Ringy Dingy

The summer just Zoomed by us.  Grandma was lucky enough to have two knee surgeries, I'm not be sarcastic, she really really needed them, but maybe lucky isn't quite the way to describe it.  However, she has two NEW knees now, and is diligently working at getting them back up and going!  Funny story about that, she mentioned to the girls that by Christmas she would be able to dance, which quickly turned into the girls being very excited about the Christmas Dance they are going to this year!  Yay!!!!!! {insert, oh crap look on my face, need to figure out how to finagle a 'dance' of sorts at Christmas time} Yay for that!  We can do it!  Anyway, back to summer, and the fact that it's pretty much gone, which for me is okay because that means I get to decorate for Fall and Christmas!  So I'm good with that.

My babies are a whole year older.  They had their first day of school on Tuesday, and were so excited.  Becca is in the Lighthouse Room and Jillian is in Noah's Ark.  Trust me, you do not get this bit of information wrong!  The room your in, and who you with is very important to the daily lives of my 3 and 4 year old.  This is part of their identity, even if you are the checker at Vons and have no idea what they are talking about, they WILL tell you.

 

We took little treats to our teachers.  Got a really cute idea on Tip Junkie's Blog.  I couldn't get the free printables to print out right, so I used the wording and made it my own.  Pretty cute and it put a smile on the faces of the teachers at preschool.  

The teachers are angels.  I don't like dealing with my own kids poop, much less some other kids poop.  Now that I think of it, lotion was all I gave them.  Nothing says 'Thanks for taking care of my brood, wiping their bottoms, noses and faces, and kissing their bobo's, like a bottle of lotion'.  Should probably rethink that at Christmas time, right!  Gift Baskets, gift cards, Cash!  Get it together Marissa.

I'm working on a few fun projects at home.  Here's a little sneak at the girls' bedroom. 

I made this:

  into this:

We got some new bedding that has prompted me to get their room a little spiffed up.  Always changing it up.  What can I say.

Oh, got a new pillow this summer too.  Cute, huh!  There is a new store in Poway called Country Barn.  Sounds like something I'd like, I know.  It was. 

Ooh, and totally scored this 'Martha by Mail Jadite Pitcher' too.  Such a great size for lemonade or ice tea.  Love love love.  Some of you may even recognize the pedestal it's standing on.  From back in my Southern Living Rep Days, this is 'Barely Twist Pedestal' painted with white glossy Krylon spray paint!

And I finally painted these white letters I've had laying around for the kitchen.  Saw some on Etsy for $58.00, so for some reason these for $8.o0, plus a can of paint, seemed like a good idea, right.

That's what life is up to anyway.  I'll be posting some goodies for Fall soon.  Happy Back to School time.  Go stock up on Crayons.  It's a good time to stock pile!

Call Me Crazy {I don't Care}

I know we are ending the month of July, so call me a little coo co, but I'm SOOOO looking forward to the Holidays, especially Christmas!  I've been thinking about it all day, and I've been peaking at past blog posts from other bloggers to get some idea's and inspiration.  

Here's the thing......I know that this time of year will sneak the freak up on me if I don't watch out!  I want to SOAK UP my girls this year!  They are a magical age, and I don't want to be bogged down with the details of the season.  However, I still want things to be missie-fied.  So, I'm just trying to think now....that's all....is that CRAZY?

I love having something handmade, or with at least handmade touches to give as gifts and decorate my house with.  The problem is, Thanksgiving weekend is NOT the time to try and make some of these handmade beauties.    I think this is something that I need to start thinking about NOW=)  

Look at these cute idea's for something simple and sweet!

Yarn Ball Wreaths!  I'm completely inspired for my decor with this look!  Incorporating some snow flakes and some winter white, and for my own personal taste, I'd take away the gray...?  Yeah!  No Gray!

I have a pair of black skate sitting in my garage that most definitely NEED to be painted red with white polka dots!  Oh yeah.....I have visions.

 

This looked like fun and would be an easy quick project to go along with the snowflake idea!  Mine would have red and white buffalo check, with the white ribbon and buttons to hold all my cards from family and friends!  So pretty!

