I know that our evenings sitting on the porch will soon draw to and end.

We have already enjoyed our final afternoons spent at the pool.

No more dipping painted toes in the pool

while enjoying a great book.

But most off all, I am going to miss this little face being home with me all day every day as we start into the new journey of preschool. I am so excited for him  to experience all the things to come and make some new friends but at the same time, I wish I could live here in these moments forever with my little ones.

The past four and half years have passed so quickly and I try to remind myself constantly to live in the moment as far as my babies are concerned. I know that once we start onto this path in a couple more weeks, before I know it, 14 years will have passed and my “baby” will be leaving home.

Just today I read a quote from Billy Graham about loving your kids and letting them go:

“A child needs both to be hugged and unhugged. The hug lets her know she is valuable. The unhug lets her know that she is viable. If you’re always shoving your child away, they will cling to you for love. If you’re always holding them closer, they will cling to you for fear.”

It can be so hard to loosen our hold on our little ones and let them take those first teetering steps into the life God has planned for them. But  I trust the Lord who entrusted him to us and pray that my sweet boy will cling to the one who made him as we begin to gradually “unhug” him growing from a sweet little boy to a man of great honor.

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When I told my husband I needed some more color in the kitchen and I was thinking about making new curtains, he wasn’t really amused but I decided it had to be done.

So I loaded the kids up and marched (drove) off to the mall with some of my birthday money in hand and bought some pretty fabric.

Once the kids were down for naps, I pulled together all of my supplies:

And turned on a favorite show to watch while I worked. Note: I realize this confession may or may not keep some of you from reading on,  but please don’t judge too harshly we all have our little guilty pleasures Watching this show always reminds me of my mom and the evenings we would spend together while I was pregnant with bubba’s and Jay was still working second shift. Those are some sweet memories right there

But apparently the show was a bit of a distraction, because I forgot the important rule of any project: Measure twice, cut once. We are not talking just a small mis-measurement. People, I was a whole 7 inches off! This comes as no surprise to those who know me well. Math was never my strong suite and I’ve never claimed otherwise. (I only ever declared my absolute detest for the subject that made me want to pull my hair out) Thankfully I had just stocked up on some fabrics I found on clearance and had one that coordinated.

So here it is after the frist re-do. While there wasn’t anything wrong with it, I really craved some pattern and some more color. And even though the previous curtains were white, they did block quite a bit of the natural light that comes in during the day.

And here is the revamp. I also finally got around to covering the cord on the pendant light by simply taking a scrap of fabric and some straight pins and rigging it up just so. Ya know, some high tech sewing skills.

Unfortunately the dingy  sparkling white linoleum is still hanging around. But good news, the new curtains have plenty of blue in them. So it blends in a little better.

This is probably my favorite little corner of the kitchen with my buffet lamp (Which has also been changed up now. Told ya, ADD.) with my little “board of encouragement”. I like to write either a scripture or a word of encouragement for our family and friends to read. Does your family do something similar? I hope that my kids will always remember this as a little family tradition with a big impact.

If you would like one of your own it is so simple. I took an unfinished plaque that I have had laying around forever and didn’t know what to do with it. I gave it a couple of coats of Heirloom White and let it cure really well for a few days and then completely tape off with blue painters tape what you don’t wanted to be covered by the chalkboard paint.

*After making a 2nd, I found it is necessary for that base coat of your color to give the chalkboard paint something to really grip to and not show the wood grain giving it a smooth satin finish.

This stuff is amazing! I have some more plans for the paint I have left over. I have a feeling Chalkboard spray paint and I began a beautiful relationship. But then again, I never met a spray paint I didn’t love.

So tell me, am I alone? Or do you have decorating ADD too?

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I’m not quite sure how late I am in jumping onto this diy train, but have you seen these pretties????

 That’s right. You can make your very own cake stand! It started with one.

Then it turned into this:

Yup. Can we say ob-sessed? The first thing that I told Jay was I couldn’t wait to make a new friend whether it be a new neighbor or someone at church because how cute would it be to take them a plate of cookies on a colorful cake stand that you made and they get to keep? You could also take a dessert to a get together and leave it for the hostess since they cost only $2 or less to make.

