motorcycle

 So yesterday afternoon, my husband bought one of these.

While Travis went into the dealership to handle the paperwork, Callan and I waited in the car for a bit so he could eat, and then blow a few bubbles. 
{Make sure your volume is up a bit so you can hear the video.}

 Travis had a chilly ride home {48ish degrees}, but how he loved that ride home on his very own motorcycle.  After hearing about nothing but motorcycles {and helmets and jackets...} for several weeks now, it's nice to have the chatter stop and just see the smile on his face when he looks at his new bike.  He deserves it.  He works so hard to provide for our family.  I am so grateful.  

 {But my feelings are still mixed on him riding a motorcycle in the first place.}

Getting home at nearly 8 pm, I had nothing prepared for dinner.  So I used some very ripe bananas {that I was hoping to make some banana bread with, but they were too far gone, so I used what I could salvage} to make banana {chocolate chip} pancakes and we pretended like it was the weekend... {roughly quoted from Jack Johnson's "banana pancakes"}

a mess, a baby, and bananas

Yesterday I had nothing.  Today I don't have much more.  I still have a mess.  I got a few small projects done today.  And by small, I mean painting a blank switch plate, washing a few dishes, 2 loads of laundry, and putting a piece of fabric into an embroidery hoop.  Woo to the hoo.  

Here's what my dining and craft rooms are looking like right now...

 Our little guy turned 20 weeks old yesterday!  Five months is right around the corner...he's getting big so fast!  It's fun watching him learn all that he's able to do.  Right now, his two favorite things are putting things in his mouth, particularly his toes {and hands}, and blowing bubbles in a raspberry-motorboat fashion.  It really is too cute.

Oh, and I have bananas that need to make their way into banana bread, like asap.  Maybe tomorrow?

I got nothing

Seriously.  Nothing.  I need to stop expecting to have "crazy productive" weekends, because those words apparently lead to a ridiculously non-productive weekend.  I did get a little painting done, however, but its not done.  Not done.  Just like everything else.  I'm so tired of living in not done.  

We have house guests coming at the end of April, and then again at the beginning of May, so things need to get put away and get done.  

Sigh.  

 Hey, at least the kitchen's clean.  That always makes me feel good.

free to a good home

I've been putsing around, putting some of my craft supplies away in the hutch in my future craft room.  I found myself sorting through fabrics and came came across this:

2 yards of Amy Butler's Chrysanthemum in Olive

 I bought it last year.  I planned to make a seat cushion for the chair we had at our computer desk.  Never happened.  So now I have this fun Amy Butler fabric and it doesn't match the new color scheme going on in the house.  The green is quite the 'almost neon-ish yellow/green'.  Fair warning.

{btw - it just sat in a pile of fabric; never been washed. }

Want it?  Be the first to leave me a comment (and promise to show me what you do with it) and it's yours.  Better hurry!

I'll mail it out next week when I mail my hoop swap hoop (before the 31st).

slow going

Haaaaappy Friday!  There isn't much going on over here...  Slow going on the house.  We're hoping to have a crazy productive weekend, though.  I did, however, manage to get the entryway painted yesterday.  It's so much better than the former yellow.

Still to do in the entry:

add art and a place to hang/toss keys and mail 

change out the light fixture

new front door (when we can afford it)

paint the closet (inside) and the closet door

paint the spindles/colums

I've also started working on my hoop art for the hoop swap I'm participating in, hosted by Heather at Blessed Little Nest.  I have the design planned out in my head - I can't wait to see it finished!

Callan's down for a nap, so it's time to get a few things done.  

Enjoy your weekend - hope it's sunshiny!

hubby's three-oh

I may be a little late for St. Patrick's Day, but I was right on time for my hubby's birthday.  Last week (on St. Patrick's Day) I came across a recipe for "Irish car bomb" cupcakes, showed Travis, and he thought they looked delish.  I told him I would have made them for St. Paddy's Day if I had had all of the ingredients on hand.  So when I asked him, over the weekend, what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he quickly mentioned the cupcakes I had just shown him a few days before.  "Irish car bomb" cupcakes for the big 3-0 it was. 

