Decorating the Powder Bath

One room that has not really had anything done to
it since we moved in our house almost 9 years ago,
is the powder bath.  I have never really "decorated" the space.
Other than picking out the mirror and hanging a couple of
wall accents from the other house and changing out the color of the
hand towel every now and then...it has sat looking pitiful.

Until now...

I have decided it's time to pretty things up a bit.

It started with this basket.
I originally bought it to make an arrangement for the front door.
Now that it's done, I don't want it to get messed up outside.

Floral stems are half price this week at Hobby Lobby
(or Hobby Wobby as Jackson would say...)
so we decided to take a little trip yesterday and pick up a few.
I grabbed a few cream Hydrangea blooms, some pheasant feathers, and
these dried Lotus blossoms.
(and yes, the only reason I knew they were Lotus blossoms is because the tag said so...)

A few blocks of floral foam and

voila!!!

Big ol' basket full of flowers.

I pulled a couple of Yellow Hydrangea stems from

another arrangement and added them for a little more color.

I am thinking I need another yellow and maybe a couple more

of the pheasant feathers.

I headed straight for the powder room when I was done and sat

it on the back of the toilet.

I am thinking it may be a little big.

I may even go back to Tuesday Morning and grab the next

smaller size basket...the more I look at these pictures,

the bigger that basket looks...

So it may not need any more flowers,

just a little downsizing...

We'll see.

Whatever I decide, it has gotten me in the mood to

spruce up the room a bit...

I also have this picture that I bought some time ago thinking

that I would hang it in here, but obviously... that has not happened.

 

I may even get brave and paint the frame on my mirror...

who knows, it may turn into

Decorating Gone Wild....

Ok...not really, but who knows.

A little paint...possibly a new rug,

some towels...

a few hundred holes in the wall trying to hang stuff...

(Scott is out of town and he's my go to for hanging things...

It usually involves a level, a tape measure, and me pointing to a spot

on the wall and saying "hang it here" and then I leave)

Some time I'll have to tell you the story of me trying to hang pictures

in my apartment one night, with the heal of my shoe...do you remember that

Scott and I were neighbors when we met...and his bedroom backed up to mine...

Yeah, hanging pictures goes waaaay back ...Ha Ha!)

Anyway...I am off to make my list of things to do in the powder room.

Possibly run to Tuesday Morning...

(it is Tuesday, you know...)

and maybe the paint store if I'm feeling

really bold.

What would Scott think if he came home and I had

painted the room...

HA...He'd probably tell me he was glad there was a room

he didn't have to paint!

We'll see.

I am going to link up to Toni's

Hop on over and see what everyone is up to at

One Project at a Time

Taking it Easy on a a Tuesday...

While I should have been cleaning this morning,
I decided that Jackson and I would get out for a minute...

We went to Tuesday Morning.
Well...it was Tuesday, and it was the morning....
well, I justified it in my head that way.
Anyway...moving on...

We found a few little treasures, but Jackson
thinks that he found a priceless treasure.

We bought PlayDoh!

I told Jackson to look at me and say

Play Doh

of course...he squealed it with glee!!!

Jackson had found a box full of cookie cutters

(that I had forgotten I had) a few days ago and kept

pulling them out and would look through them and name the

shapes and animals so we came right home and pulled them out.

He had so much fun playing with his new Play-Doh!

And I would just laugh at him when he would lean over
and say
"mmmm....it smells dood"
he's so funny.

I tried really hard to not freak out when he mixed the
red and the green....it's only Play-Doh...we can get more..
we can even make more...

I found a little rolling pin for him to use to roll it all out.
He thought that was neat.

And everything works better with your tongue stuck out...



He had so much fun!

What a sweet smile from $2.00 worth of fun!

Hope you are having a Terrific Tuesday!

Ahhhh, Friday!

It's Friday!!!!

We have officially survived the first week of school.

Austin is starting off on the right foot!

He is getting up, early, without a fuss and getting ready

on his own...Homework is being done without a fuss...

he is smiling...

Life is GOOD!!!

and we'll take it!

He is really enjoying switching classes and

likes all of his teachers.

We are off on the right foot and hope we keep

marching right along.

Tonight we finished up the week celebrating.

Twelve years ago these two were born three weeks apart.

Austin was born on July 28th and his cousin Chris arrived

exactly three weeks later.

Tonight we gathered with family to celebrate another

birthday.  Aunt Ann made the boys a cute (and yummy)

cookie cake along with some fresh fruit and ice cream.

All of the kids had fun playing together and we all

enjoyed spending time with family.

I can't wait to see what this next year brings for these two...

they are changing so fast and growing up to be

fine young men.

