My Obsession...

I have to confess. I have several obsessions (reality TV, organizing things, root beer, the Hubs, Baby P, morning phone calls with my daddy, shoes...) 
BUT my main one is jewelry...it's kind of a problem...I love, Love, LOVE it. I am always looking for new ways to organize it because I have so much that I forget about this piece or that piece...SO when I saw a tweet from Little Miss Momma (I'm kinda obsessed with her blog..maybe I should add it to the list...?)about a DIY of her Pottery Barn jewelry holder, I knew I had to make it! 

So let the creating begin...

3-Tiered Jewelry Holder Supplies:
4 glass candle holders
3 metal trays
Epoxy (I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy)
Spray Paint (I used white)

Candle Holders and Metal Trays

The Hubs and Baby P drilling holes in the metal trays - 1 hole every 3rd ridge.

I mixed up the epoxy and glued two candlesticks together and then onto a tray with holes. I glued the other drilled tray to the top of that. Then, the other two candlesticks were glued together and then to the bottom of the middle tray. Once it was dry, I spray painted it white.

Here is what my earrings were on before. I made this over 4 years ago. It worked and was cute when all the gems were on it.

And here is what holds my earrings now! It turned out great!  I had to use one hole for each pair of earrings because yes I have that many and yes, they are color co-ordinated! I put what I wear the most on the trays. Trust me - it's not anywhere near all of my jewelry. See what it's sitting on...?? That's a jewelry armoire...ha

Here are some of my necklaces. They are on hangers in the closet. Any ideas on how to hang those better?

My bracelets. I use a plastic shoe rack to hold those - I can see all of them and the colors can be put together...

I showed the Hubs and he was impressed:

Me: "Now, that's not all of my jewelry..."
Hubs: "I know."
Me: "I think I have a problem..."
Hubs: "Uh, ya think? Jewelry and shoes."
Oops.

There is a lot of it that I don't wear and I could get rid of it, but I am saving it...for my daughter. NO, I am not pregnant, but I know that someday God will bless us with a little girl and she will want to play dress up with Mommy's jewels...sentimental - most definitely! pack rat - uhhh duh, but I come by it honestly, ahem...wink wink

What do you think? Impressed...?

DisasterS

Yesterday started out really well - I had all these wonderful intentions of starting and hopefully completing a project or two...I really wanted to make Parker's onesies, work on my jewelry holder (that post tomorrow), and start on my purse project (that post hopefully soon). Yes, I still have my burlap lamp to complete and I have a book wreath and a necklace still in the works. However, with a 6 month old, things just don't happen like they used to!

Here is our day in pictures:

Our dining room table/craft table - a mess! See the chair on the right - that is another project - paint and recover...there's four of them.

Our living room floor - my OCD twitch is starting (kidding...kinda)

I did manage to start on Parker's onesies while he took a nap.  Two onesies and two iron-on transfers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions say to trim around the transfer and so I must oblige.

We are trimmed, placed and ready to transfer!

Directions said to use a transfer towel because you aren't supposed to let the iron touch the transfer. I tried it that way and then I tried it my way (ironing directly onto the onseie) and...

This is what I got...Disaster - why do I even attempt iron-ons...?? Every time I try them, I fail. Miserably.

Round 2 - Hello Goodwill

So, on the crafty front...disaster. On the mommy front...awesome! We had a trip to Walmart, some great tummy time, and a lot of singing and dancing while lunch was cooking. Tomorrow's post is an idea I snagged from Little Miss Momma. 

Hope y'all had a good one!
 

The Dressing Room

It's summer! ...but that also brings us to the...
bathing suit. I have never been a bathing suit person - which is kinda ironic because I grew up with a swimming pool and also spent 4 years in high school in a bathing suit (varsity swimmer and lifeguard)...

Being pregnant really did a number on my body (not alone in this situation)- it was hard on me physically, emotionally, really every -lly way that it could possibly be...I loved every moment of being pregnant...almost. I will be honest, there were times that I cried because I felt like that giant cow in the pasture that I passed on my way to work, but I had to be reminded (thanks Hubs and Daddy) that it was all for a good reason - Parker...let me tell ya, I earned every stretch mark and ounce of fat that was placed on my body! When I get down on myself when I look in the mirror - like today when I bought my bathing suit, all I have to do is look down and see those chubby cheeks smiling up at me and I am reminded, that is why I have this jiggly tummy and it's okay with me - it goes along with the 4 inch roots, acne scars, dark circles and the wrinkles...yes the wrinkles...but it all compliments my smile, my eyes, my humor and my personality...

