Mother's Day 2011

This weekend was Mother's Day weekend, plus it was Tom's 40th birthday on Friday! So lots to celebrate. We had a get-together on Saturday evening with some friends for Tom's birthday and then a very low-key day yesterday for Mother's Day. Of course I did insist upon a photo shoot, which went pretty well. I did bribe Jackson with Marble Slab ice cream, but I say whatever works, use it!

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Tom got me a clicker thingy so we could take pictures via remote control. So I set the tripod up, got the settings like I wanted, and we were able to take some family pictures! Pretty cool. Jackson loved the clicker thingy.

My beautiful boy on Mother's Day!

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Random side note, this is the semi-finished chair I've worked here and there on. I hope to finish it within the week and move on to something else! But you get the idea of the finished product from this picture...

We've been staying busy with work, soccer, beginning of summer things. I am hoping to get someone in here to paint the living room within the month. Then after that, I'm wanting to start pricing granite countertops. It's always something!

I Heart Faces - Pets

The theme this week at I Heart Faces is Pets. And I knew which one to enter when I read the theme. This is probably my favorite picture of Buster ever. I'm pretty sure it was taken the day I brought him home from Love At First Sight, the pet adoption center. He was five weeks old. I took this with a little point and shoot.

I took probably hundreds of pictures of him over the ten years we were lucky enough to have him, but this one is the one I always go back to. He's been gone for about nine months now. Unreal. I miss him every day.

Buster

Guess Who Lost A Tooth?

Well, since it would be kind of tragic, and gross, if Tom or I lost a tooth, the likely answer is Jackson! His school called me on Tuesday and told me he had a collision with his friend and his tooth fell out in his hand. I think he was a little scared because he wasn't sure if he should cry or be happy about it. The tooth had been loose for a while, and it was the one that had been capped and was becoming kind of unsightly due to the porcelain rubbing off on it. So I'm glad it's gone!

The tooth fairy made a visit to him for the first time and gave him a $1 gold coin and a gift certificate to Dairy Queen, which Barney has already eaten. I guess I'll make good on it, though. He got up the next morning and told me: "I didn't want to look under my pillow because I wanted to make it last." I guess he was just so excited that he wanted to keep the excitement going!

WHY CAN'T I?

That's a question I ask myself ALL the time after looking at the 30+ decorating and craft blogs that I read daily. I always feel like such a loser after reading them. They're always taking some broken down piece of furniture they got at a yard sale for a penny and making it brand new looking and amazing! And every time I read those, I think, "Why can't I do that?" Well, there are many reasons, but firstly, I'm kind of lazy. Secondly, I'm a perfectionist and I usually can't make it look perfect again, so I quit. And thirdly, as mentioned, I'm a quitter.

But recently I jumped on the French Provincial chair redo bandwagon and so far I am really happy with how it's looking. Now, it took me half a day to figure out how to get the bottom off the thing and I really can't believe I didn't quit it then. But I forged on and started painting it. I really do love that cane on the sides of it. And it is looking so good! It's raining here, so I doubt I'll paint today, but I hope to have it all painted and ready to start the re-covering this weekend.

FIDDLER'S GROVE

This blog has been neglected for so long and I have a lot to post, but I have a lot to do today, so it's going to be a short one. I took Jackson out to Fiddler's Grove this week to take some pictures of him in the little madras tie that mom made for him that I love! Here is a little collage I made of the day. He looks just so grown up in these pics. He is starting kindergarten this fall, he lost his first tooth, I guess I should start packing his suitcase for college!

SHISHIN'

I've probably posted this before, but if I haven't here it is. I love this video. This is when Jackson was about two and it's just awesome! I wish I had a time machine to go back to this time and scoop him up and squeeze him!

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Jackson's New Room! Not really.

You can't see it very well, but Tom built a shelf/ledge that goes all the way around Jackson's room, except for his windows. I painted the walls Laura Ashley Taupe 3 and I love it. It's the perfect beige neutral! Now I have to figure out what to paint the great room!

