

I knew he wouldnt think it was a trick knife because he would recognize the knife right away.

When I was a kid I pulled the prank of sticking it between my fingers with ketchup to fake out my Mom (who pretended to be horrified at my injury).

NOW without thinking much about it, in about 30 seconds time I quickly grabbed the red food color and ran a few drops down my hand and mopped it all up with a towel. I was thinking of how to fool someone who would be expecting it and all the things they would look for. I held the knife pointed down tight against my skin so it would look like it had gone through, pushed the "blood" soaked towel around it and rushed into the bathroom.

I put on my best "im in a lot of pain and trying to stay calm because i'm the Mom" shaky voice and told Jeff "honey, i need you to keep the boys calm and somehow get me to the hospital because i've had a little accident".

He pulls the shower curtain back and while I expected some sort of an "OMG" yell before I said "just kidding!". I was NOT expecting to see the horror on his face as i think his heart might have temporarily stopped beating or to see this big man jumping out of a running shower and ignore the fact that he was naked and covered in suds to start issuing orders like a war time triage soldier.

I was so in shock that he didn't even doubt me for a second that I forgot to say i was kidding. The look on his face when I dropped the broken knife (and time temporarily froze with a mask of horror and shock on his face) was enough to have me running for cover!

The answer to your next question is "yes" I promised him to never ever ever ever play another practical joke on him ever ever ever again. I still feel guilty about it and wish I had taken more than 30 seconds to put it all in motion and take maybe just 10 more seconds to think about the possible heartattack I could have caused (the point he was quick to make)

This has been referrenced from time to time in the last year and always with a reminder from Jeff in his most serious voice that I will NEVER play another joke on him. Imagine MY shock when Travis comes in a couple of days ago to tell me something funny he has just done.

He is already laughing and wants me to sneak in the dining room with him to watch because he just got finished crawling under the dining table (where Jeff was sitting at his laptop) and untied his shoes and tied them to his chair leg.

I can't believe my "ARE YOU CRAZY" wasn't heard throughout the whole house as I tell Travis he better get back in there and sneak better than he ever has before to fix this before Jeff even finds out he thought about it!

(post note: he didn't manage to undo his joke without being found out but because he WAS undoing it he got off light with just a lecture about how he would have felt when Jeff tried to get up and fell and cracked his head open and we had to call 911)

You are right Liz.......not everyone likes it.....who woulda thought?

WE LOVE YOU HONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!