Linked Up for Happiness Is...

Linked up today for Happiness Is.... I loved her post about the Red Sox. It reminded me of the movie with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore! Fever Pitch! I love that movie. When her and her father are watching the news and they show Jimmy going crazy at Red Sox Spring Training and her dad is like "what a nut job". Ha Ha!

Anywho...go check it out and find yourself some new blogs to follow!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes....

Things are changing up in here. And I L.O.V.E. it! I am in need of some change.

Nothing major mind you.

Some new arrangements. Some new colors.

What's a girl on a strict budget to do?

Time to get creative...

How about new window treatments?

These are actually hand towels that the hubs grandma hand embroiders for us every Christmas. I just can't bring myself to use them as hand towels though. So with the sewing help of my mother in law and a nifty idea from this lady
www.flowerpatchfarmgirl.blogspot.com I was set to go.
It was her napkins on those cute little clips that inspired my idea. The designs on them are lighthouses, which I love.

Next, I was inspired during a trip to Hobby Lobby to spend a birthday gift card. In the clearance isle I found an empty picture frame-no back or nuffin. For F.I.V.E bucks! I've been looking for awhile now for the perfect cross to hang in my house and I still haven't found the ONE. I was hoping to find a cross that I could hang inside the picture frame. But alas, I still didn't find one. That is when I thought of my entryway and how much I loathe it. So, I got the frame and bought a wooden letter "N". I knew I would have the perfect paper at home to cover the letter and I am going to place that N inside the frame. So, I moved out what was in there and changed it all around. I added the picture frames I have of all my kids that spell out their names in funky, cool ways and I have to say....It's my new favorite thing in my house! Check out the before/after...

Oh, I do love it so!

Next, the hallway which I need to re-do because I took two of the frames off that wall to move them to the entrance. I still want a wall of photos so now I just need to add some photos!

Right now it looks like this, minus those two long black frames...

I have some big plans for some other rooms too, but they will have to wait! What's going on around your house?

Overwhelmed...

Wow! Have you ever had so much stuff happen in one week that you didn't even know where to start? Yep, that's me this week.

Of course, I didn't know it was going to be this way. I would have prepared myself.

Again, I don't even know where to start. So I will have to resort to just touching on some major important moments. And I hope I remember them all.

But, I did have a birthday right smack dab in the middle of the week...so we'll see.

First, we thought we had a broken toe/foot up in here...

Yes, this is the teen's toe. She was playing around at camp (where she is a helper) and kicked a freezer. A doctors appointment and an x-ray later, we found out it was just a really bad sprain. Even the doctor was surprised it wasn't broken.

Then we headed out to a local "family event" in the big town next to ours and met up with some pretty cool peeps (the grandparents) and this guy...

We spent about four hours there and 95% of that time was spent in the inflatable area. But hey, for $5 bucks of air conditioned fun...I was in.

The next day we celebrated Father's Day. Lexi got to eat her first bites of "forbidden food". She had some dessert. Round these parts we call it "Better than Sex" but other families have other names for it. She loved it...as witnessed below.

So we had a few days of work and then Wednesday was my birthday. I turned 29, again. I went to lunch with my dad and step-mom. I had Chicken Marsala which is one of my very favorite foods. And they gave me several things, including this...

Yep, it's a window. With pics of me, the hubs, each of our kids, and one of all three of them. I heart it so much! Then the family and I went swimming. It was a good night.

The highlight of my week was definately this moment...

I know there is so much I am missing, but it'll be alright. I've got BIG things going on in this house o' mine. Some crafty dafty home projects that I am super excited about. AND, I finally got on Pinterest, but I haven't been able to play around much on it yet. Can't wait to do that!

And I realize that some of my pictures are sideways...they aren't that way on my computer, so I am not sure why they are posting that way. Annoying...anyone have any thoughts?

See ya'! Hope you have a great week!

So Excited...

It's Friday!!!!

Yay!!!!

I am so excited! I do love Friday...it leads to Saturday! This weekend I have plans, plans, plans. But, I am sure I will also find time to spend some much needed snuggle time with all my babes!

And I might even run into that handsome man of mine somewhere...

Saturday Fun...Picture Style...

First, I need to say that last Saturday when I did my Saturday Morning Scene-I was linking up with Loves of Life for her Saturday Morning Scene. I am so sorry that I forgot to add that. I love her blog and if you don't already follow her, you should! You must! She is awesome and her baby is gorgeousness defined!!!

Ok, so this week my Saturday was way too full to do one picture so I must bombard you with picturedom! Hope you don't mind!

The kids and I started our day by going to lunch with my mom. There is a cool restaurant a couple of towns away that features Trains. When I say trains, I mean they actually have 10 trains that go around tracks on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. This is Clark in front of the entance.

