6.30.09

Today is the one year anniversary of Dan's mom's passing. We are headed out to the graveside to spend some time there & love on Dan's daddy. That sweet man, he's become so frail this last year. It's as if he aged 10 years in 1.
He kisses their picture at his bedside each night before he closes his eyes. Oh, I pray that Dan & I will leave that same loyal loving legacy for our girls to follow.

God speed grammy

On a lighter note, I'm so pumped to be running in the Peachtree Road Race again this year!!

On July 4th, I'll run 6.2 miles with about 60,000 of my closest friends & then sport the highly coveted t-shirt at the fireworks display that night!

Sadly, doggies aren't allowed so my faithful daily running partner will be do this while i'm pounding the pavement!

(& yes, he is modeling his sporty new Seaside collar)





Another 4th of July tradition I hope we'll enjoy this weekend is the Sunflower Festival. For all you local gals, you should brave the heat & head over.....the sunflowers are spectacular.




& you can fill one of these buckets with as many sunflowers as you can for $5!





The last several years some of my favorite little photo moments have been outside in the sunflowers. Last year my art teacher helped me paint this oil canvas of caroline.
The original photo inspiration is shown below. I would love to find a huge rusty crusty old barn wood frame for it. It's 16x20 if any of ya'll have a lead for me I'd appreciate it!

ps-over the years caroline had about 3 pair of red ropers, hence the plethora of red cowgirl boot photos :)



We had a wonderful week at the beach....super hot, but wonderful. You'll be so tired of my beach pictures by the end of summer. I'm completely embarassed to tell you how many I took....maybe I need therapy!

