So here is my lamp before:

And after:

I am really happy with the way that it turned out and it fits with the dining room perfectly (it’s new home is on the buffet server). I used Rust-oleums American Accent spray paint in Heritage White to paint the lamp and then used my sisters tutorial on how to hot glue fabric onto your lamp shade. The price breakdown was:

Lamp w/ shade: $8.00 from Goodwill

Spray Paint : $4.99 (@ Hobby Lobby so you could wait until they have a 40% off coupon for it but I’m not that patient)

Fabric: $6.99 (I sprung on the 54 in decorator fabric since the pattern was exactly what I was looking for and bough half a yard which left me with a little extra.)

Beaded Tassel: $1.49 from Hobby Lobby

TOTAL: $21.47 which I thought was pretty darn good considering a lamp that big at a retail store would go for anywhere from $30-$60.

We also happened to have an adapter that you screw into the bulb socket that allows you to turn the light off and on by touching anywhere on the lamp base and also has 4 different lighting levels. We already had that here but you can purchase them at a home improvement store for $2.99.

And, for your viewing pleasure, a couple pictures of my other little sassy giving her Barney a bath She plays very realistically since this would be her lathering up the washcloth with a imaginary bar of soap.

Wash those stinky piggies!

All done!

I’m thinking Barney is going to need a bigger towel than that to dry off…..

Sorry this was kind of a fluff post. I had two little people that really took it out of me today.

Happy weekend!

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Can I just say I love my kids, but I am so looking forward to a quiet 36 hours with just my husband and I and the company of other adults who hold adult conversations. If you are a stay-at-home mommy, you know what I mean and how much value adult conversation holds. I know that I will be more than ready to get home to the kids on Saturday afternoon, but as of right now, I am counting down until 11:00 tomorrow afternoon.

Another part of the weekend that I am looking forward to is to get dressed up for a nice dinner. The only down side to this part is that I needed a nice dress to wear to this nice restaurant. I have never really been at the height of fashion, although I would like to think that I am, so now that I stay home with two little, messy children, I am even farther removed from what is fashionable and what is not. I am trying to work on that and know that Stacy and Clinton would be so severely disgusted with my excuse of a wardrobe and tell me that just because I stay at home doesn’t give me a pass on dressing like a slob. We all know how they despise the word “comfortable” and that pretty much fits the majority of what fills my drawers. I rarely buy “dressy” dresses as I don’t have a great need for them with the exception of the occasional wedding or other special events. I have desperately been searching for something that is flattering and fashionable  and let me just tell you, that has been one very difficult task. So many of the styles right now are a loose fitting style and I just can not pull that look off. It either looks sloppy or maternity like on me. After having no success here in Findlay, I decided to take the kids up to Toledo and look there. What I ended up with was no success on the dress search front and a whole  bunch of frayed nerves. We started out at the mall and the kids were great little shoppers. Probably because I plopped them into the double stroller with some Auntie Anns pretzels They were as happy as could be. Then I decided that I would try Target because sometimes they carry some nicer things. It was worth a shot at least since I was right there. So we get to Target and Caroline doesn’t want to sit in the front of the cart, she wants to sit in the back with brother. Whatever! It wasn’t worth the stress so sure, go ahead. I go about choosing a few things to try on and make my way back to the fitting room and this is how it went:

Joel: I want to get out!

Mommy:No.

Caroline: DADA….

DADA….

DADA!!!!!

Mommy: Caroline please stop screaming. Not everyone wants to hear you. Joel please get your fingers out of your nose that’s not polite.

Joel: But I have boogers.

Mommy: Don’t say boogers.

Meanwhile Caroline is all but licking every last inch of the handicap assist rails in the dressing room. When I turn around after getting the dress over my head, I all but freak out thinking about what was on that rail but is now in my childs mouth! Gives me the heeby jeebies. I HATE the oral fixation stage!!! Thus the reason for  this title. I felt like I was on repeat with both of my children saying “Stop that! Don’t do that! No, no, no, no no!!!”.

