Get out of jail free pass...and some changes

I feel like I've been given a get outta jail free pass.

School is done.  My days are not monopolized by a set work schedule.

NOT that where I was working was bad...I LOVED the people, loved the school...but my house/projects/garden/DIY crafts have suffered greatly all year.

There just isn't enough hours in every day to get things done after work.

Sad but true.

However, now I feel free as a bird.  Free to set my own schedule and do the things I need to accomplish (even if it's just my "own" to-do list.)

I'm starting with rooms.  Something will change in each of the rooms in the house.  It might be small and insignificant, like getting rid of clutter/things not needed anymore...but in other rooms, the look will change as well.

The living room will get a dose of light buttery yellow paint once I nail down the right color.  Grace's room will get some TLC (I'm living with a pre-teen who thinks first the world revolves around her, and second that the room is just one big closet, which means the closet is not the only place where clothes dwell....ah, she's got another thing comin' this summer and she doesn't even know it!), Evan's room will get a mild make-over, and so will our bedroom.

For example...in Grace's room, since she is SO into fashion and New York City (don't know why this particular city keeps popping up in her vocabulary...) we will try this simple craft with her desk.

We will tweak this a little bit.  Her desk is white, but it has big drawers, so I'm thinking I'll use my cricut to make her vinyl New York city names to put on the drawers.  She seems "warm" to this idea, meaning it might change on a moment's notice.  She also wants her room rearranged (a girl after my own heart...I can't stand things the same for too long), and I'm sure there will be many posters from her magazines put up on the walls.

Evan is a harder sell.  As a boy, his room is a dilemma to me.  He is right now into comics, and after I took him to see the new Avenger's movie a month ago, he's into playing with his iron man toys again.
So, I'm thinking this will be framed in his room somewhere...

and maybe I will take the Sunday comics we get once a week and mod podge them onto an initial for his wall.

(an E of course...)
and maybe I'll take the current wooden desk organizer he has and mod podge some comic book pages onto that too.

His will be a gradual process, but I'll post pics with both rooms when done.

All in all, I've got some big ideas floating around in my head, and it feels good, cause I've finally got my craft mojo back.

Oh, and a case of bronchitis, but thanks to my doctor friend in Sunday School class, I've got some meds for the weekend to help me feel better.

Tomorrow, it's gonna be 93 degrees.  Yuck.  I think I'll get some frames spray painted!

What are your weekend plans?

Do over please...without more school

Aside from this very HAPPY bouquet that I picked from my flower beds last Saturday...I'd like to have a do-over to the week (without the school of course.)

You see, this is our last week of school.  We actually have 2 days left.  However, instead of being extremely excited (which of course I am) I am sick.

Yeah, great week to bring it on.

Oh, and tomorrow it's gonna be about 88 degrees.  Yipee (sarcastic voice inserted here.)

So, hot, sweaty child bodies at school after recess, humid heat ruining my hair, hacking cough consuming my body, scratchy man voice because of my cold, and body aches.

Oh, yes, bring it on.

Saturday morning...you're looking so good to me right now.  Comfy bed with down comforter, you're calling my name.  Along with the Nyquil that's become my daily friend (even though I fear I'm not gonna wake up in the morning due to the way it affects my body and gives me the deepest sleep ever...)

Can't you come a little early and brighten my week?

The Disaster that wasn't

Let me start by telling you a little story...
(Disclaimer...this story MAY or MAY NOT be about me and my hubby...)

Once upon a time there was a girl who fell in love with a boy.

The boy fell in love with the girl too, but was also already in love with tractors.  (Alot)

The girl wasn't too worried about the tractors until the tractors started ruining the girl's hard work.

You see, about 6 years ago, the first incident happened.

The boy and girl had just moved into their new house, and the yard wasn't ready to be planted yet, but the girl spent a lot of hard work fixing the landscaping around the house.

One night, as the girl was watching TV, and the boy was playing around in the yard with his tractor, (discing the dirt, getting it ready to plant grass), the girl just happened to look outside and see a large metal wagon wheel roll past the window.  Well, this wagon wheel looked an awful lot like the one she had just partially buried in the flower bed at the corner of the house that very same day.  So, the girl ran to the window and threw up the sash, and asked what was going on.  (In a not very nice tone, I'm afraid to add...) and the boy used, for one of the first times, the phrase..."Don't worry about it babe, it will be just fine."  Well, it really wasn't ok.

Over the years the boy and his tractor caused many a problem.

