Our week

This past week hasn't been too exciting :(  The college students came back last week so Graig and I have been SUPER busy at work.  I come home and I'm so tired I just sit down and don't want to do anything.  At the end of this week things should really calm down-thank goodness!

Ava and I are in a bad habit of getting ice cream almost every night after dinner.  We are just LOVING it this summer.  Here is Ava eating her cone tonight. I'm not sure why this sideways.  Brock is obviously interested in what was on tv-ha ha!

I think this is a cute picture of all three dogs.  I took this tonight from the road.  It's a little blurry.  Graig would love to use this as one of our Christmas card pictures.  He loves these dogs so much.

Allison, Sabrina and I went to yard sales on Saturday and I found the perfect cart to make this bar cart.  This idea is from http://www.keller-creative.com/.  My cart looks very similar to this one and the best part it was only $1!    I jumped up and down when I saw it I was so excited!  I can't wait to start working on it.  I really hope mine turns out this cute. 

  I have no idea where I will put this because our house is beginning to look like an episode of Hoaders.  And I don't NEED another bar cart because we don't even drink I just think it's completely adorable and I will find a place for it somewhere!

Tuesday, Tuesday!!

The college students came back on Sunday so I am busy, busy, busy at work.  I made these cute little treat bags to welcome them back to school.  They had pens, pencils and candy in them. 

Last weekend Allison and I went to yard sales.  I got this adorable turqousise enamal bowl.  I just LOVE it!  I put a plant in it and put it in our dining room table. 

I'm also SO proud of these flowers on our deck.  They have just done so well this year.  Usually my deck flowers wilt and die in June. 

I got this milk glass container at yard sales too.  I added this basil plant that I got at the farmer's market.  I hope this basil lives it would be so nice to have fresh basil at home.  I'll let you know usually my basil dies after a week or two. 

Last but not least these pretty flowers from my garden.  I love all the summer blooms I've gotten from my garden this year!

Happy Tuesday!

Ava's note

Ava is at a tough age.  She can be so sweet, cuddly and adorable one minute and the next minute she's acting like a little snot.  We drive each other crazy on a daily basis-ha ha!

Ava taped the sweetest note in my shower last week.  She also put a similar one on my mirror and she said she hid a third note but she said it would take a while for me to find it. 

I took this picture with my iPhone 

It said

Dear Mom,

I really, really love you.  Everybody talks about how great you are.  Everybody say I'm so lucky to have a mom just like you

xoxo

Ava

When I started this blog she was only 6 and she had just graduated from kindergarten.  Now she's going into 4th grade.  It's gone by so fast.  I can't believe our little girl is getting bigger and bigger every day. 

Here are some older pics of Ava that I found on my computer.

Ava at grandma Jan's

Ava in her new gymnastics uniform in Wyoming

Ava with baby Eliza I love this picture of them!

Ava on her 1st day of 1st grade

And her is a picture of Ava from last month when we visited my family in Illinois. She has grown so much!

I'm SO lucky to be her Mom!

Our weekend!

This weekend was fun, fun, fun!  I wanted to get a lot of stuff done around the house before the students get back next week but instead I just crafted, ate, shopped, took naps both days and had a GREAT time! 

Friday night I went to my friend Sabrina's house for a night filled with crafting!  We are going to have a table at a craft fair in October and we started making ribbon rag wreaths on Friday evening. We have LOTS to do to get ready for this craft fair.

I picked these flowers from our garden.  I love the big pink flower it's called a dinner plate dahlia and I just planted it this year.  I love picking flowers from our garden!

Sabrina, Allison and I went to yard sales on Saturday and I got some more milk glass which I added to my hutch.  I know I am doing terrible job at not buying anything for our home.  I just can't help myself at yard sales!

Sunday I went to see The Help with some friends.  It was such a great movie!  Today I went back to work.   I am busy, busy, busy because the students come back on Saturday.  I have SO much to do before they get back.  Have a great week!

Friday, Friday!

I am SO glad it's Friday!  I have a lot to check off my to do list before the college students come back next weekend so I am hoping to have a productive weekend! 
You know how I said yesterday that I didn't want to buy anything for our house for a month...well I went to my first auction last night and of course I did buy a few things.   I think auctions could be a new addiction for me.  It was really fun! 