I decided to call my best friend Angie to see if she was free for the evening to help restore my sanity with some girl time. Praise God for friendships. I love that I have a best girl friend that can relate to me and laugh with me to lighten a difficult day. Right now Angie just listens as I unload on her but soon she will get to share stories of her own. I told her last night as she laughed at my stories that she laughs now, but I will be the one laughing in a couple months when she is the one “running away” for the evening.  Angie and her husband, Scott are expecting their first baby, a little girl, in July. I am so excited for my friend and hope that Caroline and baby M will be grow up to be best friends like their mommies. Anyhow, while Angie and I were out last night she was so sweet as to help me look for a dress even though I felt like I had tried on every single dress in every store in Findlay. We went back to Kohls where I ended up with this dress

This is not normally what I would have picked out for myself and wouldn’t have even thought about trying it on but that’s the whole point. Trying things that I wouldn’t normally.  So tomorrow evening I will confidently wear my new dress that makes me feel pretty and I am going to enjoy my evening with my husband. But I know I will more than likely be thinking about how Joel and Caroline are doing without me and wondering what they are doing.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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We will be setting sale on board the Carnival Dream on May 29th for seven days with my sister Lindsay , brother in law Spencer and my two brothers Matthew and Nicholas. In just a few short weeks, my mom would have been graduating from the University of Findlay with her degree in Elementary Education. When she had started there as a non-traditional student two years ago, we had told her that when she graduated we wanted to take her on her very first cruise to celebrate all her wonderful achievements. After mom passed away in October, my sister, brothers and I discussed it and decided that mom would still want us to go. So, that’s what we are going to do. This will be my second cruise and I can’t wait to go and spend such a fun week with my siblings, husband and brother-in-law.

Since the majority of this vacation will be spent in a bathing suit, it is time to stop making excuses and shed that baby weight that I have been carrying for almost 4 years now. I decided to sign up for a step class that is offered for free at the Y for members and went for the first time last Monday and then again today. I have done step before but that has been a few years now. So I walk in there with no makeup on and my mangy hair pushed back with a headband as it is 9:15 on a Monday morning and who gets dolled up before a workout? Well apparently I am incorrect in my thinking and you do get dolled up for your workout. One lady in particular walks in with her beautiful shoulder length hair all curled and not a hair out of place and impeccable makeup. I couldn’t help but snicker and think “Well, this must be her first step class.” The instructor gets going on her nicely put together routine and I am starting to feel like I am going to DIE about 20 minutes in to the 60 minute class! If you’ve ever taken a step class, you know that the room is generally mirrored all across the front of the room. So I’m looking around at everyone else and they are acting like this is no thing. The lady with the hair and makeup, a pro! She isn’t even breaking a sweat for petes sake! And here I am with my face a shade of red I have never seen, I am dripping sweat everywhere and wheezing like I’ve been smoking two packs a day for 25 years. Ok, that my be a bit exaggerated but I thought there was a very good possibility that I was going hit the floor. At least the instructor was breaking a small sweat so I don’t feel like a complete freak.

I’ve been feeling pretty good about what progress I have seen so far in myself so I decided that maybe I stood a pretty good chance of ordering some bathing suits for our vacation and for once feeling good about how I looked. Wrong again. I love to look as cute as the next girl but want to be modest as well. What can I say, my mom passed on certain attributes that are hard to hide and I this body has endured 2 difficult pregnancies in 22 months time. So after feeling a bit discouraged from that experience, the search continues for the right bathing suit. On the bright side I did get a very nice pair of beach linen pants that fit great and will look very cute with a tank and some flip flops.

If you have any suggestions on where I could find a good quality bathing suit, I am welcoming to any ideas.

You may (or may not have) noticed there is a new button on my sidebar. Lynnette over at Dancing Barefoot On Weathered Ground is hosting Simplifying for Sanity. The idea is declutter, clean and put your personal touch on each room of your house. She will choose one room a week and you have a week to complete the room. I love it when the house is sparkling clean but dread the whole process so this is just the motivation that I need. If you would like to join us, head on over to Lynnette’s blog and grab her Simplifying for Sanity button.

Happy Cleaning!

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The only thing that could make this outfit better, is if they had the little peep-toe espadrilles in stock. Sorry the picture is so small, its the best I could do. But you get the general idea. Aren’t those just so stinkin’ adorable???

I can’t wait to put this outfit on my sweet little peanut baby once the weather warms up. But for the time being, it will just have to hang in her closet until warmer days.

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