Well SHOOT!

I got into a fender bender. And the chick is now saying it's my fault so I'll have to replace her bumper on her already beat up car. Seriously, her car looked like it had been in 50 accidents.

I have been in 2 accidents in over 20 years driving, neither being my fault.

Thankfully no one was hurt but I have already been stressed out and this had pushed me over the limit.


Until I got home to find that Graham intentionally made a L shaped rip in the seat of my fabric couch. I may or may not have said a swear word, loudly.

That pushed me to clear out his room of everything except a bed and clothing. If he can't take care of MY things, then he gets NOTHING.




ps...posting anon is cowardly.
If you think I am ungrateful for my husbands job you can kiss it. My husband is one of the most honorable and hard working men I know and I tell him that often. I'm sorry if you think I should be flipping out over a parking lot carnival. SO not happening.

Summer Work Party!!

The boys ate a lot of this...

We were out in the sun like this...(the hot sun, with hardly any shade...)
These were cotton candy #1's...I think they had 3 each. Blech.

We enjoyed one bite of an undercooked hamburger. Oh wait. I enjoyed one bite. Dan ate the whole thing and then felt sick that night. Duh, baby.

The boys played this...

Dan almost won this....

They slid down this...

And climbed up this.

It was in the parking lot friends. Nothing like going back to work on a Friday night to hang out at a pseudo carnival in the parking lot. It was hot, the food was, well...you saw it and the music was so loud that we were all covering our ears.

Last year they sent us to a local amusement park for the day and it was FANTASTIC. Loved it and we had a terrific time. Why they went back to this I have no clue.

Dan did get a nice cash bonus for their big birthday bash the day before and you know we stopped by Wendy's on the way home to get a decent burger.

Thrifty FInds Monday!

Joining in on Rhoda's party again this week...was planning on going alone but before the words "garage sa..."could even escape my still waking up lips, Greg was dressed and in the car waiting to go along. Then as I was pulling out of the garage Graham came running out looking ready to go as well.

I armed them with quarters and the rules:
1. Do NOT ask mom loudly if you can have something. Mom does not want to have to explain what junk is in front of the "junks owner."
2. Do NOT beg, whine or cry if mom says no.
3. Treat it like a treasure hunt, we may fund something, we may not, but we still have fun and get a doughnut afterwards.

Deals of the day...

Smocked bubble outfit - .50 cents

Old Navy Linen Dress - FREE!! It pays to find out that the garage sale you show up at is related to a good friend of yours! Thanks Kari!

Carters khaki skirt and shirt - $1.00 each

Carters sundress (love the colors) $1.00

Eeek!! Super cute cuffed capris from Children's Place - $1.00!

Brand new plates - $1.00 (this woman was selling off inventory from a store, most of her things were way overpriced but I thought these were perfect little gift plates for the price especially being brand new!)

Graham's find: Darth Vader talking mask - $4.00 (they are selling on ebay for $25-30) and Power Ranger gun, .50 cents and a Dr. Suess book for free.

Find of the day - Greg's Spiderman costume for $1.00. He LOVES Spiderman and has worn this from the minute he woke up to the minute he goes to bed. He would not stop grinning after he found this! He also got a Blue Thunder monster truck for .25 cents.

Total spent - under $15.00
Not a bad day, especially with two little shoppers tagging along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Laundry and Playroom!!

How is it Friday already? This week has flown right by!! Kelly is having her party go on and on and on and I just love it! It's been so fun looking at everyone's homes and getting some great decorating ideas!

First up is our "toy loft." It could've been a 4th bedroom but we already have three upstairs and they are full of kids so we've loved having this space. This is before my cute black checked curtains went up but there is a slight fireman theme going on.

My brother, Mike made this awesome PB knockoff toy shelf for Graham's first birthday. He drove it in the back of his truck from Atlanta all the way to Utah for him! I love that he got into the details of it and put a copper "pole" down the center too. I added the vinyl letters to it to finish it off.

There are the curtains! You can't see that there is a red wooden ladder hanging on the opposite wall that Dan built. But you can see how messy three kids make this place. We clean it up constantly and now that they are getting older I might change the room into more of a computer/study space.

And here is my laundry "room" that some man must have designed. It's in my main hallway in.a.closet. We moved into this house when Graham was only 2 and I was pregnant with Greg. Can you say dumb first time homebuyer who has never done laundry for three kids?