Hope each of you has a spectacular 4th!

~~~finally~~~

Headin' out!!

7 days in my favorite little town

where pink bikes are abundant & picket fences enclose perfect little beach cottages

where wonderful flavored icees are the chosen daily treat

& shrimp po-boys and diet cokes fill us up at lunch

concerts in the open amphitheatre

movies on the lawn

early morning runs on the beach

we asked little bit what was she most looking forward to on our vacation

"just being with my family"

doesn't get any better than that

see ya when we get back!

oh i must add a funny

dan just went to pick up a new antiobiotic for me--i have some weird issue ( don't i always) and starting taking my perscription but had an allergic reaction.

when he went back to get my new meds the pharmacist told him there wouldn't be any charge

wow

i asked him if that was just the policy at that particular store or what was up

he informed me that the pharmacist must have been overcome by his manly AXE body wash fragrance and that was why the new meds were 'on the house'

men

a mermaid, a bribe, curlies,& book covers

For all of you out there with your own little mermaids, i wanted to share a painting project i did with Caroline a couple of summers ago. I love hand print paintings & have framed many that the girls have created over the years. i think its pretty self explanatory--all the tiny dots are made by using their fingertips, we added some fine glitter to her scales & some sequins to the top of her tail. i also used canvas instead of art paper. i prefer that artsy look!

so , speaking of my little mermaid

the other day we were out shopping & she found some shoes that she just

"had to have"

i made a deal

i'd buy the shoes if she promised to wear Lilly at least once a week

sold

the next day we were getting ready for church

she comes in all dressed in Lilly

"I'm keeping my promise mama"

incidentally

the shoes give her blisters so she's only worn them twice

but the Lilly deal lives on

since this blog post is all over the place

i figured why not throw in some pictures of cek's curly hair after playing in the pool all day

which is where i live now

which is why my house is .....well, you can imagine

she still looks like such a baby girl in these pictures

she's getting a couple of braces on her front teeth later this summer

she's so excited

i however am completely smitten with that gap toothed wrinkled nose grin

guessing she won't look like my baby for long

sigh

i've previously confessed that i am hopelessly devoted to any book sporting a great cover

you know the cliche though

i guess i should finally learn my lesson

because despite its fabulous cover--

i thought "girls in trucks" was awful

yuckcomplete disappointment

the ending--ugh

but because i had actually purchased this one

( with a coupon none the less)

i was bound & determined to finish feeling certain it would have some redeeming quality

seriously, with a cover like this

wouldn't you have thought the same?

on the other hand

i enjoy patti callahan henry & feel certain these books , with their equally fantastic covers

will be winners

they will be heading out with me in 6 sleeps to seaside!! white dresses & sand dollars

surely these will be an incredible

i'll keep you posted

just finished true colors

definitely better than the girl/truck fiasco

but not quite as wonderful as firefly lane--a must read

hmmm... i think there are beaches and seashells on each of these covers

i'm sensing a theme

xo

perspective

I don't think anything is wrong with wanting our homes to be beautiful places of comfort and refuge for those we love most in this world.

places where thoughtfully placed heirlooms are kept,

where photos from generations past are housed,

where china is placed on a lovely decorated table as we sit together and enjoy just being together ,

where pillows are fluffed and big chairs are comfy and inviting,

where the kitchen smells of delightful treats, and rocking chairs sit on back porches waiting for a visit with a favorite friend and big ole' cold glass of lemonade.

there's times though when i can feel discontented.

when i wish my dining room table would fit 12, so whom ever my girls bring home, there's always room for.

there's times when i look at our old worn sofas and long for shabby chic slipcovered potterybarn ones ( where the said friends would sit with cheetoh covered fingers i'm sure)

there's times when i look at my carpet and wish i could do an 'i dream of jeanie' blink and make them wide planked hard woods ( since i have a golden retriever the word is that i'd see his hair all the more!)

that's when i know my life must be pretty a.o.k. surely if i have time to peruse potterybarn for slipcovered goodness, than all must be right in my world. i try to refocus and be grateful. to be a good steward because we are all so much more blessed than we realize, right?

nothing is wrong with wanting to create a lovely home for my family, i just want to have a contented heart. i want to balance the wants & needs. i want my home to first be a place where people feel loved & welcome--at any time, and whether that's while sitting on creamy white slipcovers or the reality of what i have now, making sure the rest of my heart & home is in order is so much more important. i really do want to just keep it all in perspective.

last month i found out two of my girlfriends were diagnosed with breast cancer. i'm certain they weren't driving home from those appointments thinking 'well thank goodness i have marble countertops'. i know i can't always live in that state of mind. most of my life is usually full of deciding what i'll cook for dinner & who needs to be where and when. i have lived in survival mode before. if you've been swinging by the blog for a while then you know my first husband died from cancer. during that time, i certainly never chose a paint color or ordered new linens. the last couple of years i have needed to be followed closely for my own pre-cancer diagnosis. during the times leading up to those doctor visits i am so often eaten up with fear.

right now all is well in my little world. we just painted the exterior of our home and fixed up emily's room with new goodies. i thank the lord that most of our days are spent blissfully enjoying where He has us. but i want to remember to stay focused. i want to be grateful for the days when things are good . i also want to keep in mind that sometimes a slipcovered sofa really can make the most unbearable days seem just a little more bearable. :)

a couple of friends asked me to share a few peeks into our home...so welcome.

these are the sofa's that want to be potterybarn charleston sofas when they grow up.

and don't mind the doggie hair on the floor, we sure love him & would choose him anyday over the perfect floor that we don't have

come on out & ya'll have a seat
i'll be right back with some lemonade



milestone moment for me....emi's room. she picked out the paint, the layout , and the bedding from pbt all on her own....she did pretty good i'd say!






our bedroom

a few pieces from my collection of antique medicine bottles

the find of the year

this little table , better homes & gardens brand, on sale at walmart for 29bucks!

i think i have a bowl of shells in everyroom

sorry but the nearest beach is 6 hours away....sigh

my petite dining room, that will seat 6....not 12

we ordered our chair slips from potterybarn when they were offering free monograms

geez,this is starting to sound like an advertisement for those folks!

years ago, i needed to have my oldie sofas redone. my decorator friend talked me out of slipcovers...darn it...i'm such a sucker...and encouraged the more finished look of reupholstering. always go with your gut

maybe if i'd have gone with mine i'd be over my slipcovered campaign!

one of my best girlfriends created the wall words for me.
my favorite verse 1 john 3.1.
almost impossible to photograph but looks so pretty in person.

silhouettes from years ago when my middleschoolers were 5 & 6

kitchen table.

loved the seaglass colored vases. had hoped to fill each with a white peony, but never found any...sadness

so now the kitchen table has this....are you tired of all the shells?

my fave summer dishes from vietri....i only have a few pieces, so we'll have to share
the kitchen table that would also love to seat 12.

i told savannah i was going to invite some of our friends over for dinner next week--a family of 6. she asked where everyone was going to sit....oh for goodness sakes....6 in the dining room & 6 in the kitchen...duh. see , i can make this work .

ps-slipcovers from anthro a couple years ago--oops forgot to put the other one on!

just found this little peel & stick chalkboardy thingy for less than $20

i know you are coveting my retro oven...wink

my fave chipped up frames from dryads dancing

and a few other goodies i love in the kitchen.

thanks for dropping in

my house will never be in a magazine

& we haven't upgraded a single thing

can you imagine?

but we're big on hugs around here

& our doggie never barks. ever.

we always have a fridge full of diet cokes

and would love a visit

just don't look at the carpet

wink