~Smartest Thing I've Done In A While~

I happen to have a mud room. It's just now, three months into our move, getting my attention.
I found a great burlap covered pin board with cute little nail head push pin things around the edges.

I'm sure I could have covered a board myself for a little less than my Tuesday Morning purchase but let's be honest. I have to have serious motivation, extra time, a burst of energy, and a really great idea to make myself attempt a craft or DIY of any sort.

Case in point:
A friend's daughter spent the night with my girls recently and excitedly asked,
"Ooh! Mrs. Stacey! Can we do a craft later?!"
I just smiled, chuckled, and replied, "uhm, probably not."
In my head, I said,
"Child! You are asking  the wrong Mama! This is Mrs. Stacey here. I can think of another Mama I can drop y'all off with to do a craft. Then you can come back here for popcorn, a movie, and a great bedtime story....But that's about all you're gonna' get from me."

See, it's not that I hate to do crafty things....I actually enjoy it when the mood strikes but that is not a weekly occurrence.

So this mud room. The #1 thing I must have is a calendar. Since I have an aversion to stark white, I really hoped to find an alternative to a white dry erase board and I really wanted to somehow attach it to my cutesy burlap board.

After my Pinterest research and I saw three dozen DIY calendar ideas involving frames, fabric, ribbon, magnets, sharpies, glass, tracing, gluing, and stapling, I'm thinking,
"Please. Can't a girl just get a brown calendar somewhere that will magically hang on a burlap board?!"

My next move was to quit thinking about it. Then came a quick stroll through Target.

There it was. A semi cute flip calendar that goes from July 2013 to July 2014.
Not too heavy (might hang on my board) and not solid white (won't feel like I'm in an office).

Tadaaaa!

Like I said. Smartest thing I've done in a while. Calendar for a year costs $10 and about 7 seconds.

~stacey

~Beach 2013~

I know God didn't create summer break per say, BUT, I'm convinced He knows I need it and that He enjoys my enjoying it. 

I mean. Just the break from the hurry up is beyond wonderful. 

Nothing is ever all done all the time and the summer affords me the luxury of not being a complete stress ball because I'm a panic stricken, almost always behind mother at least 85% of the time.

Okay, so maybe panic stricken is a bit of an overstatement but at the very least, I am less than thrilled with never being all done and my "have to do" list is MUCH longer between August and May.

I think I'll be a wonderful grandmother. May be better at that than I am at being Mom. :-) 

Moving on.....

Is it weird that I enjoy the beach pictures ALMOST as much as I enjoy the beach itself?
I mean not quite, but pretty darn close. And it's not like I have a camera glued to my face the entire time but I just love these sweet faces and feet, moments and memories. ....especially the ones I catch when no one is looking. 

 

 

Proof that I was actually there.

 

Doctors are everywhere on our beach trip. 

Dr. Chris is so good, the girl can eat ice cream, DURING a splinter removal.

That is some serious skill.

Jumping. 

It's what we do. 

Some people do the duck bill platypus face.

We jump.

At the beach.

Every chance we get.

~stacey

~The S Word~

I just put on facebook that I do not do critters of any sort.
All in one day, thanks in part to Brad clearing out an old wood pile, (at least I hope that's what it was) I saw TWO, got that? TWO scorpions IN my house.
a bird, building a nest IN MY POOL BAG IN MY GARAGE,
and a flying squirrel IN MY KITCHEN.
This is NOT, I repeat, NOT okay.

This beautiful new house we have that I love is quickly losing it's luster.
Just yesterday, I said,
"Brad. If I see ONE snake. Just one. Don't care what kind. Don't care how big. Just one.....and I'm getting a cat." And he half heartedly agreed.
This is a monumental statement because........

We are not cat people. We thought we were dog people but found out that we are definitely not even that. Sad but true.

Brad said it best.

"We have kids. Not dogs."

Four kids is plenty. Don't need anything else to care for.

But. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

He killed a snake IN our garage today.

Never mind that it was small.

Never mind that it was a "friendly" rat snake.

I don't have rats.

I have no use for a rat snake.

We're getting a cat.

I'm not one to do something without the husband's okay......old fashioned, maybe.....but that's how it is.

