Unwrapped

Do you have certain blogs that you visit often, but comment rarely? (No guilt trip today)

I have a few myself. One of those that I 'lurk' is Chatting at the Sky. Emily is such a beautiful person/writer/photographer. I don't intentionally lurk, it just happens. Emily, I promise I will try to comment more, because I know how important comments can be to a girl.

I usually come away from her blog pondering, deeply. It is like a breath of fresh, cool air on a hot sultry day.

She has created a weekly link-up, called Unwrapped for women to celebrate the little things wrapped up in the big, or look at the mess and unwrap the gift hidden inside it.

So today, I thought I would join in the fun.

Over the past week, I've been captured by the 'little things' that make parenting so fun.

Take, for example, the pure bliss of watching and waiting oh-so-patiently for the muffins to be done.

As moms, we so often have to be the 'no man.' I am trying to say yes more often. So when my little man asked if he could make the muffins, I said yes. It was so worth it to have a little extra flour spread around the kitchen.

Another time I had the opportunity to say yes this week was when my kids wanted to build a fort out of every pillow in the house.
Not only did I say yes, but they also got to enjoy their pillow condos during our history lesson.

I went from the 'no man' to the mom-who-rocks! :)

Sunday Rest

God is higher than anything and anyone,

outshining everything you can see in the skies!

Who can compare with GOD, our God,

so majestically enthroned?

Psalm 113:4-5

The Message

Why I Love Him

I'd like to introduce you to the man of my life. I know you've already seen his crafty side (here, here, and here). I'm sure he'll love the fact that I labeled him as crafty. Crafty. Not Girly.

In fact, my hubby is anything but girly. A man's man. A good ol' boy who loves to hunt and grub with the best of them. You get the picture.

(Let's all take a moment and acknowledge the elephant in the room: yes, I know I look like ghost next to his dark, summer tan... just call me Casper)

On the inside of that tough exterior, he's a softy. He treats me like a queen. Every. day.

Even on days when I call him in tears because I may or may not have put a scratch on the car at the horse farm. Even on days when I paint half of a room to surprise him, only to find that he has to finish the job. Even on days when he has worked so hard in the hot July sun and I've been at home in the nice cool air conditioning. Even on days when we have mac-n-cheese for dinner. Again.

He has a gift of patience that I will never understand. Which brings me back to the whole scratch on the car thing. Yesterday, I was on my way to drop our daughter off at riding lessons when the little 'incident' occurred. It is a long, winding gravel road wide enough for only one vehicle. Usually, we meet no one on that road. Yesterday was a different story. There was a vehicle behind me and as we came around a bend, we met another vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. Sheesh! Traffic these days!

So rather than the approaching vehicle backing up 20 feet, the guy behind me and I had to back up 100 feet. Let's just say I was distracted by the pile of old boards with rusty nails to my left, the pushy car in front of me, and the guy behind me, that I didn't notice the wire fence to my right. Which, as small as it is, can do some nasty damage to a fine red paint job.

Being the first time I have EVER messed up a car, I was quite torn up about it. Hence, the phone call in tears to my man. He didn't get mad. He didn't even sigh. He just said, "It's O-kay! As long as everyone is safe, it's okay." No guilt trip. No frustration in his voice. Just, "things happen, don't worry about it."

Once again, I was reminded why I love this man!

School Room Fun

Today we are taking a closer look at some of the fun things I did to organize our school room.

I love a new project, so this was F.U.N.!!!

I found these organizer boxes at Target in the $ section for $2.50 each. If you walk to the back of the store you will find the same ones (although, in a variety of colors) in the laundry/storage dept. for $9.99 each. Hmm... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math! At that price, I'll work with black.

The galvanized monogram letters were in the dollar section at Michaels during the holidays.

With a little light blue ribbon, they don't look Christmasy at all.

The kids like having their own bins for their personal notebooks and clipboards.

Remember these?
I just changed out the background paper to go with our new color scheme.