Perking Up the Pantry

On the first, full day of school I was ready to go!
Cleaning, organizing, cooking...
yeah...I didn't do any of that!

Jackson and I did run out and do a few errands that morning,
but then came home and sat down like we
had nothing to do...nothing at all.

This morning I decided that something had to get done.
So I popped a video in for Jackson and decided to take
on a job that I started a long time ago,
but never quite finished.


A while back I tried to organize my pantry
and group "like" things together.  It has worked out pretty well.

I also purchased some baskets from Old Time Pottery

to help keep some of the loose items together in an effort for

them to not get pushed back to the back of the shelf and lost.

But in order to keep things where they should go and

let everyone be able to find things without saying

"Hey Mom, where is ???"

I made some little labels for the shelves.

I had shown you a little hint here.

Here are my little wood pieces that Scott trimmed up

and drilled holes in for me.

I grabbed my little can of Chalkboard paint

and sprayed away...

After several coats, they were good to go!

I used a Chalk marker and labeled

each of my markers

and then used ribbon to tie

them to the wire shelving.

Now, everything has a nice little home and putting

groceries away should be easy as pie.

And if I want to bake a pie...

All of the baking supplies are in one place.

Yippee!!

Now if we can just keep it organized we'll be in good shape.

I had to laugh at myself this morning while I was doing this.

I thought, "I could see myself becoming a very

obsessive and complusive type person

if I wasn't so stinkin' lazy!"

While Jackson is napping I better get some

more done.  Laundry is catching up with me again...

what's for dinner???

And not a single bed in the house is made...

Sigh...well in this day and time I guess I ought to consider it

job security, huh...

Getting Back Into the Routine...

School started back today.
Austin is officially in Middle School...sigh...
How did that happen?
It just seems like yesterday that they were
sending this little baby home with me and I had
NO CLUE what to do with him.

I took his traditional picture on the front porch
but he asked that I not put it on the blog...
he really didn't want me to take the picture AT ALL...
party pooper...
But I did manage to get a quick shot in
to use in his scrapbook.

So with the start of this new school year,
I decided that this year, I am determined to get on a routine.
Now that we have to get up and out of the house,
I am going to (try) to get my shower and be ready to go
before I take Austin to school.
This way, I'll be ready for whatever the day brings.

Today the day brought 42 loads of laundry...
42 loads of hand washables and delicates.
(Ok...it wasn't really 42 loads, but it sure seemed like it)
While I sat with my laundry, washing, dry for a few minutes to get out the wrinkles,
and hang up to dry, I worked on cleaning out and organizing the dining room.
I am still adjusting my list that I told you about a few weeks ago,
big projects to little...
the dining room is one of my BIG projects.

We have this large inset in the dining room.
This is where the stairs were suppose to be
on the original house plan, but since that would put the stairs
right in the middle of Scott's garage, the plan had to change.
And my little awkward but perfect fit for my buffet inset was born.

It's fairly deep and the ceiling is 10 ft. tall.

So we could build one big whoppin' cabinet!

But I am trying to figure out exactly what type of storage space

I need. There will definitely be some sort of

glass doors to display my china.

And I would love to have room to display

some of my silver pieces along with

 places for silverware and storage for

crystal stemware and such...

oh the dishes we could put in here...

So, I have been looking around on Pinterest

and found this little cabinet.

I like how it has two enclosed cabinets

and the display shelves in the middle.

China settings displayed behind the glass doors

and then some of my silver on the open shelves.

Photo taken from Traditional Home

But before I can display any of that silver...

It had to be polished!

Oh WOW!! That is horrible...

And the after is ready for a new home on open shelves

with beautiful china on either side.

But until then,

 I plan on storing it better so it doesn't reach it's pitiful state again.

Because it will be a loooonnnnngggg time before my little cabinet dream

becomes a reality.

So, here is to a new school year...

a new routine, and one day...

a new china cabinet!

Trying to Tame the Toys

I hinted about a little project for Jackson's room
a couple of weeks ago

I had seen a great idea on
iHeart Organizing
and put Scott to work.
I love that I have a handy husband!
I come up with all of these ideas that I find
out in blog land and he whips them into reality.

This was my latest big idea!
(that he completely made from start to finish)
I am a little bit like someone else in my family...
I have BIG ideas, but sometimes lack the drive to finish them.
But thanks to Scott, they get done

He started with some oak that he had laying around
his shop.  (I say "laying around" but it was actually carefully stored
on a shelf to be put to good use one day...he is the real organized one in this house,
me, not so much...)



He measured Jackson's bed and figured out how wide to make them
to get 4 bins the length of his bed. And then made them as
deep as his bed.