However, I've declared out loud today, no less that 8 times,

"WE ARE GETTING A CAT." (determined that the more I say it, the more I will wear my highly allergic husband down because I'm c.o.n.v.i.n.c.e.d. that cats keep the s word away.)

That's all.

~stacey

~Reese's Room~

It strikes me as funny that I'm posting about "decorating" when I'm SO not a decorator. My talented friend, Amy, is my decorator. I've caught myself laughing as I sit on Reese's floor making decisions about what should go where. It literally gives me a headache.

See, we're not in full on, budget ready decorating mode just yet.  I'm simply putting what we have up on walls because I cannot stand another minute of brown boxes on the floor.

Nor can my girls. I learned that when I heard that Avery's prayer request at Sunday school recently was, "That we would finally get all moved in." I about died.......so funny!

Anyway. Here it is.

Furniture from my grandmother.
A comforter that I love.
A collage of art that sort of contradicts my ideal color scheme but it's HERS and she loves it.
Lights on a dresser because who doesn't want Christmas lights up all year?!
First competition leo and medals because it's so great to find the thing she loves and can actually do! ;-)

and no, she did not paint the bottom left canvas! 

I have since cleaned this mirror.

Just in case you were wondering......cuz' all I see is streaks. Oh. And a precious little sister.

Struggling with what to put over her bed.

Love her little homemade banner and all but I'm thinking that's more closet wall worthy.

Contemplating a big one of these:

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Lovely to be here on blogger. Finally finished copying and pasting. 

So very grateful for the reprieve of summer.

~stacey

~Baked Beans On Your Burger~

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

~Baked Beans On Your Burger~ So obviously, I need to start a group entitled, "Can't Leave Xanga Anonymous".  It's not that I can't stand to leave, but more I can't find the time to finish copying and pasting all my old posts.  Maybe this will be my last xanga post. Yes, I think so. Maybe. Don't hold me to that. Anyway.....moving along..... WE ARE FINISHED WITH SCHOOL FOR THE YEAR!! I have never been more thrilled for summer break. My parents spent the weekend with us. It was Mother's Day and also unofficially, Get A LOT Done Day.  Mom and Dad have this wonderful helping ability. They drill holes, hang things, move things,put out sod, fix the gardenia fungus, and fold clothes faster than anyone I know.  Let's face it. I'm b.u.s.y.     .....and not that everyone else isn't busy but I am wired in such a way that I require shut down time. If it's not done by 8:00 at night, it's most likely not going to get done. I have a point where I crash and say, "to he!! with it......that'll have to wait". So. Since our move, the kids rooms have yet to be totally put together and because I have Decorating ADHD, completing a room is hard to do. Also, I'm not truly decorating just yet.....I'm taking what we have and making things as pretty as they can be without purchasing a lot. I'm just as, or maybe more, irritated by things not being functional as I am them not being attractive.  I believe in being reasonable with how much I spend on things. I realize that "reasonable" is very subjective but the thought that is most prevalent in my head when I consider things I buy for my house is, "It's all going to burn. It's not going to last. This STUFF is not eternal. Have what you want as much as you can afford and as much as is reasonable, but more than that, WANT WHAT YOU HAVE."  So, my sweet parents helped me get Jake's room up and running. It is just what a boy's room ought to be. (in my humble, but most always right opinion) LOL.....kidding!!  Filled with things he likes.   A bed and table that belonged to his Daddy when he was a boy, a dresser that his parents have used since the day they were married (with no less than four coats of paint on it), Craigslist lockers that actually lock so he can think he can keep his cool, secret stuff away from nosy sisters, a bulletin board for his WAR EAGLE paraphernalia, military planes and "I Want You" Uncle Sam tin posters on the wall, because he thinks soldiers are tough, and his tacky, but awesome, remote control cars right on top of his dresser so he can grab them in a hurry, and because he would say, "They look nice there!".  AND! Mother's Day, my kids were determined to serve us adults dinner. I mean, they figured out the leftovers and made menus, put on aprons, and everything. Normally, I would talk them out of this kind of thing, but they were not to be put off. So, we sat down at the table on the back porch and let them have at it. It felt a little like "Martinelli's" on the Parent Trap. Funniest part was Brad's reaction to the realization that he had cold baked beans on his hamburger. When he asked for a "side of baked beans", he did not know that sides came ON or IN the entree'. .....guess maybe that's what they do at really great restaurants.  ~stacey