It's Fair Time!

Since I didn't get to go to the fair last weekend because I was in Texas, we went yesterday. And it was hot! Mom was in town so she was able to go and experience it through Jackson's eyes, although she nearly had a stroke from the heat. It did cool down a bit later and became somewhat bearable.

Jackson with Doodles the Clown. Jackson is a brave little boy, because I wouldn't have gotten within two feet of a clown, especially Doodles! He was creepy!

This was one of the happiest moments of Jackson's life! He won a goldfish all by himself! I took this picture right after he sunk the ball in the little bowl! He kept repeating, "I can't believe I won a fish" all the way home. So now we have a goldfish to take care of. And in true Jackson fashion, he picked the most predictable name for it. Nemo. This is the same kid who named his blankie Blankie and a little red microfiber square he sleeps with Red Thing.

Here he is with Nemo!

Close-up of Nemo

Mom and Jackson posing for a pic!

Jackson loved shucking corn. You just dropped an ear of corn down this chute and cranked the arm and it would shuck the corn! I imagine there were limbs lost back in the day in a contraption like this.

Our friend Mary Lynn paid for Tom to ride the mechanical bull. I think he lasted about 10 seconds before his "dismount." He was gripping so tight with his legs that it burned the hair off!

I entered several pictures into the photography competition of the fair and was lucky enough to get third place on two of them. I was pretty surprised. I really felt confident on one that I entered, that it would at least place, and it didn't get anything! So not sure what criteria the judges use, but I'll take my third place ribbons!

Dad and Sherry's dog Lilly

And then this one, which I've always loved of Jack, won third in the children's division.

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Me and Mat Kearney!

I went to Texas last weekend to visit my friend Cathy and to see Mat Kearney (above) in concert at The Mucky Duck! He put on a great show!

Me and Cathy

Cathy and I had a great visit, plus we were able to pick up some bunk beds for her twin boys! They are going to get a surfer themed room and it's going to be so cute! I can't wait to see the final "after" pictures!

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I took a job on Friday. I was a little apprehensive about it, but once it started, I felt like I had never left the field. Thankfully I've been practicing a lot throughout the summer, otherwise I would have failed miserably! I guess I'm ready to jump back into this crazy profession since Jackson will be starting school in another week. It makes me sad to think that this is the end of a chapter of our lives, but I am so grateful that I've been able to be home with him for his first five years. I feel fortunate and blessed to have had this time with him. :)

We Have Lift-off!

After seeing a tire swing DIY project on a blog post, which I listed last week, Tom got busy and put one together for Jackson!


Here, Sadie, Drew and Jackson on its virgin voyage with three people! Tom was swinging them a little too high and I was afraid one of them would come flying out of the thing and hit their head on the ground and die! I did NOT want that happening on my watch. So from now on, no high swinging. Drew went so high he was picking the leaves off of a tree branch from another tree!




Because of the way our yard slopes, I was able to stand underneath him and when he swung up my way, snap this picture!

Can you see Tom in the tree?

He is so proud of it! He told me he has the best tire swing EVER! Now let's hope no one gets injured on it!

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Oh, my, just look at all of that Fiestaware! This would be my dream kitchen, probably.

DAISY COTTAGE

How great is this? Now I want open cabinets! I have always loved my Fiestaware and can't imagine ever owning any other plates, but I would REALLY love a couple of open cabinets like this or even some cabinets with glass fronts. I am FULL of projects these days and short on follow-through. Now I must begin collecting MORE Fiestaware.

Speaking of collecting, I told Jackson that we needed to go to the bank this morning and he said, "If you go to the bank and they give you money, can you give it to me? I collect money." That is his thing to do is look for change on the ground, in stores, everywhere. He's always enlisting me to help him find money!

In the paint store a few weeks ago, he bugged me so much that I pulled out two quarters and rolled them down two different aisles when he wasn't looking, and then when he found them, of course he said, "It's my lucky day!" Now he wants to go to the paint store all the time because he just knows there's money there. ;)

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We had two birthday parties last weekend. One was for his best little friend, Giles. There was a magician there! Jackson loves magic tricks and thinks he can be a magician. As a party favor, he got a magician's hat and wand and was "bippity-boppity-boo'ing" stuff all the way home. Those were the "magic" words the magician used at the party. He had so much fun!

