Makin' a list and checkin' it twice

I love to make lists! I am not nearly as organized as I need be, but I do use lists almost daily. When I came across this cute little Market List in a mail order catalog, I knew I would put it to good use! So, after receiving birthday money, I decided to make her mine! It looks old fashioned to me, like something my Grandmother would use in the 50's or something. I hung it on the side of my fridge, and have already started using it. Now, rather than stopping what I'm doing to add something in writing to my grocery list, I just flip an arrow and then just before going to the grocery store, I can write it all down.

I LOVE IT!!!!

Workin' hard

The weather has been so pretty lately in Texas. Let's not forget, it's FEBRUARY!!!!!!!!!!! In any case, I have been taking advantage of the sunshine during Rhett's naps, and getting our backyard in shape! We kind of let it go while I was pregnant with Rhett. I didn't take any before pictures, but I did take some "during" photos to share. It is going to take a while, but I will eventually get to the "after" photos.(One of SIX piles of trimmings- plus two trash cans filled to the top)

I really, really want our backyard to be in better shape, so wish me luck! And, I am doing all of this without hounding my hubby!

I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF!

HELP!

Is anyone else experiencing problems leaving comments? Every time today that I have tried to leave a comment, the page just reloads without my comment and it will not add it to a post! What to do, what to do. So, if you read my blog and I usually comment on yours, so sorry, it isn't for lack of trying!

Salt and Pepper, to taste

I received some money for my birthday, and decided to spruce up my walls in the breakfast area of our kitchen. I am so in love with black and white decor right now. I have this whole vision in my head, but that would require lots of $$$ and that's not really in the cards right now. So, while on one of my weekly shopping trips to Hobby Lobby, I came across this salt and pepper wall art (for lack of a better word).

I kept my eye on them for a while, and this week, they happened to be 50% off. How perfect because I had birthday money! So, without a second thought, I bought them, knowing just where to hang them in my house.

They replaced these chef canvases that I had from when we moved in. I never really liked them hanging there, they just never seemed to be the right size or exactly what I was looking for. The best part about them is that they are actually a canvas that I can paint over and create something else.

See the difference: (Before)(Well, maybe I'll keep the darker green one, just in case, but definitely painting over the light green one below!)

It's a win-win!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend, we celebrated my 28th birthday. Jeremy was so sweet and brought home a cake for me! Anyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE cake, especially the icing! I thought this cake was so pretty too!

We woke up early on Saturday and opened presents, then went to breakfast w/ Jeremy's parents. Then, they kept Rhett for us while we went to the movies. We rarely go to the movies and there were so many that I wanted to see. But, we ended up seeing Paul Blart, Mall Cop, and it was pretty funny. I decided that I really didn't want to watch anything sad on my birthday, and this movie made me laugh. Then, we came home and attempted to take a nap, but with an 8 month old who is not ready to sleep, nor is it anywhere near his nap time, that was pretty much impossible! Then, we got ready and headed out to dinner with Heather and Marc to Fireside Pies. This place was great and I really enjoyed the company. When we left there, we headed down the street to La Madeline for dessert.

I received many a wonderful gift, but my very FAVORITE of all was from my parents!Oh, how I have wanted a Burberry scarf for an eternity it seems! I have already worn it twice since my birthday, and my birthday was only 3 days ago! ha!

I had such a nice birthday and enjoyed all of the calls, texts, cards and gifts! Thank you to everyone who helped make my birthday special!!! I love you guys!!!!!!!

More V'day Overalls

The reaction to the overalls I made for my niece, Dylan, was pretty good, and two people asked me to make them some as well. One order was needed by Valentine's day; the other for a birthday in April. Anyhow, I got started on the Valentine order right away, and stayed fairly busy this week (In addition to Jeremy's and my birthday). Here is the finished product:

It's A Party!

(The cookies I decorated at Betsy's the other day!)

(Never claimed to be a cake decorator! This is Jeremy's favorite cake: Chocolate w/ M&M's. It's sort of a family tradition and was even the groom's cake at our wedding)

I have been busy over the last few weeks preparing things for a small gathering of family at our house to celebrate my husband's 29th birthday. I wanted to make his birthday special without spending a lot of money, so I got creative and used things around the house. I made a ragamuffin garland in fun colors with fabrics and ribbons that I had laying around:

These colors went well with the plates and napkins that I bought at Wal-Mart for about $1.00. I also purchased some balloons and I made everyone a fun party hat:

I got the idea for them while cruising the aisles at Hobby Lobby one day. I saw these super cute party hats made out of felt. They were $2.00 each. Then, I saw some cardboard Dora the Explorer hats on clearance for $1.19 for an 8 pack. I found some remnant felt for $1.64 that I was able to use to cover all of them. So, for less than $4.00, I was able to make party hats for everyone that was coming over! I plan on re-using some of these items for Rhett's first birthday party. So, there is even more of a savings!Speaking of Rhett, today, my little man is 8 months old! He is such a delight to be around and I am very lucky! In his short 8 months with us, he has learned to crawl (sort-of), gotten his first tooth, eats and sleeps like a champ, bathes in the big bathtub now, and can put a smile on our face just by looking at us!

Tomorrow is my 28th birthday! Boy, the big 3-0 is approaching fast! We are off for a weekend of celebrating!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life, the man of my dreams, my very best friend, and the best dang father in the whole wide world! I hope your 29th year is one full of blessings, joy and wonderful memories, and I look forward to spending many, many more birthdays with you. I love you more than words could ever, ever express! Thank you for all that you are, all that you do, and most importantly, just for being you! Have a wonderful day and we cannot wait to celebrate with you tonight!