Dan added the extra shelf for me and a light. They couldn't even put a light in!! Grrr. This is going to be my new mudroom space. Dan is putting a laundry chute into our master closet and I'm getting a 12x11 laundry/craft room down in the basement.

Boring I know! I've had a lot of little projects going on around the house including painting the kids bathroom. I'll post those before and afters on Monday I hope.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!!

Let the Summer Start!

School's out and I now officially have a first grader! Now I just need to tell the boys that they can sleep in. They are getting up at the crack of "seriously did someone give you caffeine at 6:00 a.m.?" And here I thought I would get to sleep in a little.

I was all set to start a fun tradition of getting lunch and taking them to the park after school on the last day. It was pouring rain. So Graham said he wanted one of "those vanilla bean drinks"
Drive-thru at Starbucks and one frappachino for my first grade boy.

A little soccer awards picnic at the park that night complete with freeze to death and shiver while you watch your boys care less what the weather is!

Graham played a great season of soccer - I love that Greg is just as excited about Graham getting his award as Graham is. Hooray for cute brothers!

Thrifty Finds Monday!

Thought I would join in on the party over at Rhoda's today - she is one lady I would love to go yard saling with. You should see some of the bargains she finds!
I didn't make it to any sales this last weekend, but these are from the weekend before...

Debbie Mumm Christmas tray - $4.00

Gold plate (that might end up with some cookies on it for a friend) - .50 cents

A favorite Christmas DVD - $2.00

And a black wool Baby Gap coat with velvet collar in like new condition - $10.00.
I got these all right next door at my neighbor's yard sale. Personally, normally I would've never paid that much for the coat. But my neighbor is nice, doesn't have a garage band that plays at 1 a.m. and goes to church with me. So I would never dream of trying to negotiate. If it was a stranger? You bet I would!
The beautiful thing is I know I can sell it for possibly more on Ebay when LuLu is done wearing it this next winter!

I also got a tennis racket for Graham for $5...spent a total of $26.00! (Ouch, that is a LOT for my yard sale budget!)

So I piggy backed on my neighbors sale, (with permission!) set up one little table and sold $25 worth of LuLu's outgrown clothes in one hour!


So it was sort of like my new treasures were free! (Right?)
Thanks for stopping by!

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Bathrooms!!

Well I never thought I'd be using exclamation points after the word bathroom but here we go!
You are only getting my guest bathroom - I am in mid re-design process with the kids bathroom upstairs so right now it is builder boring to look at. Mine really doesn't get all that exciting either. I need a trip or two to TJMaxx to fix that problem fast.


But here is our sad little hall bath before...Why did I leave it so blah and undecorated? Because I had two little boys to potty train. Boys are gross. I have one picture of a mess that one boy left after using this bathroom that I can use for some serious blackmail later on in his life.

It only took one large jug of bleach to clean it all up again. So I waited till Greg was done and in January when Dan said he wanted to finish the basement I gave him this as his "Let's see if you can finish a bathroom in 2 weeks let alone start a basement" project. He passed with flying colors and had the sink back in 30 minutes before my guests arrived.

Here is the after. I love this green - same as my office, Homestead Resort Pale Olive. Still wanting to replace the light fixture but haven't found what I want for a price I like yet!

I think Dan did a fantastic job on the beadboard - I love this little space now. Of course I also love having boys who can now use their own bathroom upstairs 90% of the time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Bring Me Kleenex Tomorrow

Wasn't I just taking his first day of school picture? How is it that he is done with Kindergarten forever tomorrow? He has grown up so much this past year. I mean, the boy has offered to do the dishes, made his bed and mine yesterday AND got up from dinner to offer to refill my water glass. He brings his laundry hamper downstairs when it gets full.
What is going on?
WHO is his amazing mother?
Totally kidding, I am his lucky mother!
I love my Grahamie and as excited as I am for him to grow up I still am allowed to be sad at the same events.

We went and picked up his teacher gift for tomorrow. Look at the size of those cookies!! I put a Dixie Cup next to compare for you - we went with a 1/2 dozen of them with the cheesy phrase, "You've been an Over the Top amazing teacher!" (Since the cookies were from the store Over the Top - get it? Get it? Oh my gosh I kill myself with my creativity some days.) We of course had to sample one and yummmmmm! They are so good!

Graham had his Kindergarten program today. He did GREAT!! Got up on the stage and I have video proof that he sang a few words. (I know - shut up!) My super shy boy did fantastic.

Another proud moment for me, all the kids had to write down their favorite book for the show...

