Monday, August 29, 2011

beautiful things....


 nothing...and i mean NOTHING....makes my heart happier than to hear my two kids upstairs at 7:45 in the morning singing this song.....


and then listening while lainey explains to hutton that God created us out of dust.....

maybe i'm doing something right after all....

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
3 John 1:4



        


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Hello...is it me you're looking for????

 well..so much for writing more! FAIL! but to defend myself, i didn't want to spend the last week of summer vacation on the computer and the first two weeks of school have been so busy...and....new...and.....????

lainey started middle school and it has definitely been an adjustment. not bad...just...different. for starters, she doesn't even have to be there until 9:08(officially)...so i actually spend a lot of time with her in the mornings...which is great because by the time she gets home at 4:30...we are both beat! :0 it's homework, dinner, showers and bed...and our day is OVER!

hutton started school TODAY! he was a little apprehensive but when i picked him up....he was all smiles....and so was mommy...who had three hours to shop at ikea...BY MYSELF! can i get an amen?! ;)

anyway....in a nutshell...here is our last 3-4 weeks.

1. enjoyed our last few weeks of freedom and no schedules
2. went tubing in helen
3. decided i wanted to re-do our master bedroom...(SHOCKER HUH?)
4. added wheels to my chicken crate....that are gray! for some reason nobody will ever know...i ordered gray instead of black...(maybe that was why they were so cheap???)
5. i like them anyway....
6. it's so hot here...we all hate the pool
7. i've gained at least 5 pounds of wine weight
8. lainey started middle school
9. brian and i had our anniversary
10. did i mention it's H.O.T???
11. exercise??? what is that?
12. hutton started pre-k
13. i guess i better start thinking of a job for next year....
14. i'm about to paint our bedroom....
15. and want to paint more rooms than that!

ok...enough for now....i'm off to compare paint colors...

:)

ps. pics tomorrow.....

Saturday, August 6, 2011

pecky cypress

 i love my house...i really do. it has been a work in progress and that makes me love it even more. but...we have one room that I don't know if I will ever be happy with....because it has paneling. I am a light, bright, and airy person and this room just...isn't. 
 i had melaine from my sweet savannah help me with making it look brighter and it does look sooooooo much better. we talked about painting the paneling, but brian is NOT for it. and i'll tell you why. the wood has DEEP grooves and holes in it...like so deep you may end up using half a can of paint to get the hole fully covered. we searched and searched trying to find pictures to compare..but had no luck. so we were  at a standstill not knowing what to do. then a friend of mine came over, took one look at it and said..."oh! that's pecky cypress. i wouldn't paint it. it's very expensive."
WHAT?

so i googled it..and sure enough.....she was right....there was our wall. 

and here is what the tree itself looks like before the wood is cut...

and the weird thing is...the more i read about it, the more people raved about it and how beautiful it is...just check out this article...


so now...brian says we have to DEFINITELY leave it. and i'm sad. so i'm hoping for an alternative. like instead of painting...if there was a way to make the stain much much lighter and keep my whites in the room..and it could potentially go with my "beachy/cottage/farmhouse" look.

just for comparision...here is a pic of painted pecky cypress, but ours runs vertical instead of horizontal.

and here is ours...


focus on the wall..because this room doesn't even look like this anymore! ha! maybe i have a problem! :)

soooo....if anyone has any suggestions...i would love to hear them....

or maybe i should just listen to brian and..."leave well enough alone".....

happy weekend!



Thursday, August 4, 2011

what's for dinner....

red beans and rice 

this has to be the EASIEST recipe i have...and in my opinion....one of the best. my kids LOVE it, they request it about once every two weeks, it makes a ton, it uses the crock-pot....which is like having someone cook for you, it requires little clean up, and best of all...it makes your house smell SOOO good.

1.fill up your crock-pot about 3/4 of the way to the top with water
2.open and dump in one bag of small red beans.
3. pour in as many shakes as you want of this...(i probably use at least 1/2 a cup...not sure exactly..i don't measure when i cook! but you can add more if need be)

4. cook on low all day long. at this point, your house should be smelling wonderful...
5. about two hours before you want to serve dinner, add this...
turkey polish kielbasa
and a small can of tomato paste (if you have one).
6. stir and taste and try not to eat the entire pot because your mouth is watering.
7. make rice(white or brown)
8. serve over rice and we always top with sour cream and sharp cheddar cheese.

yummy yummy yummy....so easy and so good. :)

***this can be spicy depending on how much seasoning you add, but we love spice around here, so i may go a little over board...although it's nothin' a little sour cream and a glass of milk can't cool down! ha!


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

august???

i can't believe that it is august already...


in less than 2 weeks, i will have a MIDDLE SCHOOLER...


where did the summer go? obviously we had fun...because today when i tried to log in to my blog and write a new post...i couldn't even remember my password. ha! can you say slacker?


i have become obsessed with two things...
craigslist and pinterest...both waste a lot of my time...but i can't stop.
i have found several things on craigslist that can be beautified and then will look as pretty as everything on pinterest..and i'm gonna do it. because who doesn't love a good deal AND a before and after?
but this beauty needs no help...i just want her so badly...

i even went hunting around the house today looking for things i could sell to justify my purchase. anyone need a huge canvas painting, dining room chairs or two end tables?