Now, you never know what you are gonna get when you take Clark somewhere. He might love it (the way you think he will)...or he might be really grumpy and not be as into as you wanted him to be. Well, lucky for us...he was totally into the trains. He kept physically pushes my head towards the train when it came around so I would see it. I will say that Lexi also really enjoyed watching them. There was one that would come right by our table, towards the ceiling and she had a perfect view. She followed it as far as she could every time it came around.

It is a really neat restaurant and I would love to go back. They have a wide variety of food (I got fried green tomatoes, which I love and can never find). And Lexi got to eat her first french fries...it was love at first bite!

Then we came home and my cousin and her wonderful family came over to help us set up our swimming pool. We are so excited about the possibility of getting to swim at home this summer. We just have to do a few more things to get it ready.

Then we got to meet the Daddy at a friends house for a cook out and swimming party at his house. We had fun and here is a little picturama to show the fun we had!

I hope you all had a great Saturday too!

Friday Confessions...

Usually I try to make my Friday Confessions a mix of funny and crazy things I have done throughout the week. Just to help everyone feel better by hearing that I too, do these insane things. But this week, well today in particular, I have a very heavy heart. My mind is cloudy and pictures of what I want to say are coming through as if they were in a crystal ball. Not quite clear enough to help me form the words I want to say.

So here it is, my confession in all it's fuzzy glory-

I AM NOT PERFECT!

Shocking, right? But then again, I never claimed that I was perfect. So why did I spend more minutes than acceptable in my office crying today over the opinion, and I do mean opinion, of someone I don't even know? Why did I allow the words spoken to affect me so? Why did that person have to be so mean? Why couldn't they accept what I was saying and know my sincerity? Why couldn't that person understand that I had a moment of weakness and I have said my peace with the person that it directly affected?

And better yet. Why is it considered acceptable for people that don't even know me to group me into a category that I don't go in. Just because they think they know me. Just because there is a surface knowledge. There is no way they can know what events have made me who I am. I don't assume to know who they are. I just don't understand why people today want to create more drama than there already is in the world.

The simple fact of the matter is: I did the best I could. That's all anyone can ask of me or anyone for that matter. The best I could. And then I apologized that my best wasn't perfect, it wasn't good enough. I said sorry. Before even confronted....so why now does it need to be dredged up again?

What I didn't say was that I could say the same about you, person. That I too have "heard" things. I too, have an opinion even though I don't know you. But, I didn't call you and express my opinion of you. I didn't call and ruin your day. I didn't make you feel worthless for doing your best and it not being good enough. And I didn't cross the line into someone else's business that wasn't even my own. I didn't make idle threats and tell you how you should have handled things. But, if I had, I would have accepted your damn apology.

The End.

Things I can't stand...

Homework on a gorgeous weekend-

Blogger-

People that think there children are trophies-

Blogger-

Having no air conditioning in my car during the summer-

Blogger-

Teeth, as in the kind that take forever to come into a sweet precious mouth and leave a wake of pain in the background-

Blogger-

This whole post was really just a way for me to rant about Blogger! There is so much I have been reading on other blogs this weekend that I want to reply to and Blogger isn't letting me reply! I hate Blogger when it does this crap!

The End...

Saturday Morning Scene....

This was my Saturday Morning...as I tried to catch a snooze on the couch...this little man found a whisk.

Clark: "Mommy I want to bake something"
Me: "Ok, what"
Clark: "I'm just gonna go find my secret ingredients"
Me: "Ok"
(insert random crashing around in the kitchen)
Me: "What exactly is it you are needing?"
Clark: "Oh, here's my secret ingredient"
(holds up mini marshmallows)
Me: "Ok, lets pour them in a bowl"
Clark: "Ok lets pour my secret ingredient in a bowl"
(at this time I am mentally starting to count the number of times he says "secret ingredient")
Clark: "My next secret ingredient is um (insert tapping finger on forehead) um, um, milk"
Me: "Great, I'll pour some in this cup and you can pour it in your bowl"
Clark: "Good idea"
I pour milk in cup, he pours milk in bowl and proceeds to whisk...I think we are done...I am wrong!
Clark: "My next secret ingredient is um, um, um..."
Me: "How about some chocolate chips?"
Clark: "Oh yes, chocolate chips, that is definately my secret ingredient"
Me: "Um, ok glad I could help"
Add chocolate chips to the mix and done...right? Nope...
Clark: "My next secret ingredient is tea" (notice he had to think about that-none)
Me: "Really?"
Clark: "Yup"
I give him some tea...he pours it into mix and starts whisking away...I snap some photos...he then proceeds to try and get me to eat it.
Clark: "Take a bite"
Me: "You take a bite"
Clark: "Try my secret ingredient"
Me: "Go get your sister to try it"

And Ladies and Gentlemen...your next Iron Chef is....Clark!