new finds...

i have found several new to me blogs lately that i have been absolutely stalkerizing. by that i mean i have poured over post after post...like over a year's worth. i have found several through some of you and because of that, today i will "feature" The Pleated Poppy. i am just enamored by her super craftiness. and she shares a love of amy butler (as mentioned a few posts ago). and TODAY for her birthday...she is having a giveaway!!! so run on over, tell her happy birthday and tell her i sent you, and if you win her giveaway, you can send it to me. cause i'm mean like that haha!!

don't adjust your screens...

you're in the right place!! hope you like our new nest!! have a great weekend. hopefully next week as we get ready to head out for the beach, i'll have things to say. if not, i'll be rubbing it in your face coming to you live from the sand the next week. we'll be celebrating this little cutie's first birthday while we are there! can you believe it? this is a sad mama. i may eat her face with the cupcakes.

it's not that i don't love you...

it's just that i've been trying to keep myself busy and teach myself a few new tricks. remember those end tables and lamps i bought the day before the folks backed out of our house... i didn't mention that now they just sit in my garage waiting patiently b/c there isn't room for them in my current house, did i? sad, but true.

this is a shirt i made for our friend/"cousin", Maddie. she lives in Nevada these days and we miss her terribly. we hope to see her this summer!! (can i just tell you that the "m" was a booger for this novice? i'm not good at turns. any advice would be appreciated for real, yo.)

and for my angel girl...

and for anderson...cause suzie asked! i hope it's ok! and i hope he feels better soon!!

thank you!!

to all who have died for my freedoms...THANK YOU!! those words seem insignificant.

we have a responsibility:

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM." 2 Corinthians 3:17

"It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

"You my brothers, were called to be FREE. Do not use your FREEDOM to indulge the sinful nature. Rather, serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13

giveaway

giveaway at KK's Kreations / Engraved Euniques today!! don't miss it! her stuff is soooo cute!!

a butterfly for my butterfly...

i've had several projects going on lately. and the other night, i decided to whip out my sewing machine and try something i have been putting off...applique. i knew it wouldn't be too hard, but i am a seriously novice seamstress. (i originally wrote sewer right there, but that doesn't look right. even though, seamstress is sooooo--or sew-far from what i do.) anyway, here is my first attempt. it is so far from perfect, but still, darn cute.

why on earth i chose something so curvy for my first attempt, i have no clue. just call me ambitious.

and i absolutely did NOT sew the shirt together in one place. not me!!

did i happen to mention that the fabric i used is from a patch kit. you know, like the kind you use to patch jeans and whatnot?? well, it is. it was so first time and practice, i didn't even use stablizer. i'm sure i'll regret it after i wash it once. but oh well, i'm good with that. i have the next pattern all cut out. and it's gonna be equally as insane...but more. cause again...i'm crazy ambitious.

she liked it...and that's all that matters.

there's a word for people like her...

Amy Butler that is...and it think it's GENIUS!! I can't wait for my little angel to have a big girl room. just can't wait. too bad she has to be a big girl to get a big girl room. that part...i don't like so much.

house update

**UPDATE**micah talked to the inspector and the realtors. turns out that the couple decided to back out before getting the report. the inspector said our house was nice and well taken care of. the wiring he was talking about was to the appliances. turns out that outside of madison county, electrical inspections aren't required up here. what we have is up to code, but it could be a grade better i guess. he said it was easily fixable and could be done in a day. he even called an electrician while here to be sure he was right and it was not a big issue. apparently they just wanted out. so we are gonna keep it up for sale until august 1st. if it hasn't sold by then, we will take it off of the market until next march so that luke's school isn't interrupted this year and go from there. thanks for your prayers. i really appreciate them. we are sad that we'll lose the other house, but God will provide.

prayer request

yall, please say a prayer for us. we found out today that the inspector talked the buyers out of buying our house. he told them he didn't like the way our house was wired. it's apparently up to code where we live, but the code is a little "looser" where we live i guess. it passed when we had an offer a year ago. our realtor said he has been doing this for 30 years and never had a house fail on electrical. so obviously, please pray the house doesn't burn down around us. we apparently live in a crack house.

trash to treasure::a sneak peak

everything you see here cost a total of $8. it's a little table that has a lift top, that will be painted and become a little desk to go in luke's room since he'll get homework starting in august (insert: it's stupid for kindergartners to have homework. luke will be bored for a little bit. he has somehow taught himself to read. that isn't bragging on me b/c i don't think i did it.) inside of the desk is a clear glass canister with the clamp top (sorry, somebody tell me what it's called), a basket that i will use in probably the kitchen, and 3 plates that are a creamy white with a yellow flower print on them. cause 'member...i have a yellow kitchen. and it will stay for a while... probably. just not those sunflowers. oh--and a wicker lamp shade...that will get painted and used...somewhere. not sure where yet.

next up is one of the two end tables i bought. how about i got two for $18? her husband wanted $30. but that's what he gets for not being there. they wanted to get rid of them. i wanted to help them out.

this is the cappuccino paint color i was trying out. i didn't go with it, but i like it. may use it for something in my bedroom. it would be better there than with my LR furniture.

