Let's all go to the drive-in

We have some friends that own a school bus.

What? You mean you don't have friends that own a big, yellow, pimped out school bus? You are missing out.

Over the weekend we took the school bus down to a drive-in. It was only about 1 hour outside of Dallas and we saw Robin Hood. All of the movies at this particular theater are double features, but we bailed before the 2nd show.

Before the show started, there was a beautiful sunset that we were able to enjoy.

Everyone started watching the movie on top of the bus, but the sound was not too great up there so we ended up watching the movie down on the ground. Actually, I headed to a gazebo with some girlfriends and we totally missed the entire movie. Oh well.

I suggest you go make some friends that own a school bus. You won't regret it.

Input Needed

I am in the process of refinishing a rocking chair for Miss A. But, not just any rocking chair. It was mine when I was her age, and now I am passing it along to her!


When it was mine, it was white with little hand painted flowers and I think my name might have been painted on it. It has now been sanded down and all ready to to be painted for Miss A.

It will most likely be kept in our living room, so I want to keep it fun without too 'kiddish.' You all know 'kiddish' is NOT my thing.

I am thinking I will paint it glossy white and add a turquoise monogram decal on the seat. Or her name. Have no decided.

But, this is where I need your help. I have never used these decals before. They can be used on top of a glossy paint - right? And, if you have ordered one before, let me know your source. I found some on Etsy, but if you have someone you liked, let me know.

**New pictures on Baby M**

Jake - 3 months

Someone is growing like crazy.

I am not sure how much he weighs, but just look at how much bigger he is! He is just a little over 3 months old. And, he got a new collar over the weekend! Check out that orange gingham.... he is a stylish pup.

We love puppy Jake!

Nesting or Spring Cleaning?

I am not an organized person.... but I am married to a very neat and tidy person. And in order to make my life easier, I am learning how to become neat, tidy and ORGANIZED. This past week I have tackled a couple major organizing projects and I have to say that it feels good to toss out some junk and get everything in order.


Maybe I am going through a delayed nesting period? Or maybe it is just major spring cleaning. I never really went through a big nesting phase when I was pregnant with Miss A, so maybe this is just a delayed thing. And NO, I am not pregnant.


My saving grave when it comes to getting organized - baskets. Baskets make it easy for an unorganized person to get rid of clutter, plus cleaning up is easy.... just toss it in the basket.


I have mentioned these built in shelves before.... Having these 8 baskets on the bottom 2 shelves has been wonderful. We are able to keep burp cloths, baby blankets, photo albums, baby books, baby toys, and lots of other baby stuff out in our main living area, yet it is out of sight so it does not look like a Babies R Us explosion. Miss A knows which baskets have her toys and books in them and those are the only 2 that she gets into. Smart little puppy.

Her bathroom has lots of shelves, which would be great for storage - except it is all out in the open. Ugh. Why there is not a door covering up these shelves is a mystery. But the problem is solved with more baskets! Here I can store sheets, towels, wash cloths, baby toiletries, pacifiers and bottles that we don't use anymore.

This is the first project that I tackled this week. We have a pretty big closet under our stairs and it had been a huge cluttered mess -- until last week! I cleared everything out, made sure everything found a home in a basket and then labeled those baskets. Now we can open this closet and not wonder if anything is going to fall out. I now have storage baskets for party supplies, light bulbs, flash lights, small gifts, winter accessories, craft supplies, candles and seasonal decor, and lots of other stuff.

And since I was on a roll, I tackled the pantry. This was the one that led Mr. to think I was in nesting mode. More baskets! And they are labeled!

I still think we do not have enough storage space in our house, but what house ever does? What are some tricks or hints that you have for staying organized?

(All of the baskets / bins were purchased at Wal Mart. The fabric bins are about 2 years old, but all of the plastic ones are from their seasonal section this spring.)

**New pictures over on Baby M**

Hey Good Lookin... What Ya' Got Cookin?

My go to meal is chicken pot pie.... If you are sick or have a baby, you can assume I will bring you one. My family loves it, so I thought I would share the recipe.

Let me first say, that although this uses canned vegetables and cream of potato soup, I still consider this homemade. Just because I did not chop up all the carrots and celery and make my own white sauce, it is just as homemade as one of Ina's recipes. And it is delish, if I say so myself.

2 - 10 3/4 oz cans Cream of Potato Soup

16 oz can of Veg All (drained)

2 cups diced, cooked chicken

1/2 c milk

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp pepper

1 package pie shells or make your own crust!

Combine first 6 ingredients. Spoon into prepared pie crust (in shallow 2 qt. casserole.) Cover with top crust, crimp edges to seal. Slit top crust. Brush with egg wash.

Bake at 375 for 40 min, until crust is golden brown. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

This morning I tripled the recipe... one for us and 2 for friends that just bad babies - Kate and Lincoln. Notice the K and L??? Also, when I make this for friends I always make it in a disposable aluminum pie tin. The last thing a new mom needs to worry about is returning a dish.

Enjoy!

Game Room Decor

When we moved into our house every wall was painted the standard contractor beige. Boring. We are slowly adding some color into the house - right now I am working on the game room. My goal with this room was to make it 'kid friendly' yet not too 'kiddish.' I want the room to look great when the adults are up there playing Wii, but at the same time I do not want the bright toys to look too out of place.

My inspiration for the room was this rug from Crate & Barrel.

I love it! It is full of color, but does not look like a kindergarten classroom.

Now onto the walls..... We already had this teal Chicago Ork poster and it matches the rug perfectly.

And keeping with the map theme, I added this bright world map.

I still need to get a couple more things.... like this wire curtain hanger from Ikea. I am going to get a couple of these and mount them on the wall and use it to display Miss A's artwork. This way I can rotate out the pieces and it will look polished and cute at the same time.

And we need some curtains and I need to paint some furniture. Decorating is a never ending process! I will post pictures once the entire room is completed.

Weekend Project

A couple weeks ago we were on our Saturday morning walk and came across a neighborhood garage sale. You never know what sort of goodies you will find, so we decided to take a look. I found this beat up chair with an awful faded denim cushion.

And, it was only $5! I had no idea what color I would paint it or what fabric I would redo the cushion with or where the chair would even go. But, for $5 it was too good to pass up.

I picked out some fabric and paint.

And now it was time to get rid of all that awful cream paint. I sanded. And sanded. And sanded.

Spray paint seemed like the best option for this chair because once I started sanding I realized the quality of the wood was not that great and I did not want to waste any more time or money on this project. I ended up doing 3 coats of paint - Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze.

After a few trigger pulls of the staple gun I had recovered the cushion and voila!

I am hooked.... I loved this little project and I also love random chairs throughout a house.

**New pictures over on Baby M***

Weekend in Little Rock

Last weekend I packed my bags and headed up to Little Rock, AR to spend the weekend with one of my best girlfriends. We met years and years ago in the hallway outside our college math class. I was wearing pink suede loafers and we started talking about those shoes... We have been best friends since that day. She was an ideal student and I was the best friend that borrowed her study guides and reviewed the note cards she had already prepared.

We spent the weekend doing absolutely nothing. And it was wonderful. We watched movies (The September Issue and Up In The Air).... We did conditioning hair treatments.... and we drank wine.

Actually, we drank wine out of her wedding crystal out on her patio while eating pizza and salad.

And that is something you can only do with someone with whom a friendship was formed over pink suede shoes.