Grateful

I have a lot of catching up to do!!! Have been busy vacationing and celebrating the past couple of weeks and have not had a chance to blog. Enjoying family, food, shopping, crafting, etc. Its been nice.

I have to start by participating in my favorite weekly ritual: Five Minute Friday at Gypsy Mama. This week's prompt: Grateful.

Ready, set, go:

So, so, so much to be grateful for, it is hard to even know where to start. Since I just got back for a day/night trip to Asheville with my husband....I think I will talk about what I am recently so grateful for...... our marriage.
Last night, as we spent time refinishing an antique Morrocan table together, I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky I am that I am with someone who shares the same interests that I do. HAs this always been true? Not really? Have we always got along? No way. We have been married for twelve years and together for a LONG time before that (me 18, him 19) and we are now 36 and 37. Marriage is TOUGH. But WOW, so worth it.
I am so grateful for the love that has grown and strenthened over the years. Not always easy. Now that the children are a little bit older, we have more time to focus on us. And quiete frankly, I have not always been a willing participant. I am the one who talks about the kids,misses the kids, thinks everything should be about the kids. Not that Chris does not loves them, but he values our time as husband and wife. Sounds kind of cheesy, but really, we would not be here if he didn't show me the benefits of being with each other, thinking about each other, and briefly forgetting about the three joys.
So I am extremely grateful for my husband, who has showed me the JOY of being together, married.
Stop

Sweet, sweet summer time

I feel like the only pictures I take lately are of crafts, tutorials, etc. And do you know what?! I am tired of doing it!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE sharing ideas, showing people what I am up to and reading other's ideas. But it is really tedious to take pics of the creative process. I miss just taking pictures of my kids, nature, etc. So, this post is complete with pictures that do not include, paint, glue, furniture, dirty cloths, glaze, etc........Enjoy!

Simple summer moments. Crafting behind scenes;)!


Beth

The Downstairs porch, part two...accessories!

Well, our porch is coming along....slowly. There has been alot of rain and busy days. My accessories are finished, but the actual porch is waiting. Chris and our friend are going to finish hanging the ceiling tomorrow and then we will put it all together;)! Yah~!

I did not buy anything (major) new for this area. I used spray paint and acrylic paint love to transform our outdoor lamp. However (shame on me), I did not take a before picture. So imagine, this....a faded, black base and a cream lampshade that had paint splatters and mildew spots. It needed some major love. I first soaked the lampshade in a gentle detergent and then gave it a bleach bath. Most of the spots came out and it looked much brighter. I then stenciled (bought mine at Michael's for $5.00)a damask pattern on the lampshade using Citron green Acrylic paint. To add a little detail, I found cute little orange buttons at Hobby Lobby and sewed them on top with green thread. The based was sprayed twice with Krylon turquoise spray paint. I also sprayed a poly protector on top. I love my "new" lamp!

Madison helping to straighten the lampshade, still working on that!

The shade and the base, see my pretty Butterfly Bush in the background, I love her and her beautiful blooms.........they smell soooooo good!

One more shot of the lampshade.

Oh, and the color match our "new" rug (feature in the part 1 downstairs patio post).

Here is the fun sign that the girls and I worked on together. We will hang it when the porch is complete!

We started with a 24 x 24 piece of plywood. I gently sanded with my handy electric sander. I spent time roughing up the edges and giving the surface a slight texture to paint.

My two darling helpers!

Next, I used a creamy white acrylic paint (which I used to antique everything, no fancy chalk paint in this house....but I would love to try it one day). After letting it dry, I gently sanded with a sanding sponge and added a layer of Martha Stewart Sea glass paint. Again, dry, sand. I then used my black antique glaze over the top. I rubbed it off with a towel.

I next wrote The Huber Hideaway using pencil. I traced over with a black Sharpie. I did freehand my lettering and this shows. Next time I will use some sort of tool! Using a very fine paintbrush, I filled in the letters with red paint. After the paint dried, I rubbed additional black antiquing finish on top.

The final, and really the funnest, part was to take the electric sander and run it back over the whole sign (after it was completely dry). It make some really cool lines in the letters and added extra ridges throughout. I like the red lettering because it reminds me of circus signs from the olden days! My oldest did not like the red AT All. Although we disagreed on the final product, we had fun making it.

And here are my pretty flowers that are blooming. Love these type of daylillies because they get super tall and are a beautiful shade of orange. I get so excited when the first one opens up!

Hope everyone had a great summer day!
Beth

Wonder

Linking up with Gypsy Mama's Five minute Friday, I encourage you to do the same:)!

This week's prompt: Wonder

Go
I associate wonder with worry. I wonder if we will have money to pay the bills. I wonder if I will have a full time job. I wonder if the mole between my toes is normal? I wonder if my son will do okay in kindergarten?
Children seem to associate wonder with.....well, wonder! I wonder why the trees fall off of the trees? I wonder what will happen if drop this ball? I wonder where apples come from? Maybe they do not always say it aloud, but their actions reflect their ponderings.
So when did my wonders of wonder turn into wonders of worry? It is not like I have the answer to everything? My days should be wondering alongside the children, exploring. figuring things out. Yes, I am an adult and I do have responsibilities, but I need to draw the line between Wonder and Worry.
Stop.
Picture added after time was up.

