see the world through both my eyes

Extreme Home Makeover: Continued...

2010-08-10T20:21:00.009-04:00

Summer Project: Redecorating the Den

new rug: check

fresh paint: check

painted fireplace tile: check

new chair: check

new coffee table: check

new drapes: (almost check)... waiting on my dear Daddy to come help me hang them ☺

I still need some things for my walls and need the quarter round put back into place around my hearth, but overall the room is definitely coming together! Finally after 2 years of living here!

Fireplace before painting. I had to regrout the tile first.

Then I had to sand the tile and tape it up.

Before I could paint the color, I had to paint with a primer.

Finally, I put on a couple layers with the color I chose and followed it up with several layers of a poly-acrylic to make sure the paint didn't scratch off. And voila... a fireplace that actually matches the colors of the room instead of sticking out like an eyesore.

Like I said, there's a lot more to do like hang the curtains, finish the quarter round, find something for my walls, find a coordinating fabric for throw pillows and the list goes on... but we're definitely headed in the right direction!

And just for comparisons, check out this picture before the hardwood floors were put down. Lots of change for a girl who likes things to stay the same! ☺

(Anyone know how to do that cool roll-over thing? Just wondering...)

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-08-10T10:38:00.016-04:00

Where has the summer gone?! I can't believe the last time I updated this thing I was counting down the days until summer... and now I'm counting down the days left of summer! :) We've been so busy and I didn't take near the amount of pictures that I usually do to document adventures. Here are just a few to give you a glimpse into our Summer 2K10.

We spent a lot of time hanging out on the beach...

playing in the sand...

digging holes for beach pools...

playing in the pool...

throwing showers and teas for friends getting married...

redecorating my den (sneak peek... more to come soon)...

salsa dancing for Charlee's Bachelorette Bash...

celebrating Maddy's engagement, she's next! ...

spending LOTS of time with my favorite older sister as we prepared for Charlee's wedding...

and finally sharing Charlee's big day with her!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Robbie Green!

I didn't have any pictures from the wedding, so I took this one off of FB! As pretty as she is here, this picture doesn't do her justice! Just trust me when I say she was a beautiful bride! Check out Mary Catherine's blog for another picture or The State paper for her announcement. More to share later when the photographer's pictures are up on the website.

Whew! What a summer! No matter how busy we were, it was definitely a summer filled with lots of love, laughter and celebration!

Countdown is on...

2010-05-24T20:05:00.004-04:00

Only 5 days, 2 half days and 1 teacher workday until...

I. Can't. WAIT!!!! ☺

A Little Slice of Heaven

2010-05-12T20:12:00.009-04:00

Wrightsville Beach, NC is one of my very favorite places to visit. Our close family friends (which may as well be family) have a beautiful house on the deep water side of the island. I just love sitting on the porch, looking out over the water. You can just feel the stress leaving you! The sunsets there are gorgeous and the mornings (I'm never up early enough for sunrise) are so peaceful. Between the porch and the boat rides to sandbars, we hardly spend any time indoors during the day. My only wish about the house was that it wasn't 4 hours away. It just might be a little more possible to visit more often if it wasn't such a drive to get there. But when you're there, it's so worth it!

Wrightsville by night... how beautiful is that sunset?

Wrightsville by day... LOVE this porch!

My most favorite place to be with a book.

We took the boat out on Saturday to find a beach of our own. This one wandered the beach...

while this one played in the sand....

and everyone else relaxed on the beach, picnic-ing and hanging out.

Such sweet sisters!

2010-04-18T22:13:00.004-04:00

The Weaver

by Grant Colfax Tuller

My life is but a weaving

Between my Lord and me;

I cannot choose the colors

He worketh steadily.

Oft' times He weaveth sorrow;

And I, in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper,

And I the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly,

Will God unroll the canvas

And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the Weaver's skillful hand,

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He had planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares;

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those

Who choose to walk with Him.

I am IRON CHEF!

2010-04-12T21:35:00.005-04:00

Would you believe that all of this came out of the same pot? Cooked together in about 20 minutes? It's the truth! Only a true IRON CHEF would know these things!

I'm just kidding. I have no idea what an IRON CHEF would know, I've never watched the show!☺

My roommate in college used to cook bulgogi (I know I butchered that spelling but I have no idea how to spell Korean and spell check tells me bulldog!) for us and can I just say it was so good we still ask for it to this day! Seriously yummy! While I don't have this recipe (I'll be calling you for it soon Christy!) I did break down and buy a rice cooker because I also loved the sticky rice she would make to go along with the "bulldog" meal. ☺ I found this one at Target for a mere $14.99! Not too bad huh? Especially when I found out all it could do!

The bottom part is the rice cooker part and the top silver part is a steamer basket that you can use to cook just about whatever to go with your rice. I have to say I was a bit skeptical that you could put anything other than veggies in the steamer at first but now I'm just looking for new things to steam! It's so easy and best of all, healthy!

This time I marinated chicken in soy sauce with salt and pepper for about 15-20 minutes. I laid that in the steamer basket and after the chicken started turning white, I threw in some veggies (broccoli, mushrooms, onion) that I had chopped up. 10 minutes later... voila! A full meal!

This is what the rice looked like in the bottom after the steamer part came off. (It's white rice, but the soy sauce ended up leaking through and turning the top of the rice brown. Still yummy!)

Not only is this a fix-and-go sort of supper, but it's such an easy clean up too! Everything goes straight in the dishwasher! Can't get any easier than that! I'm off to find new things to cook in my new pot! ☺ (What else do you know how to do Christy? Or anyone else for that matter?)

PS: I'm just now seeing in the back of one of these pictures there's a bottle of Creme de Menthe. Let me just say I am not drinking grasshoppers or mint juleps (do you make those with CdM?) after school in the afternoons... though there are some days when I think that just might help after some of the days I've had... am I right fellow teacher friends? ☺ I made Mint Brownies for a friend and there it still sits on my counter. Maybe I need to share that recipe on here soon... so yummy!

Snow? In April???

2010-04-11T22:06:00.002-04:00

Nope, that's not snow in my backyard (please excuse the mess that will be a summer project☺). The white lumps you see would be loads of Callie Maye hair! Oh how I wish this picture did it justice. There was so much more hair on the ground than shows up in this picture. How, do you ask, did I manage to take so much hair off of my dog without shaving her?

Behold...The Defurminator!!!

The king of all de-shedding (shedding?) tools! It did cost a pretty penny to buy, but my oh my, has there been a significant decrease in the Callie hair in the house which means I am not vacuuming near as often! Woohoo! Seriously though, if you have a pet that sheds like Miss Callie Maye, it's totally worth the investment. Your house stays cleaner longer thus you don't have to clean nearly as often and if you have a vacuum cleaner like mine, you're not buying but half of the bags that you had to buy for the hair before! Win-win-win! ☺

Terrific TJMaxx Finds

2010-04-10T22:36:00.005-04:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I love TJ Maxx? I mean, LOVE it! I've definitely found my fair share of things there to decorate my house. Slowly but surely, it's is coming together. (I feel like the emphasis should be more on the slowly in that statement!) While I know the direction I want the look of each room to take, sometimes it's surprises like this that will really make a fun statement. Check out the mercury glass lamps I found at the Maxx! So excited about these! I was lucky to find 2 just alike! Can't decide whether to use them in my den or bedroom... time will tell!