Speaking of new color scheme, I had fun whipping up these new window treatments:
I wanted it to be a quick project, so they are not lined, but they work for me.

The fabric is fun, but the colors are soothing.

I love this fabric! It's cotton pique' which adds a soft casualness.

I asked my husband to make a sturdy, decorative shelf for my desk area. He did a beautiful job (as usual). We won't talk about how many holes we drilled trying to find a stud... the stud-finder was lying!! Maybe its little vacation in the fridge wasn't so healthy. (You never know what you will find in the fridge with a 5 year old boy in the house).
A dear friend gave me this little shelf. It was white with a seashell accent. Thanks, Erin! Nothing like a good coat of black spray paint! It now sits on my desk as a great organizer.

I've recently been noticing (on other fabulous blogs) the use of clothespins. I think they are a charming way to display pictures. One perk is they don't damage the picture with a hole or tape to the back. Now I can change out my pictures... whenever!

We've also attached one to a wire on our bulletin board (see previous post). Doncha love my subliminal message to my kids?

Well, I'm off to enjoy the day in our new room!

Day One

I've been working on these:

because today we begin this:
While we were at the beach, my hubby made the sign (above) for our new school room. He has the artistic gene, so I'm praying that our children take after him. Yes, to answer your question, he did the letters by hand and then cut them out of wood. Amazing.

Over the summer we've transformed one of our rooms into the schoolroom. Needless to say, it has been fun for me, but the kids have been so excited to watch it come together.
I wanted our schoolroom to be warm, inviting, organized and fun... on a tight budget. One of the fun little projects of the summer was the bulletin board. I purchased a large cork board from Walmart and covered it with dark brown burlap. The flower adds a little whimsy. However, I'm still on the hunt for the perfect ribbon to add to the edges.

Since we recently repainted this room, I was hesitant to hang a dry erase board on the wall. Not because of the nail holes, but because of the inevitable marker streaks that typically surround the board. I found the solution: the drawer of our tv cabinet is stable and just the right height.
The little brown desk was my husband's childhood desk. He and his grandfather built it together. The bookcase belonged to his grandparents. It's been in just about every room of our house(s).

Who says storage has to be expensive? I found the little bucket (below) for $1.49 at Hobby Lobby.
Stick around, next post will feature some inexpensive organizing tips and my new window treatments.

Sunday Rest

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens,

and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Daniel 12:3

It's Magic!

A couple of years ago, my mom showed up at my door with an unexpected, just-because-you-are-my-daughter gift. When I opened the box, I busted out with uncontrollable laughter. She was giggling too, for she knew what my response would be.

"Seriously, you watched an info-mercial?!?"

Mm-hmm.

"And you believed them?"

Mm-hmm

"Do you think it will work?"

I know it does.

"How?"

I bought myself one too.

I thought she had lost it, until I tried it myself.

And discovered that, yes, it is magical:

This little contraption is the BEST! I use it constantly in the summer. Since I am the only person in my family that really appreciates a good smoothie, it is the perfect size. AND dishwasher safe! My mom and I have even been known to take it to the beach because of its packability.

But to appreciate its full 'magical' powers you need these:
Add a little ice and you've got:
STOP. THE. WORLD. Iced chai latte. Total cost: $0.70 Oh yeah, baby. That's what I'm talkin' about!!!

I was headed out the front door and noticed (in my weird decorating frame of mind) that my chai latte matches my Tobacco Road paint perfectly. Hmm... I think I like the paint color Iced Chai better than Tobacco Road.

Where was I? Oh yes, headed in this direction to enjoy a moment of quiet peace.

*Edited to let you know that I did not enjoy a quiet moment on the porch because when I flipped the switch for the fan, an angry mob of wasps came flying out. I guess centrifugal force isn't their thing.
Oh, and one little fun thing to share:
Aren't these old cheese boxes so cool? My dear father-in-law found them in a barn and thought of me. He's known me long enough that he knows I'll take anything old, wooden, with a little character and put it to good use.