The magician was also a balloon artist and oh, wow, he was good! Here is Jackson and his helicopter, which he left at the party but hasn't seemed to notice, thankfully.

Giles' mom got cut in two!

Jackson on the front row!

The magician and Giles and some kind of card trick, I guess.

It's Going to be the Best Day Ever!

So it's a Spongebob birthday party for Jackson's fifth birthday. Unbelievable. He'll be turning five on September 10! He has always loved Spongebob, so that was his choice for his party. I know some parents think Spongebob is no good for kids to watch, but I'm not one of them. I think it's hilarious and Jackson does too. I'm pretty sure he already has my sense of humor and sarcasm. :)

So this is the invitation I came up with. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, I guess. Coming soon to a mailbox near you...that is if you're immediate family or close friends!

Jackson has strep throat! He had a high fever of 105 on Monday and I was able to get him into the doctor in the afternoon. Before we left, I put him in a lukewarm bath and tried to get his temperature to come down. He hated that. He was a really sick little boy. They worked him over at the doctor's office and his strep test came back positive.

So now he's on antibiotics for ten days...AGAIN! Hopefully he'll feel like his old self soon. I've been up with him multiple times the past two nights because his throat hurts or he just can't sleep. And I know since I have an out-of-town girl trip planned next weekend that I'm going to come down with it. It's just inevitable. Murphy's Law.

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Here are some random things. This is called a S'mores Cake. It looks unbelievable...unbelievably dangerous. I don't think I could ever bring myself to make this because I know my willpower is nil. But if anyone who's reading this makes it, let me know how it turns out and I can enjoy it vicariously through you! You can find the recipe here:

Flamingo Toes

And hopefully we'll be getting one of these soon for Jackson! And yes, I always want the things I see on my favorite blogs! They somehow trick me into thinking I can DIY too, and I'm just too anal to be a good DIYer. But thankfully, I'm married to Tom who is a DIYer. I hope we have at least one old tree in the backyard that can hold a couple of kids in a tire swing...that, or good liability insurance. You could check out the tire swing tutorial here:

Under the Table and Dreaming

(what has swiftly become my favorite new blog)

And for some reason I am in love with these little fabric banners and I have convinced myself that maybe I can make one for Jackson's room that has all of his room colors in it. The rational side of me is saying to just buy this one off of Etsy and be done with it. And that's probably what I'll do. It's only $15 for crying out loud. Check it out here:

JUMPUPANDDOWN

Right As "Rain"

I finally finished painting our bathroom today. I would have been done sooner, but I would have to have a day in between to recover from the previous day of climbing up and down a little ladder. I am getting old and rickety.

Anyway, I was having trouble finding a blue that I liked that wasn't too little boy blue and thankfully Neighbor Amy had painted her office in a really pretty shade of blue so I was able to actually plant my eyes on the color before I started painting. It's a great blue! It's Sherwin Williams "Rain." The pictures below aren't exactly true to color, but they're close.

Ooooooh, aaaaaaaah

Don't look too closely, because my cut-in job wasn't the best I've ever done. I couldn't see where the wall ended and the ceiling started! Did I mention I was getting old?

More ooooooh, aaaaaaah...

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the glass doors of our medicine cabinet because it is so ugly to be able to see our pharmacy inside! I saw some fabric at JoAnn's and thought that might be the ticket...



I'm still not 100 percent sold on this. I think the fabric is cute and all, but a solid might suit me better. I'll leave it for the time being and see if it grows on me.



Now, if only I can talk Tom into making this shelf for me to hang decorative towels from. I thought we had all the materials in the garage, but I guess it is a bigger job than just wood gluing some boards together and painting. The LETTERED COTTAGE BLOG has some before-and-afters of this lady's bathroom redo, and it is unreal. I hope I can get a shelf like this in the near future...very near future!

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We went to The Loveless on Saturday morning for breakfast, and believe it or not, there was no wait! Unbelievable for that place. We didn't see any celebrities, just Zach Wamp, who is running for governor. No big thrill there. I certainly didn't whip my camera out.

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I saw this project on one of my blogs and now I want one up in the bonus room! Maybe if I just found letters for Jackson's name. I'm still unsure what I'll do, but how cute is this?

