Hurricanes, New Beginnings, and Randomness

I've been a bit absent from the blog lately mostly because I'm constantly trying to catch up...on everything. Work, kids, projects. Summer is winding down and I want to enjoy every minute!

Hurricane Irene swept through last weekend and took one of our big trees down in the backyard. Thankfully it was a tree that hubs was going to be chopping down anyway, so thank you Irene for doing the work for us! Although the day-long power outage was a bit annoying, I'm so thankful it didn't cause more damage.

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Aaaaaand, it's a new chapter in this mama's life! My oldest officially started Kindergarten this morning. She was nervous, excited, scared, jittery, shy, but she got on the bus and waved as she went!

Jack had every intention of going to school with her and wept with disappoinment when she left without him!! Poor guy! Do you like his pink backpack?

My littles and I waiting for the bus...

It's here!! Goodness, I think I shall have a heart attack.

And off she went to the land of new friends, and teachers, and books, and learning, and all kinds of fun things. And now I need to let go. Something that is pretty hard for this mama to do. But I know that Avery has a very sweet teacher who loves Jesus and children and she is in good hands.

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Yes, my children drink coffee.

Well, not on a regular basis, but the husband thinks it's his duty to make sure his children turn out to be coffee drinkers (unlike their mama). And they love it.

Excuse Shirtless Jack. He is typically shirtless and shoeless. And sometimes pantless. Such a boy.

Apparently someone cracked a joke.



And now I'm off to play outside with Jack while we wait for Avery to finish her first morning of school (she goes every day for a half-day in the mornings).

Have a great day friends!

Seaside Inspired Mantle

For some reason (as if I don't have enough to do) I've been itching to change my fireplace mantle around, so I've been working on a new look for the past few days and thought I'd share what it looks like now.

Just for fun, I took a look at some old photos and this is what the room looked like just before we moved in almost six years ago.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Aaaahh, it's like a breath of fresh air! I've been working on the painting above the mantle for the past week and it's been a lot of fun.

A very sweet reader, Lisa Zimmerman, let me know that she had some old doors in her barn that she wanted to get rid of, so I picked them up.  My husband cut one of the doors in half, and I used it for this painting.

The white sconces on either side of the painting came from Ikea. I covered some old books with scrapbooking paper, then tied them together with twine. And the two topiaries on top of the built-in bookcases came from a yard sale.

You can see in the "before" picture that the fireplace was brick and was really sooty. One day I just decided to go for it and paint over the brick. The paint has lasted really well and it really brightens the rooms. I painted the top of the mantle a dark brown color.

In case you were wondering, the wall has paneling on it and we painted over it.

The photo blocks are made from wood blocks that I decoupaged photos onto.

I should have done this mantle re-do a few months ago since it's a "summery" look, and I should be thinking about decorating for fall soon.

Oh, well! At this stage of my life, it's better late than never!



Away for the Day

On Saturday we headed to a little spot called Tangier Island in Virginia, a tiny, peaceful little spot in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

We went with our pilot peeps - our friends Mark & Mary. It is advantageous to have a friend who is a pilot! And fun, too, let me tell you. He's taken us to Boston, Niagra Falls, Cape May, and Vermont in the past few years.

After a 1 1/2 hour flight, we landed on a little runway on Tangier Island. It almost looks like the Caribbean, right?

Pretty little houses dotted the coastline...

And the beach! Oh, my, was it pretty! And the water was so nice and warm. Unfortunately, we didn't have our swimming suits along. But that didn't stop us from going swimming anyway! (Thank goodness there are no photos to document THAT! It was a private beach - enough said!)

We did get stung by jellyfish, but the hilarious moments we had made up for the pain!

We ate some amazing seafood - crab bisque, crab cakes, shrimp po boys, yum, yum, yum.

What a fun time of exploring and adventure! We didn't have our kids along (which is pretty rare), so we acted like we were kids again! :)

And now it's the last week before school officially starts. It feels surreal that I will have a child in school!! Unreal.