I also found these cute little milk glass pitchers to use on either my mantel or bookcases in the den. They were just $3 each! Love a deal like that! Note: The hideous flowers have already been removed! :)

The prices are low, new shipments are made every week and there are always surprises just waiting for you to find everywhere in the store... what's not to love? :)

IKEA: A Decorator's Disneyworld!

2010-03-29T22:09:00.018-04:00

My sister and I planned a decorator's trip to Charlotte last Friday. (That would be my older sister as my younger sister would have looked at this as punishment rather than pleasure.) I took the day off of work and we headed to NC to the land of decorating deals. I don't know how many lists my sister made for our trip, but I wrote at least three, not including a shopping list that you can create on IKEA's website. My final list had about 6 items on it, mainly textiles, to purchase and several others to look at and think about. If you don't know me too well, I've got to think and think about something before I make a decision. Hence, the two separate lists: 1st list had items I'd already thought enough about, 2nd list had items that needed more thinking. ☺

This was the first trip to IKEA for me or my sister and we were a bit overjoyed to say the least. We got so excited when we pulled up and actually saw the building... it was HUGE! If anyone had been watching us, I'm sure we would have looked a bit like the Griswold's, give or take a family member or two.

"Holiday Rooooooooooaaaaaaaaad, Holiday Roooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaad!"

Why thank you, thank you very much! (Sad thing is, we, er, make that I took about 6 pictures just driving into the place. We were just a tad happy.☺)

Once you get inside, the whole top floor is full of designed spaces. There were even sections of whole apartments! Everything has a tag on it that tells you where to find it in the warehouse section of the store. It was overwhelming to say the least!

One of the many dens. Not only could you find great IKEA stuff, but I loved looking at designed spaces to get ideas for my own house.

There were bedrooms...

and kitchens...

and bathrooms too!

They even sold countertops! Like real countertops! Even the nice stuff like granite, quartz, marble! Who knew?!

One of the best surprises was the garden center. Really?! Can you tell how excited we were to find this area? IKEA truly has it all! I found some pots here that weren't originally on my list, so I put them on my "think list" and have decided to purchase them soon!

The one bad thing about IKEA is you can completely and totally get lost in the store. When we first started walking around, we walked in a rather small circle and thought "That's it? Can't be!" Once we figured out how to get behind some of the walls, the race through the maze began. You take so many twists and turns looking at different spaces that you think you should end up back where you started, but SURPRISE you're not! You've just walked deeper into the maze. At one point, I asked MC, Where are we? And how do we get back to the beginning?! Not long after that conversation, we started seeing arrows on the floor. We felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, following the yellow brick road. We may not have known where in the store we were, but as long as we followed the arrows, we were sure to find out way out!

Along with the arrows, you might occasionally see a short cut like this one that tells you how to get back to a certain area. It was like finding breadcrumbs on Hansel and Gretel's trail.

Can you believe there was even a daycare center of sorts? You could drop your child off to play while you shopped all day. (Because really, it takes you hours just to walk through the place!)

On the bottom floor there is a section for textiles where you can find the knick knacks that were displayed in the rooms on the top floor.

Here's the massive warehouse section. On the tag in the rooms above you would find an aisle and bin number so you could easily find the items you wanted in this huge area.

Sadly, everything that I had written on my "ready to buy" list weren't in stock. Really?! A bit of a disappointment to say the least. The only thing I purchased was for my good friend Hope, who had previously made a trip. She thought a little more about a shelf and was finally ready to purchase it. (I so totally understand her... we're cut from the same cloth, me and her!) MC bought 2 chairs, 1 ottoman, a lamp shade and some knick knacks. When we got it out to the car, we both had a moment of panic. I have to admit that I was worried there for a minute that it wasn't all going to fit and had no idea what we were going to do with the items that didn't make it into the car. Thankfully after putting my problem solving puzzle skills to the test, we figured it out, but literally didn't have any room to spare.

Whew! Everything fit!! This would be how we felt after our IKEA experience. Overwhelmed and exhausted but it was oh so worth it!

You may think that IKEA would be enough for one day and maybe for some people it would be but not for this decorating duo! MC had heard of a place called Mary Jo's that was about 20 minutes down the road from IKEA so of course we had to hit that place up too to see what other goodies we could find. This place was literally the size of an old Wal-mart that had been completely gutted. There were tables upon tables in row after row that were piled high with fabric. It took a little bit of digging to be able to see all of the bolts of fabric, but definitely worth it for the prices. There were some familiar patterns of fabrics that we saw. Things that we'd seen before at places like GDC but for a fraction of the price!

You literally walked in and had no idea which way to look first. You'd start looking in one area and then something would catch your eye so you'd look in another direction only to see something new somewhere else! Definitely a world of possibilities right here at Mary Jo's!

And if this trip wasn't enough for us, we're already planning our second trip back to IKEA over spring break to pick up those items we were "thinking about". Keeping my fingers crossed I'll have more luck this go 'round than last!

Operation: Organization

2010-03-28T20:35:00.006-04:00

I LOVE to organize! Call me crazy, but I love figuring out how to put things together in a neat way to diminish clutter. It's just plain fun! ☺ This is what my dresser top looks like at the end of every week. It always starts nice and neat, but after all of the "trials and errors" of accessorizing during the week, this is what it ends up looking like. I just didn't have a good way of being able to see all of my choices so I could make a quick decision without pouring out the contents of my jewelry box all over the dresser top. After seeing many jewelry "trees" and stands in TJMaxx (my best friend), I decided to make something that would work best for me instead of making do with something from a store.

I bought a green and gold (hideous) frame from the Maxx and spray painted it white after taking the glass and cardboard out of it.

Next, I found some scrap booking paper in my craft closet and mod podged it to the back of the frame to add some interest.

I asked my dad to cut me some screen to attach to the inside of the frame. Here you can see the paper glued to the inside of the frame.

I started in one corner of the frame with a corner of the screen. I glued and pulled and pulled and glued to make sure it was as tight as possible. After I glued all of the edges, I trimmed off the excess screen.

This is what it looked like with the screen on top. I was worried that it would be too shiny and that you wouldn't be able to see enough of the paper behind it, but it turned out better than I expected.

And this is what it looks like on my wall. After hanging my earrings on the frame I realized I should have bought a bigger frame! I had no idea an 8x10 wouldn't be big enough! I decided to hang the earrings that I wore the most on the frame and keep the rest in my jewelry box that's now in my armoire. I hung a shelf underneath the frame to hold my bracelets and hang my necklaces. As you can tell, I'm not much of a necklace or bracelet girl, but man do I love HP earrings! ☺

Here's the after shot of my dresser top. Much better huh? My sweet Rosie Posie doll, Penelope, from my sister (one of the first☺) still sits there along with my perfume and a glass heart from my grandmother that holds my earrings with posts and rings. I love the look of an organized space!

This is my happy place...

2010-03-19T00:01:00.006-04:00

Ahhhhh..... just this picture makes me smile! It's tiny I know, but the only one I could find. GDC Home is my happy place. In fact, I'd have to say it's my mom and sister's happy place too. (That'd be Mary Catherine's happy place. Charlee does not share in our love.☺) This store has everything you'd ever want to decorate your home. It's wonderful! You literally walk in and could just start pointing to things that you'd love to have in your house. My wish come true would be a shopping spree in this store. I'd love to be able to say... I'll take one of these, a couple of those, and throw that in while you're at it! Check out their website and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's like a Pottery Barn meets Coastal Living. Delish!

http://www.gdchome.com/

The whole bottom of the floor is filled with furniture. Everything that you could ever dream of! I'm standing upstairs here looking down at only a portion of the bottom floor. There's so much fun stuff your eyes don't even know where to start looking!

