It's Hard to be Humble...

Just kidding!!! But......... LOOK AT WHAT I MADE ALL BY MY LONESOME with no "husband help"! I made a matching pair of Trumeau mirrors!! And they are precious!! (I can't help it...I love them!).

Head on over to La*T*Da if you're interested in a tutorial.

Thanks and HAPPY DAY!!!

Sunshine's Bedroom

I was re-reading my old blog posts of mine last night and I realized that I never showed you the "after" pics of Sunshine's Big Girl Bedroom. Back in June, I wrote a post titled, "While You, Sunshine, Were Out." She had gone to my parent's house for a few days and I played "While You Were out" in her bedroom.

Here is the BEFORE: And here are the AFTERS:

Sunshine wanted a "Fancy Nancy" bedroom, but I wasn't willing to go too far with a theme. So I tried to use a "neutral" (no theme) fabric for the window treatments and bedding. I found some "Parisian" fabric that I used for a few pillows to throw in the Fancy Nancy/Parisian feel. I was really happy with it, and more importantly, so was Sunshine.

I found the blue square pillow (raw silk, btw) at a yard sale for 50 cents! I bought two of them!! Score! The chaise lounge doesn't really match in here, but I tried to make it work by adding some blue ribbon to the base of the chair, and adding the coordinating blue pillow and Parisian pillow. I covered the marker and glitter glue stains (no joke!) with a fancy blue throw that I found at TJMaxx.

I must confess, however, that the idea behind this bedroom (right down to the paint color!) came straight from Janell at Isabella & Max Rooms.

But I L-O-V-E how it turned out. I kinda knew I'd like it since I liked Janell's version so much! That's one thing I love about blog-stalking! People are so generous with their ideas! I'm still working on Sunshine's mirrors and dresser, but I hope to have an "after" for you by the end of the week!

Have a great week!

New Orleans Take Two

Mark and I spent a few days in New Orleans last week while Mimi kept the kiddos. I've always known that M would like New Orleans if I could just get him there!! But he has had zero desire to go to New Orleans, especially since Katrina. But when I was in New Orleans this summer with my mom and sisters, I discovered that New Orleans had a WWII Museum. I knew I could lure Mark to New Orleans with the WWII Museum! It worked!! And he liked it!! And I don't just mean the museum! He really, genuinely liked New Orleans!

We ate, and drank, and walked, and toured, and ate, and drank, and walked some more! It was a much needed break for us! And we can't thank Mimi enough for taking care of the kids! I KNOW the kids had fun and I am certain that they weren't ready for us to come home. M and I aren't even sure if the kids went to school while we were gone. My neighbor was supposed to take and pick up Sunshine from school every day. I asked her is Sunshine even went to school while Mimi was here, and her only response was, "You'll have to ask Mimi." Hmmmmm.

When I called Mimi on Friday to remind her to read with AAA's class that afternoon, she said, "We are on our way." "Who is we?", I asked. Oops! Busted! "Um, Hannah is with me. I had to read to her class too." So I asked, "Oh - and then you checked her out after lunch?" "Um, no. We ate lunch at home", she replied. Then I asked to speak to Sunshine. I asked Sunshine if Mimi or my neighbor, Miss Ashley, took her to school. "Mimi checked me in", she replied. Well you only get checked in if you're late to school. So like I said...I'm pretty sure the kids weren't ready for us to come home!

By the way, the WWII Museum was awesome! Truly. I highly recommend it, although I must warn you that it is very depressing. But I think it's important that we all understand as best we can the sacrifices that those men and women made for our freedom. It's almost more than I can comprehend. Most of the patrons there were well over the age of 65. There were a few men there, some in wheelcahirs, with badges that read "WWII Vet". I can't wait til my children are old enough for me to take them there. They have no idea how much our freedom cost. It's humbling, to say the least.