Two years ago while plowing up a new part of the garden, the small plow attached to the back of the boy's tractor magically didn't "come up" at the right time, and plowed open a large part of the yard.  The boy also happened to run over each and every one of the six rhubarb plants in the garden already.  When the girl came out to inspect what happened, the boy surprisingly enough used the same line, "Don't worry about it babe, it will be just fine."  Hmmm.  (out of the six rhubarb plants, only 2 have made it back from near destruction.)

So, today when this came out of the barn, concern clouded the girl's face, (and rightly so.)

The boy was going to plow up the new area where the sweet corn is to be planted.
This is the area before.

It's where the chicken house has resided all winter, so it's nice and fertilized already.

These are the lilac bushes the girl and boy planted last year.  

The girl told the boy in no uncertain terms before the tractor came out of the barn that if the lilac bushes were harmed  in any way, the boy would be dead to her.  (She's tired of the ruining of the garden/plants/etc.)

So, the girl watched the boy on the tractor from the safe distance of the house...

So far, so good...

Oh, no, is there a problem???

No. Disaster averted for today at least.  And the lilac bushes...they are ok.  So, the girl's threat has blown away in the wind.  

before tilling

The boy is lucky.  Today he came away unscathed.  He is safe, for the time being.  At least until the tractor comes out of the barn again...

Moral of the story...Don't let the man you love use equipment if he can't handle it...OR, plant your valuables far away from anywhere that the man can touch with a tractor.

A Sunny Disposition

I have high hopes for some changes come summer break.

I've got 7 days till it all begins.

Frankly, I can't wait!

The color of my living room needs some updating.

It's been the same dark grayish/brown since we moved in 6 years ago.  It doesn't feel very soft and tends to be very dark.

I was thinking of a sunny/farmhouse yellow.

Once I saw Stacey's at a sort of Fairytale, I HAD to copy her.

It's Behr's Frosted Lemon, and it's beautiful!  Just the right shade of light with a tad of color.  Not too yellow.

My room has touches of yellow and red now, I just want to increase the amount of both.
Like this picture at hgtv.com

or this one.

I'm gonna need some yellow pillows

and even some union jack ones of course.

I'll get right on that with some fabric scraps I have.

These flowers have the right inspirational color combo.

Now, where to find the Behr paint...

Mother's Day 2012

I hope all of you enjoyed your Mother's Day.

I surely did.  It wasn't about the gift (cause my gift was Valentine's Day and Mother's Day rolled into one...)
it was about the serenity of the day.

We came home from church and grilled out.  I didn't feel like fighting the crowds at a restaurant in town.

After lunch I helped Evan get his LAST book report of the year out of the way.
(p.s.  I'm SO GLAD that is done!  For my son who is not a reader like I am, 4 book reports a year was killer for him.)

Then Evan and I went outside with Grace to practice volleyball before volleyball camp starts up again in June. (Dad was taking a nap inside.  Sometimes that's for the best...)

After that, I picked my own bouquet from my flower beds.

peonies...my favorite!

After that, I planted some pansies in the pots on the porch while Grace read on the lawn and Ev played DS on the porch beside me.

After I made sure Ev's lunch was packed for his field trip tomorrow, the coffee pot's alarm was set, the towels were folded, and my clothes were picked for work tomorrow, I went upstairs to my craft table.

It's been SO long since I had time to sit up there.  I turned the laptop onto the movie MONEYBALL and got to work scrapbooking.

I only got 2 2-page layouts done...but it felt good getting back in the groove.

Grace and Brent even washed the van for me.

It's been a great Mother's Day.  Very relaxing.  Very low-key.  I loved it.

Now, a Mother's Day for these ladies...a much different story.

When we counted last night there were 9 mothers and 16 babies!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Keeping the TV moguls in a job

Can't deny that I LOVE me a good TV show.

'Course it's a little restricted at my house on account of the fact that we don't have cable or satellite.  Just plain 'ol antenna TV for us.

I'm OK with that.  I do have my favorites for certain days of the week.

Most don't start till around 9pm.  I'm a night owl after all, and usually my "chores" aren't done until then anyway.

That's also bedtime in our house for the kiddos too.

It's momma time.  Time to unwind.  Time to relax.  Time to transport myself to another place.

I used to record my shows on tape until I just ran out of time to watch the recorded tapes, so I try to watch the shows "live" whenever I can.

There are, however days that there is just NOTHING on.  I'm OK with that too.  

In the summer I even catch up on the shows I missed through the winter when we were busy.

My favorites...well, there are alot.

Monday nights I like Hart of Dixie on the CW at 9pm

followed by Castle on ABC at 10pm.