I can't remember whose blog this was on or I would definitely give them some blog-to-blog love. It is AMAZING!

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Jackson told me last week that he is collecting money and empty toilet paper rolls. I would say it's good to collect money, but unless he's planning on being super crafty as an adult, the cardboard toilet paper rolly things are just a waste of time. But there's no telling him that. He has been hoarding them like a rat underneath his sink! ;)

I Need An Intervention

I have become hopelessly addicted to decorating blogs. I read about a dozen a day. I thought I would share with you my top three and then a new one I just found. The first one is The Nesting Place, and it is really full of great advice, great giveaways and lots of humor. You can also be Nester's friend on FB, which I am, of course. ;) Because of Nester, I now want all white slipcovered furniture!

NESTING PLACE

Next is The Lettered Cottage, which is Layla Palmer's blog. She is absolutely FULL of great decorating ideas and she actually carries them out, which is foreign to me. I have a lot of ideas, but they don't seem to get carried out. I guess if I wouldn't read so many decorating blogs I could get more things done, right? Anyway, Layla is actually a designer and she just wrapped up a project on Tybee Island where she and her husband, Kevin, decorated a beach cottage. You HAVE to check it out. It's unbelievable. She gave her blog readers a chance to name the cottage, which I gave it a whirl, but my names weren't chosen!

THE LETTERED COTTAGE

Then there's the blog Under The Table and Dreaming. This blog does a link-up of projects that people have done. Some of the things are so creative and very inspiring!

UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

This last blog is one I've just discovered, but it's well worth the read. You have got to check out her parties for her kids. I think she is also a designer, but the last party she had for her son, it was 4th of July vintage and unreal! Makes me want a huge outdoor space to go crazy with!

HOLLY MATHIS INTERIORS

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Jackson and I went to MO this weekend. A childhood friend of mine was having an art show at home and I wanted a couple of things! She is self-taught and her style is very whimsical, which is right up my alley. I love the colors she uses and of course I did buy a couple of paintings! I think her show was a success, and I'm glad people came out to support a hometown girl.

We had a nice visit with everyone, and Jackson got to see Lilly, Dad and Sherry's puppy. He is crazy about her. They played so hard! I'm always afraid he will smash her or hug her too tight because she's so tiny, but she escaped unscathed...this visit anyway.

Lilly

Jackson

Dad, Jackson and Lilly

Jackson squeezing the life out of Lilly

Tonya, Jackson and Darin

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I've been wanting some basket liners for the baskets in the living room that hold -- hide all Jackson's toys, so I got a painter's dropcloth from Lowe's and Mom was able to get six basket liners out of it. The cloth was only $10. Now, that's economical. Thank you, MOM, for sewing these. I love them! I still may add a little chalkboard tag or something to the front of each. See, I'm reading too many decorating blogs!

They look so much better!

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Jackson loves it when the dogs lay on him. He yelled at me the other day and said, "Come here and take a picture of us!" And you know I don't need to be told twice to take a picture, so I ran in my bedroom and the picture above is what I found. :)

July, nothing new

Jackson and Tom spent a lot of time at the pool over the weekend. I'm glad Tom likes to go, because I have never been one to enjoy being at the pool swimming, laying out, etc. I feel like I'm wasting my time and something else more pressing needs to be getting done. Not that I will then do that aforementioned something else more pressing, but I just never have liked hanging out at a pool. But Jackson LOVES the water, as most soon-to-be-five-year-olds do.

I have really been neglecting this blog, but it seems like one day just pours into another without much definition here lately. I did manage to set the tripod up and get some "family" pictures of us, sans the dogs! Hopefully I can get my friend over here soon to attempt that daunting task! But for now, here's what we have:

It seems that is the only smile Jackson knows, and I can handle it. I think it's cute even.

We're starting to talk about what he wants for his 5th birthday. I can hardly stand it. FIVE? Really? Didn't we just have his first birthday? He wants a Spongebob birthday, so now I'm working on the invitations. He wants the Spongebob pinata too. Luckily there are lots of Spongebob birthday supplies available! I tried to talk him into a Toy Story 3 party since he loved that movie so much and it's kind of the HOT thing right now, but he's sticking with Spongebob. Stay tuned...