To-do list

Maybe the act of posting my checklist for today will help motivate me to complete all of my self-assigned tasks. Maybe.

~ Make all of the beds with clean sheets for the week.

~ Play catch-up on the dishes that piled up over the weekend.

~ Mop the hallway and girls room.

~ Do the weekly grocery shopping.

~ Tidy the living room (pick up toys/papers, vacuum the area rug, dust).

~ Start poly-ing the dresser.

~ Finish painting the flower lamp for the girls room.

A birthday celebration!

As of last Friday, I left my twenties behind. That's right, I turned the big Three Zero. We had my favorite kind of weekend... quiet and drama free! Hubby treated me to sushi on Friday night, then a couple of hours of antique shopping at a huge antique mall on Saturday afternoon followed by an evening of dinner theater!

The antique mall was HUGE. Over 47,000 square feet of vintage and retro goodies. I saw quite a few lovely pieces that I would love to go back and get... Milk glass vases, cranberry glass compotes, a gorgeous set of pyrex bowls in the Gooseberry pattern to add to my growing collection (it will match my pink KitchenAid mixer!), lovely buffets and china cabinets and secretary desks and a darling gossip bench and.... *sigh* Oh, and while at the antique store, I found a smaller version of the vintage lamp shown in my previous post, but with roses instead of daisies and without such a large base... freshly repainted in a coat of white paint with a brand new shade, and selling for $30. I think I got a great deal! (Although I am thinking the smaller rose lamp might need to find a home on Sabrina's nightstand....)

Photo Credit: King Richard's Antique Mall


We saw "Singing in the Rain" at the Curtain Call dinner theater. As one of my favorite musicals of all times, it was very fun to see this Broadway style stage adaptation. The lead actress had an amazing voice... just so clear and lovely. All of the tap dancing was wonderful too! I keep realizing that I am humming "Good Morning" and "Moses Supposes" under my breath.


Photo Credit: Curtain Call Theater



Me and the hubby enjoying our dinner before the show!

Thank you Tara! :)

I wanted to take a moment to send a quick "thank you" to Tara from Never Gives Up for the fun surprise in my mail slot this afternoon! She sent me a copy of Gilbert Morris' Charade. I looooooove a good read and am looking forward to starting this one as soon as I finish my current novel.

This little light of mine.

I stopped by a little thrift shop with my mom today after her doctor appointment and picked up this little lamp. I debated with myself over its purchase, putting it back on the shelf four or five times. I finally bit the bullet and paid the lady $5.00 for it.



I am planning on giving it a coat of spray-paint in bright white (it's actually an off-white now), and painting the little flowers lilac inside... And putting a new shade on it, hopefully in lavendar or light green gingham. I think I will replace the little plastic finial on top with something else as well.

I am planning on sitting this on top of the girls' dresser. So my lovely internet friends, was this a find? Or should I have left it behind?

More pictures!









And for a special bonus, here's a sneak peek at the hardware for the dresser. I'm giving the handles a couple of coats of "dark bronze" hammered finish spray paint.

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for...

...the opportunity to have my oldest attend public school from the comfort of our own home. Although the past week and a half has been stressful at times as we are learning the ropes, he is working hard to get on track with everything. It makes me so proud to see him posting his Facebook status at 6a.m saying that he's up early to get ahead on his school work, or to see him posting in Spanish at 10pm. to say that he's gotten a lot of work done. He is truly working at making this work for him.

...five healthy, happy children. Even though they don't always get along like peas and carrots, there are those moments of domestic tranquility that make it all seem perfect.

...a job opportunity that my husband is going after. Hoping and praying that it all works out as the extra income would enable us to finish the rest of the home remodeling projects that we need to tackle to make our Ugly Gray House our Pretty Little Home.

More work on the bedroom...

Over the last month or so, we've gotten a lot done on the bedroom. We finally finished painting and installing all of the new trim. Putting up the new baseboards in this room was difficult because the walls on either side of the door are curved, but after a lot of trial and error, they're done!

Here's a reminder of what the room started out as... This was Nathan's room. I forgot to take a picture before moving the bed into the center of the room to start removing the border, so just imagine it up against the wall instead!

From bedroom transformation

Once everything, including the carpeting was removed, we were left with this:

From bedroom transformation

We refinished the hardwood flooring:

From bedroom transformation

Then painted the room "Sassy Lilac":

From bedroom transformation

I bought a dresser to refinish:

From The Ugly Gray House

From bedroom transformation

And pulled out the old twin bed to give new life to as well. This bed was made in August 1945 and was used by my Dad (born in 1948), various family members, myself, and Nathan. It has needed to be refinished as far back as I can remember, but instead of sanding it down and refinishing it in the original maple, I decided to bite the bullet and paint it white. Painting wooden furniture just KILLS me by the way.

From bedroom transformation

From bedroom transformation

From bedroom transformation

From bedroom transformation

I found this soft and fluffy shag rug at Target and had to buy it when I saw how perfectly the color went with the room. It is so uunbelievably fluffy... but too thick for my vacuum to tackle on even the highest setting. Luckily, it's machine washable so I can just take it to the laundromat whenever it gets icky. Still, there is a NO SHOES rule now in place for their room.

From bedroom transformation

From bedroom transformation

We will be replacing the oak bunkbed with a white one in a few weeks. If this one was in good condition, I would simply paint it, but after seven years with my rough little ladies... well, the ladder was busted long ago, the wood is cracked in a few places, etc. It is just time to let it go.

