Last night my husband was outside with the kids and heard what he thought was "really loud thunder".  I thought it was odd since there weren't any storms nearby.

At 10:00 pm I sat down to watch the news and learned about the devastation in West, TX and realized the loud thunder he heard was the explosion.  

We live about an hour north of West, TX.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you in West, TX.

Milestones: A Few Firsts

My daughter's last day of school was last Friday so we are officially on summer break!  We haven't made any big plans for summer but there will be plenty of days filled with swimming, play dates, popsicles, napping and a day trip or two.   I think we need to sit down as a family and maybe do a "bucket list" for things we want to do this summer.  You know, so they don't get bored or anything.  Heaven forbid they sit still for a second or two! 

Before school let out, my daughter had her first dance recital and danced on the big stage at our local high school with her dance class.  She did so good and we are so proud of her.  I'm a little proud of myself too for keeping it together during her performance.  I didn't shed a tear but that's probably because I cried a lot the day before just thinking about my baby being up on stage singing and dancing in her cute little costume in front of a full auditorium.  Please tell me I'm not the only one that does that??

Here's a pic of her and I after the recital.

And here's a pic of her and her two cousins.
She LOVES her cousins and wants to do everything they do including cheerleading and owning a cell phone. 

The next morning my sister treated all of us girls to pedicures at one of the local nail salons.  Yeah, she's pretty awesome.  This was my daughter's first pedicure and I'm not sure she knew what to expect but she ended up really enjoying it.  She even got nail art and showed all of her girlfriends at school the following Monday! 

This past Monday my kidlets took their first swim lesson. 

Here they are waiting for their class to start. 

It was cloudy, windy and the temps were in the 70's so they froze their little booties off but they had a great time. The next day it was sunny and HOT!  They will finish their lessons next week and I can't wait to see how they do.  

So that's what we've been up to lately...making memories!! 

How about you?  Any big plans this summer??

~Beth

Front Porch Makeover:: Before and After

Last week I painted the inside of the front door black, click here to see the before and after.  It was so nice to finally get a coat of paint on those orange-y oak colored doors!  

My next project was to beautify the other side of those doors and make our front porch look a little more welcoming.  We come in through the garage so I hadn't noticed how neglected it was looking until we started working on the flower beds in the front. 

Here's a pic right after we bought the house.  That's the original 1970's avocado green paint on the trim, shutters and front door. And those two bushes were the only landscaping in the front. 

Sorry about the quality of this photo.....it's an iPhone picture of a picture. ;)

Shortly after moving in we took down the shutters, painted the trim a creamy off white color to go with the brick and painted the front door dark brown.  Or what I thought was dark brown but it turned out to be more like chocolate brown with a green hue that I lovingly referred to as baby poop brown.

Ok it doesn't look that bad in the picture. 
So the first step was to paint the front door black.  I sanded down all the flat panel pieces which is what you see in the photo above. 

I put the first coat on last Tuesday while the boys were at school. 

And here's what it looked like after painting the sides which took me two hours.  

It takes along time to paint all those curves next to the glass! 

It looked like this for the next 5 days due to high humidity.  

In the meantime, I planted flowers in my planters.   

 And here it is after two coats of black paint!  

I love how it looks so nice and clean and less baby poop-y.

I added a new Ballard Designs Geometric indoor/outdoor rug I scoured for $19! 
They still have them on sale if you want one! 

 Here's a closeup of what I planted: lambs ear on the left which was free (I transplanted it from my flower bed in the backyard), purple Coleus ($1), and white Geraniums ($1 on clearance).  

Not bad for $2!!

It looks so much better!

Now I won't be embarrassed when we have company over and they come in through the front door. 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

I hope you enjoyed my latest before and after project, I'm really happy with it.  I just hope I can remember to water those flowers!!!

Linking up to the parties on my sidebar.

~Beth

Black Interior Front Door: Before & After

I know I haven't posted since March but I'm still here.  And my camera is still broken and that's why I haven't been blogging because I didn't want to subject you guys to my fuzzy iphone pictures with bad lighting.  But I'm going to anyway because I finished a project and I wanted to share it with you!

Last month I showed you a few photos I found on Pinterest of black interior front doors.  
Here's one of the photos of a front door that I think looks very similar to mine.

