On Memorial Day we remember...

This Memorial weekend will be spent the same we spent it last year.  Thousands of miles apart (7200+) with an 8.5 hour time difference.  The only difference this year is that in a few short weeks we won't be excitedly welcoming Mr home from yet another deployment.  Last year we did.  This time we just saw him off.  Five in six years with countless number of days in between spent on training, schools & work-ups.  We aren't the only family with several deployments like this under our belts.  This isn't a whine. This is reality.  This is the sacrifice made by military members & their families daily.  This weekend take some time to honor all our military... past & present.

 

I have a vision...

I am just not sure I can pull it off.  I *NEED* to paint the foyer.  Anyone who has lived in a house with builders paint & kids know what I am talking about.  The hand prints on the walls going up the stairs grosses me off & it's near impossible to clean off.  My solution... some nice paint that I can easily clean & not feel embarrassed when people come in because the stairs are in the foyer.  I want something bright but not like yellow.  Downstairs the bathroom & playroom are a colonial powder blue (not like old lady powder blue - only way I can explain it), dining room & a wall in the living room are peppercorn (not black but a dark gray, almost like Charcoal.  The rest is this sage-gray, which will also go into the mud room.  The color I am thinking of for the foyer is called maxi teal by Sherwin Williams.  It would meet up with the peppercorn (also by SW).  I love the color, I just don't know if it's appropriate (??) for the foyer. In my mind the peppercorn & maxi teal would balance each other nicely & the other colors flow with the peppercorn (but not really the teal).

Maxi Teal

(my brush was a little wet so it's a bit streaky)

This is one view of the foyer.  See those never ending walls?!!  That white line will be moulding to go around the area & meet up with the stairs.  That way I don't have to paint above because I was not blessed with Inspector Gadget arms.  Not sure if I will need to paint above but if I do that will be hired out.  I don't think it needs to be painted but Mr does.  I didn't snap a picture (but maybe I should) of the walls going up the stairs.  Eventually the Mr will some wood work detailing up the wall.  So down the line it won't really be solid teal.  It will be broken up with more white.  Am I making any sense or just babbling?  LOL  Anyways, I want to add pops of yellow in various areas.  Like the bar stools you see the tops of.  I'm going to re-do those & cover the seats in something yellow.

Am I totally nuts & headed for a disaster?  Can you all see my vision with me?!

My neck of the woods

This is my neck of the woods.... 5 short glorious minutes from my house.  I will gladly live 30+ minutes the malls, Target, craft stores & such for this.

This little garden of ours

This is our little garden.  We have two raised beds that the Mr built.  I think they measure something like 4'x8'.

Bed 1:

Homested Tomatoes                     Roma Tomatoes

Garden Salsa Hot Peppers           Jalapenos  

Bonnie Bell Green Peppers         Big Bertha Green Peppers

Fajita Bell Peppers                      Yellow Bell Peppers

Bed 2:
Sweet Basil                                 Parsley

Carrots                                        Broccoli
                  
                       Cilantro

Garlic                                          Yellow Onion

Chives                 Onion              Green Beans

                      Cucumbers

                     Strawberries

Then in the surrounding outside areas of the bed we have 2 blueberry bushes, corn, 3 grape vines, & 2 blackberry bushes.  If it's not too late I have some watermelon seeds to plant.  Oh & a friend just gave me some left over sunflower seeds she had.  The kind that grow up to 12' tall & have edible seeds!!  I have 5 lavender bushes I planted out front. This is our first east coast attempt at a garden bed.  We did this back in California with great success.  Mostly tomatoes, various peppers, corn (fail - ants ate it), pumpkins (TOTAL SUCCESS!!) & some other things I know I am forgetting.  We also had an obnoxious apple tree that always over produced but made great fruit for baking.  I'll plant pumpkins late summer.  We planted them too early last time & had mega pumpkins in like August.  They apparently grow rather quickly.

Do you all have gardens?  If so, what did you plant?  Any seeds/plants you have had great success with or a total bust?

Boy 1 & 2 planting

Blueberry bush

Broccoli sprouts... aren't they so cute?!!