I'll post pictures of all my treasure's later but I want to show you this antique platter that I got,  It's a  T.&R. Boote White Ironstone Rectangular Platter from 1890!
I found this picture this morning on eBay.  This is exactly like my platter. 

I have been wanting to make a chalkboard platter like I saw in the Pottery Barn catalog and I think this will be the perfect.  I am going to work on this project this weekend.  Hopefully it will turn out really cute and I can show it on my blog next week!

I also want to see The Help this weekend.  I LOVED this book and I can't wait to see the movie! 

My sister wrote a beautiful post about her trip to the apple orchard with Ainsley.  I am SO thankful that they are both healthy now and can do things like go to the orchard together :)  I love this picture of the two of them. 

Sweet girl!  I love her so much!!

Have a great weekend!

Changing and Rearranging!

This month I have decided to TRY not to buy anything new for our house.  This is going to be really challenging for me because I love to shop and buy new things.  We just have SO much stuff  and  I am trying really hard to organize our basement, attic and closets and drawers.  So I need to take a little break from buying things and really concentrate on organizing what we already have. 

At the beginning of the summer I stenciled the area above our fireplace.  I liked it OK but I didn't love it so I knew I would change it.  I painted it halcyon green the same color that's in our dining room. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this color in our dining room. 

I also added the same color to the backs of our shelves in our living room

Here is the same color above our fireplace. I'm not sure if I like it or not.  I would like to add another stencil and I have looked a little online but I haven't found anything that I love yet. 

This beauty was hanging by our side entrance (the door that everyone comes in!) and I thought it was too big so I moved it to our dining room.  My friend Sabrina and I made these shutters a few summers ago.  I still love it!

This is our office.  Actually Graig uses this office more than I do especially since I made my own little office space in the living room.  I re-did that patchwork picture a few years ago using scrapbook paper and modge podge. 

I found these large frames for $5 so Sabrina and I spray painted them and I added wire to the back of mine so I could clip things on it.  I think this looks best hanging in G's office.  That way we can clip up notes, pictures, etc.  I am SO happy because I was going to buy something to go in this space but I think this fits really well!

Here's a closeup!

This is our side door and the way most people enter our home.  I did have the shutter hanging in this space but I think it's too big for this area.  I had this magnetic board hanging in the office but I moved it out here.  I actually have two of them so I am going to hang another one below this one.  I am going to use one for B and one for A to organize all of their school paperwork. 

I think re-decorating my home this way will be fun.  I'm thinking of other stuff I could move around.  I will let you know how my month long hiatus from not buying anything home related  I know  G will be happy because I'm not spending any money-ha ha!

Brock and Ava and a new recipe!

I have been a major slacker the past few weeks, I haven't tried anything new since I got home from visiting my family in Illinois/Iowa.  In the beginning of the summer I wrote this post about trying new recipes every week.  This week I'll try some new ones and post them next week.

This isn't really a recipe but it's something that I have been LOVING this summer. Grilled zucchini- I make this at least 2-3 times per week. 

I buy zucchini like this at the farmer's market every Saturday and Tuesday.  They are 3 for $1.50!  So cheap and delicious!

I cut one zucchini into thin slices and then I toss the zucchini with 3 teaspoons of olive oil and then I add a little garlic salt and pepper.  I usually cook them in the oven on 375 for 30 minutes (unless it's too hot and then I cook them on the grill) until they turn a little brown on the edges.  I think this is the best summer side dish!  We had this last night with grilled chicken and corn on the cob. 

Last night Ava had her friend Marty sleep over.  I took this when they woke up this morning. I thought it was hilarious because Ava always thinks she has an injury of some sort.  Last night she used duct tape and taped this ice pack to her leg.  She said she had a leg injury from jumping on the trampoline.    

 

I wanted to take a cute picture of Ava and Marty together and this is the best one I got.  Ava was still feeling bad about her "leg injury". 

Brock is getting up and around a little bit now.  This morning before I left for work he was playing on the computer.  Today at lunch we went to Applebees and he had chicken fingers and fries,   I think he's finally feeling better!  He has a check up tomorrow with his surgeon. 

I had this frame in the basement and Ava drew us a picture to go in our bedroom.  This is a very colorful picture of our home.  I think Ava did a great job drawing and coloring it!  I put it right above my night stand. 