I have a lot on my plate this week, but I want to make the most of this time to really enjoy my kids. Plans include pool time, watching their daddy play softball in the evenings, taking walks, swinging, and just having FUN and clinging to the last days of SUMMER while it's still here!

Happy Monday friends!



Shop Additions

I just added a couple more wood sign into my Etsy Shop today.

Some of you had asked what I was going to do with the barn door I had pictured earlier. I decided to make a sign out of it with a scripture verse. I stained it a gorgeous dark walnut color then hand painted the lettering.

And I'm really happy with how it turned out! I especially love the original old hinge that's still attached to the door.

And I made another one with a thick slab of salvaged wood. I also stained this one a dark walnut color and hand painted the lettering.

Do you ever feel like you are being pulled in a million different directions??

Yes?

Of course. I know I'm not alone!

Right now there are so many projects that are calling my name. All of which I love doing. But the problem is, I also have a household to take care of. And meals to make. And three precious little kiddos who constantly need me. They are the most important things in the world, and today I keep repeating to myself this quote I saw on Pinterest...

"When in doubt, choose the kids.

There will be plenty of time later

to choose work."



This Monday Morning Finds Me...

:: working on a painting on my dining room table. My canvas is a very old barn door. What will it turn out to be???

:: staining another old barn door. It will turn into a sign soon.

:: (and this is super-exciting, so hold your breath) laundry. And, no, I didn't photoshop this picture of my laundry room. Can you even stand how fabulous it is??

(I hope you can sense the sarcasm)

:: picking up toys strewn around the house from the weekend.

:: and helping my neighbor Chandra choose new paint colors for her house (love it).

Also on the agenda:

:: Pick up corn from a produce stand for dinner.

:: Maybe a trip to the post office.

:: Work on my "real" job while the kids nap (I'm a travel agent).

:: Try to relax a little! HA!!

Hope you are having a fabulous Monday!



Some Family Fun + A Thrifty Find

Like I mentioned before, every Thursday night is Family Night at my parents' house. The weather has been so gorgeous lately and last night was no exception. It was perfect!

The little cousins played hula hoops and rode scooters and tuckered themselves out!

Little Violet watched the action from the sidelines....for now.

My neice Nya looking awfully sweet. But don't let her fool you - she's got some spunk!

In case you care (sorry about all this mommy-talk), potty training Jack has been, well, I'm not even sure what to say. It's been challenging to say the least. I don't think I've ever cleaned up so many puddles in my life. He has yet to actually go in the toilet. I don't remember that Avery was so difficult to train, but maybe I just forget.

Oh, boy...all I can do is keep trying!


Moving along....to my thrifty find for the week.

I know what you are going to say - why are you wearing a coat in the middle of summer?

Because I found it at Goodwill.

In their bargain bins.

For 85 cents.

It's a really good quality coat from French designers Marithe Francois Girbaud.

And it fits me perfectly.

Score!

If you don't shop at thrift stores, you really should try it sometime. It might just be the highlight of your week! :)

Happy Weekend Peeps!

Around the House

I'm feeling like I'm in a bit of a creativity rut right now, mostly due to my frenzied cleaning and the mountains of laundry I've been washing the past few days. Plus potty training a certain little blonde-haired boy who keeps peeing right through his undies (it's not going well).

So I thought I'd just share some photos from around the house.

My summer mantle...I'm working on a painting that I think I'm going to put over the mantle - so excited to see how it turns out.

I found this lamp at Goodwill and just loved the shape of it. The shade is from Target.

I hung a bunch of old mirrors and picture frames up the staircase. I'm a little obsessed with mirrors right now.

I love this window seat in the kitchen. It's where the kids and guests hang out while I'm getting dinner ready, and there is loads of storage in the drawers below. I made the striped pillow from an Ikea rug.

This is the office/playroom. It's always a work-in-progress. I want it to be a fun space for the kids to play and be creative. They spend a lot of time in here. I hung an old ladder from the ceiling and have tissue paper pom poms hanging from it.

Happy Wednesday friends!