Last night I baked up two dozen of these delicious little beauties (of course we had to taste test them).  Travis took 14 of them to work to share with his work buddies, like a grade-schooler taking treats in for his classmates on his birthday.  Except these cupcakes have alcohol in them.  You wouldn't find these babies in a second grade classroom.  

{notice the chocolate ganache filling!}

I'd say he enjoyed them!

Oh, and I took Callan to the doctor this morning for his 4-month well-baby check-up and shots.  Our original appointment was on March 7 - the doctor's office kept calling to reschedule, but we finally got 'er done today.  Of course we had to wait, and wait some more, so we smiled for the camera.  Well, I did while Callan kept his hands in his mouth.  Shocker.  At just over 19 weeks old, Callan weighs in at 13 pound 15 ounces and 25 inches.

Check out the little guy's thighs...poked in each leg.  A double shot.  Ha.  Poor thing. 

This afternoon we headed down to OKC for a little shopping and dinner at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant.  The service was like none I've ever had, the food was amazing, and the company was the best I could find on such short notice.  (Kidding, babe!  I love youuu!)  I think I enjoyed Travis' birthday as much as he did.  It was a good day.

And the cherry on top today?  I became an AUNT!!  My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl - Erin Joy.  Callan has a cousin!  And Travis shares a birthday with his one and only niece.  Such a special day!

I hope your day was wonderful...but I'm pretty sure I've got ya beat ;)

spring, hallway, & dirty underwear

We've had some beautiful {and windy} weather lately.  Spring is certainly making it's debut around here.  It's fun to see what's sprouting around the yard since we have no idea what's been planted.  We have some bulbs coming up - they have yet to bloom, so I'm anxious to see what kind of flowers emerge in the next few days/weeks.  There are also a few rose bushes around the backyard - the thought of fresh cut roses in the house makes me smile. 

I was able to finish painting the hallway yesterday between Callan's naps.  It's so much warmer, and a lot cozier. 

Here's the before and after, side-by-side.  A lot warmer, right?  

Still to do in the hallway: 

prime and paint the doorbell box (or whatever it's called) to match the wall 

add art to the walls 

update the lighting (delete the track lighting and add a few pot lights) 

paint the built-in cabinet at the end of the hallway

Painting the entry-way is next.  But first I have to patch these holes before I can roll on the paint.  The previous owners had wall anchors everywhere.  We had to punch them into the wall and we're now having to go through the house, room by room, patching these lovely 1/2"-ish holes.  Joy.  Have any tips for a seamless patch job? 

The entry has been cut-in - just needing to address those holes before I can move forward.  I'm hoping to patch them today and get the walls painted sometime before bedtime tomorrow night.

Side note.  I watch the Nate Berkus Show.  Do you?  I DVR the show so I can watch it during the day while Callan is napping.  Nate said something in an episode from a few days ago that now echoes in my head daily.  "...Other people's carpet is gross.  Ok?  Seriously.  It's gross.  It's like other people's underwear..."  (Fast forward to about half way through the video to hear him say it.)

Yeah.  This is our carpet.  Now every time I pass by these stains I think "skid marks".  Seriously.  Needless to say we are saving for laminate flooring - hopefully that jar of savings fills up quickly.  It totally grosses me out to think about our little guy learning to crawl and walk on this nastiness.  Sigh.

We're making progress over here - although slowly.  Off to patch those silly little holes in the entry.  Hope you're seeing Spring in your neck of the woods!

anniversary weekend

I love weekends.  This one was particularly wonderful because, yesterday, my hubby and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  We (I) slept in, went antiquing, spent some time at Lowe's, and worked on a few projects around the house.  It was a great weekend of time together as a family.  <3

So here's what we've been working on lately... (now that my ridiculously involved painting project is done.)

I started painting the hallway.  By mid-week all of that crazy lemon meringue yellow should be long gone.  

We also changed out the window covering on the door that leads to the sunroom.  Adios, lame paper blind "hemmed" with chip-clips.

We pulled a few weeds, tilled some lovely, rich soil in preparation of planting a few fruit and veggie plants we picked up over the weekend.  Here's hoping we don't black thumb our little soon-to-be-garden.