On Tuesday, well, there just isn't anything worth really watching on Tuesday.  Unfortunate but true.

Wednesday boasts one of the funniest shows out there.  Can't wait to watch it each Wednesday.  Cracks me up!

Thursdays I'm kinda into the newest drama...Scandal on ABC at 10pm.

Fridays, unfortunately nothing again...and Saturdays too.  TV people, you've gotta crack something out for these two days.  I miss me my Friday Night Lights!
But Sunday, ah, there are TWO great shows.  Unfortunately they are on at the same time, so I'm watching the second one on DVD from Netflix.
The first is my favorite...  Once Upon a Time on ABC at 8pm.
Didn't think I would like fairy tales as a grown up, but it's a great show!

The second...Downton Abbey on PBS (our public broadcasting station).  Great drama.  LOVE the clothes and what constituted as drama back then.  Names and Titles and all.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not a TV aholic, but I do like good shows.  What else other than reading can transport you to another realm?

What are your favorites?

Found objects

It's Saturday.

I had errands to run.  It's the only day of the week with no softball practice, or games, or PTO meetings, or church bazaar meetings, or...well, you know.

It's my one day of the week to catch up on cleaning, or outside chores, or, well...everything that doesn't get done on a weekday.

I wish I could just sit around with a book and read every Saturday.  It would be heaven.

But it's not reality, unless I'm sick.  Which I wasn't today, so it was errand and hard work day.

Grace went with me in the morning.  We got gas, went to Menards for more insulators for my tiny tomato plants (which went in the ground today...along with peppers and cabbage that I grew from seeds in the kitchen window), the library to return books, the resale shop where I sell our clothes, and then I asked if she wanted to stop at Goodwill.

Well,  her answer is ALWAYS the same.  Um, Yes.  Hello.  It's shopping.  There might be something for me.

You know the drill.

When I drove up, I noticed it was a 50% off day.  This can be a good and bad thing all rolled into one.

You see, we pulled in about 1 hour after they opened. On 50% off days they can be extremely busy, like no carts available busy, or...like today.

Today, it was a good thing.  It wasn't too busy, and I stumbled upon some GREAT things.

Now, stop right there.  I know what some of you are thinking.  "What in the world are you gonna do with that stuff?"

That's WHY I surf Pinterest.com People.  For ideas for stuff like this!

Now, I'll be honest...the Penmanship book.

I really don't know what this will be used for...unless I sell it in my ETSY shop when I get it opened.  It was vintage looking and full of unused school lined paper.

The small tin...
It will become a very cute little pin cushion with vintage fabric.
The knives...

I just stumbled upon the idea for them last night in a magazine I was purging.  Old stainless steel knives were used as plant markers.  Just use a small sharpie marker to write (in beautiful script of course) the name of the plant, and stand it upright in your pot.  Adorable.  Could also be used outside to mark rows in the garden.  $.25/each, and then at half price...come on!  Now, I may be wrong...but were these not the same exact pattern of the knives I grew up using Mom?

The small file folders...

I just saw an idea for a small vacation scrapbook made out of file folders stapled together, or bound however you wanted.  Each folder had a page for each member of the family to tell their favorite things from the vacation.  Great idea!

The frame...to be used...I'm not sure how, but it will get a dose of spray paint once I decide on the color.
The large piece of Styrofoam will be used to stand up the rings I'm making for my ETSY shop.

I also scored a new pack of scented vacuum bags, a large container of small paper cups for Evan's state project  on Wednesday, an Elle shirt for me, and some brand new Velcro curlers that Grace wants to try in her hair.

I used my $5 off coupon, and my total bill....$4.75.

Seriously.

Made a great start to my day.

Then I came home and worked my tail off in the garden, and got a farmer's sunburn to prove it!

How was your Saturday?

Using what I already have

Until summer, my weekend time is more precious than you know.

So, when I thought about a quick project, or two or three,

 I could accomplish this weekend, I pulled out the big guns...
my Pinterest boards.

I thought about some new pillows...

from all that fabric I have stashed away.

Or what about these extremely awesome "vintage-a-fied" drawers that really are IKEA drawers...which I already have...
BEFORE:

AFTER:

source

or even this very simple jar/vase to hang with all my irises that have started blooming.

(I even have these very same hooks.)

I might finish one of these, or all three if I have the time...we'll see.  I also have some outside things that need to be done.


So, some advice, for those of you looking for something to change.  Use things you already have.  Just move them to another room, or change them around a little...they will look different. 

I promise.