A Valentine for the Grandparents

Since Valentine's Day is also my birthday, I never really thought about giving valentines to my parents. But, now that Rhett is here, this holiday is about more than me. So, this year, I decided to make valentines for his grandparents (my parents, Jeremy's parents and my grandmother). I put my cricut to work, and created a little surprise to mail out. I printed out a picture of Rhett and decorated them with glitter.On the inside, I wrote, "I would love you even if you didn't spoil me rotten!". I really hope Rhett's grandparents enjoy their valentine surprises!

A Great Day!

Today was a great day! I hung out at Betsy's house all day decorating cookies, and she prepared a delicious birthday lunch for me! We had cheese and crackers, sausage, pita chips and hummus and my favorite Pomegranate 7-Up! We had cheesecake and chocolate cake for dessert. But, the best part was hanging out with a great friend all day! I felt so special with this little birthday celebration and with my fabulous cookie kit: WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!
THANKS BETSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doors as Decorations?

I am sure you have all seen Nester's door hanging on the wall over her sofa. It is hung on the wall as if it were a piece of art. I think it is a neat alternative to other forms of wall decor. It got me to thinking about my own unique decorations, and I realized that I also have some doors hanging on walls, as well as some cool doors that are just doors, but I have upgraded them to make them part of my decor. I know that my design skills are no where near the greatness of Nester, but it makes me excited that I hung doors on walls long before I ever knew of her! Maybe, just maybe I do have some sort of knack for this thing called decorating! ha!

This is an ornamental iron piece that came off of an old screen door. I love this piece! It is all rusty and weathered from years of actual use on a door outside!

This is an antique door that someone sawed in half, refinished and added some Parisian influences to it. I got it at an antique shop, The Red Shed, and I love it. It hangs in our pink guest bedroom.This is a door from Pottery Barn. I don't really know if it truly is a door, but that is what it was described as in the catalog! I have two of these hanging in my master bedroom, one on each side of the dresser and mirror.

This is a real door, that leads to my laundry room. I saw a similar one in a model home and just had to have one for my own. I found this one at Home Depot and with a little saving up and some gift cards, it was mine, all mine! Others may have beautiful laundry rooms, but I have a pretty door that leads to a mediocre laundry room! ha!

And lastly, this is just a little embellishment that I added to our pantry door. I would love to have a screen pantry door or something cool like that, but the way our pantry gets, that would just be embarrassing! Although, it might be an incentive to keep it organized all of the time! But, I added these metal hinges to our pantry door for something extra. I was on a home tour one year and saw these all throughout someone's house. I loved the idea, but it could get quite costly to do every door, so I just focused on one door that could stand to be different from the rest. I love the result!

Thank you, Nester, for all of your design inspiration! Everyday, whether you know it or not, you bring beauty to someone's world, and that is an awesome accomplishment!

Valentine's Overalls

My friend Betsy is one of the most creative and crafty people I know. She inspires me to get better and better at my crafts. She also comes from a very creative and crafty family. Her mom is an excellent seamstress, her sister makes adorable things for her daughter, her dad is a great woodworker, and her brother is pretty talented at his radio producing stuff. Her husband is even artistic and succeeds at everything he does and he is not even from the same gene pool! So, you can see how being around this family motivates one to be the best crafter they can be (and still not be as great as them!)

So, I "stole" this idea from Betsy's sister, and I'm pretty sure that I stole it from Betsy too. But, I really love the girly clothing that is out there for babies. Since I cannot make my little man very cute clothing, I decide to put all of my efforts towards making things for my niece, Dylan. So, here are some pictures of some overalls that I made Dylan last night. These would be precious for any holiday or birthday!


I am also including pictures of my niece in an outfit that I made her for Christmas, along with a matching bow! I just love making this stuff for her and I thank Betsy and her creative family for inspiring me all the time!

A tooth and some crawling

Rhett officially got his first tooth on Monday. I have been suspecting it was coming for about a week now. On Monday when he woke up, I put my finger in his mouth to check things out, and there it was: a bright, shiny first tooth! I was so excited, you would have thought he walked or said mama or something! He won't let me see it very often, so photo ops are rare.

Since then, he has really stepped it up in the crawling department. There is still lots of rolling and flopping to get where he wants to go, but he is getting there none the less! Here is a little video of it:


I know that these are all trivial things that all babies eventually do, but I am so, so proud of my little man! He is such a joy to be around and I thank God everyday that He chose me to be Rhett's mommy!

Mission: Organization Part Two

I am slowly but surely clearing our cabinets and closets of unneeded stuff and trying to re-organize our life! This week's task: the master bathroom. I tackled Jeremy's cabinet yesterday and will get to mine, eventually! ha! I really don't like doing this stuff, but it really went fast and looks so much better, don't you think?

(I didn't think to take a before shot because this was not supposed to be done just for my blog :)

Reorganizing this stuff makes it so easy to compile grocery lists. I can just open the cabinet and see what I need, rather than rummaging through the cabinet for an hour. Hopefully it will stay this way for a while. The pantry is still in pretty good shape!

Oh, and Rhett entertained himself with an empty electric razor box while I cleaned!

My lil' frat boy!

Today as we were heading out for Super Bowl festivities, I decided to style Rhett's hair in a mohawk and "pop" his collar. I came out from his room to show Jeremy and he said, "hey my little frat boy!" Sorry the pic is so blurry.