Oh, and I also made a batch of these over-indulgent cookies I've seen floating around blogland.  I can honestly say they were a bit much (but still yummy) - and this coming from a girl that loves her sweets.

And of course we spent many a precious moments with our favorite little guy.  

 I'll be sharing some of our progress over the next few days as we wrap up the projects we started over the weekend.  Now that Callan is down for a nap - I'm off to do some more painting.  Enjoy your day!

{PS - need a smile?  Click PLAY on the video below.  Smile guaranteed.} :)

(note: random youtube video that was shared with me and I wanted to share it with you.)

sausage & egg casserole

When the fridge and pantry start to get bare, it's time to get creative in the kitchen.  I had bulk sausage in the freezer, eggs and bread in the fridge, and a recipe for sausage and egg casserole.  Breakfast for dinner.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  Interested?  Here's the how-to.

Ingredients:

1 lb bulk sausage

6 eggs

2 c milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground mustard

6 slices bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Brown sausage and crumble.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat eggs; add milk, salt and mustard.  Stir in bread cubes, cheese and sausage.  Pour into a greased 9" x 13" baking dish.  Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  {I made it around 4pm, refrigerated it until about 6:30pm and it turned out just fine.}  Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before baking.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. 

Enjoy!

Breakfast for dinner, every now and then, is a fun treat.  And with a whole lotta clementine wedges on the side, who can resist?! 

We have a long list of projects we're hoping to get through this weekend - painting, planting, cleaning.  We're looking forward to more changes around this place. :) 

Hope your weekend is full of things you love!

party in your tummy

 Not much is better than a sweet, juicy clementine.  Serious party in your tummy.

 

mower anxiety

Notice the grass.  It's not long {or green} or in need of a mowing.  Not in the slightest.

But someone was waaaaay anxious to put his new mower to use.

He's so proud.  And I love his enthusiasm {and the rest of him too}.  :)

buh-bye red {1 of 3}

My painting project is done.  Finally.  It took me 6 days.  But it's done.  And I love it.  It was worth all the time and effort.  Would I do it again?  Uhm, probably not.  But did I mention I LOVE it?

This is what I started with.  A big red wall in the living room. (See more red in the house tour.)

I freshened up the wainscoting with some white paint, and then primed and put up a coat of white paint on the wall itself.  Better already, right?

This is what inspired my labor of love.  But at $50 for a stencil, I said, "Psssht!  I'll just make my own."  So I headed over to Hobby Lobby and picked up two packs of stencil blanks.  Each pack came with three sheets of 12" x 18" stencil paper; of course I needed 4 sheets, hence the two packs.  All I had to do was tape together the 4 sheets to get the size I needed.  Everything stencil related was on sale, so I spent under $6 for my homemade stencil, saving myself $44.  Woo hoo.

I saved the image on the left (below), enlarged it in Lightroom and reprinted it on 9 separate sheets, put it together like a puzzle, taped it, traced it onto my stencil paper, and then X-acto knifed it.  I stepped back to admire my very LARGE stencil.  Time to get a-painting.

I decided to work in layers to allow paint to dry and to make my job a little easier.  (Plus I only have one small foam roller, so I guess that kinda decided it for me, eh?)  I started with the dark tan color first (Valspar's Prarie Dance).

Then added the light tan (Valspar's Belle Grove Buff).

{Up close, you can see that the wall is textured.  It's the only wall in the house that's textured like that.  When looking at the wall as a whole, the new stencil pattern takes away from the texture, which is kind of nice.  I'm not a huge fan of the dated texture technique, and it really stood out when the wall was that ugly red, so the new texture camouflage is very welcomed.}

And then, finally, I added the last of the colors, a blueish/green (Valspar's April Thicket.)

And there you have it.  My stenciled feature wall in the living room.  Not bad for a day's 6 days worth of work, huh?  (I can't wait to get rid of that yellow in the hallway [and entry and dining room] - it totally clashes with the newly painted wall.)

Heck of change, right?  The room is so much brighter and a lot more fun to be in.

If I have to see all of my hubby's tv components on a daily basis, at least I now have a pretty wall behind them.  :)