Looking the other way at the rug section. I'm telling you... EVERYTHING you need to decorate a home!

Half of the upstairs is covered with roll after roll of fabric. It's like being a kid in a candy store! (Sorry for the poor quality picture. It was dark and I tried to fix it on my computer but obviously I need some work in the editing department!)

The other part of the upstairs is filled with beds and art work. Have I mentioned that you need not go anywhere else to shop for your home? While looking for the store picture above, I found out GDC has a BLOG!!! Excitement! From what I can tell, it looks like it might be a mix between advertisements and how-tos. The pictures on the blog are enough for me, though. I love to look at how other people have decorated because let's face it, I'm pretty clueless in this area. I know what I like when I see it, but I usually need to see something first before I know what direction I want to take. (http://www.gdchome.com/blog.htm)

Next time you're in the Charleston area, be sure to stop by GDC but be warned, you'll at least need a free hour because there's no way to walk right in and out of this place. Our favorite store is in West Ashley, but the one in Mt. Pleasant is great too! I promise it won't disappoint! ☺

Floors are DONE!

2010-03-18T23:37:00.008-04:00

My dad finished the floors within a week of starting them. He did such a good job! I have been so happy and am definitely glad that I went ahead and did it instead of waiting. Next on the list is possibly painting or retiling the fireplace, looking for a rug for the den and finding something for the walls in the den. Well, that's just the three big things I have on my mind. There's lots more to do, but we'll start with those three! Here are some pictures of the new floors throughout the house.

We left the laminate tile down in the laundry room and I painted it to match the kitchen. Looks a little more finished now... or at least as finished as a laundry room can look, I guess.

Here's a question for any of you laminate floor owners out there. How do you keep them clean? I vacuum just about every other day (Callie hair) and mop at least once a week but my mopping system isn't cutting it. I read that you can't use chemicals on the floor, just water so that's what I've been doing but it's just not working as well as I'd like. I've heard about a Shark steamer mop that does a good job, but that could be pricey. I'd be willing to purchase it if it's truly worth it, but I just don't know what to do! Any advice is greatly appreciated! :)

Snow Day!

2010-03-18T23:06:00.008-04:00

Just now getting around to putting up snow pictures. The neighborhood's looking like a winter wonderland. (Yes, if you're wondering, those are the bushes that were brutally attacked this summer. Hoping they make a full recovery this summer! ☺)

Miss Callie Maye wasn't sure what to think when it first started snowing. It wasn't long before she was frolicking through the backyard, giddy with excitement. She spent much of her time in the snow eating it...

and burying her head in it. Silly dog!

There she is, sweet Callie Maye, (or Wylie as my dad would call her) all tired from playing in the snow all day. *My dad's convinced she's part coyote and has bestowed upon her the nickname of what he thinks is her Looney Tunes counterpart. Poor girl!

Vote for our district!

2010-03-03T20:18:00.002-05:00

Day Six...

2010-02-04T20:07:00.004-05:00

Dad started on the stairs earlier this week and so far this is what we've got. Coming along nicely! ☺

Standing at the bottom looking up.

I wasn't sure how these bottom corner stairs would turn out but so far so good!

My house still looks like this. I'm so ready for everything to be put back into place. It's been an off week at school because of my house being out of order. Crazy, I know, but I'm in a funk from having craziness in my house.

Looks like I'm not the only one who's ready for things to get back to normal!

So I'm already thinking about my next project. Actually, I've already decided on my next project, the tile on the fireplace. Now I'm planning the one after next. So much to do! Where is a summer off when I need one?! I fell in love with this picture from Coastal Living. I absolutely love the covers on the chairs around a dark table. I ripped it out of a magazine and glued it into my "idea book" so the picture has a little glare, but trust me... beautiful! If only I had the view to help me recreate this!

The table I have right now is a hand-me-down and actually not even real wood or else I'd strip it and re-stain it to go with my floors. (Lately I've been bothered that my kitchen woods aren't coordinating and it's even worse now that my floors are so much darker!) I started looking at tables online to get an idea of what I liked and what's out there for my price range. I've looked everywhere from craigslist to pottery barn. I found one table on PB that I liked (scratch that, I found LOTS of tables on PB that I loved) but let's get real. At a price tag of $999, I'm not paying for it now and it's not going to miraculously appear in my house! On another online window-browsing excursion, I found a table at Pier One that is almost identical! Best part is the price tag is a whopping $179!!! Really?! I can't tell a difference of $820 in the two. See what you think. One pic below is the PB table and the other is from Pier One.

The first picture is the Pier One table and the second is from PB. Crazy how similar they are right? I don't know that this is the type of table I'll go with, but I thought it was so great to find a way to recreate a PB look for a fraction of the price! I love a deal! ☺

On another note, does anyone out there run a flat iron through their hair every morning like me? I love the look but I hate thinking about what it's doing to my hair. Even with my nice flat iron, it still can't be good. I had been using the J Life line of shampoos and conditioners in Dead Calm to help my naturally wavy (and not pretty wavy) hair be straight without using too much heat. I've never been one to buy salon shampoos and conditioners and after a couple of bottles of the J Life, I remembered why. Too expensive for me! I found this little tube of straightening serum from Publix of all places and thought I'd give it a try. I was a little worried that it would make my hair be greasy, but thought it was worth a try to keep the heat off my hair. OH MY GOSH! Can I just tell you how much I LOVE this stuff? It's amazing! You run it through your hair before you dry it so even the hairdryer begins to straighten it! I literally just ran the flat iron through about 6 sections of my hair and DONE! I'm already excited about the extra 10 minutes I'll get to sleep in the morning! ☺

Day Three...

2010-01-31T19:37:00.005-05:00

Today we started again at the threshold between the kitchen and the den, but moved the opposite way into the kitchen. The plan was to complete the kitchen and half bath, finish the entryway and start the stairs today. We were well on our way to doing just that when the breakers flipped (we think) in the den and cut off all power in that room plus the entryway. We spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what went wrong but couldn't figure it out. (I say this like my knowledge about electric wiring in a house was a big help to someone today. Basically I stood around worrying about the funny smell filling my kitchen was a fire in my wall while all three guys tried to convince me that I had nothing to worry about.) Hopefully, the electrician will be here tomorrow. Thankfully, my dad will be here with him so someone will understand the "electricity lingo" that I'm sure I couldn't make heads or tails of. Whoever said that you house projects would take twice as long as you planned was RIGHT! Definitely didn't think I'd be dealing with an electric problem this weekend.

Starting the kitchen.

I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family who worked so hard this weekend. I love them! ♥

We were going to put the floors in the laundry room too, until we thought about the "what if" the washer overflowed. Water and hardwood laminate do not mix! Wesley did a fantastic job transitioning from the hardwood to the laminate!

Dad and Will did a great job laying the floors around the crazy cabinet in the half bath. Looks great! ☺

Working hard trying to figure out another piece to the puzzle.

Dark picture... no lights. ☹

Finished kitchen. (minus the quarter round)

Starting to move furniture back in the den.

