Guess What I'm Working On??

Good mornin' Sunshine!  Happy Good Friday everyone!

I'm doing just fine today except for a little chocolate hangover that I'm nursing this morning!

My kids had their Easter party at school yesterday and they each came home with baskets full of goodies!  My daughter doesn't like chocolate so she gave me all of hers and I stole the boys chocolate before they even knew they had some.  Is that bad?  Stealing candy from your babies?  I'm really doing them a favor because if they ate too much of it they would probably get a tummy ache, right?  So you see I'm actually doing a good deed here.  Don't you agree?  

Don't answer that.

Sooo, you wanna know what my latest project is?  Well including all the other ones that I'm working on.

Yeah, that's right, I started another one.  No I haven't finished the kitchen cabinets but we're not going to talk about that today.  It's kind of a sore subject with me right now so let's not go there......K?

Ok, I'll give you a hint..........it has something to do with paint.

Need another hint?  

Ok....walls.

Oh you can't figure it out?  

Ok, here's another hint.....Diet Coke.

Still don't know really?   Ok last clue..........kitchen.

That's it, that's all I'm gonna say.  
The first one to figure it out gets a free diet coke!  Because that's my sponsor for this project.  



I hope to have the reveal for you guys first thing Monday mornin'. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, I hope you guys have a wonderful Easter!  I know we will, my mother-in-law is cooking a ham and squash casserole for Easter lunch.  Yummo!  Can't wait!


~Beth

Texas Bluebonnets

Taking pictures in the bluebonnets has been a family tradition in my family since my sister and I were kids.  I've tried really hard to keep this tradition going with my family too.  The bluebonnets come out in April and last approximately two weeks.  You can find them along the highways and randomly scattered in fields.  Every year we are searching for the best spot to take pictures in the bluebonnets. 
Here's a pic of my daughter when she was around 8 months old.

 I could just eat her up!!

These were taken in a field next to the highway. 

Here she is about 2 1/2 years old.

These were taken in a field next to a friend's house.

There were a couple of years that I missed but so far I have 3 pics of my daughter and the first of many with my twin boys.
And here they are now....

These were taken in a field next to an industrial park.

Do you have any Spring time family traditions?

Crazy Spring Weather

We had a really scary thunderstorm in the middle of the night last week.  We woke up to the worst winds that I have ever heard or seen since moving to this house 11 years ago.  Everything on our patio was crashing around and the house was making loud creaking sounds.  My husband turned on the news and they said a tornado was headed our way.  I looked out the window and saw our trampoline starting to take flight so we grabbed the kids out of their beds and we all squeezed into this hall closet also know as the "Craft Cave".

My daughter loves going to the "Craft Cave" so it was semi-fun for her.  The twins on the other hand were quite upset.  It lasted about 15 minutes and then it was total silence.  And then we lost power.  So we were walking around with flashlights which is so much fun with crying kids.  We checked our backyard and there was no sign of our beloved trampoline that was less than a year old, that was our daughter's birthday present last year, that was a little expensive...but that's not the point.  The point is that we were all safe and sound and that's what really matters.
Here's where we found our trampoline the next morning.

(This is our neighbor's driveway)

Our trampoline knocked down our fence, damaged our neighbor's shed and hit both their cars. 
We lost some shingles on our roof and some sleep but other than that everything is just fine. I was praying that we would be OK and God answered our prayers.  I know other parts of the country also had devastating storms and the news is just horrible with all the deaths and injuries. I am praying for you guys over there in my neighboring Southern states.  Hope y'all are all safe and sound! 

Have you had any bad storms lately??

Updating the Landscape: Removing Old Shrubs

I can't believe it's been an entire month since I posted last.  We've been busy around here doing a lot of "stuff".  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so we spend most of our time outside playing, eating popsicles and grilling on the patio. 
We also started on the front flower beds.  We lost a few shrubs this past winter from the deep freezes that we had.  We had record low temps and I guess the shrubs couldn't handle it and died. 
Here's a shot of a blank spot where we lost an Indian Hawthorne bush.  We'll have to re-plant something there but not sure if I want to plant the same thing.  I'm craving change and some more color in the front of the house. 

(naked spot on the right is where we lost the shrub)

These Japanese Boxwoods in front of the window we've had for 10 years and I'm so over them.  They're boxy (I guess that's why they're called Boxwoods), off centered and they block part of the window so I asked my hubby to dip them up.  I'm all about doing things myself but it would take me hours to dig those things up and would take him probably 30 minutes or so. 
BUT, he had an even better idea...his truck and a tow strap. 

Just put the tow strap around the bush, attach it to your truck and back it up!

See now wasn't that easier than spending who-knows-how-long to dig it up with a shovel!

 Our dog is always in the middle of everything!  But he is the best dog ever!  Love him!

Do you see that white-ish clump of dirt?  That's dirt with cat hair on top of it.  Our long-haired cat sleeps in the bushes and that's her hair.  Now you know why she's an outdoor cat!  I couldn't handle the hair in the house anymore.  I know, I'm mean for kicking her out but seriously, she LOVES being outside!  And I LOVE not having cat hair to deal with!!

One down 3 to go!

And another one bites the dust.....

And then there were none! It took about 10 minutes to remove 4 established bushes!  
Our dog is sniffing our cat because she's hiding in the corner.  I think she's in shock because she just lost her hiding spot!

I think it looks better already don't you?  Now we just need to relocate that other bushy thing in the corner and move those ball shrubs and then we can plant something smaller perhaps some pretty flowers or ornamental grass.  Any suggestions or ideas please let me know!

