Saturday, July 31, 2010

projects...

one sunny, lovely summer afternoon while my girls were doing this:
and this:
and trying to spy....
. . . this:
(yup, wren caught a butterfly moth in the net/holder thing that blew into our yard in june and no one has ever come to claim it...)

so while that was going on in the sunshine,
this was happening in the shade:
poor, overturned, brown bench, you say?
naugh, it's en route to be "happy"!  but first?
primed.
and sat up properly.
and those markings on the grass?  yea, nothing a mowing won't take care of!
besides, drop clothes are so over-rated.
so are protective gloves.  hey, it's fun to go places with primer, paint, stain, what-not all over your hands because you could not wash it off.  even if you had some lava soap.

don't be all acting like you do not know what lava soap is.
you do.  or at least you should.

anyhoodles....

this what a little of my time, a coat of primer, two coats of behr's "blue tequila" paint can do for a drab bench in desperate need of a make-over:
i have painted the lower half of the entryway wall...and had been struggling with what color to do the upper parts in. 
we have a very open floor plan and the entryway gives way to the stairway, to the living room, to hallway to the girls' rooms and the laundry room. so i need to choose a color that will not only coordinate with the "granite grey", but the "fern green" living room wall, and the leather sectional and chair, my ikea curtains AND eventually the kitchen around the corner.

schwew!
it was daunting.
and i spent time online.
trolling paint sights that i could select colors and "paint" a room with my palette.
that was sorta helpful.
but do you know what was more helpful??

when the clouds parted and heavens sang!
or...when the lights of target shined and the voices in my head said "that's it!"
and it was.  is.
this little rug incorporates each of the colors that will occupy the entryway. 

AND it provided the upperwall neutral that will work throughout the rest o' our humble abode!
(my husband, at this juncture, would probably say, "i love it when a plan comes together.")
 
another
anyhoodles...
and another afternoon, only this one was rainy, and i decided to do something about the 5 colored tees i had purchased on clearance for wren.  each was a mere $0.75 (yeah, that's right:  seventy-five cents, babee!).  but alas, my 5 yr-old told me that she really does not prefer just plain shirts and that she probably would not wear them.  ummmm, ooo-kaaay...
so what is a momma to do?
put them away and hope that the younger sister will wear them?
(and risk hearing her say the same thing next summer??!!)
no way!
you go and
get fuzzy, cute kitten iron-ons!
that's right!
and with a warm, dry iron.
about 2 minutes per shirt of my time.
these previous $0.75 boring, plain tee shirts
suddenly become a-freakin'-dorable!
for about $1.34 each!
and the 5-yr-old who loves wearing them??
priceless!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

what, or where, is your wonderland?

"there is no use trying,' said alice; "one can't believe impossible things." 

"i dare say you haven't had much practice," said the queen.  "when i was your age, i always did it for half an hour day.  why, sometimes i've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

-  lewis carroll

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

tweet...tweet...



"those who admire
the freedom
of birds...
have never
built
a
nest."

Monday, July 26, 2010

what children need...

"every child should have mud pies,
grasshoppers, waterbugs, tadpoles,
frogs and mud-turtles, elderberries,
wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts,
trees to climb, brooks to wade,
water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees,
butterflies, various animals to pet,
hay fields, pine-cones, rocks to roll,
sand, snakes, huckleberries, and hornets:

and any child who has been deprived of these
has been deprived of the best part of
...education."

luther burbank-1920

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

llamas & black-eyes...

this is quincy, the llama.
she was "adopted" by the daddy & wren one afternoon earlier this summer.
for me.
the momma.
the momma-llama.
momma-llama-ding-dong.

but some adorable lil 4-yr-old
hijacked that llama.
what started as just one sleepover in her room,
has morphed into "i can only sweep when i have dat wama"
(that's linnea-speak for "i can only sleep when i have that llama")
quincy has gone to teeball games.
to the backyard pool.
and, apparently outer-space.
(sorry, quincy - i know this photo is humiliating...)
and even to a picnic last saturday.
and llama was there when linnea fell and clonked her right eye.
immediately swelled up.
luckily we had some ice packs in a cooler for our sodas & gatorade (it was, like, 500 degrees that day).

and, below is how the shiner looks today.
3 days later.
lovely shades of yellow.
purple.
blue.
green.
red.
poor little thing. 
with a jacked-up eye.

Monday, July 19, 2010

lucky number 7...

seven years ago...
&
today...

i once read something by roy h. williams
a reminder of the truth about why
 God made a wife for the man.
she wasn’t just his helpmate or assistant.
the literal hebrew translation in genesis
says that she was made to be his ezer kenegdo,
or a strength opposite him,
a power facing him,
a rescue that looks him in the face.
what if we (wives) dared to believe that was true?
would it change anything?