Ok - so here is where I am going with this.  Body issues have plagued me since I don't know when - no amount of flattery and praise has/will change(d) that. I hate that about myself - not that I am the only one that struggles with that...it's society...we have done this to ourselves. I see girls in my elementary struggle with these same issues, some in 1st, more in 2nd, lots in 3rd, but most in the 4th grade - HOW SAD?! How do we help these girls understand that you don't have to fit into this "perfect" mold - there is no "perfect" - we can go back to the old adage "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"...

Little Miss Momma tweeted about this post yesterday - just in time for me to read it before I bought a bathing suit today. How perfect - I wish that I had that frame of mind..one day I will - mark my words.


I am beautiful. Maybe this will be my mantra and a # on my life list/101 things to do that I am working on...

Memorial Day Weekend

Thank you to our military men and women and their daily sacrifices. May God bless you and yours.

How was everyone's weekend? Ours was great - here is the rundown!

Saturday:

Gigi and Dougles were in town - that is Kane's mom and stepdad...

I had to work so they were on baby duty...I know, I know - tough job!

Fish Fry at Nana and PawPaw's house - Monda and Clifford...man time for the boys and mom time for the girls...it was great!

Sunday:

Church

Lunch 

Date Night - woohoo! It was so weird - what do we do, what do we talk about, how do we act??! It made us wonder, what was life like pre-Parker..? We saw The Hangover II - it was hysterical! Then we went to Walmart and Hastings - it was too early to go home, so we went to Chili's to have a drink and some appetizers - there isn't much to do in Plainview, but we made the best of a free babysitter! 

Monday:

Parker woke up sick...at 1 AM...enough said.

Breakfast with Gigi

Yum

Gigi, Dougles, and Parker

Not a lot of action, but it was GREAT! I love family time!!

Last Day of School

You know how you countdown for Christmas and take each ornament out of the advent calendar and hang it on your tree and then when it is finally Christmas you feel that letdown or how you start your birthday month countdown and you mark through the days and then it's your birthday and you kinda feel like "what now"..? Surely I am not the only one that gets a birthday month, right?! I digress, that is how I feel - Friday was the last day of school. It was a very emotional day...

1. The next time that I drop off my sweet boy, he will be too big to carry in in his car seat. He will be almost 9 months! He will (hopefully) be crawling and be closing in on 1 year...I now know how my dad felt with each milestone in my life - each step closer to me being a grown - each step to Parker being a big boy. I know that I need to be glad that he is growing and accomplishing and trust me, I am, but it is still waaaaaaaaay hard to let him grow!

2 Months Old - the morning that I went back to work

Almost 6 months - the last day of school

Mrs. Karen, Parker, Mrs. Tracy - his daytime mothers

2. I am saying good-bye to a very life-changing year. I started out the year just a teacher and I ended it as a mom.

3. While I was on bed-rest, there was plenty of time to think about things and lots of stuff became VERY clear to me. I learned who were my true friends and who were not - I was surprised by several people and true colors were shown by others. I want the few people from my school that called, texted, and/or came by to know that I truly appreciate you - I can never fully express how deeply it touched me.

4. I had one parent that throughout the year became more of a friend than a parent. We had daily e-mail convos (SHHH - don't tell my boss!) She e-mailed me on a consistent basis while I was gone just to check on me and let me know how much I was missed. Both that mom and child will forever be in my heart.

5. Drama - that is the one word that I would use to describe this year. No matter what I did, it followed me and because of that, I had to do some major soul-searching, mirror looking, action revamping work on myself and that is where we will leave that.
 

SO, let me make this one last point and I will be done rambling...even though I had a very emotional day on Friday,  
I AM SO GLAD THAT IT IS SUMMER! 

Stay tuned to see what happens! :0) 

What Weekend?!

It's Sunday already and I want to know, What Weekend?!  