From

Sabrina was dyyyyyyyying for a canopy. They're not really my thing, but she is over the moon with this and feels like a complete and total princess.

From bedroom transformation

Just a few more things left until the room is "finished". We need to buy curtain rods and hang up the lilac sheers on the windows. I need to finish painting the dresser white, as well as their bookcase. Then I need to find a small nightstand table for Sabrina. A couple of small lamps for the nightstand and dresser, and a battery-operated lamp of some sort for their bookcase. I also need to paint some shelves to hang on the walls between their beds, paint some frames for some paint by number paintings the girls did, hang some tulle butterflies that they painted, etc.

And then... work begins on the boys' new room. Just imagine blue and wood. And speakers and stars.

You've gotta get one of these!

If you're a fan of all the wonderful home-improvement and do-it-yourself blogs out there, you have probably heard of these by now. It's the Rustoleum Comfort Grip handle.


It's simply a handle that clips into place over a spray can's nozzle, enabling you to grip it like a trigger. This has been such a great help over the past few days while working to finish up the girls' bedroom project. No more achey pointer finger!

One word of caution though... Be sure to aim the nozzle FORWARD each time you load a new can otherwise when you press the trigger, your entire hand will quickly be covered in paint. Not that I would know from experience or anything like that....

You can use it on more than just cans of spray paint too! At under $7, this is definitely something to grab if you have a lot of aerosol rich projects in your future!

Congratulations!!

And the winner is....


::::drumroll please:::::






And the lucky #6 is.....




Congratulations Nancy!! :)

What a bumper crop year!

I have truly lost count of just how many pints of cherry tomatoes that we have harvested this year. We have used them in shrimp scampi and on kabobs, in salads, stuffed, and just simply popped them into our mouths by the handfuls. We have shared baskets full of them with friends, family and neighbors.

The "Back to School" (and back to blogging!) Giveaway

Howdy Ya'll!

Things are finally getting settled back down. It has been a long summer, yet at the same time, not nearly long enough! The four little ones have started off this school year on the right foot. Nathan doesn't start his online courses for another week. I'm only taking one online course this semester myself.

Niko has started playing baseball in the city's pony league. Nathan is trying out a variety of karate dojos to see which one is the best fit for him. Big Nate is taking a pretty heavy load of four classes this year.

I have conquered Mount Washmore. For now. I am sure there will be later avalanches or other disaster that will make that beast rear up again.

So in this spirit of relief, happiness, and an insatiable need for retail therapy I am announcing what I hope will be a fun giveaway.


The prize? $15 for you to spend.

The catch? It has to be for an online store that accepts Paypal (Yes, even eBay counts). That's pretty much the whole catch, except for the standard disclaimers... open to US Residents only, yada yada. You must have your entries in by Friday, September 11th. Winner will be posted Saturday, September 12th.

How to enter:

1) Post a comment sharing what you would like to buy, and link to the site.

AND

2) Repost this giveaway on your blog, and post a comment here with a direct link to your post.



That gives you up to 2 chances to be entered in this giveaway. A name will be drawn using the Random Interger Generator.

So... get to window shopping!! Has there been something that you've been wanting a little extra spending cash to get? A pretty yarn? A knick knack? A book? Soft shoes or a cute cloth diaper for your baby? A cute necklace? Some neat WAHM product?

Figure out the one thing you want most that can be yours for under $15 (including shipping) and share it with us!

God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible by Sheila Walsh

We recently had the pleasure of receiving this book, God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible, to review for the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program.


This adorable children’s devotional bible is designed specifically for our little girly girls. It includes praise songs, fun activities, plays to perform, and bible stories.

My nine year old daughter thinks that it was a very nice bible and liked reading the stories. She says that she found out that thousands of years ago people lived to be 10,000 years old. Her favorite part was when God came down and asked where Adam and Eve were and they were truthful because when God asked where they were they told Him that they were hiding from Him. They had not done what they had supposed to and they had eaten fruit from a tree they weren’t supposed to, because a snake told them to. She also says that she liked all the songs. The activities were really fun and were things like looking into a mirror and deciding whether smiling or frowning looks better. She also liked how there was a place at the beginning of the book to write down all of your favorite things. She thinks the book is very pretty and shared it with her sisters.

My ten year old says that she likes how there were little plays because she loves to act. She likes the songs because they are simple and easy to remember, like “joy to the world” and “this little light of mine”. She thought it was cool how there were trivia questions on behavior. And they both liked how the little jewel is on the tiara on the front of the cover.

My seven year old thinks it is beautiful and nice looking. We would recommend this bible as a gift for the special little girl(s) in your life!

Book Description

Girls long to be loved and adored, and give their heart to their hero. God is that hero! The characteristics focused on in this Bible storybook will help your little girl blossom into the princess she was created to be. Virtues to create beauty such as compassion, sharing, and truth are highlighted in fun and engaging ways. The perfect format for girls to learn about their destiny as a daughter of their King. Features included are: Beauty Secrets, Bible Princesses, My Hero (Scripture promises), Take a Bow (Easy plays that are Bible-focused), I Adore You (Put girls energy to use with songs, scripture and worship), Royal Truths, Down In My Heart (Scripture Memory), Princess Charming, Worthy of Love (Ideas to show how to love her royal subjects: family, siblings, friends and those in the community).