Ta Da!!

It's been a long time coming, but Sweet Girl's room is finally done!!

I looked in there recently, and realized that it looked kind-of-like a yard sale gone all wrong...a too small round table that was great when she was five, not so great at eight...a small "church table" that is just plain ugly...old white shutters that I love and she tolerates...no window coverings...BRIGHT paint on the wall...my old chiff-robe from the days when I ate dirt (and brought home cute little round "rocks" that our neighborly rabbits left for us...it was just a mess!!

Knowing that my sister and niece are going to be here in less than two weeks lit a fire under my tail. And thanks to some awesome deals on Craigslist, some cheap pre-made drapery panels and sheets from good ol' Target...her room is finally done!

It really felt like an episode from Design on a Dime: We reused the bunk beds, the white shelves, and the square paper lamp. On Craigslist, I found a six piece bedroom set (two desks, two chairs, a dresser and a bookcase) for $57 - yes $57 for all of it! I found a pair of drapery panels for $17, two sets of sheets for $13 each, and a picture frame for $8.



The drapery panels were too long, so I cut them to the correct length and hemmed them, then used the excess fabric to cover the two chair cushions. The sheets were purchased in two separate patterns, so we split them up - solid turquoise fitted with circle pattern flat and vice-versa - this gives the bunk beds interest and ties all the colors together.

The picture frame is bamboo, and uses two pieces of glass to sandwich an original piece of art done by my friend Kris Gideon. The glass lets the wall paint show through, and oila! A perfect color match for a "mat" for the amazing horse painting that Kris painted for Sweet Girl.



Sweet Girl had also been collecting posters from a horse magazine, and though I was skeptical at first, they make a pretty interesting border along the wall over the new furniture.



So, let's add that up...the grand total spent to finish a room that is big-girl-to-die-for: $95!!



I must say, I told Sweet Girl tonight, as we watched fireworks flash green, gold and red in front the the foothills ..."I wish I had had a room like this when I was growing up!". She couldn't agree more.

A peek into the day of an (almost) five-year-old

Sleeping in…blueberry pancakes…playing war with Bubba…unloading the dishwasher…swimming in the pool…sunshine…blue skies…diving rings…face underwater…playing in the pea gravel…nachos with cheese…a nap in the playroom…clouds rolling in…rain…thunder…lightening…driving with Mommy…a rainbow in the sky…God’s promise to us…bag pipes and dancing…Amazing Grace…fried chicken and biscuits…millet & limas…five candles…yummy ice cream cake…chocolate ice cream…nuts…a new bike…toys to build with…a baseball bat and glove…an orange camping chair…a new bike…trios…special gifts from Bubba & YaYa…playing with the new toys…driving in the rain…questions…questions… watching fireworks…running in the rain…church parking lot… fireworks…fireworks…everywhere we look more fireworks…red…blue…purple…flowers…poppers…screamers…
God’s fireworks flashing in the sky…at the park…cozy with my family…five years old!

July 4th, 2010
A few days early, but what a day!

Visitors from another planet?

No, not really, but this week we have had some startlingly beautiful and strange visitors in our yard every morning...



No, I did not take this beautiful photo, but isn't it awesome?!?

We have had a family (do dragonflies live in families?) of dragonflies hanging out in our yard, swooping and flying all around. They are the nice big ones, and on Monday when Sweet Girl and I were outside cleaning out the bird cages, the dragonflies where playing in the water we sprayed in the air.

I am not sure why we suddenly have such beautiful creatures sharing our little piece of the world, but as far as I am concerned, they can stay as long as they like!

Overheard in the playroom...

..."I don't want a Mommy who says 'no'. I want a Mommy who says "yes" every day!" Pineapple, talking to himself during quiet time today.

Hands...

...they say it all, don't you think?

My Aunt came over today with my cousin, and I am always amazed when I see my Aunt, how much her hands remind me of my mom's and my Grandfather's hands. Just seeing them reminds me of two people who I love dearly, and in the case of my Grandfather who died many years ago, miss so much. Living so far from family, I am always keenly aware of the people with whom I have a biological connection, a shared memory of events that happened long, long ago. I love my family and am so blessed to have such a great family to be a part of.

