SIMPLY STAFFORD

Happy Birthday x 2!!!

2011-01-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

we celebrated birthday's all week!!!! reagan turned 6 on tuesday and we had cupcakes and let her open presents since we weren't having a party until saturday.

saturday was mason's 2nd birthday and the party. we got a couple of inches of snow that morning so we weren't sure if we would be able to have the party (yes, here in the south 2 inches of snow could put us out of commission for a few days).

luckily, the sun came out just enough to melt it on the roads....on with the party!!

mason really got into opening presents this year....

reagan got an ipod...it amazes me that kids these days just seem to naturally know how to work these things...

the kids both had a great time at their party!
(i was planning on adding more pics of family and cousins and such but blogger seems to have a mind of its own....grrrr.....)

two words for 2010

2010-12-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

...blessed and thankful...

merry christmas!!!

2010-12-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

{thinking the candy cane would help...i thought wrong}

dad tickling me helped....

wishing you a very merry christmas!!!

custom wrapping paper

2010-12-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

i saw this roll of plain-o wrapping paper in the midst of all of the pretty paper at HL and i had a light bulb moment...

why not let the kids create their own wrapping paper. so that's what we did. i spread the paper across the table and they (we) went to town drawing all things christmas....and i'm not sure what he was drawing but he was enjoying himself!

here are a couple of presents all wrapped up in our custom paper.

in a way, i hate to rip up all of those sweet little drawings....

all i want for christmas....

2010-12-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

reagan lost both of her top front teeth within about a week of each other. just in time for christmas..."all i want for christmas is my two front teeth." i was trying to get a picture of her missing teeth the other night and she was giving me everything but....so here are the many poses of reagan....

after i asked her 100 times, "show me your teeth" this is what she does. can you sense she's not very thrilled about her new look!

turkeys and twine

2010-11-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

i'm sure everyone has seen the mittens garland going around blogland....i love it but i'm not quite ready to decorate for christmas. so, last week i thought why not turkey garland! this little craft started out as a family affair but i quickly became the one to finish it {i don't recommend starting it before bed time} luckily it was a pretty quick and easy one. i traced every ones hands a few times on different prints of scrapbook paper.

i also made some pumpkins and pilgrim hats. then, i modge podged them all to give them a little extra stiffness. next, i took some felt and cut out feet, beaks, eyes and the gobbler thing {anyone know what that thing is called?}. after all that was glued on and dried i took some twine and glued them all on the twine. simple as that!

you could also have everyone write what they are thankful for on their turkeys for a little extra fun. hope everyone has a great thanksgiving week!

FREE STARBUCKS!!!!!

2010-11-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

just in case you haven't heard.....starbucks is having buy one get one FREE now through 11/21 between 2-5!! i personally don't care for coffee {at all}, but i do like their carmel apple cider and hot chocolate with a shot of vanilla {takes out the bitter taste}. now go enjoy a cup of joe....or cider :)

october in a nutshell

2010-11-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

i realize i have not been posting regularly so i'm going to give you october in a nutshell....a pretty big nutshell, but it will bring us up to date.

the weather last month was awesome! lots of sunny and warm days. we started off the month with a trip to feed the ducks.

mason was a little unsure at first....

but it didn't take long for him to get into it...

fun and cheap entertainment!

we also went to the circus which the kids loved. we sat pretty high up but there was plexiglass in front of us so the kids could stand and move around a little which was great. mason LOVED the elephants. he also loved waving his glow stick around, every time they turned the lights down he had to have his stick...side note on the sticks...i went to the $ tree before the circus and bought glow sticks and boxes of candy to keep from spending a small fortune while at the circus (learned that from last year). our buddy bradyn and cousin peyton were there also.

the one to the bottom right just cracks me up.....

dad had a birthday....he worked really late that day so we modified our party...we celebrated more a few days later....

we went on a hay ride and to the pumpkin patch

reagan is a city girl, the smell of the country was getting to her....

mason claimed his pumpkin....

mason got his first hair cut in october. he played in the sink and ate nerds while jeremy cut....after the first cut i just knew i was gonna be makin' a trip to the hair cutters the next day but it turned out ok....

mason showing off his new do...

and the most exciting thing in october was we got a new cousin and nephew! gavin eli.....

proud papa...

cousins and big bro peyton

mason wanted to hold him....

and we finished off the month with a community block party at church....

reagan was a princess and mason was a frog....

our buddy bradyn was buzz and his dad was woody....they looked so cute...

mason was in meltdown mode, i think he was coming off of his sugar high and did not want his picture taken. overall we had a busy and fun month!

flashback friday

2010-10-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

this weeks flashback is from october 2008. this was reagan and dad's first time to disney world. i hadn't been since 9th grade so it had been a while for me too.