Graham answered:

The scriptures and Dr. Suess's The Sneetches.
I about fell off my chair.

This was one of the FOUR girls who wanted his picture taken with him...she was trying to put her arm around him and he just stepped waaaayyyyyy back.

But right now he has a little friend crush on this cute girl in blue.
Won't say names since I don't want to jinx anything and I am really crossing my fingers for this to work out in 17 or 18 more years. Doesn't Greg look tall (hard to tell with a cup in his face but he has grown over an inch in the past month!)

Graham and one of his good buddies, K. Cutest kid - I am sad they are not in the same class next year but they'll see each other on the playground I'm sure.

And I couldn't leave LuLu out - this is from Saturday when my two nephews were baptized. Turns out she likes homemade rootbeer and/or party supplies like her mom. Too cute. My friend Cindy in Alabama made this dress for her - I need to do a little photo shoot at the park with her in it to show off her amazing work!

Picture Tag

I was tagged by Nic to pic the 10th picture in my first folder. She is a fun girl who loves hairspray and big hair just like me - ha!

This is my little Grahamie when he was about 2 years old - we were walking trough some local gardens and he was such a happy boy to be running and walking everywhere that day. Even happier to have Dan pick him up when he got tired! I think Lauren looks a lot like him although people tell me she looks like Greg?


Anyways...I tag whoever wants to do it! Happy Sunday, we are home from a great day at church and I'm in my jammies thinking of a nap - nice!

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Office!!

It's that time again! Kelly's Show Us Where You Live Friday! I missed the last two weeks (no guest room at our house) and children's rooms (because I didn't feel like super cleaning the boys rooms for pictures) but office pictures I can do!

I love my office, as much as I get giddy about going to Office Max or seeing cute office things at Target. Not having a great day? Nothing a cute new notepad or pen can't fix for me.
Best Mother's Day gift ever? My label maker. So not kidding.

I know, I'm a nerd. I've come to be okay with that.

My desk. Lucky for me I had a "clean desk" picture to post. Today I've been working on wedding flower quotes (I'm starting to do flowers again from time to time, nothing crazy with the bridal shows like before, but just doing a few makes it a fun hobby for me that puts a little extra cash in my pockets!)
And I'm now the Cub Scout Committee Chair at church so I'm getting a lot of cub scout things coming my way that I need to read and sort through!

I bought these curtains when we first moved here 5 years ago. Didn't know where to hang them until I moved my desk in here from upstairs. Then discovered they were too short. That was also when I discovered the Nester and I copied a few of her tricks to help save the day!

See what a little yard of fabric can do? Then I hot glued some black trim onto the seam to finish it off. Perfect!Painted this archway last summer. Because when you have 2 active boys and a brand new baby it's fun to get paint everywhere. I started off with over 60 chips...look at those, not the messy shelves.

Homestead Resort Pale Olive won out. I love it. so much I used it in my guest bathroom also! Thanks for stopping by!

I Have a Personal Shopper!!

You all know cute little Susie, don't you? If you don't, you should head on over to her place. She is one talented girl. I saw that she had done a little Pottery Barn search and found the PB versions of these lanterns at Wal-Mart for CHEAP. So I just took that as a sign that she needs to be my personal shopper and took the kids over to Wal-Mart last week.

There they were in the candle section - Graham was confused about what we were even going to do with them...but this landlocked California girl had a plan to "coastalize" her desert home. If that is not a word then it is now. Dan is thinking I'm going to coastalize every room in our house. He might be right.

He bought me a happy little starfish on our honeymoon in Monterrey. I love starfish, but won't touch a shrimp to save my life. Go figure. So add a few Wal-Mart glass marbles and some cheapie WM seashells and starfish and we were set. I love it. It's the perfect "beach" meets "french country" that I'll ever see. At least in my house. In the frame is our wedding invitation. I leave that out year round, I loved my invitations that much.

Had to add a few more shells to my Wal-Mart glass candle holders...

A bit of sand to get between your....well, it won't be your toes. But one can dream. Isn't sand on your feet the best summer feeling? In your bathing suit, notsomuch.

I printed out some of my favorite summer pictures of the kids to put on my PB halltree. Found the seagrass and shell at Target two summers ago on clearance. I think I spent $5.00 on both if I remember right. Love that!

So until these summer thunderstorms go away, I've got some summertime happening right in my own family room!

Thank you Susie @ Bienvenue for the great inspiration!