P.S. We gave the old shrubs to our neighbor who wanted to plant them in his flower beds so I don't feel bad for digging up perfectly good shrubs.  So if I ever miss them I can just glance over at my neighbor's house and wave hello.  But I'm pretty sure I won't miss them. 

His new name is Peanut

See this little precious angel? Well, he has a dark side.
Wanna know what it is? Are you sure? It might be frightening! Ok, here it is....
He likes to stick food up his nose.

That's it. Food. Up the Nose. We're talking peas, pretzels, mac 'n cheese, bits of chicken nuggets and basically whatever else he can fit up there. So far it hasn't been much of a problem because when I see him do it I just squeeze his nostril and it comes out.

Until he stuck this up his left nostril. The peanut, not the penny.

(I put it next to the penny to give you an idea of the size. It was big!) I didn't see him do it but I figure it out when he started fussing and rubbing his nose. I looked in his nose and saw something whitish. So I did what I always do and pushed down on his left nostril but it didn't come out and he started crying. Like really crying. So I looked up there again and it had gone up there more! Apparrantly I made it go up there more. Oops. I didn't realize how BIG it was. I tried to get him to blow his nose but he just kept blowing out his mouth. I tried the booger sucker thingy and it didn't work. So I thought if he just sneezed it would shoot out so I held the pepper shaker up to his nose but he never sneezed.
I started stressing out!

I called my husband and his suggestion was so totally gross....he told me to suck it out with my mouth. I think he was partly serious and partly kidding but nonetheless gross! Needless to say I didn't try his suggestion. So the next step was to take him to the doctor.
I was a nervous wreck because I knew I would have to hold him down while they tried to pull it out and it would be very traumatic for both him and I. So after approximately 10 minutes the doctor was able to finally pull it out. Poor baby, he was mortified. He was screaming his little head off and so was his twin brother.

That's his twin on the left. (They're fraternal twins and look completely different.) His big sister was upset too and had to leave the room. I wanted to leave with her!

But it could have been worse. We could have gone to the ER. No thank you!
So it all ended well and I think he learned his lesson because he hasn't put anything up there since. Just another crazy day in my crazy life!

Do your kids put things up their little noses? Please do tell so I know that my kid isn't the only one!

New Lamps for the Master Bedroom

Happy Monday everyone! Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. Our weekend was jam-packed with birthdays and watching my niece's cheer-leading competition. They won 2nd place!! Congratulations girls!!
So after I painted the entryway/foyer last week I decided it was time to tackle the master bedroom. This room needs A LOT of attention such as paint on the walls, paint on the furniture, lighting, furniture, drapes, etc, etc. I've been searching for new lamps for the side tables for a while and either can't find what I'm looking for or it's more than I'm willing to spend. So when I took the kiddos to Home Depot to get paint samples, we ran through lighting just to see what they had. I wasn't expecting much but to my surprise they had the the most perfect lamp(s) for the master bedroom AND they were on Clearance for half off! So I asked the very nice and very old man (not being mean just giving you some visual here) working there if they had two because I only saw the one on display. So he gets out his handy dandy little computer thingy and tells me that it shows they have 3!

WINNING!

So he proceeds to look for them and he looks, and he looks and he cannot locate them anywhere.

Not WINNING.

So he looks at his little handy dandy little computer thingy again tells me there is 1 at one store like 40 miles away and another one another 40 miles away. So I tell him "thanks for checking" and decided they just weren't meant to be. Bummer. So we headed over to the garden area so my daughter could look at the flowers (she LOVES flowers) and we're there for about 10 minutes when I hear a man yelling "ma'am!", Ma'am"!, MA'AM"! I look up and he's waving his arms at me and yells across the garden center "I FOUND THEM!". I was so happy I almost cried. Not really but seriously I couldn't stop smiling!!!He said he had been looking allover the store for me and when he couldn't find me he decided to look in the garden area since that's where most woman like to shop. I thought that was cute. I could tell he was happy he found them, I think he knew he made my day. Maybe he could adopt me as his granddaughter or something and help me find more amazing deals at Home Depot. Or maybe his great-granddaughter since I'm so young and all. ;)

Foyer Makeover

Sorry I've been MIA lately but we had a nasty cold sweep through our home last week plus we were busy planning a garage sale that we held on Saturday. Which by the way we sold a ton of stuff thank-you-very-much. And made a little cash at the same time! Let's just say we made enough money to go out to dinner and buy the kids new shoes! I know that doesn't sound like much but do you know how much it costs for a family of 5 to go out to a nice restaurant AND buy shoes? It's an arm and leg these days and let's not even talk about the cost of the gas to get there!
Oh and we bought paint for this little project.........This is my foyer painted Camelback by SW. It's been this color like forever and I'm soooo over it! I really really wanted a pretty Teal color in this space but after testing the color on the wall I could tell it was going to totally clash with my lime green walls in the playroom which is to the left when you first walk in. So I played it safe with a warm gray. That way I can add in pops of color to compliment the lime green in the playroom.Finding the perfect gray is so hard. It either has a green, lavender or blue tint and I didn't want any of those colors. I wanted a neutral that went with everything and I finally found it.

Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams.

I know it's a little hard to tell in these photos but it's really pretty and soothing and goes with everything. Mission Accomplished!

Closeups of the photos on the table. My sweet baby girl.

And my sweet baby boys.

Next on the list... scrape the popcorn ceilings! Sounds like so much fun! Not.