THRIFT STORE THURSDAY....almost Friday

Can you say $1.49??? Yes, that is correct, my next thrift store find was a whopping $1.49. By the looks of it I am guessing that it was previously a candle holder. There were old dusty (1980's) flowers wrapped up all along the base with its lovely greenish petina color....yuck. I knew I could spruce this one up easily and decided this little project WOULD NOT be spray painted black. My plan is to use it for every holiday and I didn't think black would be great for Christmas or Easter! Heck, the spray paint cost more than the darn thrift store find and I really like how it turned out! Now that its been brought back to life, it will start off by being my decorative mini pumpkin holder.

A Smile Can Make You Smile.

Boy, I'm not sure who was more cranky last night, Kaiden, or mommy! We were trying not to let Kaiden fall asleep early since he didn't have much of a nap yesterday afternoon and he was cranky beyond cranky. All I would have to do is look at Kaiden cross-eyed and he would start crying. I have to admit that all that fussing made me a little cranky too! I didn't think the evening was ever going to end and I haven't seen Kaiden this cranky in quite some time. We all have those off days, so this was probably one of those days for him.
Kaiden got very upset when his daddy took his Snoopy cards from him since he was throwing them around the livingroom and wouldn't pick them up when he was asked. Kaiden had such and emotional breakdown and cried and cried with his little face buried in the ottoman in the same spot for probably 5 minutes. He finally picked up his little head and the biggest smile appeared across Kaiden's face when he looked down and observed another face smiling back at him.

It's true, Smiling is contagious!

Nothing more funny than a slobber smile!

THRIFT STORE THURSDAY!

This week I am starting off by sharing some projects that I have underway. I have purchased several great thrift store finds and once a week (hopefully) I will post my find and what I did to spruce it up a little. This week my first little find was this:


Not too pretty huh??? What do you see when you look at it? Right off the bat I knew it was going to be a candle holder, but it absolutely needed a little TLC. I was so excited when I went into the garage and found a can of....you guessed it....black spray paint!


Voila` a new candle holder. I went to the dollar tree and bought a little round mirror to go on the bottom, another candle holder, and a candle. For $5.00 I have a great new thrift store find to display in the house! Who said decorating your home has to be expensive? I'm looking forward to displaying another great find next week!

Took a little break with Josh Gracin at Busch Gardens

It was so wonderful to escape the house for a whole day and not do renovations. We actually had this day planned since May when the fall concert series was released for Busch Gardens and it was announced that Josh Gracin would be performing. For anybody who doesn't know who Josh Gracin is, he was a contestant on American Idol (season 2) and was a Marine based out of Camp Pendleton, California. The date of the concert just happened to fall during the time we were doing renovations on the house and boy was it a welcomed break.
We arrived at the park around 2:00pm and we spent a few hours letting Kaiden ride his favorite rides at the park and then we headed over to the concert grounds in the back of the park. We had really great seats that were about 25 feet from the stage. Kaiden is a BIG Sugarland fan, but he wasn't too thrilled with Josh Gracin. It was 90 degrees outside with 90 percent humidity, so it wasn't too comfortable outside, which made Kaiden a little on the cranky side (momma too!) We were pretty much in the line of fire with the speaker system and Kaiden really wasn't a happy camper and screamed "TOO LOUD MOMMY". We took a napkin we had and tore of a couple of pieces to wad up and place in Kaiden's ears. After we did that he sat next to us exploring his Busch Gardens park map while we enjoyed some great music!

Back to Basics

Heading into my third week of fall semester classes, I have decided to go from four classes down to three. I thought by taking an American Politics class this would not only enhance my minimal knowledge of the subject, but in the mean time I would obtain 3 credit hours towards my degree. I knew during the first night of class that the instructor was absolutely not for me. The workload for the 16 week class was unbelieveable and I just didn't feel a connection with the instructor. I am certain I could have muttled through and handled all four classes, but honestly, it would all be at Kaiden's expense. Although I wan't to enhance my life through education, I will never take on so much that I feel as if I am placing Kaiden on the backburner. Between being a SAHM and accomplishing all of the tasks of laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, taking Kaiden to speech therapy 3x's weekly, spending time with my three girls, and homework, I sometimes have to remind myself that I am only one person. I don't handle stress well (I have a very low tolerance) so this decision works out for all of us....just ask my hubby! ;)
Now there is the topic of home renovations......sigh. It's all coming along sloooooowly, but there are only 24 hours in a day. My poor husband works all day, comes home, and then works in the house several hours each night. I think he is getting a little burned out on all of it since we (I mean he) has devoted a lot of time on the house over the past 6 months. I do what I can, but he says I am the decorator. The change to the entryway into the kitchen is complete and the drywall is complete, so now we are getting ready to paint. The countertops should be in within a week or so and I am going to paint my kitchen cabinets a cream color and glaze them with a chocolate brown. Progress is being made and I have to remind myself of that daily when I wake up in the morning and proceed to wipe the 1/4" of dust off of all my furniture. My husband thinks I am crazy for doing it, but it drives me crazy for things to be out of place and so dusty/dirty! Next project is our den! We are pulling all of the 1969 paneling down, making sure there is good insulation in the walls, drywalling, and putting wood laminate flooring throughout the whole house with the exception of the laundry room and bathrooms. Just maybe this will all be complete by Christmas, but Thanksgiving would be better!!! I don't plan on pushing the subject with my hubby though!
I feel like I am back to basics in my life. In the past I truly enjoyed working on my home. I have always enjoyed going to thrift stores, yard sales, and discovering those great little finds that with a little TLC blossom into a great pieces for your home. Thanks to Barbie at Moments Memories Milestones and the transformation of her little black chair, it has truly inspired me. I love her new furniture finds and it has inspired me to take on projects (smaller ones right now)and get back to the basics of who I am, and to do what I truly enjoy! I love making our house more than just our house. We may not have the biggest or grandest home in the world but with a little creativity I can take what we have and create a home. Thanks Barbie!



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