Found a great site through The Lettered Cottage called Favorite Paint Colors and if I can't find a color looking on there, then it's hopeless, which is how it feels most days. I'm just going to have to pick a color and not look back. There are a few that I'm writing down and hopefully I'll pick soon and get a painter over here!

Decorating On My Mind

Here is the obligatory photo of Jackson first! This was taken on Dr. Suess's birthday. They made this at his school and they also ate green eggs and ham!

Hey, those are my curtains! I love all the white and cream!

Yes, this is how I want to refinish my table. And I don't think it's a stretch. Mine looks very similar, but is oak. I just need to sand the fire out of it and then paint the legs black, sand, sand, sand, distress, distress, then put like a milk paint on the top. And now I need to find someone to make me some slipcovers for two wingbacks! I wish I could sew sometimes. :(

I would give credit to where this picture came from, but I didn't make a note of it!

Today is an ubelievably warm day and Jackson has been outside on his tire swing some! I'm still recovering from being in my two-week trial. It was exhausting for me. Next week looks busy too, so I better get rested up this weekend!

Nothing has been going on lately except for all the plans in my head to redecorate this boring, hum-drum house. I am so sick of it. I am getting ready to order a new couch and loveseat. I've been wanting the slipcovered look and since I don't know anyone who can sew slipcovers for me and even if I did, it would cost a lot, so I'm getting them from the Cindy Crawford collection at Rooms To Go. They're very affordable and I can change pillows with the seasons! But before I can get them, I need to get this living room area painted. And I'm hiring that out. There is NO way I'm doing it!

Mom is in visiting, so that's it for now. I hope to get Jackson's shelf painted soon and get his room done. Mom's helping me make two curtain panels from blue ticking stripe, which will be really cute!

Oh, I did make this initial S moss thing for the front door. I saw it in the Pottery Barn catalog for $79 and I thought, hey, I can make that. Next time I have that thought, I am going to just ignore myself and order it from the catalog. I probably spent as much making it, plus I burned myself with my new hot glue gun several times and stuck moss to my kitchen floor. But, I am pleased with how it turned out!

The Chair

This blog has definitely been taking back seat to work these days, but there's nothing I can do about it. Nobody's paying me to update this thing. But I don't want to let it completely fall by the wayside because I want to still be able to document the big things that go on in Jackson's life and our lives. Sadly, or maybe not, nothing big has happened lately. Oh, except Tom had two car accidents week before last. That was pretty exciting.

The first accident was a hit and run and he was T-boned and the lady fled the scene. He got a pretty good look at the car and then an eyewitness did as well. The cops were unable to locate her, though. So about three days later Tom was in his rental car in the same town and that same lady was sitting beside him at a stoplight.

So he followed her to her house, which I told him that was a bad idea because he could have been shot! But the police met him there, took pictures of her car, questioned her and of course she denied knowing anything about it, even though the front of her car had obviously been in a wreck. So basically she got away with it. :(

I love these pictures of Jackson laughing. The color and exposure are so off on them, but I still like to see him in a wide-open laugh like this!

This chair? Where did it come from you ask? Well, I saw in in a blog a while back and thought how cute it would be in our office. Lo and behold, it was on sale and so I went and bought it. I love it. I need pretty things in my office so that I won't mind being in there the amount of time I have to be in there!

This is a picture from the blog. See her chair there to the right of the fireplace? You can click on the picture and it will link you up to that particular blog post on Kelli Rae's blog. She is an artist and I love her eclectic style.

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Tom put up Jackson's shelf last weekend. It runs around three walls of his room, but not the window wall. I still have to put another coat of Kilz on it and then paint it the trim white, but it's going to really be cute! He did a really good job and it didn't take him long at all!

This was kind of his beginning point. I'll post more pictures once it's all done. His room is a wreck right now!