Just shoot me! (with that one bullet in your breast pocket)

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I were running late for a birthday party that was way out in the middle of nowhere. I needed to run into OfficeMax and make ONE copy. It was going to take all of 60 seconds to do this. So I pulled into the fire lane, handed AA my cell phone, told her to lock the doors, and said, "I'll be right back". I darted into Office Max, ran to the copy counter, asked for one transparency copy, and paid my 53 cents. About the time I handed the cashier the last penny, I heard a loud ,deep voice yell, "Who owns the white car parked in the fire lane?!" You could have heard a pin drop at that very minute. I swear I think the background music even stopped playing (at least that's what it felt like). So I smiled politely and said, "I do." The whole store looked at me and shook their heads in disbelief (at least that's what it felt like). The police office put his finger by his face and motioned for me to "come here". He had a smirk on his face and I knew I wouldn't be getting out of this one.

We stepped outside and he yelled, "See that sign right there?!", referring to the large sign with bright red capital letters that said, "NO PARKING. FIRE LANE ONLY." Well obviously I saw the sign so I said, "Yes sir." "Well then why'd you park here?!" he yelled. "Well", I explained, "We are running late and I was just going to run in very quickly to get a copy made and I knew I'd only be a minute." The he yells even louder,"Well now you're going to be late AND twenty five dollars poorer!" Secretly I was jumping up and down inside because, truth be told, I was standing there thinking, "Oh my gosh! I bet this ticket is going to cost an arm and a leg." I was SO HAPPY when he said "twenty five dollars." But don't worry - I wasn't about to let on that I was happy with this news. Then he yelled, in front of everyone who was now stopped and staring (at least that's what it felt like!), "AND...YOU LEFT YOUR KIDS IN YOUR CAR!!!" Oh boy. I knew this was coming. "Do you know how EASY it would be for me to bust out your window and steal your KIDS AND YOUR CAR?!" he yelled, as he dangled his billy club (or whatever it's called) in front of my eyes. I had no answer. So he took a QUARTER out of his pocket and said in his best 007 voice, "I could bust your window out with a quarter." I think I was supposed to be impressed, so I put on my "most impressed" face. He put the quarter up to my nose and rubbed it between his fingers and said, "Yep. That's right. I could bust your window out with a quarter. What do you think about that?" I absolutely COULD NOT THINK OF A SINGLE THING TO SAY. What was the right answer?? "Wow, that's awesome! You're amazing!"? or "Oh no!" or, "Obviously you don't have children. No one would want a Camry with four kids in it!" or "Gee Officer, you 're making a great point." or "A quarter...who knew?" I mean, I was at a total loss. I won't even tell you what I said because it's just plain embarrassing! So then he said, "I want your driver's license, your proof of insurance, and your registration!" Gulp. I was pretty sure (but not totally confident) that I could produce the license, but I was a little concerned about the other two things. I fumbled around in the car searching frantically for the registration and insurance. I know the officer was loving this part - watching me panic. So I called M and said, "I'm getting a ticket and Barney Fife needs my insurance and registration." You know what M said?! He said, "I wouldn't call him that to his face." Really? Wow. Gee honey, I'm so glad you told me that. Otherwise I might have slipped up and called him "Barney Fife" to his face. So I said, "Honey, can you just tell me where they are?" So - like the awesome husband that he is - he told me exactly where he put them. I've never been happier to hand a police officer my registration and proof of insurance. But to make me sweat a little more, he continued to question me, "Is this your car?" "Yes sir" "Is it in your name?" "Yes sir". Gulp. "Did I just lie?" , I wonder. So I stutter and stammer and say, "I mean, I think it's in my name. It's my car. But..um.. my husband paid for it. It might be in his name. But..um... I think it's in my name. I don't know. I mean, if he can pay for it and put it in my name, I'm sure that's what he did. But if you can't do that, then it's in his name." UGH!! This guy was making me sweat and he was loving every minute of it! FINALLY, he gave me my ticket, which I THANKED him for (I hate it when I do that!). And I got in the car, completely lost it, and cried like a baby all the way to the birthday party that I was really late for by now! I have no idea why I cried (other than the fact that it was total PMS!). And then I had to explain to my children that we didn't need to "talk about mommy's conversation with the police office " at the birthday party. Talk about raining on their parade! They were devastated when I told them not to tell their friends. Apparently this was going to be a big hit as far as conversations go among the "ten and under" crowd!

