New arrival...

Look what little beauty arrived on my doorstep this weekend
Yes, this sweet little chandelier was purchased at overstock.com for half the price of the inspiration chandelier I have been admiring at Pottery Barn. It seriously took me the entire Mamma Mia movie to wire all these little crystals on, but it is so worth it. Now I just have to wait for the hubs to finish his round of graveyards to hang it, which should be mid week!!!!!

While I wait, I recycled a few more paper towel rolls to make this little art piece. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Tomorrow school begins. Bags are packed, lunches are made, clothes are set out, camera battery is charged, kids are in bed, and mom is a little depressed/excited. :)

From 70's drab to modern FAB!

From the moment I saw THIS, I knew I had to have one of my own. There are just so many things you can do with this, each and every holiday. Speckled eggs for Easter, mini pumpkins or gourds for Fall, glitter ornaments for Christmas...anything would be so super cute in this.

Remember a few days ago, I found this little jewel at our local thrift store for a whopping $1.00......It was a combination of wood and ceramic and sported a nice 70's pineapple and raspberry theme.

Here is the way it looks now....

So super easy even I could do it! I had an old hurricane vase that was broken by one of my children, but the base had just the right amount of substance to it. I was not looking for something small and dainty! Both the cheese dome base and the hurricane vase base got a quick coat of glossy black paint, and then I just glued the two together. I threw in a few pieces of plastic fruit I had hanging around and TA-DA!!!

I love it! And the total cost was a whole $1.00!

Flashback Friday

In honor of school starting in three days, and in honor of my sweet baby beginning his adventure into kindergarten, I am posting a few retro pictures of our kids, and I will try not to break into "Sunrise, Sunset."

This is my precious first-born... (note the tiara, although I wasn't feeling like much of a princess)

The hubs, Caleb, and his new baby brother...

More recent picture of the four of us, at Jansen's birthday party in May this year...

Thankful Thursday

I am so blessed and I have so many things to be thankful for.

Today, I am very thankful for my wonderful husband, who works extremely hard so that I can be home with our boys and be very active in their schools.

Meet the Teacher was today, and I was working it with the rest of the PTO. Our group got to meet our teachers early since we had to be back to work the school supply table. All summer long, I prayed about my youngest's teacher. He is a new five year-old with a late May birthday and is a little immature. He is attached to me at the hip, hates to write, is easily bored, and still sucks his fingers. Early this year, I had a dream that he got Ms. Whitby and I went the whole summer thinking that he was going to get her. Honestly, I would have been SHOCKED if I saw a different teacher name by his name. So today, my dream was confirmed! He got Ms. Whitby!

I am thankful that my children are excited about school, that they each got the teacher they and we wanted, that I have the desire to be involved in their schooling, and that my dreams for them are supported by my husband. I am looking forward to Monday as if it were Christmas.

Whatever Wednesday...Thrift store goodies

In our area, we don't have a Goodwill, but we do have two small thrift stores. Oh, how I wish we had a bigger variety. But I digress...

The kids grabbed a handful of quarters, basically $3 each, and we headed to check out what the stores had to offer. There are a few projects that I have floating around my brain, so I had an idea of what I was looking for. The first store was having a BOGO on puzzles and wouldn't you know, neither one of my boys wanted a puzzle. Caleb left the first store with a stuffed penguin for $0.25 and Jansen picked a stuffed puppy for $0.50. I don't like to buy stuffed animals second-hand, but the boys insisted and I will sanitize.
Jansen's purchases

Caleb's purchases

In the second store Caleb found a transforming tiger for $0.25 and a Curious George book for $0.10. Jansen bought a racing game for $2.00. Caleb came out the big winner spending only $0.60!!!!
Here is my loot for the day...

The Nike shirt is for Jansen, long sleeved for our mild winters.
The Carter's pajamas are for Caleb, who only wears long sleeved pajamas ALL YEAR ROUND. Needless to say he is growing and needs some more.
The Lil' Champ picture frame is brand new and will be a gift. (Please excuse the reflection of my light fixture)
The mirror I LOVE and bought it just for myself.
The glassware is for a project floating in my mind, and the plastic platter will be completely revamped, hopefully this weekend.


Total cost for today...$10.50.

Transformation Tuesday...soccer skills

Today I want to give transformation credit to my oldest son, who inspires me everyday! Although he has been diagnosed with Autism, he is slowly transforming into a neurotypical child. Many people have told me that they can't tell there is anything different about him, and don't get me wrong, that is a good thing. But living with him, we notice the little things like inability to make eye contact, lack of appropriate emotion, and lack of awareness of other people.
This afternoon we had only a minor issue over his clothes for soccer practice. To him, they smelled funny, but in actuality, they smelled exactly the same as his current clothes. By the time he got to practice, I really noticed a difference in him. His coach is incredible with him, reminding him to look at other players, what to look for, and to not be afraid to go to the ball. I watched my child quickly learn to use the inside if his foot, to keep the ball close, and to dribble while looking for an open teammate! In two short weeks his awareness is skyrocketing.
His quote for the day was, "I am getting more excited, Mom!"
So am I son!

Makeover Monday...The entryway

I have this really narrow entryway and I never know what to do with the space. Fortunately, Pottery Barn to the rescue...this is a little space I LURVE, no, LUFF!!

Here is my entry table before... beware, it is rough...
After scouring my home for all my silver photo frames, and about 20 minutes printing out some black and white pictures, this is my take on the PB room...

My goal is to decorate this space for each holiday, with this being the every day look. I like it. Cost- $0 and 20 minutes.