Here is a rundown of the weekend:
Saturday was a GREAT day! I got to play hostess because all of my family was at our house.  The morning started bright and early at 6:45, when my angel woke up and was ready for his mommy.  We ate breakfast, played, had a breathing treatment, and took a nap.  Then, my dad, Judy (GF), Nathan (brother), Alissa (GF - LOVE HER), Kara (Dad's GF daughter) and Daniel (Kara's BF)- did you follow all that? - all came over for homemade pizza and Nathan and Alissa brought cake balls - DELISH! After lunch, Kane went back to the golf course, Nathan slept on the couch, and Alissa and I talked (love her) while everyone else went to Amarillo for a dance recital.  Parker got in on the talking action too! Did I mention that I love, Love, LOVE Alissa? I have had a crazy hankering to get back to Goodwill to see what I could find, so when Nathan and his better half headed back to Lubbock, Kane and I loaded up Parker and went to Goodwill.  Last week while doing my daily blog stalking, I found my next project here and I needed a lamp. 

Here is what I found:

 My $9 Goodwill lamp

I started on it while Parker played on the floor, but I didn't get to finish it. I will share the finished product hopefully this week! I was just so excited about my find that I needed to show it off!

On to Sunday...my day started at 7:30!! HOLLA! This is the latest that I have slept in I don't even know how long - it was AH-MAY-ZING! We got up, had breakfast, played on the floor, and played hookey from church - Dada is sick...:0( Kane slept a bunch and Parker slept a bunch little. I have started this horribly bad habit of napping with Parker in the recliner on the weekends - he needs the sleep and so did I. So now, Parker will only nap when I am holding him. Oops, do you think I will get anything done this summer?! We will break that habit...eventually.  Confession: I did the following project instead of the mountain of laundry and the countertopS full of dishes...I needed this...really, I did!

 You are looking at 2 things: my awesome red door that I painted right before Easter and my awesome wreath! The before picture is below...

It was a blonde-y color that I sanded smooth before I painted it this great red color from Sherwin Williams. I think it looks SOOOOOO much better!

Good Job Momma!

 Hellllloooooo Gorgeous!!

MMMMMMKKKKK, I have a question for ALLLLLLLLL of my blog readers (sarcastic tone was implied), how in the WORLD do you have time to craft and take care of a baby and do the laundry and do the dishes and cook supper and take a shower? In my blog stalking, yes I am now a reality TV/blog addicted/1st grade teacher/mommy of one/wife of one...I digress...I see all of these AH-MAY-ZING projects that I want to do, but I just don't have time, so how do y'all do it? I need that creative outlet, but when do you have time? So if there is anybody out there that is reading this, do you have an answer....??

And with that, it is time for a shower and a bed! Until next time...

Baby Food

Ok - long story short, about 2 1/2 years ago, my mother-in-law sent me link to this baby food maker and I have saved it, thinking that I would make my own baby food with that exact appliance.  Well for Mother's Day, she got it for me!  Thanks Gigi!

Fast forward to Saturday, Kane and I decided to make a vegetable garden.  Actually, I decided, so Kane had to oblige! I looked up how to make a raised bed because I didn't want Layla to be able to get into it. Plus, I didn't really want to have to dig up a spot in our backyard, blah blah blah. So we went to our local lumber store and got 5 - 2x6x12 treated boards and some screws.  Then we went to Gebo's (Kane's company...there are 17 stores across Texas and New Mexico...so much more than a farm and ranch store and no they don't pay me for shameless plugs) to get 3 bags of each of the following: top soil, composted manure, and garden soil and some seeds (green beans, cucumbers, peas).  Then we stopped at the nursery and got strawberry, tomato, and squash plants.  We decided to make the bed 4 feet by 4 feet and 6 inches deep.  Kane measured, cut, and drilled.  I emptied and spread and planted and below are the fruits of our labor!

 Couldn't resist this pic! I believe that is a sweet potato and prune smile. Yum.

 Here is a side shot of where we put the vegetable garden.

 Hi Hubs!

 This is what Parker did for half the time. He cried/slept the other half.

Here is the final product! Kane and I worked so hard!! 

Did you happen to notice how fantastic the pics are?! That is thanks to my Mother's Day present from the hubs and the babe - a Canon Rebel T3. Love.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon - Parker and I went out back to water in our veggies and swing and I noticed that the dirt was all messed up and a plant on the ground.  So Parker and I walked over to see what was wrong and what do I find...?? Two of my strawberry plants are on the ground, one missing tomato plant and all my rows with seeds are mixed around. Layla. Ohhhhh Layla. Why are you so mean to your momma?!  I was crushed.  I was so stinking excited about that dumb garden.  I tried to fix it as best as I could.  On Tuesday afternoon, I went back out to water it and my squash plants were missing and the one remaining tomato plant was laying on it's side and there was a GIANT hole where she dug out the dirt.  I guess that we are either going to have to put up a fence...this saga is most def to be continued.