Shew - I'm sweating again just writing about this!

No worries, though. I've already paid my ticket and I learned my lesson! I will NEVER EVER park in the fire lane in Opelika ever again! And probably not anywhere else, for that matter! H "nipped it in the bud" (as Barney would say!)

This image makes me happy...

Today I was cleaning the kitchen when I looked to my right at all the backpacks, the football, and the "disguise kit", and I kind of "had a moment". Needed to capture this image!

Poor Little Thing...

Kit Kat came home from school the other day with her head hung low. I asked her, "What's wrong, baby?" She replied, in the saddest voice ever, "Some other people got smiley faces, but I just got a face with one eye and a mad mouth like this," as she signaled a straight line across her mouth. I said, "Really?? Let me see." And sure enough...I saw exactly what she was talking about. A face with one eye and a mad mouth.

Or...to anyone else who isn't in first grade...a minus 1 with a circle around it! She was so relieved when I told her it was a minus 1 with a circle around it and that a "G" meant "Good!"

(But check out those dot letters! Maybe if she wasn't so busy dotting each of her letters, she'd spell "back" correctly!)

Silly girl!

Next...

It seems like I'm always moving from one project to the next. We just finished up with the Back to School Bash at the elementary school. I took a three day breather, and now I'm gearing up for Sunshine's Birthday Party.
The good news is that she wants the same kind of party as KitKat. So not quite as much "work"!

Can't wait to post pics next week!

Quote of the Day

KitKat spent the weekend in Birmingham with her Mimi. She attended a Fairy Tale Ball last night with Aunt Holley, Durham, and Mimi, and had the time of her life.

She told me that there was a Magician who took coins out of her ear. I said, "KitKat, he didn't really take coins out of your ear. It was just a magic trick."

She just looked at me like I was clueless, "Actually, he did. And then he took them."

Apparently, she asked him to give her coins back. And he didn't.

It sure was quiet around here without KitKat around. But it sure was nice not being ordered around last night when we went out to eat. I usually have someone telling me where to sit. But not last night.

Thanking God today for that little girl. She is awesome!

KitKat's 7th Birthday

We celebrated KitKat's 17th birthday this past summer........I mean SEVENTH!! Her party was precious and she said it was her best birthday party ever!

She wanted a cooking party and she wanted to do sand art. I know that the two don't exactly go hand-in-hand, but we made it work. And believe it or not, no one complained of sand being in their cake!

My favorite memory about this party actually occurred BEFORE the party. She tried and tried to get Mimi to fix her hair just the way she wanted. After several failed attempts, she grew frustrated with Mimi and started crying. I got on to her and told her to settle down. She cried a little more and complained about her hair. I walked away and she shut the bathroom door behind me. I heard the toilet lid slam down. I peeked through the peep hole and saw her sitting on top of the closed toilet pouting away, arms crossed, lip out. I smiled to myself and tiptoed away. About ten minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom with a huge toothless grin on her face and the prettiest side ponytail you ever did see! That little girl fixed her very own hair for her party and she was SO proud! I was so proud of her for getting off that toilet seat and not pouting!

All the little girls in her class came to her party and they were all so happy to see each other. Most of them hadn't seen each other since the last day of school, so there were lots of hugs and smiles. They're a super-cute bunch of girls!