I wonder if she thinks "When is it going to stop changing?" Every day when she comes back downstairs after the boys leave, she has a sniffing fit all over the house and then ends up standing and just looking confused. Bless her heart!

All of this and six more boxes. Hopefully it will be enough to get us up the stairs and on the landing. Really don't want to go buy more boxes!

Back to work tomorrow! Keeping my fingers crossed that by this time next week it will all be finished! ☺

Day Two: Floor Face-Lift

2010-01-30T21:06:00.004-05:00

We (er... mainly they) got lots accomplished today! I didn't do much laying of the floors. My job as Will put it was "Quality Control". Well, that and a whole lot of cleaning and organizing. I was in charge of opening boxes, stacking boards according to size, fetching certain sizes as they were called out, deciding on patterns in the boards as they were laid and vacuuming, vacuuming, vacuuming.

We started in this corner today at the threshold between the kitchen and the den. Mary Catherine and Will revamped the kitchen when this was their house. (Did you know I bought my sister's house? She took such great care of it, how could I not?!) They laid laminate tile in the kitchen when they redid it and it looked great! I thought though, that I wouldn't like the look of going from a dark floor to a light one and the rooms would probably look bigger if the hardwood flowed into the kitchen from the den. Because the laminate tile would be such a pain to scrape up, we just decided to leave it be and lay the hardwood over it. Only problem with this decision was the fact that you'd be working off two different heights of floor, hence the T-piece of the threshold. Long story short, the floors for the whole room were laid backwards solely because of this threshold. Backwards = harder.

Major props to my dad, brother-in-law Will and cousin-in-law (is that what I call him?) Wesley for handling the challenges that came along with this project! I am so lucky to have each of them and their willingness to jump into this project with both feet. What wonderful and selfless men!

What a difference the new floor makes! And not just in the way it looks, it sounds completely different too! ☺ (Picture taken from the den/kitchen threshold, looking back towards the front door.)

Did I mention I vacuumed today? I was going to run the vacuum over the floors again for the 8465839th time, and then decided that I'd do it in the morning when the boys were completely finished with the den. If you look to the right of the hearth, you see they have one more corner and part right beside the wall to finish and then they're done with this room. I'm sure I'll be vacuuming lots again tomorrow! ☺ The floors look much prettier when they don't have dust and dirt all over them!

Miss Callie Maye spent the day in my room upstairs since it was so cold outside. Despite her size, she is an indoor dog and would have frozen in the cold! When she came downstairs to see what all the racket had been about, she was none too sure of the way the floor felt under her feet. Once she got used to that, she found something else to be spooked about. That's my spooky dog for you! On a side note, I have no idea where these white circles on my pictures are coming from. Wishful snow thinking? HA! I'm going to have to look into this so my final floor pictures are spotless! (no pun intended ☺)

Project: Floor Face-Lift

2010-01-29T22:58:00.004-05:00

Day one of Project: Floor Face-lift went quite well at the LPH today! Who knew ripping up carpet, nails and staples could be so exhausting? I am pooped! Here's where we are now...

obviously, we have quite a ways to go.

Carpet-less stairs... what a booger that was!

Looking inside from the front porch, all carpet and old laminate floors gone.

The den looks the most different I think. No more yucky carpet! Yay!

The kitchen doesn't really look that different at all... well except for the couch that now sits where the table was. Quite a statement, don't you think?!

All of this will be on my floor tomorrow! Whoop, Whoop!

And all of this is going to make it happen! :)

It all started with this...

2010-01-25T21:51:00.013-05:00

Miss Callie Maye was left home alone this summer while I was at the beach for a week. Needless to say, she did NOT do a good job holding down the fort. My wonderful neighbor was gracious enough to let her out several times a day, but was horrified to come in and find this destruction along with lots of carpet, padding and even subflooring pieces lying around. (Yes, my dog ate the subflooring. Nice.)

Doesn't she look sorry? (yeah right!)

Somehow we needed to fix this atrociousness that's right beside my front door. The first thing people see when they come in my house? No thank you! So I searched online A LOT and I spent quite a bit of time in stores looking at samples of hardwood floors. I decided to go with laminate floors because even though I love real hardwoods, I'm not sure that they'd be fully appreciated in a starter home like mine. I definitely want to make the smart choice on something I put into my house so I'll end up getting my money back out of it. (Very grown up sounding of me, hmmm? ☺)

And the top six are, in no particular order... well... you can see for yourself:

So I am VERY HAPPY to announce that soon, very soon, this...

and this...

(such a stinker to think she needs to be in my pictures)

and this...

and this....

and this...

will all be covered in THIS!!! ☺

I'll be sure to update pictures as soon as it's finished! Hopefully that will be this weekend! (Definitely keeping my fingers crossed!)

Lookin' like a FOOL!

2010-01-18T11:31:00.003-05:00

I've always enjoyed watching American Idol here and there, especially on the theme nights when I like the chosen theme. ☺ My favorite part of the whole show would have to be the auditions, mainly because of the crazy people you see like this funny old man. Have you hard his song yet? Absolutely hilarious! I laugh every time I watch him "perform" his song. So, without further adieu, here's General Larry Platt singing his original work "Pants on the Ground." Enjoy!

Exhausted!

2010-01-07T22:08:00.002-05:00

This would be the perfect example of what I feel like after the week I've had at school. It's amazing how fast you fall out of your school schedule in only 2 weeks. It's so easy to get used to waking up way later than 5:30 and not having 24 kids need you 7 hours a day. I'm glad to see the end of this week and looking forward to a long weekend next weekend! Happy Friday y'all!☺

Long time, no see!

2010-01-03T22:38:00.018-05:00

I took lots of pictures and had all the best intentions of posting over my (not so long) 2 week vacation from school, and here it is, the night before I go back and I'm just now getting around to updating this thing. Here's a whirlwind of some the things I did over break instead of blogging. ☺

Decorating... and then undecorating my house for Christmas. I was so sad to take down everything. There's nothing like sitting by a fire with a Christmas tree all lit up, drinking something warm. At least it's still winter and I can do all of the above except the tree!

Instead of hanging my Christmas cards on the fridge or around a doorway this year, I tried to be creative and create my own little display. I took two snowflake ornaments, connected them with some white grosgrain ribbon and attached silver (spraypainted) mini-clothes pins to hang the cards. This picture was taken quite early in the season. Though it was a good idea in theory, it did not hold up once the Christmas cards started coming. I just ended up taping cards to the wall around it and just making a collage. Oh well... I have a whole year to think up something for next year! :)

Completely unrelated to Christmas, but something I wanted to do for awhile. Clemson pictures on a wall in my hallway... what could be better? I have several more that didn't make it here. I need to find another spot in my house for the leftovers.

I win, I win! Yet again, I win the award for "The Most Random Christmas Present Given by a 2nd Grader". I really don't know how I end up with these things. If you couldn't tell, this is a pirate ship made by my 2nd grader's brother. I don't really know about the two toys on top except that one is supposed to be a golden retriever because that's what we have in common. Random... right? Please don't think I'm unappreciative of my student's willingness to give and their thoughts of me during Christmas. I am not a teacher who counts presents during Christmas. The best gifts I receive from parents and students are the cards with messages like "Thank you for all that you do!" and "Little Johnny never liked school until he was in your class." or "I am so pleased with the gains that my child has made in your classroom." As a words of affirmation person, these are the best gifts you could receive. The pirate ship on the other hand... it was a very sweet thought... just a bit strange.

