reminiscing . . .

i have a bunch of things on my to-do list.
as always.
however, all that i want to do is lay down and take a nap.
even though i laid around for a good portion of the morning.
so instead of doing anything productive, i started looking through photos from last summer.
just wondering what we were doing a year ago today.

they are bitter sweet.
such precious memories....but sad that time flies so fast and my boys have changed so much.

a year ago we had meliyah staying with us. . .

i think i took at least 200 pictures of those kids sitting on that front porch, eating popsicles.
it was a daily routine.
that's how we kept cool last summer.
and oh how i miss those sweet baby rompers.

we had a different version of the pool.

it worked and they had fun.
and we don't take having a big ol' built in pool for granted. . . at all.

oh that sweet baby grin. sigh.

and 2 years before that . . .

a not even one year old sawyer in an even smaller pool.

i forgot how fat & squishy he was!

and wow, avery and finley seemed so big at the time.
they were peanuts!


so thankful for pictures that are chock full of memories.

so thankful to have a life full of so much love and joy.  Pin It

workin' on the weekend

happy monday y'all!
i hope you all had a lovely weekend.

we finally got started on baby girl's room. :)
so excited to get this thing put together. . . 6 weeks and counting peeps!!

so here is what we started with:

it's basically a square room with no closet.
it does sport a nice big window which i plan to dress up and draw attention to. 

the walls were a tannish flat paint.
which, if you've read me for long, you know i hate flat paint.
it is a world of evil for a house with kids.

also it was sporting 1980's wood trim {as is most of the rest of the house}. 

so we got started saturday evening and i finished the last coat on the trim today.

ignore all the junk in the  middle of the room.
the color is dolphin fin by behr. {thanks sarah, for the tip!!}
i absolutely love the color. 
the color on the wall with the window is the most accurate to the real life color.
the photo is making the other wall read too brownish.
it doesn't look brown at all.
it's just a perfect, neutraly gray.
and i love how it pops against the newly painted white trim.

it took me four coats, 1 of primer and 3 of semi-gloss white to get the trim to where it is.
the trim was the biggest pain in the neck but so so worth it.
it changes the whole look of the room.

love it!
it feels so good to have that done.

here's what i have left to do for the nursery:

*finish painting wardrobe
*find and redo a chandelier
*find and redo a long, low dresser to act as a changing table/storage
*find a curtain rod
*make curtains & hang
*recover toy chest
*make fun pillows
*make pom poms for above the bed
*make bed skirt
*recover chair
*find a fun ottoman or pouf

i'm sure i'll think of more things along the way to add to this list. :) Pin It

instafriday

yay, it's friday!

here's a little smattering of my cell phone pics from this week....
{if you follow me on twitter or instagram you've seen several of these already}

we stumbled onto this little gem in nevada, mo on our way through last thursday.
cherry street grill . . . in an old hotel . . . super duper yum. . . old, original architecture.
homemade mac n' cheese. oh mercy, it was gooooood.

sisters hanging in KC.
aj's two sisters are precious gifts to me. love. them.

three sweet boys on the fourth.

my sis-in-law got this adorable headband for baby girl.
oh my, i cannot even stand the cuteness.
can't. wait. :)

found this awesome chippy, turquoise shelf at potter's house thrift.
for 7 bucks. 
yes, please.
you really have to have vision when you go into a thrift store.
look beyond the junk and see the treasures.
this was a happy, happy find.

"picnic night" with the fam.
muppets take manhattan.

 

this tiny little thing showed up in our yard on wednesday, half starved and scared to death.

i think she weighs about a pound. 

the boys are begging to keep her. 

she is a cutie. . . 

and finally . . .

what we will do for free chicken.

it's not too late for you....it's cow appreciation day all day so you can dress up and get a free dinner!

a family of 5 with a completely free meal...thankyouverymuchiloveyouchicfila. :)

link up your cell phone pics here!

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living room chairs.....at last.

if you read my blog you know that i have been looking for living room chairs for a while now...like since we moved in . . . in december.

i wanted some cool, comfy chairs that didn't cost too much.
the cheapest new chairs that i like are around 300 each.
i really didn't want to spend that much, especially since i like to redecorate often.
so i have been trolling craig's list for months.

finally, on one glorious day, i found them.

come to mama.
when i saw that little grainy craig's list picture, i could only hope they were all that i dreamed of.
i met the lady at her storage unit {same lady that i bought the shoe trunk from}.
i could not believe what great shape they were in.
the woman was selling her mother's estate.
she said these had been in her front room that they called, "the museum" and all the furniture had plastic over it. . . which is why these were in such good condition after all these years.
they are from 1968 and were recovered in 1990.


and they were $75 each.  woo. hoo.


i brought them home and painted the legs.

i painted them rushing river by sherwin williams {color matched at lowes}.

i loved these chairs before, but i am in love with these chairs now.

i big puffy heart love the tufting on the back cushion.

i know i shouldn't be so giddy over chairs, but they are just perfect.
they have loads of character, they're super comfy and they were such a good deal.

once again, it pays off to be patient and wait for the right thing. :)

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burn us up.

i have always loved the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego {daniel 3}.

i also love Shane and Shane.

this is one of my favorite, favorite songs. 

here's a video... it's so good, so worth the watch....

how can you not lift your hands and praise? 

or fall on your face and worship the God of the universe who meets us in the furnace??

^{~Daniel 3~} 

^"13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? ¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

 ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” 

these were real men with amazing faith.

i am humbled & challenged by their conviction.

i adore the God who sees us and hears us and is with us in the fire.

 

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instafriday

snapshots of our life this week . . .  all taken with my cell phone . . . via instagram  . . .

angry birds birthday party

four little swimming sweeties.... meliyah and her brother kk swam their little hearts out with us.

summer strawberries and nutella....the perfect combination ..... a.k.a. my favorite late night treat

made this coconut banana bread with lime glaze....super yum.

summer.

brothers who saved and saved to buy a wii game from big lots.

big boy underwears.

cousins.

link up your instagram pics here:

i'm not on my normal computer and this is my first go-round with instagram...so please excuse these super small pictures.....hopefully i'll get it figured out by next week. ;)

have a happy fourth friends!!

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snow cones, check.

every year, snow cones make the summer list.
i love them.
i always called them hawaiian shave ice...but it's the same thing.
around may every year, half a dozen of these little shaved ice/snow cone stands pop up around town.

they have a bazillion flavors and they are so yummy!

finley got caramel.

i got my long time fave, wedding cake with cream.
avery got peppermint patty . . . which sounds disgusting, but was actually really good.

love those sweet summer freckles.

sawyer got an empty cup that we all contributed to.  ;)

i think i'm going to branch out and try blueberries and cream next time. . . i've heard it's delish.

yay for summer!
i am loving. it. Pin It