Sunday, July 18, 2010

the dad life...

meant to post this for father's day.

obviously, that did not happen.

so, here it is for our 7th anniversary (07.19)...

because being "the daddy" is one of the most loved things about the daddy!

enjoy!

Friday, July 16, 2010

lazy, lazy, lazy...

that's the word for this friday.

we were up a bit later than our "new school bedtime schedule" last night (due to celebrating a cousin birthday that included loads of delish desserts, whippy, and cherries - oh my!).

so this a.m. we are a bit slow to get going.  lethargic.  oh, no beating around the bush:  we.  are.  lazy.

as i type this i have bigger girl on my right side with her "kathy blanket" and kee-kee.

in the middle of my lap is little girl with our dog's fleecey blanket (dogger is over in front of the patio doors basking in the sunshine on an old quilt that little girl brought over to her...) and my llama, quincy, to whom she has taken over all primary and secondary care of.

and we are watching a couple of girl shows.  nothing on the agenda today.  except some cleaning (that we neglected yesterday while we swam, lunched, shopped and visited!).  oh, and then there is that whole "stack of paint cans" that are probably not going to put themselves on the walls, huh?  oh, and i am to make my "famous potater salad" for the cousin b-day bbq saturday evening.

i did get one coat on the bench for the foyer.  needs another.  and i think i have decided what color shall go where.  which was finalized when i returned to my favorite "oops" shelf and *sigh* the 2 big cans of "white truffle" were still there.  a sure sign they are meant for my home, right?

anyhoodles...we have a very busy weekend (daddy work project, big girl friend's b-day party, more cousin b-day partying, funday school , church, preparing for next week's vacation bible school bible story telling gig...and celebrating an anniversary).  but for now?  we shall continue our "all girl snuggle" for a bit longer.

until the girls' tummy growl and they insist on a snack. 

until then? 

cozy, comfy happy girls three are we!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

oops, i did it again...

no, this is not a brittney spears post.
no, it is not a late 90's post either.

it's about the "oops" shelf at one of my favorite diy stores.

sigh.

the cans above would normally cost about $100...
i paid a mere $20...i love a deal.

but, a deal is only "good" if the colors are actually "good".  on the right is the color i thought i wanted in my kitchen between the counter and the cabinets and possibly above the cabinets.  it is called "island sand".  the color on the left is what i got today.  it is called "mississippi mud". 
beachy?? 
muddy?? 
eh, i probably won't even remember the name of the color 2 years from now!


above:  another splotch of "mississippi mud" in the kitchen.

and in the entryway i have a plan.  initially i wanted to do beadboard.  but that can get expensive.  so instead...i'm going an alternate route that will allow for 2 things:
1)  easier removal.  should i decide that is not a "look" i want in a couple years.  or, months?
2)  way, way less expensive.  both monetarily and in my time.

 i saw this photo of a kitchen in a gray and antique white that i fell in *heart* with:
and below is what i want to do in the entryway instead of beadboard:
here is the wall that i want to replicate in my entryway...
and now what color combo?  i have a bench and skinny table that are currently distressed dark brown and black respectively.  i want a gray &/or blue combo.  the trim and doors are an antique white.  (although i have toyed with painting the back of the front door a dark almost black color because of a fabulous photo of a foyer i saw.  awhile back.  and did not bookmark.  argh!  this is where you use your imagination, 'kay?!)

anyhoodles......the blue is a martha stewart color that is not as bright in real-life as it appears in the photo.  but it is not the blue i want.  the gray on the left is "granite grey"...and on the right is when i went all "mad scientist" and mixed some "granite grey" with some "celery ice"...might need to add that martha blue to warm it a bit......not fully sold on the any of these colors...some tweaking in needed...i want the grey on the bottom of the walls and the blue on the top.  or maybe i'll just accessorize with the blue on that bench and table...or...
below is in the girls' bathroom...you can barely see that "celery ice" (on the left)...and the mixed "granite grey" and "celery ice"...but i don't think that the grey is what i envision for the girls' bath...
and then there is this combo, still in the girls' bath...
"celery ice", "lovelace pink", "granite grey"
sigh.

but, i'll make these colors each work.  somehow.  somewhere. 
and, yes, i'll post photos.

until then?
well...hubs gets to come home to a splotchy walled home.
ain't he the luckiest???

Monday, July 12, 2010

"k" is for...

KINDERGARTEN!
(only 34 more days until "the day"...)

Friday, July 9, 2010

if given a cape & tiara...

...i am certain i could save the world.

oh...
and
i
may
need
some
lipstick, too.



(p.s.  thank you, jenn & emi, she LOVES her birthday gift...)