Lights at the Zoo with my best friend, Megan and her sweet little girl, Brantley. (I stole this one off of your blog Megan. Thanks!☺)

Go Tigers!

Butterfly garden outside of the Educational Building

Giraffes! One of my favorites at the zoo!

This one is for you Aunt Kelly! It's been years since I've been to the Lights at the Zoo, but they have huge "Christmas Cards" decorated by schools in the area. The one above is from Cardinal Newman! I love it!

GO PHES!

And another by PHE!

My favorite card of them all. Not sure what school made it, but the message I love.

I pulled an all-nighter on the 23rd to finish up my Christmas presents. I don't think I've done that since college! Taking inspiration from Red Letter Words, I made my sisters canvases for Christmas with their favorite quote and song. MC's favorite hymn is "Come Thou Fount" (above) and Charlee's favorite quote is "Live life to the hilt." by Jim Elliot. (below)

I'm not sure why the colors are so bold in this picture. The blue was a pale blue and the hill and cross were dark brown. Who knows with my camera?

Remember the puppet stand I made for school? Anna Cate loved it so much that I made her one for Christmas, complete with puppets of (almost) the whole cast of Cinderella! (I forgot to take a picture of her puppet stand in blue and green, so this is just a reminder for you!)

Cinderella by day (2 sided puppet)

Cinderella by night (in her ball gown)

Stepmother, Drizella and Anastasia

Gus-Gus and Jack

Prince Charming and Fairy Godmother

This was not a part of the all-nighter, but a homemade gift, nonetheless. I found these pretty frames at the wonderful Target, and printed out a favorite psalm of mine for the inside. I have one similar to this on my bathroom counter and read it every morning. I change the verse frequently, depending on what I'm reading or what's going on in my life. It's just one way that I start my day (albeit bleary-eyed) the right way!

Up close... isn't it so pretty? MC had the great idea to do this with scrapbooking paper. Just think of all the possibilities! ☺

Recently, our family has started a tradition of watching movies on our "big screen" Christmas night. We move furniture around and hang a big sheet in our den. My mom won a projector for Teacher of the Year some years back and we use this with a laptop for a ghetto-fab movie theater, right in our very own home! This is one of my favorite new traditions as we've gotten older and starting making new traditions. In a family of all girls, my poor dad doesn't always get the best choice of movies. It's rare when he'll hang out for a whole movie. Usually he ends up heading to the back to find a football game on TV, and really... who can blame him? On Christmas though, he always toughs it out and sticks around to hang out with us. (Don't feel too bad for him, if you can't tell from the "screen" we're watching NCIS, his favorite show!) I love the time I get to spend with my family in a room smelling of Christmas tree, beside a crackling fire, curled up under a blanket, content on Christmas day.

Yummiest PB Pie...EVER!

2010-01-03T22:15:00.005-05:00

Oh wow, do I have a lot to catch up on! I've been MIA throughout the holidays, but havebeen taking pictures with good intentions to blog... just never got there. Let's start way back at our school staff party and my contribution, the yummiest PB pie. The first one I made was for Thanksgiving at my parents house. It had such rave reviews (and was so easy to make) that I made it all over again for our school's Christmas party. This is one of Callie Maye's favorites in the kitchen and here's why... ☺

It's the simple things in life!

This is all you need and it actually makes 2 pies! I love that it's stuff you already have in your house. The perfect desert to whip up, especially at the last minute!

Ingredients:

1 9oz. cool whip

1/2 cup milk

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 oz cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 graham cracker pie shells

Directions:

Combine peanut butter, cream cheese, milk and sugar. Mix well. Add cool whip and pour into pie shells.

TA DA! Easy peasy right? I shave chocolate and add layers to mine, just because I love PB and chocolate together. I also freeze my pies and take them out an hour or so before eating so that they are easy to slice into.

The final result! ☺

What A Girl Wants

2009-12-15T18:49:00.007-05:00

I love love love to read. (I know you're all thinking WE KNOW!) I read just about anything I can get my hands on. One genre I always try, but sometimes find disappointing is christian literature. I've never been able to figure out why those books just don't MOVE like others. I find myself picking up books, only to put them down again when they don't go anywhere. Sad, but true, maybe it's because not enough people read it to make it very profitable. Who knows? What I do know is I found a great new (to me) author that writes books with christian values for women. Christian Chick-Lit? Don't mind if I do! I picked up the book, What A Girl Wants, on our school's teacher book exchange shelf solely because of the first line of the summary on the back.

"All she wants is a cute christian guy who doesn't live with his mother... and maybe a Prada handbag."

I mean, come on! Could that sound more like me? JK :) The only books I've read thus far of Kristin Billerbeck are a couple of the Ashley Stockingdale series. I've looked her up though, and she has lots more out there! Good to know she has other books just waiting on me to read! Have you read any good books lately?

Touching Story

2009-12-02T21:59:00.005-05:00

I stumbled across a story of a young boy who has lost his eyesight due to complications from cancer on Facebook tonight and it just touched my heart. I can't imagine being in 7th grade and facing the life changes that this young boy has dealt with. When I think about all of the things that I've experienced in the 13 years since I was his age, I can't fathom not having visual memories of my life. Jake Olson is a fighter and much more courageous than I! He is an inspiration for his optimism in the face of challenging circumstances. Check out his story using the link below. You may need a tissue handy. I did... but I can get teary eyed at a Christmasy commercial!

ESPN Sportcenter Blog: One Last Look - USC Draws Inspiration From Fan

Game Day!

2009-12-01T22:12:00.004-05:00

The only pictures I have from the Clemson vs. USC game were taken pre-game at my parents' house. I took my camera, fully intending to take pictures tailgating and at the game, and then just forgot!

My beautiful sisters

We're decked out in our orange, ready for the game!

The sight when we pulled away on Saturday morning: Mama, Caroline, Anna Cate AND Benny, waving us goodbye.

Yes, Carolina won this year and no, I really wasn't too upset. Is my being decked out in orange a contradiction to that? Probably, but growing up a Gamecock isn't something that you just forget overnight. I've been a Carolina fan for way longer than I've been a Clemson fan when you think about it! I always pull for the SC team until the SC teams play each other and then I must cheer for my alma mater! Keeping my fingers crossed for the ACC game this Saturday! Those Tigers better get it together, and get it together QUICK!!! ☺

A Definite MUST!

2009-12-01T19:06:00.005-05:00

If you haven't seen this movie yet, it is a definite MUST! I went to the oh-so-fabulous Pastime Pavilion (Dad doesn't drive to Harbison to sit in a movie theater... I agree it's a little silly if you think about it.) over Thanksgiving break to see it with my sister and parents. No, we weren't crammed into one of those tiny 1/4 theaters, we actually got to watch it in a full size theater! I mean, that's a big deal at the PP! All joking aside though, this story is one that will touch your heart over and over again. I absolutely love Sandra Bullock and everything she does. Well, maybe almost everything... did you see that preview for "All About Steve"? I never saw it, but it didn't look like it was the usual quality of her work. She definitely earned the big bucks for her performance in this movie. Tim McGraw also played in the movie as her husband, along with Lilly Collins, Phil Collins' daughter! Funniest part of the movie had to be my family leaving the theater. Tim McGraw, with his obvious musicality, performed a song for the end credits. My mom, in a very disappointed voice, said "Oh, well that's Tim McGraw singing right? I thought they said he was going to be in this movie..." We paused for a second thinking she was joking, and then when we realized she was serious, we lost it! Tim, being a costar in the movie, was on screen at least 2/3 of the time, if not more! To my mom's credit, I have to say the first time I saw Tim McGraw without a hat on was probably in Friday Night Lights and I didn't recognize him at first either. It's something about that cowboy hat, or lack thereof, that tricks you! See what you think...