 

I loved this as a gift idea.  I see tea cup saucers at thrift stores and antique stores all the time, missing their 'cup'.  You can usually get them pretty cheap, and those cookies just look so inviting sitting there all wrapped up!  Great little teacher, friend, co-worker type gift....  Hummm.

 This is just a cute idea all the way around.  If it was big enough, I would display my favorite village house and then put a dome over it in the middle of my kitchen table.  

 Just throwing this in, they look GOOD!

 These are TEA TOWELS!!!!!!!  Hello, EASY, Gah!

I love the tree next to the kitchen.  Just thinking I need to do this....

Another simple idea with the glass dome thing...

 

 Covered Button Wreath.  It is just cute cute cute. 

So yeah, I'm just dreaming about sugar plums.  That's all.  The fun part about finding all these pretties is all the blogs that they are attached too!  I found some really great ones.  Browse through my blog roll, or click on some of the pictures to be taken there!  It's all in good fun.

Stars & Stripes and a Funny Story

Finally uploaded the 4th of July pics.  That was a HOT day!  We headed over to She-she and Uncle's house to celebrate in the new comunity they are living in!  That was fun.  The whole community participate in a really cute, FAMILY FRIENDLY parade.  The kids dress up their bikes, scooters, power wheels or golf carts and parade down the main boulevard.  

 Notice Becca and Jackson scooting right along with the other kids!  They were right with the pack when someone said 'GO', but where was Jilly?  We waited.......and waited......and waited........

 Finally, all by herself, and possibly the last one in the group, little Jillian made her way to where we were standing.  She was so dang cute, insisting that she wore her boots that day....  She made it, my little toot.

 Silly picture time was fun too!  We were being kinda loud, trying to get everyone to smile and say cheese, totally forgetting that Baby Brody was asleep in that door right behind Becca!  Opps, good thing he was sleeping hard.

They LoVe Jack! (as Becca likes to call him).

We also went to Maddie's Birthday that weekend, and discovered something very funny and sweet about Jillian.  She loves animals, especially Unicorns.  Let me explain.

There was a pinata and Jillian didn't want to hurt her.  I think the pics will speak for themselves.

I'm seeing Jadeite

I have a slight obsession right now.  It's called Fire King Jadeite.  I LOVE it to the depths of my heart.  I'm very proud of myself, I won (okay, paid a good price) for my beginning set of Jadeite dishes.  There are plates, bowls, cups and saucers in this beautiful color of green, coming to my home in the near future.  So far, I only have one, lone, D-handled mug, and a pretty mixing bowl that sit proudly on a shelf near my kitchen.  But, with the arrival of my new dishes, I think a little kitchen re-do will be in order.

 These are like the dishes that I have coming.  They are referred to as "Jane Ray" Jadeite.  The ribbed pattern around the rim is what makes this set unique.  It's a little easier to find and not as high in the pocket book. 

 This sweet little cup is referred to as a "C" handle.  Why, well the handle appears to make the letter 'C'

 Someday however, I'd like to graduate towards the restaurant ware like pictured above.  The cool square shape is called 'Charm', the beaded rim on the chili and mixing bowls and overall thickness of the glass makes this collection really pretty too.  Also, more expensive!

There are some really great blogs and websites out there talking about Jadeite dishes and selling them too.  Giving the history and whereabouts of anything Fire King Jadeite related.   

Jadeite Kate

House Blend

POSH Chicago 

Go check them out and see what you think.    

Fathers Day

We sent the boys to play golf.  They had a blast, and then we ate lunch and had a really really YUMMY chocolate cake!  It Was GOOD, so Good I tell you.  Did I mention it was good?  It was the kind of cake that has that cooked frosting, oh, and did I mention that there was peanut butter in the cake?  Yeah, peanut butter was in all that too.  It was GOOD.

 Jillian was so proud of the present she made for Daddy at School.

 Jackson showed off with tissue paper.  Geeze, give that kid some tissue paper and let him go!!!

 Here's our little family!  Love my hubby and kids, hate how I look, hence why I'm on a friggen diet!

 Popa and his girls!

Popa, Grandma and their girls.  Look, Grandma is STANDING!  She's doing so good with that knee!