Added a bottom to them and routed out a little
handle on the front to have a place to pull them out from
under the bed to get at all of those glorious toys!

A couple coats of primer and paint and they are almost
ready to be filled with toys.

All lined up and ready to go...

We bought some caster to put on the bottom so Jackson
will be able to pull these out and push them back
when he's done..
OK, we'll be able to push them back...

Here is one of them in his floor.  They are large enough that

he may only be able to pull one of them out at a time.

Which might keep the 40 Million parts and pieces from

being mixed up together...

yeah, I know...wishful thinking!

Cute little casters that Scott put on the bottom to help them

roll out and back.

Time to load them up with toys.

Jackson did not really want to wait for me to take my

little pictures this morning.

He decided this one was for blocks.

All nice and pushed under the bed...and a little half dressed,
wild haired little boy fits nicely under the bed also.

And there is a little red peeking out from under his little bed.
Jackson has this one filled with all of his mega blocks and prickle blocks.
Time to go and bring the other three up and fill them with
Hot Wheels and lots of other toys.
Now, maybe, just maybe, we'll see his floor every now and them.
Maybe...

 

How HOT Is It?

The 5 o'clock news is on.

The weather man just came on and told the curent temps...

Actual temperature outside in Athens right now

105

Heat Index (or the Feels Like Temp)

118

Excuse me while I go and melt...

Hanging Out in the Summer Heat

In case you have been living under a rock,
most of the US is under a heat wave.
Although, I am ready for this wave to move on out!

IT'S HOT!

I have been trying to plan out trips out in the mornings or go later in the evening
because during the day it is just unbearable.
If the car has to sit outside for any length of time it is
sweltering and Jackson will just let out this sad whimper
when you sit him in his car seat and say "it hurts"
I guess it is the fabric cover on his seat.  It just holds the heat.
Not that the seats for Austin and I are cool as a cucumber either!

It is just too HOT!!!
I am sooo ready for winter!

I needed some make up so I decided that we would head out
yesterday morning and go to the mall.
We could walk around and shop and be cool
all at the same time.

Sounded like a good plan,

until reality set in that I was shopping with
two boys and not my girlfriends...
Oh yeah, shopping with Austin...
as much fun as a root canal.

Our first stop was to see if we could find some cushions for my
new wicker furniture.  One quick stop to the store where we had bought them
and we were on our way.  They had gotten in a new shipment and had
a set that would work just fine.
Scott was not loving all of the funky prints and kept
leaning more towards a solid so when I saw the Kiwi Green,
I said "I'll take these please"

I plan on adding some coordinating pillows
that will liven them up a bit, but at least now they are a little
softer to sit on.

Our next stop was the mall.

The first thing out of Jackson's mouth was

"Can I ride the rides?"

I told him he had to be good and let me

get all of my shopping done before

he could have a ride.

He was a good boy and did get his ride at the end of the trip.

I had planned on getting Austin some new school clothes,

but that was a bust.

Austin hates to shop and if he has 5 pair of pants and 5 shirts

he thinks that should be enough.

sigh

How is he my child?

I guess it's a boy thing, I don't know...

So, after walking through several stores,

and him not touching a thing, I gave up.

He would only look at those silly shirts that say

"Will sell my little brother for video games"

I can't stand those shirts...

so if you work in the retail business and are in charge of

ordering those shirts, you can stop now...

we've seen enough!

So after walking around the mall,

I headed back to Belk to get my makeup

and my Clinique Bonus

and then I thought we would be on our way...

Until I spied the shoe sale!

So my shopping trip for Austin's school clothes

yielded make up and new shoes for me.

Austin school clothes...zero!

I thought these little ballet flats we cute
and metallic's are all the rage so they jumped on my feet.

I love the end of the year sandal clearance, because next summer I have
lots of "new" shoes to show off when warm weather arrives
and I'm not broke!
I found these cute little wedge heel sandals with the cute little flower
and thought they would be perfect to wear in Hawaii next summer!
So off we went to check out and be on our merry way!

I love new shoes!

So we left the mall around lunch time,
grabbed a bite to eat and headed home
for a nap...
Jackson was getting a little crabby.

 

We also watered our poor little flowers.

They are so not loving this heat.

Some days I am watering them in the morning and
in the evening just to keep them alive.

I have totally given up on my little tomato plants.
The pots on the porch just didn't do the trick.
So I am going to pull them up and get those pots
ready to plant something in for the fall.

Well, that's about all that has been going on around here.
Today's plan...stay inside until time for church tonight.
The high's today are suppose to be in the triple digits
with a heat index even higher...

Hope you are staying cool where you are!