Tim with his hat...

Tim without his hat...

See? He really does look like two different people! Especially if you didn't know what character he was playing! Y'all go see The Blind Side and enjoy! I promise it won't disappoint!

THANK YOU to the ones who serve us daily!

2009-11-24T15:44:00.006-05:00

Please visit Let's Say Thanks and send a soldier a card. It's the easiest thing to do!

1. Pick out a card to send.

2. Write a quick message of gratitude. (or you can choose from prewritten messages)

3. Submit your card.

See? Easy right? Xerox will print every card submitted and mail it to soldiers overseas. It takes just a minute to do yet it means so much to our troops to know that they have our support and love. Head on over and create a card of your own!

RedLetterWords

2009-11-21T23:58:00.006-05:00

I have GOT to go to bed or else I won't wake up for church tomorrow, but first I had to share a new favorite site of mine. Have you ever seen Red Letter Words? I absolutely LOVE these canvases. I've had my eye on them for awhile and would love to have one in my house, but they're a bit pricey. Hmmm.... a craft project in my future? Quite possibly! ☺ Right now I'll settle to have them on my wish list! I love so many them, I don't know if I could pick just one! Here are a few of my favorites...

Wouldn't this be great for Thanksgiving? I mean, it would be great to use all year long too, of course, but I would love to tie it into Thanksgiving decor.

I love this one for Christmas. Just one little sentence that means SO MUCH!

If you liked Dee's RLW website, check out her blog and Etsy shop. But be careful! Once you look, you might get hooked! ☺

God answers every time!

2009-11-17T21:36:00.002-05:00

So tonight I was watching the third part in the newest series from Newspring (http://www.newspring.cc/), "Don't Get Married Until You're Willing to Be a Woman", and like always Perry's really rockin' it out, but that's besides the point.

Let me give you some background (like you don't already know this, those of you that read this blog) so you can follow my thoughts (good luck, I'll try not to talk circles!)...

I'm somewhat of a worrywart (who me?) and can be a bit of a control freak (gasp!) when it comes to what I had planned for my life. Yes, I know those last seven words of the previous sentence are comical. Who am I to be the one mapping out my life? But nevertheless, I do worry and fret when I think about where I thought I would be at this age in my life and where I actually am. Did that just make sense? For example, if you had asked me in high school where I would be in 10 years, I would have answered without even thinking "married to a godly man, raising children of my own." Again, my plan, not His. On top of "my planning", I've always felt like I have followed in the footsteps of the most wonderful big sister there could ever be... even down to the ages of "milestones" in my life. Who can blame me when she has set an awesome example for me to look up to? In fact, the older I've gotten the more I've realized that just because I only have one big sister, doesn't mean I can't look up to my younger sister as I would a big sister. And no I don't just mean literally, though she did get all of the height genes in our family and I do have to look up to talk to her. ☺ Though I have always admired her and been proud of her, I find myself now looking up to her and appreciating the example that she sets for not only me but others around her. (I love my sisters, can you tell?☺) I'm way off track though. I started talking about me following my big sister's example because if my plans for my life were a reality, and if I had continued to do just what my big sister had done, right now I would be married for 3 years with a 5 month old baby. I am so far away from this and where I thought I would be at 26. I've panicked before thinking how "far behind" I am and worried over how in the world I was going to catch up with where I "needed to be." Yes, I realize how ridiculous this sounds. But if you know me, you know I can be a bit irrational at times, especially when I'm worrying! Tonight in Perry's sermon about staying single until you hear from God, he said a lot of things that really hit home with me, but there was one verse in particular that really hit home. All of the above to share this one verse... I know, a bit much... but with all of that anxiousness and worrying going on in my head all the time this really brought a peace over me tonight. I'm not saying it was the be it-end all to my worries in life, I know I'll struggle at times like all of us do, but I've prayed so long and so hard (and talked circles with some of you) about the "lack of control" I had over my life, that it was so obvious that it was my answer from God. I'm talking obvious in a "hit me on the head with a coconut" sort of way... Heelllooooo! (<- car line "hello" for those of you who remember last year!) I love a peace in my heart when I know everything's going to be ok and I don't really even need to know how it's going to be ok, I just know it's going to be ok and that it's ok for someone else to handle it for me. (Control freak, I know... at least I admit it right? I hear that's the first step to admitting you have a problem! ☺ I'm working on it ok?)

And I've just left you hanging not even knowing what verse I'm talking about...

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Heelllooo! I'm not supposed to know what's going to happen. I don't have to worry that something's going to fall through the cracks on my watch. I only have to have faith that when it's supposed to happen, it will happen and God has already made it beautiful for that time, not now, not before, but at that time! And not only that, but I'm not supposed to know what's going to happen to the end... and it's ok not to know! Whoda thunk it? Well, me I guess, because all of that I technically knew, I just get myself worked into such a tizzy that quite often I need reminders that everything's going to be ok!

So now as I go to bed (after what turned out to be a terribly long, close to novel length post... sorry!) I'm singin'...

"Don't worry, about a thing. 'Cause everything little thing's gonna be alright!" God's probably singing this in heaven to me right now... starting it off in true Bob Marley style... "This is my message to you-oo-ooo!"

Love you all who made it this far in my rambling! ☺

Gets me every time!

2009-11-16T22:33:00.007-05:00

I think this is the third time this email has come around to me, and I've laughed every time. I'm not just talking a chuckle here and there, but holding my sides, tears in my eyes laughing. What can I say, it doesn't take much to entertain me! I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that every time I've read this, it's been after teaching from 7:30-1:30 straight. A break after 6 full hours of teaching is enough to make anyone giddy and a little slap-happy... or maybe that's just me and Megan. ☺

How to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

1) At lunch time, sit in your parked car w/sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2) Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3) Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4) Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN."

5) Reply to everything someone says with, "That's what you think."

6) Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."

7) As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

8) Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."

9) Hold open automatic doors for people.

10) In the memo field of all your checks, write 'for smuggling diamonds.'

11) Send an e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them what you're doing. For example, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom, in Stall #3."

12) Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're "not in the mood".

13) When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I Won!", "I Won!" "3rd time this week!!!"

14) When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run for your lives, they're loose!"

15) Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."

16) Order a diet water whenever you're out to eat, with a serious face.

17) Insist your co-workers address you only by your wrestling name, Rock Bottom.

18) When driving colleagues around insist on keeping your car windshield wipers running in all weather conditions "to keep 'em tuned up."

19) Ask your co-workers mysterious questions and then scribble their answers in a notebook. Mutter something about "psychological profiles".

20) Whenever you answer the phone, do so in a french accent, and slowly change it to a japanese accent.