Tiny Dancer, Toes and Birthdays

So much to share!  On June 5th, Becca had her first little dance recital.  The whole evening was just adorable.  From the dancing and costumes, to all the parents cheering on their favorite little showmen!  Becca, as usual, didn't disappoint.  She danced to Mickey's Birthday Party.  All the little Minnie Mouses were lined up on stage and I was so proud to see my sweet baby girl right smack dab in the middle.  She practiced this dance every Thursday at school and wouldn't share one bit of it with me!  She saved every little move for the recital, and boy did she know every little shuffle ball change in that routine!  Mommy, Daddy and Sister were SO PROUD!

 I can't wait till next year when both of my little drama queens will be able to dance in the recital.  Jillian is practically dying to take dance class.  It seriously is ALL she can talk about!  I mean look at what a little sister will do.  That is classic Jilly right there.

Onto other summer stuff, I have to share something I did!  On May 11th, I went and had my toes lacquered.  It's this process at the nail salon that shellacs your nail polish so it won't, I say a-won't chip!  Now I'm clumsy and goofy and stub my toes and those silly things and let me say that this has TOTALLY held up!  This is Day one below,

This is 2 weeks later.  Please ignore my slightly orange foot, I got carried away.  But you can see just a bit of grow out and NO CHIPS!

I'm still rocking the shellac, having some major grow out, but this stuff is just amazing.  I've been so hard on my toes, and they still look pretty every morning when I clean and moisturize them.

In other highlights, we celebrated Jillian's birthday on June 10th.  She is such a BIG girl now.  Something about actually turning 3 really did change her!  She is a little more precocious than normal=)  One of the best things she got for her birthday was her good ol' radio flier trike.  You know the one, it's red and white with streamers coming out of the handles, and those steps on the back end that make it great to stand and push it around.  It's the best trike, and one of the best parts is she can actually get herself around on the dang thing.  No more pushing her up the driveway...

We celebrated at Spaghetti Facotry, one of her most favorite foods in the whole world!  It was good family time with lots of memories!

We are heading into that summery time of year.  I'm looking forward to shorter work days and some dips in our pool!  I'm also starting on a new life style change in a few weeks.  I'll be talking more about it soon, I'm still working on getting all my ducks in a row.  I'm taking this thing seriously!

Stay tuned.

The Little Details

So the good things in life are sometimes in the little details.  Like the dimples on Jillian's face, or the 'one' sweet freckle that Becca has on her cheek.  Sometimes is just the feeling a pretty new pair of underwear makes you feel, nobody knows your wearing them, but it makes you feel good anyways.

I find I do this a lot at home.  I love to add small touches to things I do, that only I really notice, but make me feel good.

Recently, I broke down and bought this rug at Target.  I've been pondering it for some time, and finally splurged.  It gave me the 'breath of fresh air' feeling that I needed in the room.  Also, I always have to break out the Flag this time of year.  It's just so American! 

I also have a slight obsession with enamel ware.  This pretty platter was a total score on a recent shopping trip to antique village.  Every morning it greats me while I make a cup of coffee.  Oh, and for all you coffee drinkers out there, just stop it and go buy a Keurig.  Really, you'll thank me, and I really believe it doesn't cost more to buy the little pod thingyies.  Message me, we can argue in private!

This beauty is compliments of my Mom!  She is a ball of talent all wrapped up in a hug.

American Flags + Mason Jars + Dollies + Red Stool = Me.

Check out these over sized clothespins!  Very fun picture holders, recipe card holders, or, for a holiday, I bought enough for each of them to hold a die cut letter so I could spell various words.  "SPRING"  "SUMMER"  "NEST" things like that!  PS- Found them in the Micheals $$ bin!

Look at this cute fabric rose nestled in a Jadite mug.  Oh, and that book right there, The Vintage Table, GAH!  Go look, it's a keeper for sure!  So much stuff to drool and inspire over!

 

 I also had to redo the previous shelves I had here.  Again, the little pictures are a score from the Micheals $ bin.  Also of note, I love wrapping up a stack of my favorite fabrics in a gingham bow and using a vintage napkin as shelf flair.  Funny thing, I use so many items for ways they were NOT intended to be used.  That is a blog in and of it's self!  (Heidi -Are you listening)!