gorgeous girlie faces

I'm struggling.

Remember how I did the brother and sister quotes on the wall going upstairs and downstairs? I am really struggling trying to decide which pictures to chose from. I know which ones I will use for the boys - I'll save it and surprise you.

So far the girls are up in the air, I have two each to choose from. Will you help me to decide?

Option A

(LOVE this one)

Option B

(Oh I love that smile!)

Option A

(my girls favorite)

Option B

(My favorite!)

Super Saucy Saturday

My Sweet kid4 and her very neat and clean daddy made a plan for this evening and it went like this-

THE LIST-
Get our Saturday stuff done (CHECK)
Smoke meatloaf in the big green egg (CHECK) *more on that later*
Fix mommies broom (CHECK)
Run kids here and there (CHECK)
Go to the grocery store (CHECK)
A few extra errands (CHECK)

Then we can ...

Wash mommy’s truck together

She had a wonderful time. She sprayed her Daddy in the head with the hose, he laughed (thank God for age, he might not have taken it so well when the other kids were little). She scrubbed and washed and sprayed and had the time of her life.

Aren’t Saturdays great?
PS. has anyone seen two Toyota hubcaps? I seem to have lost TWO somewhere between here and Mt. Perfect.... if you see them you know who to call!

Show us where you live Friday

Thank you again Kelly for hosting the show us where you live Friday. I love looking through the links and being inspired at what others have done. It’s interesting to see into one another’s houses- don’t you think?

I love my girl’s rooms. I love to decorate kid’s rooms. My kids have had pirate rooms, cowboy rooms, princess rooms, blue and white, pink and white, red and black… you name it and I have done it.

This move was different, my kids are teenagers and decorating a teen’s room is a whole different ballgame. I’m sharing my girls room today because truth be told, my boys room is not yet completed…. errrrrr…. started….. errrrrr….. whatever!

Kid2 wanted to decorate her own and is earning her own money now so she bought most of her own stuff. I was nervous with so much black afraid it would look scary or Goth, but it looks classic and charming instead. We painted her furniture black and are thrilled with the results. I whole heartedly believe in painting furniture or anything that stands still. I am all about the painting it if you don’t like it paint it I always say!

This is the view from her door. She was so excited to pick out her own comforter and curtain set. She chose her best and oldest friends for the pictures above her bed. We printed them from our own printer and bought dollar store frames. To the left are her American dolls and more of her favorite pictures. And to the right is a little place to store junk, books, Ipod, etc. All teens needs a junk spot- they are stuffers!

This GIANT thing is a find that she fell in love with at Goodwill. I hated it, it was ugly brown and hideous and horrible. Painted black its a wonderful storage thing. Her TV, backpacks and clothes are hidden inside of it. The little pink converse on top were hers when she was little.

These frames are also from the dollar store. She chose "now and then" pictures of her most loved friends. The painting was painted by one of her sweetest friend when they were in the 4th grade for her birthday.

KID4

I wanted Kid4's room to be calm and delicate. I wanted her to feel calm and happy when she is in her room. I love white furniture, light pinks, and sweet things. Her room is still a work in progress, I love the lightness and girliness of it.

Kid4's bed is my old bed when I was a little girl. We have painted it white about 500 times. To the left of her bed is her antique iron bathtub painted robins egg blue. She nestles into it and watches TV... yeah yeah I know.... TV is bad, but quiet is good... and TV+Kid4=quiet for me! I made these animal sillhouettes last night- I love how they turned out- she picked the animals she wanted.

delicate, sweet colors, love this bed set from Target!

Im sparing you the picture of her red TV... it doesn't match. This is the scene under her TV a little basket holding extra dolls and stuffed animals.

This is her dresser and her baby's bunk bed. The top of her dresser has some extra decorating stuff on it, so Im sparing you the messy site.

This is the storage for her toys, puzzles, Mr. Potato heads, doll clothes, and other things that 4 year olds have! The neighbor gave it to us last year and we have certainly made good use of it. To the left is a little tiny chalkboard that she loves to write her name and draw pictures on it... note the monkey in a little swing

The end. Thanks for looking!

Mission sister garden

Todays project...

I found a note this morning from myself and it read:

Dear Crazy crafting nut,

Here is your mission if you chose to accept it.

You will find paint, paint brushes and carbon paper.

trace it, paint it, stand back and be thrilled.