Change, it is acomin'

Three years ago, a green-eyed, blond haired little boy entered our lives, and nothing has been the same since that first day. We have had some hard times, lots of them actually, but I am here to say that this little mischievous kid has made a mark on our home, and we will never be the same - thank the good Lord!



He has grown from a one-year-old, non-verbal, tantruming force to be reckoned with to a delightful almost five year old. He is funny without trying, seems to have a mind for math, and slays me with those green eyes of his, every time I take the time to look deeply into them.

Two days ago, we had a first. Our first ever day with no tantrums, no arguing, no time-outs - a truly amazing day...and I don't want to forget where we came from in the process of where we are going. I know that God has some big plans for this little boy. I also know that life with him will never be easy...but I know from deep down in my heart that he is supposed to be my son. That God is using my struggles with Pineapple to shape and mold ME, to make me a better mom and a better child of God. I just pray that in the process, I will be the Mom that God created me to be for Pineapple. For we are surely knit together in a way that only God can knit two people together.

The Garden

Did you grow up with a garden in your life? I did. It was a huge rectangle, full of the food that fed us all summer, fall and winter. It was also full of itchy plants which I had to wade through ~ carefully, oh so carefully ~ so as to get them to surrender their bounty to my unwilling hands. Our whole family helped with harvesting, though planting and tending the garden was my Dad's domain. In fact, we were never allowed in the garden, unless we were there to harvest. Which is why this picture means so much to me.



A few years ago, before my Dad got the tiller out to go over the garden for the first time before spring planting, my sister and her kids were there at my parent's house. I don't know how it happened, but suddenly, my sister was racing with wild abandon through our Dad's garden - and guess what? She didn't get in trouble!

And then there was the canning. No way my mom could can all of that food for the six of us without help, and since I was the oldest, it fell to me to help. Not only did we can what my Dad grew in the garden, but whatever else my mom could get her hands on that could withstand heat and pressure. I remember stopping on the side of the road, more than once, because my mom saw berries, plums, peaches or something that she could use to feed her growing family.

I remember the hot, steamy kitchen, the ceiling fan spinning lazily overhead and the old yellow pressure cooker with the paint peeling off the outside. Never did trust that thing, but it never did blow up...my mom was a master at making it sing...and then out of the dark depths would come glistening glass jars, full of wonderful goodness, and I had helped it happen - it was an amazing feeling!

After cooling under towels on the kitchen table, we carried the jars to the basement and stacked them on the pantry shelves by the back door. There is something so satisfying and comforting to go out a door on a regular basis and as you pass by to see row upon row of glass jars, full of yellow peaches, green beans, purple jams and strawberry jelly...just to name a few!

Fast forward 25 or 30 years and now I live in the great wild west, with a yard half the size of my parent's, with three kids under eight, and find myself home for the summer for the first time since I quit my full time job! So, do you know what that means?!?! It's Garden Time!

See, when I was a kid, it was not so fun to harvest beans, tomatoes, and the like. I did it because I had to, but somehow, the beauty of the early morning rendezvous, the dew on the leaves, the bees buzzing lazily about their work...somehow, it got under my skin. I am hoping to share that with my children.

I read years ago about Square Foot Gardening, and was intrigued with the idea. Finally, finally, we are going to have our own garden! Seeds have been purchased, dirt has been dug, and tomorrow we have a trip to the lumber store planned so that we can pick up the boards for our raised beds. We are in the planning and building stages right now, so stay tuned for updates on our garden and canning experiences - it should be a blast!



I am a visual person, so I have made a grid of our garden, so I can decide where to plant what. This is not the final arrangement...just a cool tool to help me figure out what plant should go where, and whom it should live next to. This is either going to be really fun, or a total disaster! Either way, we get to play in the dirt, so it is a win-win situation!

Some of the seeds we started: