Sister Love and a Beautifully Ugly Cake

I am the oldest of the three girls in my family. Both of my younger sisters are absolutely beautiful. I never get spend the time with them I want to any more. They are both a lot younger than me, so I always think of them as little girls. But they are growing up so fast now. The youngest, Haley, is about to be in high school. It seems like yesterday she was running around the house refusing to wear clothes and claiming to be the "princess."

Well, this weekend the little princess came to stay with me. We are very much alike now that she has grown up, and my other sister, Breaze, has a lot more in common our brother. We walked around the mall a little, only half interested in any of the stores. Then we went out to dinner and came home and played with the camera.
See hoe beautiful she is? She's at the age that she is really fretting about what guys think of her so it was hard to keep her from deleting every picture. She has many dreams and aspirations. She wants to write a novel. She has been working on many drafts. I believe she can do it. All she needs is a little encouragement. She also wants to be a "famous" chef.
The last time she was over, I let her cook dinner. We played with recipes and she was really pleased with herself when it came out really good. This time we played with cake decorating a little. I wanted to teach her some basic shell boarders, drop flowers, and writing. Well this is how the beauty came out! So it was heinous when it was done, and completely un-edible because we didn't feel like looking for a recipe for the icing. But I was still so proud of it. Haley really had a lot of fun playing with the colors and trying to make the different shapes. It was something we created together. And now more than ever, I appreciate those little moments. Soon she will be going to spend her summer with her mom in Ohio. We live in Texas, so Ohio might as well be China. I tell her that when she's gone we will all be singing the Bowling for Soup song "Ohio ( Come Back to Texas.)" I'm going to miss her a lot while she's gone.
Texas won't be the same without you! We'll have to have a big edible cake waiting for you when you come home. Love you much! ::Evil look::

Color in the Dining Room

Well a few weeks ago I painted my dining room. I'm just getting around to posting it because I'm still playing with decorating it. I love my dining room now. I think it's my new favorite room. We spend as much time i it now as the living room. It has windows all around it, so it feels more like a sun room.

It had really ugly grey fake wood paneling and a really big piece of particle board that I am afraid to remove because Lord knows what's behind it. So I knew that any color would be better than what was there. I don't know how many paint samples I tried before I picked one. I was looking at some more subtle shades of yellow and some taupe or a light blue, but I kept going back to the bright yellow. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous putting on the first coat.

This is what it looked like with some of the samples on the wall. You can see the ugly wood paneling that covers thee walls in most of my house.

It came out so beautiful. I am still playing with the decorating part. I feel so much more inspired to cook knowing we will be dining in this room. It's as nice as any restaurant for me. I still have to address the book case and floors but that is another day and another project.

Happy Memorial Day

I'm proud of my Army Brother and Marine Cousin!

I love that all my flowers are starting to open up! I like to keep flowers on my dining room table and it is nice to be able to cut them from my garden rather than having to buy them.

Here are a few of my favorite things in my yard this weekend.

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Happy Mother's Day!

I've been doing flower arrangements all weekend for Mother's Day. Last night I finally got to do a couple for my mom and mother-in-law. Here is a really cute thing I stumbled upon. These questions were given to elementary aged kids and here are their answers...

Why did God make mothers?

1. She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We’re related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores.

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goofball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What’s the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home, and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power ’cause that’s who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend’s.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don’t do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she’s already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.

2. I’d make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me

I'm Back!

I've been gone for months. I got a little to busy for a while and fell off track. I hosted a batchelorette party and a wedding shower. And I was a bridesmaid in the wedding.

My hair was a mess by the time I got it out of the do. This is only after I was half done picking through it. I had a full frow by the time I was done.

I'm not going to punish anyone with pictures of me all dressed up. The dresses were green and shinny and as one of my friends put it "we looked like Genovian pears."
We (as in my husband and step-dad with me directing) put new floors in our living room.

Yes it was heinous. I hate carpet. We went on a rampage and pulled up the carpet in all the house except the bedroom (which is next). The living room is the first to get new floors put in. The rest of the rooms have the various different kinds of flooring that were hidden under the carpet for only God knows how may years. After we pulled the carpet up we had a sandbox in our living room. Gross. And I vacuumed and steamed it a lot too. Never clean.

But the new floors are so beautiful! I love the cherry finish. We got the Lock N Seal from Sam's. Now my living room doesn't smell like dog and 50 yr old carpet. Happy me! One room down... 4 to go!

In the Irish Mood

Because I will be hosting a Celtic themed party this weekend I am really getting into the St. Patrick's day mood. Now if you don't know who Celtic Thunder is let this video catch you up to speed. They are five swaggering hot men (well four men and a cute boy) from Ireland with amazing talent.



After we settle down we are going to watch John Wayne in "The Quiet Man." A cute movie a bout a boxer who moves back to Ireland from Amerrica and falls in love. It Ends with quite a remarkably long fight scene.

Ireland! Ireland! Together Standing Tall! Sholder to Sholder We'' Answer Ireland's Calll!

OK! Now that Valentines is over It's time to go raid the candy isles, get out your best green suit and top hat. My personal favorite holiday is coming next... St. Patrick's Day!!! Well maybe it's not my favorite holiday but I love Irish traditions. This weekend I will be hosting an Irish themed bachelorette party, so I'm really into the spirit of the holiday.

So in the middle of putting new floors in our living room, and trying to put together a garden, I will be trying to put together some ideas for an Irish themed party. It will be challenging because it seems the stores skipped St. Patrick's Day and went straight to Easter. Oh, well. we can pull it off. I will be posting my ideas when I can.