This note will self destruct in 5..4...3.....2......1...

love, yourself

TAA-DAA!!

its not perfect by ANY stretch of the imagination but it was inexpensive (Mr. B. hates it when I say cheap) and I did it myself.

The weekend part 3 (our precious big girl and her new hubby)

Mr. B. and I have a grown up child whom we ADORE. We fell in love with her over ten years ago and we have never looked back. She has been the light of our lives so often. We are more proud of this girl than I can even put into words.

For blogging sake I am going to call her BG, because when I introduce her, I always say “This is my big girl” and she always laughs and says “Are you calling me fat?” It’s a joke between us.

I can honestly remember the minute I laid eyes on her, those big brown eyes, that crooked smile, her floral print dress- I loved her instantly. Somehow we had a connection that has always been unexplainable to me until recently.

God gave her to me and me to her. He provided us with each other to love. My life would be so different without her. I would be so different without her, she completed our family. We needed her.

I have always been so proud of my BG, she is something to behold, trust me! When she graduated from college Mr. B. and I beamed with pride, I thought I couldn’t be more proud until now.

She eloped a few months ago and we were sad. We were sad because of course we wanted to see her get married and we were worried for her, although trusting her judgment, worried that he wouldn’t be good enough for her. Could anyone be good enough for our BG?

Meeting BG’s man was an absolute pleasure. He amazed me at everything he did. He was kind, calm, considerate and polite. He is quite possibly the perfect man. Mr. B. and I looked at each other and beamed with pride at the man she chose. There just aren’t enough words to describe how we instantly loved him, like we had known him always.

Dear Big Girl,
You have amazed me every step of the way, from the minute I met you. I always knew you were strong and independent and everyday you show more and more. You are a woman to admire and I love you with all that I am. There is no way for me to show you or tell you how much I love you. I’m so proud of you and your decisions for your life, I’m so proud of who you chose to spend the rest of your life with. He is amazing; you couldn’t have chosen a more perfect man. I know you will be happy for life.

Dear Big Girls man,
Mr. B. and I were absolutely taken aback by you. You are so impressive, so down to earth and laid back yet driven and a go getter all at the same time. We instantly loved you; you are part of our family forever. We’re so proud of you and your choices and we just know that you and our Big Girl will be happy forever. Thank you for being you and for loving her.

**I blurred the pics because I forgot to ask BG and her sweet man if I could post pics of them. Trust me, they're ADORABLE!

project brother staircase

I am working on a new project. Im so excited to be working on it. About a month ago, I had this idea... My girls are upstairs and my boys are downstairs so I wanted to hang two pictures in each staircase as you walk up or down with a quote above the pictures. The quotes were 50 dollars a piece so I decided to paint them myself. Mr. B. printed them for me, I used carbon paper and transferred it to the wall and then got busy painting...

Im very close to being done with the boys and I am starting the girls tomorow. All thats missing are the pictures in the frames. I'm so excited!

What do you think? I already know what pictures I am putting in the frames- have to order them.

Ps- girl quote will be going up the stairs and boy quote will be going down the stairs, you know boys downstairs and girls up...? make sense?

The weekend part 2 (green eggs and pork)

YUMM-ER-IFIC
Mr. B. has been dying for a big green egg. Girls if you don't know what I'm talking, you're not alone... I don't feel like the big green egg is a well known thing. I think men innately know what it is though because my Mr. B. knew and fell in instant love with this big green monstrosity!

It’s heavy, it’s far from beautiful and I wasn’t sure I wanted it on my porch…. UNTIL…. This came out of it ...

(dont you secretly wish that this handsome man holding smoked pork butt on a cute platter would pop out of your grill too?!)

If I could add, you know the heaven music they use on T.V.? I would. It was heaven and we were all happy. I am desperate to try to smoke everything now. (you know what I mean!) We smoked, chicken, breasts, legs and another pork roast in it this weekend. I want to smoke 6 chickens at once, a whole turkey and a brisket to freeze the meat. I think smoked meat in homemade chicken noodle soup would be divine!

The message here is if you haven’t tried big green egg smoked meat- come on over friends, Mr. B. will make you dinner! Just call first- it takes a little while from start to finish.

weekend part 1 (dance recital)

My Gorgeous girl (Kid2) had her dance recital this weekend and she was beautiful. Unfortunately my camera decided not to work so I didn’t get a single picture of the performance

*boo hoo*

I did however take this picture of her face for BatGirl so she wouldn’t miss too much!