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Beth on Pinterest

So I ran to my local Lowe's and had the paint guy mix a quart of Valspar paint in black.  Well actually he wanted me to choose one of the colors from the paint chip area but I couldn't find a black that didn't look blue or purple or have some other kind of tint to it.  I told him I just wanted black so he said he could just add black to the can if I wanted.   Ummm, yes please!  So the paint doesn't have an actual name, it's just "plain ole black".  
So here's a nice fuzzy picture for you to see what I was starting with.  Wood doors with the original 1970's stain on it.

And here it is after I primed it.  I was actually considered painting it white and after seeing the white primer, I knew black would look so much better.

And here it is now.....

And another one.....

I love it and wish I had painted it sooner!
Now I'm working on the other side, the front.  The part that people actually see!  I started on it yesterday and I plan to finish it today when the boys take their nap since it's currently outlined in blue painters tape.  ;)
~Beth

1st Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX

I really wish this post was about my newly painted front doors and I really wish I could show you the before and after photos but last weekend one of my boys dropped my camera and then the very same day he dropped my cell phone and shattered the screen so I can't get you those photos until I get one of those devices fixed.  It was a very bad day for electronics! 
So instead of my awesome makeover, I'll just let you know about a great place you should visit if you're ever in North Texas the weekend before the first Monday of the month better know as..........1st Monday Trade Days in Canton.  
It's the largest outdoor Flea Market with over 100 acres of vendors!  You can find a little of everything, old stuff, new stuff, home decor, art, kids stuff, baby stuff, clothing, toys, lots of food, junk, candles, plants and even animals!
My husband and I used to go all the time before we had kids and we would literally be there from sun up to sun down and we still wouldn't be able to see everything.  It's THAT big.    
I haven't been in a while because it's not a place I want to bring my 3 kids otherwise I would end up spending all my money on food and all my time chasing after 2 year olds.  But last month me and my daughter and my mother-in-law went for a visit while my husband stayed home with the boys.  (Yes, I owe him one).  And it was just as awesome as I remember.  Here are a few highlights of the day.

This vendor had rows of colorful stools, life preservers, buckets, etc. 

I love this lime green color! 

And if you want to prevent achy feet, just rent a scooter!!

This vendor makes custom bedding.  My daughter liked this one.

"We are all precious in his sight...He may shake his head a lot...but we are still precious".  So true!

I love this vignette.....gray weathered beachy look.

If I was a bird I would want this to be my home.

You can't really tell in this photo but those hanging bells were HUGE!

Basket of moss balls.

This cracked me up!

I loved these little ceramic tea lights but they were a little too pricey for me.  I can't remember how much they were but I'm thinking they were $15-20 each.

More colorful buckets.

Lots of colorful crosses and wooden boxes.  Do you like my little model??

We had to buy my daughter a hat to keep her warm since we decided it was warm enough to leave out jackets in the car.  Big mistake it ended up getting cooler throughout the day but we didn't want to walk a half mile to our car to get our jackets.  

This man was making pottery in his booth.  So cool!

We loved this blingy vintage guitar.  It was marked $150.  My little model looks so funny here. 

And this ride on the kiddy Ferris Wheel made her whole day!  Just look at that face....I love that kid. 

Black Interior Front Door

I've been wanting to paint the inside of my front door for a while now but couldn't decide on a color.  It still has the original stain on it from when it was built in the 70's and it's looking a little dated.  I've been going back and forth between black and white and just couldn't make up my mind.  

I thought white would brighten things up a bit but then I realized with the glass on the door and side transoms (I think that's what they're called?) there is a ton of natural light that comes through and white could make everything too bright. 

So then I thought black would look good but I'm in one of those moods where I want everything light, bright, airy and clean looking and thought the black would darken it too much and make it look kinda gothic-y.  That's a word right?

So what does any girl with decorating paralysis do??  She does a search on Pinterest!

Once again, she came through and helped me make up my mind once and for all.  

My front door is very similar to the one below.

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: madebygirl.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: hisugarplum.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: madebygirl.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

Even with the black color it doesn't look dark at all and gives it a nice contrast and keeps everything still looking bright and airy and bit of elegance.   

This is my project today and have actually already primed it and plan on painting it black this afternoon when the boys take a nap!  

I can't wait to show you!

~Beth

We're on Spring Break..see you on Monday!