The girls made their own pizza dough, smeared their own pizza sauce on the dough, added cheese and pepperoni. While the pizzas baked, the girls decorated their own cakes. They each had their own bag of icing and a ton of different types and colors of sprinkles. They were so cute and creative! You could have heard a pin drop when they were decorating their cakes...it was all business for a few minutes. The pizza cooled and the girls enjoyed eating their own creations. We rolled up the tablecloths once the pizza was eaten, then passed out small plastic bottles and tubes of colored sand. Who knew it would be such a hit!!

With only a few minutes to spare, the girls crowded around KitKat as she opened her gifts. They were just as excited as she was!

At last, the parents came to pick up their happy little chefs.

And Mommy took a nap.

Happy Seventh Birthday, KitKat! You are a delight! (usually)

I think I'm back........

I've had lots of recent distractions - some big, some little - that have kept me away from the blogging world. I'll probably open up about those sometime in the future, but for now, I think I just want to go back to my regular ole blogging.

The other night, I couldn't get to sleep, so I stayed up re-reading this blog of mine. In some parts, I found myself crying. In other parts, I found myself giggling. The memories that I've preserved on this blog are priceless to me! I am so thankful that I've had a special place to record family memories. And now I have a lot of catching up to do!

This past summer was a BUSY one filled with family, GREAT friends, a birthday milestone, some family trips, the death of a special friend/family member, and some other "things" that I'm not ready to blog about yet.

Despite the death of my dear sister-in-law, and despite some of the things that turned my world upside down (the things I'm not ready to blog about yet), I am surprised to hear myself saying that this was perhaps the very best summer of my life. I turned 40 this summer, and to say it was a reflective time for me would be an understatement. With all that we had going on in our lives this summer, I think it's safe to say that each of these "experiences" has had a profound effect on me.

When death and change touch your lives, I think it brings a keen awareness to the forefront of your mind of what is important and meaningful in your life. I think you count your blessings, change your perspective, slow down and enjoy life, imprint the small things on your heart and mind forever. That's what this summer did for me. It was a good summer.

All the little ones started school this year. This is week three. As I was reading the blog the other night, I read a post from last spring referring to the time that Sunshine would be starting kindergarten. I was scared that I would be emotional and bored and scared. I am happy to report that isn't exactly what's going on here! I am good. I am NOT bored. I am NOT scared. I am NOT lonely. I do miss my little bitties, but I know they'll be home everyday at 2:00ish, so I'm all good.

Sunshine is having a much harder time that I would have ever imagined. Sometimes she is already crying by the time I drop her off at school. She has only had three days, so far, that she hasn't cried. She says that during rest time, she misses me and Aunt Becky. Bless her. I know she does. I am just praying that the newness of school will wear off and that she will make a good friend or two, and that life will be good again for her.

KiKat is all good! That child loves school. Mainly because she can show off her latest fashions. Today she wore a shirt with an attached necklace. Not only can I not believe I let her wear it, but I can't believe I actually bought the thing. But I couldn't help it. She loved it. She truly loved it. I've tried to teach them that "we don't love things, we only love people", but she loves this shirt. Maybe more than she loves me. :)

AAA and L'il Man are the same, which is always good. I have some funny stories to write about them, but I'll save them for a later date. L'il Man, for the first time since kindergarten, is not in class with his best friend, Cade. He's okay now, but it was a rough few days during that first week of school. He asked me if I'd talk to the principal, but I told him I was pretty sure Cade was already talking to her since Cade is the Principal's son. And I was correct. Apparently Cade is holding his mother personally responsible and is even beginning to wonder just how much pull his mother really has! :)

AAA has been "asked out". Well...let me re-state that...AA was almost asked out, but she sensed what was coming, raised her hand as if to say "talk to the hand", started walking backwards, and just as the boy said, "This may be a little awkward", she said, "Whatever it is, I just ran a mile and I couldn't care less. So bye." She said she was smiling when she said it, but that she didn't know what else to say. She knew what was coming and she didn't know how she'd say no if he got the question out, so she just cut him off before he even had a chance to ask. I couldn't BELIEVE she was so bold. I was secretly proud of her , but I sure hope no girl ever says that to MY son! Heartless. :)

That's all for now. But I'll be back.