My at home Get Away!

I love my house and I love my children. However, there are times when I feel like we are all on top of each other. That can be wonderful, or can be really annoying (I know all of you know how I feel!)! Every single room in our house is kid friendly. We do not have a formal dining area or living room.We do have a family room and a small den. Since at least ONE child climbs into our bed everynight, we really don't even have our own bedroom. Sigh.

That is why I am so in head over heels in love with our new space! Last year we had our deck enclosed (it already had a roof). Now this room is usable about three seasons of the year (way too cold in winter). It is bright, airy, and musical ( I will explain that in a minute). It is attached to our kitchen and eating area so it like an extension of our eating space. Kids can sit out there while adults eat inside or vice versa. I can talk on the phone, BLOG, grade papers, read, hang out with husband and/or friends, do puzzles, play Scrabble, craft and enjoy a glass of wine. It is my little slice of home Heaven.

Come take a tour!!
This is my favorite corner. That capiz shell light fixture was purchased in Hawaii in the 1970's. My father-in-law was the Navy and my husband spent the first two years of his life in Hawaii. It was a cheap buy! Now they sell tiny capiz shell lights in West Elm catalog for around $100.00. I can't imagine how much this would be. This is my musical element, when the breeze blows through the window, the light fixture becomes a gentle wind chime.

This next picture shows the window where I watch our fish in the pond below. When I feed them, they are very sneaky about coming to the surface with me standing there. So I throw their food in then run upstairs to spy. It is also lovely to hear the water trickling in the pond.

Here is my favorite place to sit and put my feet up. When you sit in this spot, you get a perfect view of the sunset over the trees.

Here is the window where my sweet hubby can pass my a glass of wine:)!!!

The next two pictures are the other half of the porch. The kids have an art easel and supplies. The flooring is perfect for messy projects. I told you every room in the house is kid friendy! The second picture is the small pub table and stools. My husband, brother and sister in law and I ate Thanksgiving dinner out here this past year. It was in the high 60's!! Crazieness!

Hope you enjoyed the tour! The patio underneath is slowly, but surely, coming along! Hope to have pics soon!





Beth

The downstairs porch, part one

We have made many improvements/updates to our downstairs porch. We have a recently glassed-in upstairs porch that we have focused on the past couple of years are thought we needed to give the area underneath some love.....on a budget.

One of the first improvements was our outdoor rug. Poor thing is well loved, but very faded. At $60.00 a pop, we could not afford to buy new. So after some pressure washing, painting, and a quick protective spray, we have a new and bright outdoor rug.

Here she is in the beginning of the process.

I first had the idea to apply Citron colored acrylic paint over the faded maroon circles. I applied with a sponge brush.

This proved a tedious process,where I found myself asking my husband how much that outdoor rug cost?~?!!!! After several breaks,I had the brainstorm to add some turquoise around the edges...

My sweet children even helped during this process. Granted they did not last long, but I enjoyed their help and conversation while they were there! And Madison came up with the idea to paint the middle of the flowers orange. Which, by the way, looked awesome!

So, instead of paying $60.00 for a new rug, I spend $5.00 on paint, I already had the protective spray, and got to spend MUCHO quality time with the kiddos........PRICELESS! A new, fresh,summer look=LOVE~!

Note: I am having trouble linking up to Debbie's Block Party, if you click the icon above, it will take you there.....go take a look:)!










More patio updates to come;)!
Beth

Home

Yah for 5 minute Fridays! It is 4:10 PM and I finally have five minutes to ramble, I mean, write!!Today's prompt: home. Ready, set, go!

I am a 36 year old mom, married with three children. And we own a home. Somedays I am still in awe that I have come this far in life! I have a home, with kids, and chores, and food, and laughter, and fighting, and tears.
Everyday, I open my eyes to see which of my children have crawled into our bed at night. I step over my fourteen year old dog and go down the hall to get my coffee. I clean, I craft, I eat, I play, I watch t.v., I hang with friends and occassionally extended family.
I make sure there are clean sheets on the bed and that the floor is swept. Medicine is dispensed, plants are watered and that the fish in our tiny pond our fed.
Sometimes I get angry at our home. I see too much clutter, dust, dirt. Spots on the walls and stains on the carpet. Sometimes I drink too much wine and eat too many chips. Sometimes I yell at the kids to go outside and play, sometimes I tell them they need to spend time inside with their family/
This is what happens in our home. I love our home. My parent's house is no longer my home. I am an adult and I try to make our home where our family and friends want to be. I want to be here. In my home.

Stop.

Hmmmm, off the link up and read others. Thank you Gypsy Mama!

Beth