Happy Wednesday!

Brock's 14th birthday!

Today was Brock's 14th birthday!  It was a low key kind of day because he is still recovering from his tonsil surgery. I CAN'T believe he's 14 already!  The years have gone by SO fast.  He has grown from a sweet little boy to a young man. 

Here is a picture of Brock from tonight.  One of the perks of Graig's job is a golf cart.  He coordinates the summer camps on campus so he has to travel around campus all the time.  The golf cart makes it much easier for him to get around to all the places he needs to go on campus.   

This afternoon he felt good enough so we went and ate lunch out and then we went to the movies.  He wanted to see Planet of the Apes.  I wasn't excited at all about seeing it but it turned out to be a really good movie!

I think this picture is SO funny!  I took a quick picture of Brock and I on the golf cart and Ava squeezed her head in.  You know she hates to miss being in a picture-ha ha!

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A touch of tangerine

If you have read my blog or know me in real life you know that I have been obsessed with the color turquoise for a few years.  It seems that everything I buy, craft or spray paint has been turquoise.  The proof?
Just look at this post, this post, this post, and this post. Obviously, I am a little crazy about turquoise. 

As a little break from our LONG car ride home on Friday we stopped at Hobby Lobby and I found the divine tangerine fabric.  I decided to make a couple of small place mats for our dining room with them. I made them with stitch witch while talking to my friend Sabrina on the phone the other night. I love the way they turned out and the new color that they add to our home.

Tangerine might be my new favorite color!  Happy Friday! I am going with some friends tonight to watch Change Up  It looks like such a funny movie!  Have a great weekend!

Home Organization notebook

Erin from Blue Eyed Bride is having a home organization notebook link up party today.  I have had my home organization notebook for about a year and it has made things so much easier for me!    There are a lot of websites and blogs that have printable pages and templates that you can use.  I found that it worked out better for me to create my own personalized sheets.

Here is my home organization binder.  I keep in on my desk in the living room. 

My sections tabs include

To Do-a running to do list.  I add to this list almost every day.

Home Daily Sheets-I took a picture of this sheet below.    This is where I keep track of the things I need to get done every day. 

 Workouts- I took a picture of this sheet below.  I like to workout 5-6 days per week.  I keep track of my daily workouts. 

Decorating-I print out pictures of decorating ideas and things I'd like to do in our home.

Cooking-I took a picture of this sheet below.  I keep my running grocery list, a weekly menu and a list of daily chores that I need to get done. 

Projects-That I want to work on, crafts I want to make, etc. 

Lists-longer range to do lists, things we want to do around the house, gifts I need to buy,  etc. 

Goals-the personal goals that I have for myself and my family.  I review these once a week. 

I also have a pocket in front where I keep miscellaneous things.  Right now I have a list of things that need to be done before I go back to work on August 8, bunco scorecards, a workout from a magazine, and a picture of a house that has beautiful landscaping. 

This is my daily sheet.  I plan what I'm going to do each day and write it on this sheet. I also like to keep track of what I eat (I'm doing WW) and keep track of the money I spend each day. 

I'm home today so my sheet is pretty full.  On days when I am working I only put one or two things on my to do list.  If I put too much on my daily to do list  I get overwhelmed and I feel like a failure if I don't get everything done. 
These are the things I need to accomplish today
-work out
-water plants inside and out
-start organizing my basement craft area
-work outside in our flower beds
-return library books

This is the sheet where I keep track of my daily workouts.  I like to see what I've accomplished week to week and track my progress. 

I also like to plan what we are going to have every night for dinner.  I find if I know what we are going to eat at home we tend to eat at home more. I also like to do a least one daily house chore so I don't have to spend all weekend cleaning my house. I am lucky because I  have someone come clean our house every other week.  So if I don't get to things or if I get too busy I know it will be cleaned.  I feel so good when our house is clean and organized!

Here are some other blogs that really helped me in developing my home organization notebook.  
Erin from Sunny Side Up.
Jennifer from Her Southern Charm

My home organization notebook has helped me SO much. I love it! I am MUCH happier if I am organized. If my house is clean and I know what I need to do each day I am much less stressed out and I am a more cheerful wife,  mom and friend.  I am happy to email you my sheets if you would like to use them. Thanks Erin for coordinating this link up!