this is the back of one of the tables. on the left side is "porcelain". it is the color i am going with. it's kinda creamy looking. it will really soften up those red walls. also, if you notice, the left back leg is missing a trim piece up top. it was there in the store, just loose. oh well, who will notice?? not me. not since that one was $8.

next up, deciding what to do with these gigantor lamps. i'm painting them to go on top of the end tables. maybe black?? and finding shades for them.

i hope you will stay tuned...

today, i swung by the consignment shop to drop off the walker and get paid for what had already sold. and with $40 dollars in my hands, i headed out to the thrift stores around here to see what i could see for the new house. you are never gonna believe what all i got. i will be spending as much time painting as packing over the next few weeks, so i'm going to probably enlist your help. again, i don't trust my decorating eye. but i have been spending countless hours looking at your sites and others to figure out how to dress my nest. i can't wait to show you. i hope you'll stay tuned b/c don't we all love a before and after? i think that was a collective yes. here's a hint...2 end tables, 4 lamps, 2 lamp shades, 3 plates, 1 child's desk...all for $60. i'm sure my husband thinks i'm nuts. but he'll be thanking me that i only spent $18 on TWO end tables verses $100 each...and they will have character. can i get an AMEN??

a few things you have missed

yard bouquets...

cousin darby...

a.k.a. the other girl in the family

the four reds...luke, darby, michael and seth

the four cousins + 2 workers' kids in trouble {a.k.a grammy having a heart attack b/c it's what boys do when left unsupervised--and yes, i'm taking pictures and having no reaction at all}

hours upon hours of fetch with our neighbor's dog, max

big attitude...

big girl growing too fast...

big boys...

singing big songs...

and getting ready to go to big school.

He has done marvelous things!! AGAIN!!!

do yall remember me asking you to pray for this family? well, look who got to go home!!! what a wonderful reward to the faithful!!

before i forget...

do you remember that i told you i went on another girl date with a fellow blogger? well, i just remembered that i forgot to tell you about it. a few months ago, the other mama and i went on a little outing. you can read about it here. and for enduring our double post about it (and for being mean and making you comment on both blogs b/c we are comment whores like that) we gave away a gift card to PF Changs. Kera won that gift card. she said she would save it until i could go with her. how awesome is that?? i'd walk through fire for some PFs. ok, well, maybe not walk through fire. but definitely step on a match with my flip flops on. well, we decided that we needed to get together. i had also comissioned her to make a shirt for my precious little angel for her first birthday. go ahead, drool over it. it's ok. she'll make you one.

so we HAD to get together. she had a class to take (which i'm still waiting to hear about) so we decided we'd meet for brunch at a local little diner place. let me start by saying this. you know i like to primp for my girls, right? i think i made that clear in my previous girl post. we were supposed to meet at 10 AM. it takes me 20 minutes to get where we were meeting. YALL....I DIDN'T WAIT UP UNTIL 9!!! NINE!!! you do the math. i mean 40 minutes?? and that included needing to shave and get good hair. the good news...is that i had an excuse for not worrying on the hair. it had been a monsoon in the huntsville area, so i had humidity to blame. check. i made it right at 10, scored us a table and started looking over the menu. soooooo hard to decide. she had the western omlette with home fries (and water, cause that cancels out those home fries) and i had the best french toast i have EVAH had. i still dream about it. it was 3 pieces of cinnamon and brown sugar goodness. thankfully i thought ahead and had water too. otherwise, that would have been a close one. and at least i also operate on the theory that when you are enjoying Christian fellowship, everything is fat free. cause i'll tell you, had it not been the first time i had actually met kera, i probably would have licked my plate. it was that good. (side note, kera grew up at church with my hubby. that is how we originally "know" each other. i have a really funny story to tell her one day, but my hubs forbade me from telling it here.) anyway, i'll tell you that she stole my heart when she offered me hand sanitizer before we ate. hillary, she knocked you off of your throne for now. sorry love. (yall remember hillary asked me if i liked/shopped at NY & co? precious.) kera and i talked about our hubbies, our babies, and plenty of other things that you can only say to certain people. we knew immediately that we are those certain people. even if we DO know each other's extended families. that makes it all the better!! i do have my "Clairee" moments when "if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, come sit by me." i own it. i'm not proud. but it happens. we had to make ourselves quit talking. we have already decided that when she comes out to see her mama (which is where we are moving), we may take our babies out to the cry room at the first peep they make so we can catch up. cause that's how to keep it real as Christian wives and mamas. you know...role models. that's us!! thanks, Kera! it was super fun and i can't wait to do it again!! who wants to go with me next?

probably so wrong...

i ripped these pics right off of the realty site. i think it is listed as 5 bedrooms. we call it 4 bedrooms and a bonus room. excuse the sunflowers. they'll be the first thing to go. and also don't look at the rest of his decor and the fact that he hangs pics even with the top of the window. next will be paint. cause other than the LR, MBR, and kitchen, it is spec white...or off white. so color we will have. something warm and neutral. anyway, here she is. ask any question you may have. i'll try to answer.