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.

Happy Valentines Day!

Fat Tuesday GraphicsHope yours was a sweet one!

Spring is Comming!

Bloom my pretties!

Ohhhhh, my favorite smell...hyacinths.

I get a little excited when I see everything about to bloom. I can't wait till it's all in full bloom!

Remember this cute little tin? Well my husband didn't like it. It is going into his room of the house. Our living room is decorated with fishing stuff. Not exactly my idea but I'm going with it as best I can. Well I took my little tin bucket and painted the inside and the top of it black. Then I took some fabric that my husband picked out and has been begging me to use (one of those things where I dragged him over to the craft isle and he noticed this) and glued it to the bucket using spray adhesive.

There you go. Now it is manly enough that maybe he'll use it. The same concept could be used to cutesy it up. If it was all up to me it would be covered in polka dots and ribbon but then I think my husband wouldn't have wanted to use it and he wouldn't let me put it in his living room. One for the man!

Love a Giveaway!

So I came across Jeanne's awesome blog through Today's Creative blog. She is hosting a major giveaway! She is not just giving one little thing away, but FIVE HUGE GIFTS!

Can you believe she is giving one of these away! Even more unbelievable... She designed it!
She designed all this too! And she is giving away two of the products to a lucky reader!
The woman paints too! This is my favorite but someone will get to pick one for themselves!
And if you thought that is enough talent for one person guess what... She had a book too! Two people will receive a copy of her book!

Inspired yet? Go over to her blog and find out all the ways YOU can enter to win!

Centerpeice Party!

Cindy at My Romantic Home is hosting a centerpiece party for the month of February! There are many wonderful ideas for Valentine's Day centerpieces and tablescapes. I didn't really do any Valentine's Day decorating this year because we are about to be putting new floors in the living room and when that is over I will be hosting an Irish themed party for a friend who is getting married. So I kinda skipped to St. Patrick's Day even though it's not till next month. But I tried my luck (see, St. Patty's on the brain) at doing a Valentine centerpiece. Well folks.... this is about as good as it got. Like I said, I don't just have a lot of Valentine's Day stuff, but I think it came out kinda cute. Well... let's try something different....

I like this much better. So it doesn't exactly scream Valentines but I think is sweet and simple. I wish I had a white tablecloth. I love a grouping with different shades of white. My grandmother used to crochet these little doorknob covers. I used one over a little jar and put the rose in it. I think that is my favorite part of the centerpiece. Let me know which one you liked better.

Playing in the Yard

It was supposed to rain all day but it held out long enough to get outside for some little sunshine. Our first flowers are blooming! Look at how pretty these little rays of sunshine look! My hyacinths are starting to bud out but I didn't think to take any pictures.

My husband was hard at work preparing for our vegetable garden. We got some peas in the ground. We are still deciding on what all we plan to grow this year. I worked on edging around where I plan to put a couple of new flowerbeds in this year.
I also started on this project. I know it already looks cute, but it is going in our living room to help organize our bills. I found this on clearance at Hobby Lobby and decided I could change it up to match out decor. I'll show you more on that when I finnish it.

Some Historical Inspiration

So my friend and I decided we needed a girls day out. My husband had told me there was a historical house just a little ways from where I live so we decided to go check it out. The lady that was there said the last owner had no children and no heirs so she left the house to the City of Tyler to preserve it. I'm glad she did because it is a beautiful place.

I thought the front porch was really interesting because the ceiling and shutters are painted different colors. I love the robin's egg blue. But I think one of my favorite things about the house was the little kitchenette. It is the newest addition to the house and it is very small compared to the rest of the rooms, but isn't it so cute! It was blocked off so I couldn't get a good picture of the sink and old stove. But just trust me, it's all really cute.



Just look at the lace! I love the mismatched chairs. Everything else in the house was so perfectly placed. The little quirkiness was welcome.

The portrait is of the lady who last owned the house. I really liked the use of yellows white and gold. This was over a mantel. There is a fireplace in every room in the house, but this was my favorite one. The woman had some talent too! She painted an entire china set! The set is out on the table and makes great eye candy.

This is the table setting. Isn't it wonderful! I love the colors. We just wanted so bad to sit down and have a little tea party. I think if I had a set like this I would have a tea party every day!

Just look at the beautiful detail! It's so elegant!

This is a close up of the tea pot. Look at those salt and pepper shakers! Oh, so cute!!

The woman actually hated this ceiling. Her mom had it painted. It was covered by wall paper for years but was later discovered after the museum curator read an entry about it in her diary.

This is a close up. I was told that this painting is considered the original Tyler roses. Don't ask me what that means exactly but just ooh and ahhh like you do.

Now this baby belongs in my living room! This is called a square grand piano. I have never seen one before. It is not original to the house but it fits in all the same and I'm glad they put it there so I can covet it the rest of my life...because there is no way I could ever acquire one of these babies for myself.

And here we are on the nervereckingly steep and narrow stairs. If you look closely there are orbs around us. Kinda spooky huh. Well it's probably just dust. We had a great time and will probably go back again sometime because there were a lot of pictures i didn't take I wish I did. I was amazed they encouraged us to take pictures at all. I hope some of these pictures were a little inspiring. I have to get to my hubby now. He is going to starve if I don't start dinner very soon.

Sing Praises Sunday

Good morning. I got up before the sun this morning to enjoy the stillness. The critters are sleeping instead of their normal tearing through the house. The husband had to be at work at four this morning so I have the house to myself. I put on some Celtic folk music and sat down to a bowl of oatmeal. I wish I would get up every morning like this. The picture above is from a beautiful morning I spent with my husband on the lake last summer. It's mornings like this that you can really feel the Lord's preasence. In the stillness and the quiet He is there. Give Him the day and be blessed.
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love;he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3: 17