A Highly Recommended Read

2009-11-11T21:17:00.008-05:00

Every Veteran's Day I read this book to my class, and every Veteran's Day it brings tears to my eyes. America's White Table is written by Margot Raven, a SC native from Mt. Pleasant. It is about a tradition that is that is an established custom in military families, but unfamiliar to many people. The story is told through the eyes of a ten year old girl and the first words are "It was just a little white table". That in itself is powerful to me. There's something about the innocence of child and trying to understand the unjust in the world. And even though it is just a little white table, it stands for so much.

Katie's (the narrator) Uncle John is a Vietnam Veteran and is coming to her house for dinner. In honor of him, her mother explains that they are going to set a white table and as the table is set, she explains why each piece is important.

"We use a small table, girls,” she explained first, “to show one soldier’s lonely battle against many. We cover it with a white cloth to honor a soldier’s pure heart when he answers his country’s call to duty."

"We place a lemon slice and grains of salt on a plate to show a captive soldier’s bitter fate and the tears of families waiting for loved ones to return,” she continued.

“We push an empty chair to the table for the missing soldiers who are not here.”

“We lay a black napkin for the sorrow of captivity, and turn over a glass for the meal that won’t be eaten,” she said.

“We place a white candle for peace and finally, a red rose in a vase tied with a red ribbon for the hope that all our missing will return someday.”

Katie's mom then tells the story of how her brother (Katie's Uncle John) was shot down behind enemy lines. Uncle John and his crew were taken POW and one soldier in particular, Mike, was seriously injured. There came an opportunity to escape, but Mike was too sick to move so Uncle John stayed with him while the others escaped because "he wouldn't leave a fellow soldier alone so far from home." When another opportunity to escape arose, Uncle John managed to carry Mike out on his back, and continued carrying him, stopping only to collect and drink rainwater from leaves, until he found an American Infantry Unit. Sadly, Mike ended up dying from his wounds in the rescue helicopter.

“I know that Mike was only 20 years old and he dreamed of playing football, but he loved America enough to give his life for his country when duty called."

"And I know how much Uncle John loves America, too, but he learned when helping Mike that a soldier risks his life for a fellow soldier, because the best of our country lives in every man and woman who would lay down their life for you, too.”

After hearing the story, Katie and her sisters decide that they want to personalize the table for her uncle in appreciation for him. Her youngest sister draws pictures for each item on the table. Her younger sister writes out the words to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" to leave for her uncle. Katie herself feels lost in knowing what she could add to the table that would be as important as the gift that each veteran has given to us. She decides to write a book as a tribute to all veterans that includes both of her sisters' pictures and lyrics as well as her mother's stories about the table and her Uncle John's POW experience. Lastly, in the grains of salt on the plate on the white table, she traces the word "Hero" to show what each man and woman of the armed forces is to all of us. As she eats dinner with her family, she studies the white table as the sun sets across it and she imagines the silent soldiers of the empty chair saying:

"Remember us, please…

we are real people like your Uncle John and Mike
who left families and friends, homes and dreams of our own
to protect your birthright of liberty from disappearing
as easily as sunlight from a glass.”

I will forever be grateful to every man and woman who has served our country here or overseas. There are no words to adequately express my gratitude and admiration for the brave men and women of the armed forces, the police and firefighters who are simply put, but solemnly regarded as heros.

Note: Excerpts taken from America's White Table by Margot Raven.

Brutality of the Bushes

2009-11-03T17:19:00.004-05:00

So I drive up to my house last Saturday and what do I find, but my bushes in my yard have been hacked away at! MY bushes, people! MY yard! Who does that? And like the cherry topping on the ice cream sundae, my neighbors so kindly left piles of branches in my yard from the bushes that they decided needed trimming. If you know me at all, you can only imagine my irritation at coming home to such a site. And if you know me, you know that I wasn't so much upset that the bushes were cut, but that someone could be so inconsiderate to walk into someone else's yard and cut away at their property like it belongs to them. I don't deal well with inconsiderate people.

No Tricks, Just Treats

2009-11-01T21:08:00.003-05:00

Here they come, the only trick-or-treaters who visited me this Halloween. I have fewer and fewer people trick-or-treat at my house every year and this year, despite living in a neighborhood with kids, NO KIDS rang my doorbell! What a waste of Halloween candy! Tomorrow morning I'm taking it to school... can't have that sitting around my house when I'm the only one who lives here! It'll end up being me who eats it all!

Anna Cate was Minnie Mouse and Caroline was a ballerina. My talented sister Mary Catherine made both costumes! There's just something about a homemade costume that so much more special than a store bought one. One of my favorite things growing up was thinking about what you wanted to be for Halloween, and then trying to make the costume on your own. My absolute favorite costume was when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and I was a bubble gum machine! I don't even think you can buy that at a store. Maybe I need to recreate that one next Halloween! :)

Little Cabin in the Woods

2009-11-01T20:28:00.006-05:00

When we were little, my dad used to take us up to this cabin he built on his hunting property. We'd "camp out" for the night and sleep in the next morning while he'd hunt with either Mary Catherine or Charlee. (Though I once hunted with my dad, I stopped around the time I was 5 or 6 due to a traumatic pants-wetting experience. I never climbed into a deer stand with my dad after that night!) Then we'd pack up and head home! They were fun little excursions, just my dad and my sisters. I love that I have these special memories with my dad.

Recently, my dad and brother-in-law have started "renovating" the cabin. My cousin and her husband have also put in a lot of work getting this place put together again. Though it still has a ways to go, it really does look good when you think back to the way it used to look. I really wish I had a before picture for you to see. Before, you felt like you were either going to catch something or fall through the floor walking through the place. I personally would have torn it down before I even tried to fix it, but they've worked really hard on it and it's coming along nicely. I say this, but I'm still not sure I'd ever spend the night there again. It's not so hard to understand now why my mom didn't take those camping excursions with us when we were little!

Standing at the front door looking towards the kitchen and bathroom. It's just one big room with a bathroom and bunk room on opposite ends. Can I just say, look at the ceiling! Might not be such a big thing to you, but this place has never had anything other than insulation up there! We're really moving up in the world! :)

Still by the front door, looking the other way into the bunk room. MC's snapping pictures too! We were really surprised at the turn around in this place! We had to document! :)

Anna Cate had a fun time exploring the "new to her" cabin and even climbed up in the top of the bunk room with me. This little stinker is getting braver as she gets older.

After our picnic lunch, Mama and Caroline played a bit...

while Anna Cate decided to jump into the action and help the guys paint the back of the cabin. Look how little she is next to those two big boys! No doubt she thinks she's working just as hard!

There's so much to be done putting a cabin back together. When her arms tired of painting, she decided to do a little sweeping to spruce the place up a bit. Sweet little munchkin!

Curtain Call

2009-10-25T20:22:00.005-04:00

My kids (yes I have 24 kids even though they only spend 7 hours a day with me) absolutely LOVE Readers' Theater. Usually, they either wear headbands with their character's faces or on occasion, will dress up as their character and then read their scripts aloud to whoever our audience might be. I thought I'd throw another performance option in there by making a curtain for puppet shows. I think the kids will be really excited to use it. Not only is it cute, but it was way cheap to make! I just used PVC pipe and some leftover fabric I had for a grand total of $6! Can't beat that! I put it in the back of my car today to take up to school and took it out at my mom's house to show it off. While I was there, Anna Cate was over for a visit and tested it out for me. She had a ball retelling the story of Cinderella, and even making up a story about her bear, Benny, and his animal friends. Now, not only do I know that it will be enjoyed by my class, but I can check her Christmas present off of my list! I wonder what fabric I'll use for the little munchkin's puppet stand?

