Birthday Boy

Eleven years ago today I had our first child. A little baby boy...so precious. Happy Birthday to my beautiful not so little boy. I thought today was the perfect day to reflect on some old memories...

This is Bayley in ski school his first time to ski...of course he did amazing his first time down the mountain even better then his Dad!!!!

This was...was it 2 or 3 years ago when Tech beat the Longhorns...anyway he was very excited, especially since his longhorn fan uncle was watching the game with us.

                                        My little ALLSTAR catcher...Giants 2010 Undefeated!!!

Me and my sweet baby at Six Flags the summer before last.

Bay and Dad...Church Camp 09

and I have saved the best for last...

This is so funny. We got in line for a ride that we thought was equivalent to the mine train but we were in for a BIG surprise. My son was NOT happy and to this day he doesn't like Six Flags.

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY BAYLEY!!!!!

My skinny tree

I love my skinny tree. My grandmother gave it to me several years ago when I thought I would never have a fake tree and I have loved it ever since. It fits perfectly in my small living area. I decided to go in a completely different direction with my colors this year too. My inspiration came from some super cute wrapping paper that I bought from a school fundraiser. I will share a picture of it after I get some presents wrapped.

 I love bows and polka dots!!!!!

I have 3 Nativity scenes...I always put them all out since Jesus is the reason for the season

I saw a version of this on Funky Junk Interiors and just had to try it out.

Since we don't have a fireplace I decided to hang our stockings on an old ladder that I made out of pickets. My Mimi made the stockings for us.

And here are my kiddos trees in their rooms:

Christmas ornament tutorial

I wanted a whole new look this year for Christmas. We have had the same thing since we got married almost 12 years ago so it was definitely time. I saw an ornament like this one at K-mart and decided I was going to make some of these. It was very simple and I think it added a lot to my tree.

Supplies:
several different ribbons (I bought a yard of each and split into 4)
ric rac
buttons
hot glue gun

 I first laid out a thin ribbon and started stacking my different ribbons on top.

 Then you tie it as tight as possible in the middle of the stack of ribbon.

 Then I tied it into a loop at the top to make a hanger.

 Then, with another piece of the thin ribbon, I tied another one about an inch from the top.

 Next I hot glued buttons on the bottoms of some of the ribbon.

 And here it is hanging on my tree.

Will Cotton Season Ever Be Over???????

I have been sick now for going on 3 weeks. It is killing me because I have sooooo much I need to do. I RARELY get sick so I am attributing all of this to the cotton being stripped. I don't think that I have completed a single thing in over a month. I have piddled here and there because I just can't sit still, so I do as much as my body is allowing at one time. I did almost finish a small remodel on my dinning area.

Here are the before pictures

The color on the walls is the first thing to go...I have painted all of the wood trim in the rest of my house...this room contained the last of it.

The Campbell's Soup stuff came from my Grandmother's house when she passed away. My whole kitchen is decorated with it. I think it is cute stuff but I was tired of so much of it so I wanted to tone it down.

My husband was thrilled for this to be removed. It hangs down in the center of the room...not even over the table, resulting in taller people running into it...mainly my husband. Me being only 5' tall never had that problem but I didn't care for the way it looked.


And here is what I have done so far:

 The wall color is Luminous from Wal-mart and the trim is cashmere white from Kilz.

 I took down the quilt shelf and hung an antique door frame topper. I hung the same curtains back up but I am still trying to decide if they match.

 Yeah the ugly light has been replaced with a very simple light fixture.

 I painted this wall the same color as the living room because it connects...Brass tack from Wal-mart.


I had to incorporate 2 things that I saw on my 2 FAVORITE blogs:

 This is a sheet music wreath that I saw on Miss Mustard Seed Creations.

And this is a family rules canvas that I saw featured on The Pleated Poppy. This took forever to make, but so worth it...I love this idea!!!

A little bit of Brag

OK I had to take time today to blog about my SUPER SMART little girl...it's OK to brag once in awhile right????? . The surprises with her actually started when she was in kindergarten and her teacher told me that she was a candidate for gifted and talented. She told me that Paige is the only student she has had that started kindergarten already reading. How did this happen you ask...NO CLUE!!!! Then we moved on to the first grade where she was awarded the top honor for the entire 1st grade in Accelerated Reading!!!!! I was so proud. Lately though it has been a struggle with her. She is an 8 year old going on 25. She has a mind of her on which is really hard for me being the semi-controlling person I am. She is sassy with an attitude. This past week has been especially hard on our mother/ daughter relationship. She is just not the organized person that I am and that my 10 year old son is. So I was relieved this week when I had a parent teacher conference with her 2nd grade teacher. She told me that Paige was an excellent student with no behavior problem. She said that she scored above average on all her tests and that she believed she could go to the 3rd grade right now and do just fine. Once again all my frustrations with her melted away. She is a very special little girl and I pray God uses her in a powerful way!!!

Busy Bee

Here are the pictures of the garage remodel that I promised...It is far from finished. Maybe now that my kids are done with soccer and football  I will have a little more time to finish.

Here is part of the mess I am dealing with

Here is the little progress I have made. I hung the peg board, textured the wall and painted. I am not really fond of the arrangement on the peg board so I am sure it will be rearranged.

I was not quite ready for summer to be over so it took me a little longer to get my fall decorations out this but better late then never right???

Here are some of the little girl things that I have made...

Bulletin board

This is a weekly clothes organizer.

 I made one of these for my little girl and I love it...no more Mom I Don't want to wear that!!!



Bulletin Board or Hair Bow Organizer




Here are some things I have done to my bedroom...



Antique picture frame with pics of my kids. I just cut scrap book paper to fill each window and glued 5x7 black and white photos of my kids. I am NOT a good photographer.



This is my attempt at a jewelry organizer. I have seen several of these in blog world and though it was just what I need. I think it needs something more though.



I don't even know what to say about this. I saw something like it at my husbands orthodontist office. It definitely did not turn out the way I wanted. I was NOT crazy about it at all at first. It has kinda grown on me but I will probably end up redoing it.