Thanking God today for just about everything and every person in my life.

DIY "Silhouett-ish" Art

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I've been working on Sunshine's room. I'm STILL not finished with it, but I am finished with a few of the "projects" that will go in her room. I made this Eiffel Tower silhouette for next to nothing, I bought a large canvas from Hobby Lobby (half-price) and painted it blue.

I also purchased the Eiffel Tower vinyl decal (also half-price) from Hobby Lobby. I applied it on top of the blue paint.

Then I painted the entire surface of the canvas a watermelon-y pink.

When I removed the vinyl decal, I had a blue silhouette of the Eiffel Tower! Ooh la la! :)

Sunshine loves it! And I love it because it was super easy, quick, and inexpensive! My ten-year old daughter pointed out that it's off-center. Yes...I know that. I did it that way on purpose.

Father's Day Weekend Re-cap #1

Father's Day Weekend was jam-packed with fun stuff!! We kidnapped M on Friday afternoon and headed to Atlanta for dinner at the Varsity followed by a Brave's game. That'll get its own blogpost soon!

The following morning, we headed to the Atlanta Zoo where I saw a gorilla beat its chest and make the "Tarzan sound" for the very first time in my life. The children couldn't appreciate what a treat it was to be able to witness this. They were BORED but M and I didn't want to quit watching the stand-off that he three gorillas were having!

After some serious fun at the Zoo, we headed to the Coke Museum. It was great, but if your kids are under the age of 8, they might be a bit bored. The older two kids seemed to enjoy it a bit more than the younger two.

Then, after a long day in Atlanta, we headed to a cabin in North Georgia. It was a perfect way to end our day. I was a little spooked about being in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure if I was more scared of bears or of the characters from Deliverance. I pretty much slept with one eye open. Poor M...he woke up the next morning saying, "well I could've gotten some sleep last night it you wouldn't have kept waking me up to tell me you couldn't get any sleep!"

Fortunately, we had a lazy day planned! We played in the creek by the cabin and then tubed down the Toccoa River. Our kids are finally at a great age where we can do fun outdoor activities! Yay!!

Despite the freezing water temp, we had a super fun time! Even though I let go of Sunshine's tube, panicked, flipped my own tube, fell in the freezing water up to my neck, broke my makeshift paddle while trying to get far, far away from the snake resting on the rock, and rescued poor KitKat from the frigid water after she flipped her tube and her entire body upside down while showing us how she could tip "just the tip" of her head in the water. Good times. At least M thought so! Seconds before flipping my tube and falling in to the FREEZING water, M whispered to the kids, "Y'all watch this." Then they died laughing! He saw it coming and didn't warn me! I asked him later, "How did YOU know I was going to flip?" He replied, with a big grin, "When you got to the edge of your tube and leaned over to paddle, I knew it was coming." He didn't even warn me! Well I'm glad I'm good for a laugh! At least it added to his Father's Day fun!

See M in the distance? He walked upstream for a while and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the man from Deliverance and his dog literally appeared out of nowhere! I tried to act calm, cool, and collected as I conversed with this long-haired mountain man, but the knife hanging from his belt loop terrified me. I couldn't scream for M, but I made several references to "my husband" who "will return any minute". About 15 minutes later, he and L'il Man returned. And the Mountain Man left. But talk about not sleeping! I was so scared that the Mountain Man was going to get us that night!

After tubing and playing in the stream, we went "into town" for some Mexican food. And since KitKat's 7th bday was two days away, we decided to celebrate her birthday Mexican style!

Then, we hung out in the hot tub for a while before retiring to our beds.

The kids slept much better than their parents! ( M wanted me to point out that HE could have slep if I had shut-up about not being able to sleep!)

I'm too tired to come up with any texts...maybe tomorrow.