Doggie Destruction

2009-10-22T21:15:00.005-04:00

When you come home to this...

you know something like this has happened.

Yes, that is my val-pack, now in pieces, strewn across the floor amongst her toys.
Oh, the joys of dog-ownership!

Miss me?

2009-10-21T22:04:00.006-04:00

This is for you Megan! I'm sure you're the only one who's reading this blog! Not that I can blame anyone for not checking this thing. I've been MIA since school started. This has been a very challenging year. I feel like a first year teacher all over again! Our "teacher plates" have been filled to the point of overflowing so the majority of my time whether I'm at school or home has been devoted to school work. I haven't had much time to think about, much less update this blog. I have found some time on the weekends to do some projects around the house. Remember the kitchen curtains that I made this summer? Here's a picture to remind you...

I decided to get rid of the shutters and make roman shades. I used the pattern that my sister, Mary Catherine, found and posted on her Crafty Little Chick blog. It was super easy and though my first attempt at making the shades was far from professional, they serve their purpose and don't look half bad!

I know you can't tell from the picture, I love all of the extra light that comes into the kitchen now! Natural light is my favorite!

♫ The girl is back in town! ♫

2009-08-10T18:40:00.014-04:00

Charlee has been in Croatia since June! Though summer definitely flew by, it seems like such a long time since she has been home. She finally returned on Thursday night! Yay! We were so glad to see her and hear all about her adventures. She had such a creative way to share it with us too! She brought back different foods and drinks to share with us. So fun! I have to say though, some of the things she brought back were very interesting. To name just a few, there were peanutty puff things (think cheese puffs, but with a peanut flavor), pretzels with peanut butter on the inside (yum!), strawberry filled chocolate bar and the kicker... chocolate with pop rocks inside! Crazy! To celebrate her homecoming, we had something planned everyday. We had a big family dinner and a movie on our "big screen" on Friday night, a cookout at the lake on Saturday complete with a sunset cruise, and a day at the pool on Sunday with a picnic lunch. Whew! We were busy, but had so much fun all together again! Here are a few pics from this weekend...

Anna Cate telling Aunt Charlee her version of Jonah and Noah's stories.

Hanging out on the porch...

...enjoying the view.

Such sweet sisters! Anna Cate is giving Caroline a kiss.

Sunset cruise on the lake with the fam.

Aunt Charlee and Anna Cate on the lake.

Mom and Dad cruising the lake.

Anna Cate spent almost as much time walking around the yard as she did in the water.

A rousing game of HORSE with a noodle for a hoop.

Do babies get any sweeter than this?

2009-08-05T21:51:00.005-04:00

Isn't she a dollbaby?! My dear friend Megan had her firstborn last week! I am absolutely thrilled for her and Eric and know that they are ~~going to make~~ already the best parents any child could ask for! Megan and I became such wonderful friends when we began teaching together three years ago. It didn't take very long for me to figure out why God placed me at Pleasant Hill, and I know one of those reasons was the friendship I found in Megan. I am so blessed to be able to call such a dear sweet person one of my closest friends. Though I will miss her dearly next year, I know that she is going to be a wonderful mommy to sweet little Brantley and will have so much fun spending all her days with this sweet little bundle of joy! I can't wait for the days when I'll play "hooky" and spend the day with them at the zoo!

Couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?! I just love those little cheeks!

Presenting: My New Kitchen Curtains

2009-08-03T21:40:00.009-04:00

I'm a little embarrassed to say, I picked out and bought fabric for my kitchen curtains about 9 months ago and finally made them a couple weeks ago. Thanks to my Mama who showed me how to make the curtains and helped me make the big one for my double window over my kitchen table. I am pretty proud to say I made the other 3 all by myself! Yay me! :) My next project is to take the hydrangeas from the leftover fabric from the curtains and use them on the pillows that I'll be making for my den. Hopefully this will happen sooner than later, but I'm not promising anything. :)

The big curtain over the table. Thanks to Mama for helping me with this one. I'm not sure I could have handled that much fabric at once! :)

Curtain over my kitchen sink, overlooking the back porch.

The curtain on the door to my back porch. There's one more that's in my laundry room that I didn't take a picture of... but I think you get the idea by now. :)

The sideboard in my kitchen with the hydrangeas that were my inspiration for the kitchen curtains. There's just something about this soft, southern flower that I love so much!

I ♡ the Beach

2009-08-03T20:42:00.019-04:00

As a last hurrah for this summer, I spent the last week at the beach. The Bunco girls and I went down on Monday with kids in tow to enjoy a day on the beach. Even though the kids outnumbered the adults (7 adults, 8 kids) and they were all 3 years or younger, they all got along really well and we enjoyed each other's company. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera out on the beach to capture the fun, but I do have some "borrowed" ones. (Thanks Julie! :)

Julie and Lauren and their sweet little babies. Two of the happiest, smiley babies I've ever known!

A few of us playing down by the water.

Later in the week, Mom, Dad and Will came down to join Mary Catherine, Anna Cate, Caroline and me. We spent the weekend splashing in the tidal pools and swimming in the pool. My favorite were all of the starfish that we found. They were everywhere! You couldn't walk several feet in the tidal pool without coming across another starfish. I took lots of "creative" pictures (I try to have an eye for photography but more times than not, I just don't!) so that I could possibly use them in the black/white photo collage I'm putting on a wall in my den. I'm not very far along in this project right now so we'll just have to see how that idea ends up! :) We had a great week at the beach, but I have to say I'm glad to be back home with my Callie Maye. Only one more week of summer!

The picture of relaxation!

Anna Cate and her daddy swimming in the pool. She may act just like Mary Catherine but she looks a lot like her daddy!

Caroline's just hanging out on the beach with Boula. Next year she'll be running around with Anna Cate!

Playing in the sand... but not too close to the water!

Don't you just want to run in the sand with her?

My attempt to take a picture of the starfish... we'll see if it ends up on my wall! :)

Put Me In The Zoo

2009-07-30T13:31:00.010-04:00

One of my favorite ways to spend a summer day is at the zoo. Mary Catherine and Anna Cate invited me to join them the other morning and we had so much fun visiting all of the animals. The only 2 animals Anna Cate talked about seeing were a green fish and a bunny. We saw everything at the zoo including a green fish. Sadly, the free-roaming, ill-tempered turkey chased us away from the barn and we never got to see a bunny. I'll keep my fingers crossed for her next trip to the zoo.

Though I've always loved going to the zoo, I have to say that I enjoy it even more seeing it through the eyes of a child. There's something about the wonder and excitement that comes with visiting the zoo as a little person that makes you feel young again yourself.

My talented sister made matching pink elephant tops for Anna Cate and Caroline. They were so sweet! I predict many more matching days in the future!

Waiting on the turkey to leave the barn.... never happened.

Beware of the ruler of the roost at the zoo... he's not as friendly as you might think!

Anna Cate watching a "turwal" swim by.

Mary Catherine and Anna Cate looking for the baby giraffes.

The end of childhood is when things cease to astonish us. When the world seems familiar, when one has got used to existence, one has become an adult.

~Eugene Ionesco

2009-06-15T16:36:00.005-04:00

2009-02-16T21:31:00.012-05:00