I was so proud of this sweet girl because she works at the dance company and earns her very own money. She spent her own money to buy each and every dancer a little gift and I’ll describe what she ended up with. (Do you think I have pictures- not one)

She ordered little tiny coloring books from oriental trading company, costume rings and earrings and put then in a small brown bag and cheetah print ribbon tied them all closed. It was so cute, so thoughtful and she was very frugal about it. She had 36 little girls to buy for and she spent less than 30 dollars all together. For her friends she bought pink tulle and tied a big beautiful ribbon around a Hershey’s candy bar. It was a big hit with teenage girls let me assure you. She did a great job and the whole family helped. It was fun.

This weekend we had such a fun weekend.

Too much to tell right now!

I'm so tired from spending the day in Savanah.

More about the whole shabang later to include

a big green egg

my grown up child that I adore

a to die for pork butt

a dance recital

the pirate house buffet

lo country boil

alligators

a lighthouse

a collection of shells

and lots

and

lots

of

fun

....

Dining rooms linky party ...

I LOVE my dining room. A few months ago, I refinished my hutch and buffet and ended up loving it black. I got the idea from THE NESTER- she's brilliant, I love her decorating ideas. And speaking of girls with great ideas Kelly's dining room is awfully great isn't it? Don't you just love southern decorating? I know I do!

One of my favorite walls. I got all of it from goodwill.

My table and chairs were given to me by my mom and dad. We use to have a beautiful antique table but my very very sweet Kid3 is brutal on furniture. It wasn't Kid3 proof so we were agreed to switch to this one so he could join us at the dinner table again- it has stood the test of time for sure!

My brother gave my this table cloth for my birthday. He knows I collect 50's style table cloths, it was so sweet of him to pick it up for me. I had never seen this print and LOVE IT!

My plate holder with a few of my platters. I got this plate rack from a garage sale site locally. The bottom platter says "Give us this day our daily bread". It's so cute, I found it used.

Kid1 broke the bottom of my cake holder a while ago and I found this one at Hobby Lobby for a great deal. I love red, so this was perfect.

I still think my dining room needs a little something else? Have any ideas?

stalking corn

Today at the grocery store Kid4 asked if she could have some

"mini paparazzi"

and

"kettle corn"

If she thinks that this is 'paparazzi' and 'kettle corn' I'm good with it!

thankful

I became even more thankful for my car.

THIS car could do that for anyone I'm pretty sure.

Life is like a pair of dirty shoes

These goofy kids pretended to be Forest Gump

because their mother wanted a good photo op!

It was one of the many fun things we did in Orlando.

Kid2 was grossed out by the giant shoes. (understandably)

Kid4 wanted to have one of the chocolates from the box.

Next time I think we'll eat at Bubba Gumps.

"Not me" Monday

My very first "Not Me" Monday!

I certainly did not jump into the car on a whim when I heard my Grandpa was in Orlando and then once I got there remembered that two of us had Dr. appointments the next day (the kind that take forever to get)and cancel them because I wanted to stay and visit with my Grandpa. I never get my priorities mixed up! Not me!

I did not shamelessly make my kids pose with a NASCAR cut out even though we don’t even watch NASCAR. I was not smitten by all the picture taking opportunities and make my too oldest kids pose every few steps. I did not embarrass my teenagers! No way, not me!

I did not make my kids walk all the way around the Disney boardwalk twice because we lost Kid4’s favorite barrette in the boardwalk. (We never found it) When she was sad about losing it, I did not tell her that I was positive that a beautiful bird swooped down, picked it up and used it as decoration on it’s nest… nope not me- I wouldn’t do such a thing!

3-D friends

these are three of the SEVEN of our kids!

Have you ever seen pictures of people but never seen them, or not seen them in years? Mr. B. was/is in the Navy and when he was gone for long periods of time when he came home he looked so 3-D! It was weird to switch from looking at pictures to the real thing.

I had the same thing happen to me Monday night. One of my best friends from high school was on her way to Orlando and spent Monday night with our family. It was such a pleasure to have them and see her after so many years. For the first few minutes I would catch myself staring at them because they looked so 3-D! I had only ever seen in them pictures and I hadn’t seen Stephanie in 16 years.

It was so thrilling to have her and her family visit! I was so excited! It was just the push I needed to get some things done in the house that needed to be done and I LOVE having visitors!