Do you do messy?

I posted this picture on my Facebook page yesterday.  I was very shocked by the responses I got.  Most of them along the lines of how they could never ever let this happen in their house.  Really?  Honestly (no snarkiness intended), I thought this was "normal".  If it's not, then I guess it's another "battle" I choose not to fight.  I was just happy that I was able to eat my meal with both hands.  He was busy enjoying his dinner.  So what if he was covered in it!  Most of it made it into his little belly & he worked on using silverware - something he has really taken an interest in recently.

I never really used bibs.  When I did, it was with #1 & not consistent.  I don't even think a bib in this case would have helped.  He would have needed a rain coat.  Normally I strip them down to a diaper for meals but I had a meeting last night & it was late when we got home.  I came in the door & just plopped him in his high chair.  I didn't even think about his outfit - which I just soaked in water afterwards.

In fact, I don't think I have used a bib since girl turned 1.  She insisted on wearing her bib at her birthday party as a cape.

I haven't broken out a bib for #3 or #4.  Bibs are on my list of baby items you really don't need.

Kids are messy.  It's nothing a little soap & water can't fix. 

Is messiness, of any type, a "do" or a "don't" in your house?

She just might be a Bohemian Princess

It's taken about 5 years for this day to come.  Girl finally has a decorated room.  It was easy for the boys.  I knew I wanted them to have a cowboy theme.  I don't really like childish themes.  I want something that grows with them.  I probably drove people nuts around me bouncing off ideas.  I always thought I had it figured out & then like 5 minutes later I was over it.  Nothing really stuck. At one point it was cupcakes & then it was paper dolls.  I also didn't want too girly of colors but still for her to have a girly place to call her own.  I was afraid if I painted the walls pink or purple that who ever rents this house from us would have all boys.  It wasn't until one day when the Mr brought home a collection of paint chips & pamphlets that something finally screamed at me for more than 5 minutes.  The colors were perfect.  It was the Restless Nomad collection from Sherwin Williams.  I immediately knew I wanted to use the Indigo Batik.  It would go perfect with the pink & purple she requested.  At first I tried Alchemy with it but the sample was too gold for me.  So I went with the Hopsack.
Here are some pictures from the final product (95% done... I reserve the right to move & add):

The middle mirror is one we already had.  I found the other 2 mirrors at a local thrift store.  Painted all 3 with extra sample paint we had laying around.  My inspiration for this came from this room.

The candlesticks are a Mindy Mae's Market find.  I got them in a grab box.  They are wood & I had to paint them. I added the dish & jars to hold her play jewelery.

The tree & fairy vinyl was an Etsy find.  At one point I wanted to paint something on that part of her ceiling but the angle & height was too much.  I have some glow-in-the-dark stars I want to add.

The bed was a yard sale find that we repainted.  The picture propped up needs a frame still.

This wall collage was inspired by this room, again.  All but 1 frame is from Ikea.  I need to take a close up of the art for you all to see it better.  Various goodies used (rick-rack, fabric scraps, & cabochons) all from Mindy Mae's Market.  The purple frame in the middle was inspired from this piece from Ikea.

Check out LeeLee for super cute quilts!  I should take a close-up of Girl's quilt.  The boys have Cowboy quilts from LeeLee, too.

I have been carrying around this fabric for at least 10 years.  I found it at an estate sale I was working.  I knew I held onto it for a reason!  The curtain clips are attached to door knobs I got from Mindy Mae's Market.  I attached those to a piece of painted wood.  The curtains are held back with purple butterfly clips.

Picking up where I left off..

Welcome! It's been a while since I was in the groove of blogging.  This blog is starting over but also combining the blogs I was writing at - Wacky Life (everyday life), Crafty Mommas (crafty stuff), & Home Sweet Home in Temecula (remodeling).  A move across country, another deployment, taking classes, baby #4 & building a house all over the past two years (well all that in 1 year, really) kinda took most of my energy.  Now that things have started to calm (uh, yeah, right) it's time to pick back up.  Hope you all enjoy it here!