All you need is:

1 candlestick, candle holder , goblet, or sundae glass of some sort

1 plate

Epoxy (I used a 2 part)

Spray paint

Clear coat protecant

I picked up my plates and base of choice from the dollar store or you could head to Goodwill and probably get your supplies for a little cheaper.

Remove any stickers and throughly wash and dry. Once they are completely dry, apply your epoxy around the rim of your goblet and then flip your plate over and place the base in the center. Find some heavier books or a board game box to hold everything in place until the epoxy sets.

Once your epoxy is set, take it outside and give it a couple light coats of spray paint.

Once your paint dries, you can apply your clear coat.

I personally like the gloss finish to give it a nice smooth and polished look.

Your cake stand will need to have something such as a paper doily or napkin to line the top if you plan on using it to serve food as it is not food safe to just place on top of the painted surface. You could also choose not to paint the top of the plate if you would rather be able to place food directly onto the plate. You will be able to hand wash but it is not dishwasher safe .

So go and make yourself a pretty cake stand. You better believe I’m going to be spreading some cake stand love to my girlfriends!

And just because I know the aunties would love to see some recent pictures, here are two of the cutest little turkeys I know. They were just looking way to adorable after church this afternoon and were holding still long enough for a couple of pictures.

My Sweet Girl

My Handsome Boy

This precious time is passing so quickly. Even though it makes me a little sad, I am so excited to see the  people they grow up to be and watch what God has planned for their lives unfold. 

Oh yes, they keep my life interesting! But, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Related posts:

1. Oreo Cake | Tasty Tuesday
2. Zuppa Toscana and Pumpkin Cake with Carmel Sauce | Tasty Tuesday

I have so many projects to share with you (I’ve been busy, busy, busy with all kinds of redos, crafts and diy’s)  as well as updates on the house. But I am needing the Mr. to give me crash course on how to upload all my pictures because lets face it, posts are just much more appealing when there are pictures to go along with it. But for tonight, I wanted to share just a few things with you.

When it comes to other blogs, here are a few new ones I have found and am love, love, loving! Stop over and visit these wonderful ladies. They are all super creative which has in turn, fed my need to be creative, which I think may or may not be driving the hubs a bit crazy since my “creative juices” are literally spewing everywhere and causing me to have a bit of ADD. Be warned, you will probably be rendered useless wanting to spend all kinds of time on their sites. Just sayin.

Sasha of Lemonade Makin Mama (thanks again Anne for pointing me in her direction!)

Emily of Jones Design Company

and Traci of Beneath My Heart

Also, please stop over and check out my very sweet friend Kristens new blog, Titus 2 Work In Progress. Kristen was one of my very best friends through high school and she has a heart of gold. She will inspire and encourage you as she shares her life as a wife and mommy to two of the very sweetest little girls you’ve ever laid eyes on!

And because I love to share a yummy find to add to the recipe box, you must go here and try this recipe for Strawberry Lemonade bars. Mmm Mmm Mmm! Sweet summertime goodness!

Picture courtesy  of k&k test kitchen via Pintrest

I promise to come back sooner than every 2 months

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Surprisingly, it only took about an hour remove all of the branches leaving only the stumps thanks to my in-laws and their help. Our whole entire driveway and good majority of our front yard was covered in the debris. It took Jay 7 truck and trailer loads to haul it away.

However, the end result was totally worth all that hard work! We went out and bought our first set of porch furniture to fill up the now exposed porch. One of the biggest qualities we were looking for in a new house was a front porch and this house definitely offers that!

We got the biggest chuckle on Friday night and Saturday morning as neighbors were driving by honking their horns and giving us the thumbs up or coming over and telling us how much they loved it. Our neighbor lady across the street yelled over “OH MY GOSH! There’s a house behind those bushes!” I told Jay we are the talk of the neighborhood.Hopefully Mrs. P won’t be too upset if she happens to drive by or catch wind.

My plan is to get some small weeping trees flank either side and plant some small manicured shrubs as well as some annuals. I am looking forward to enjoying many hours out on the porch and hopefully entertaining neighbors, family and friends. So if your in the neighborhood, come on over for some lemonade! We would love to have you!

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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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