Stephanie does NOT age! She looked just the same as she did in high school and it was so fantastic to see her and hear her in person! I was so excited to meet her kids because I love her blog and her kids are adorable, I even got to hold her little precious Asher and do a couple of puzzles with Clay. My Kid4 and her little gorgeous London are the same age and are pen pals, its thrilling to get mail as a little kid; they enjoy drawing pictures and sending mail back and forth. My Kid4 is not an early bird and wasn’t so nice to poor sweet London. Hopefully London will forget how rude she was!

It was amazing to meet her family and in-laws, what a nice family. We had a wonderful time and hope to see you all again really soon. Remember you’re always welcome at this house!

a cup of M&M's- hold the urine please!

Can I just say again how much I love Mt. Perfect?

I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!

I just found this picture from the last time we were there and it made me swoon about this wonderful town all over again.


I’ll tell you the story of why Kid4 is holding a urine cup full of M&M’s as I’m sure you must be curious.

Kid1 got bit by a dog while we were in Mt. Perfect last time. He also got bit by a donkey, there’s a picture for that too-trust me!

So- he got bit by a dog in town and it broke the skin on his hand. I called Mr. B. at home to see when his last tetanus was and confirmed that the dog was updated on its shots. Mr. B. called back to let me know that kid1 had never had a tetanus shot, hard to believe, but there was not one documented. As I ran around Mt. Perfect trying to find a place to get a shot (small town, they were out in two places) I was eventually sent to a Dr. where Kid1’s good friends mom works and of course because we knew her we were welcomed in like old friends. A small town is heaven when you need something like this.

He got his shot (he did not pass out thank goodness)

As we were leaving Kid1’s friend Brad came out with 3 urine cups filled to the top with M&M’s! I laughed so hard, but that’s part of living in a small town, they wouldn’t care that it was a urine cup (new and sterile by the way) they just wanted the kids to leave with something great and what’s better than a urine cup filled with M&M’s…? I’ve never had the privilege of having a urine cup filled with chocolate goodies… have you?

Oh’ the beauty’s and wonders of living in such a small perfect place never cease to amaze me! Life is about making someone smile not being grossed out and worried what someone else might think. The M&M's certainly made my kids smile!

THAT’S IT!!- this Halloween I’m handing out urine cups full of yellow jelly beans… what do you think…. too gross??

Did I say how much I love Mt. Perfect yet?

bored and sleepy but HOME

So this little baby girl got bored stuck stickers all over herself and then fell asleep.

Have you ever been so bored that you stuck stickers all over yourself?

I have a funny story about "stickers".

When kid3 was a little boy we went on a drive in the mountains to meet friends and as people passed me on the interstate they were definitely looking into my car. Some were laughing, some were waving, some were pointing.

I thought it was strange, I also thought that maybe I was being a little too sensitive, maybe it was just me.

When I got to our destination I got out and started to open Kid3's door when I realized what all the hoopla was about!

He had stuck about 5 maxi pads on his window, wings out and all. There was no doubting they were pads! I could have died from embarassment- seriously!

I was thrilled that she went for princess stickers on herself and skipped the window!

Thursday schmursday

The Disney boardwalk was really a nice place. It was beautiful and had really nice shopping.

**Expensive**

We didn’t eat there or buy anything. I thought 10.95 for a princess brush was way too pricey. I thought 15.95 was too much for a burger and fries... what do you think?

To be honest we rushed back to the hotel to watch Lie to Me, American Idol and ordered pizza. It was nice. So us.

I’m so excited about Kris Allen being one of the finalists! He seems so genuine, real and kind- I love it! I was sad to see Danny Gokey go and I really loved all the top 10.

Have a great Thursday, I know we will. We are meeting up with my Gramps, and then heading home sweet home. I love my home, I love heading home. I love saying home.
home, home, home

Happy Thursday friends!

Orlando on a whim

Here we are in Orlando for a few days having a great time. We are definitely enjoying the sun and beauty of Florida.

Yesterday Kid1 mentioned that my Grandpa was going to be in Orlando having a ship reunion and that started a big snow ball plan!

We hopped in the car this morning minus kid3 (who is still in school) and 5 hours later here we are- Hard Rock café for lunch, universal studios shopping center after lunch and Disney boardwalk for dinner and evening fun.

I love an impromptu trip with the kids. We throw a bag together and hop in the car.

Kid1 was not too big on the picture taking… you know teens! Kid2 bought her own shirt from Hard Rock Café and Kid4 chose to do a picture on the boardwalk.

I hope to love the Disney boardwalk tonight…