yes, i was very prego (we had been planning this trip since before i was pregnant)....and yes my eyes are closed in the only family pic we got in front of the castle.... :(

we stood in line for a couple of hours to see cinderella (aka cindalella), belle and sleeping beauty....it was one of the highlights of the day. reagan was in heaven, which made the 2 hour wait seem worth it....

we also got autographs from "mimmie" (as reagan used to call her) and mickey...

we watched a 3d show which reagan loved and we laughed and laughed at her grabbing and dodging stuff in the air....so cute!

minnie's house was also favorite. we visited there several times that day....

and a trip to disney isn't complete with out a set of ears and a sucker while watching the fireworks show!

flashback friday-costume edition wk 3

2010-10-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

last year reagan wanted to be snow white for trunk or treat. since we try to make this a family affair our snow white trunk included snow white, the wicked stepmother, prince charming and dopey.

i bought reagans costume off of ebay and the wig from big lots. prince charming and the wicked stepmothers costumes were a combination of clothes we had and fabric cut and pieced together to make capes. i used gold rope trim for my belt and poster board to make the large white collar and crown. dopey's costume consisted of a turtle neck a couple of sizes to big with a felt belt sewn on. i made the hat out of fleece and bought the x-large ears to top off the costume.

we cut a piece of sheet rock (from dads basement) to fit in the trunk and hung the "magic mirror" in the middle and added "curtains" to the side. we also added a basket of apples.

we had a lot of fun with our trunk and costumes last year, we were just hoping mason wouldn't end up with a new nick name!

flashback friday-costume edition wk 2

2010-10-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

october 2008 i was very prego....with that said, i had to think of a way to incorporate my big belly into our trunk or treat ensemble. if you google "homemade halloween costumes" you will have a slew of ideas to sort thru. after some searching, i decided i could be an oven and my belly would be the "bun".....get it, bun in the oven....hahaha....pretty cute, huh? i made the oven from a large box. i cut the front to make the door and used an old curtain rod to make the handle. i cut the picture of the bun from a box of honey buns and taped it to my belly. notice the "timer" in the upper right hand corner....11 weeks to go!

since i was an oven i decided to make the theme of the trunk a bakery. jeremy became the baker and reagan became a cupcake. reagans cupcake costume is made from an old pleated lamp shade (mom & dads attic). jeremy cut the insides out of the shade (this made it wearable) and then we painted it silver. i cut pink fleece for the top of the cupcake (the icing) glued "sprinkles" on top and glued it to the inside of the shade. if reagan had been much bigger she wouldn't have been able to wear the shade because of how narrow the bottom was so if you are going to try the cupcake i would suggest it for a small child.

we really enjoyed our costumes this year and our trunk actually won 2nd place!

flashback friday-costume edition

2010-09-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

if any of you are like me out there in blog land you love when others share pics of inspiration. since halloween is soon approaching, i thought i would share some of our costume ideas from years past. our church annually hosts what is called "trunk-n-treat." in case you aren't familiar with trunk-n-treat i will give you the skinny....cars lined up with their trunks open, decorated and full of candy. there is free food, fun for the kids, live music, and of course, candy! 2005 was our first year participating and reagan was 10 mo. old. as you can see (and will see in the friday's to come) i like to make this a family affair....however i could not convince jeremy to dress up as "andy"....still not sure why he wouldn't go for it...lol...

raggedy ann

i always try to make as much of our costumes as possible; that year i bought reagan's and made mine. sorry i dont have a full body shot...the hat, apron and pantaloons were all cut from a sheet. i added red ric rac to the bottom of the apron and glued yarn to the inside of the hat for the hair. pretty inexpensive and put it all together in a day...not to bad for our first year! be sure to check back over the next few fridays for more fun ideas!

First Signs of Fall

2010-09-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

the leaves may still be green on the trees and the temp. still 90+ degrees but i know fall is just around the corner....i can feel it, kinda like when grandma says it's gonna rain, she can feel it in her bones and joints....i can feel fall all up in my head....do you feel it too???

reagan learned "the milky wave"

2010-08-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

it's official...i have a school age child! today was reagan's first day of kindergarten. last night at bedtime she was telling me she didn't want to go, so i was a little worried this morning. i knew if she cried i wouldn't be able to hold back the tears either. well, she was all smiles this morning! she didn't even complain once about getting her hair crimped!

she couldn't wait to show off her new lunch box and backpack

j chuckled when i took this pic, but in a year or so we will have a new school and i want reagan to be able to look back at her first school when she gets older....

she was ready to work!!

you can see reagan on the far right in this pic....a few of the high school girls came in to welcome her, which she LOVED!!

sis. kirby was all smiles this morning too!!!

after we picked her up, we went and got some ice cream and we talked about her day....

me=did you have a good day?

reagan=yes, i want to go back, now!

me=did you sit next to jordan?

reagan=yes

me=did you talk to him

reagan=no i ignored him

me=so what did you do today?

reagan=we learned how to do the milky way

me=what??

reagan=we learned the milky wave

(she's saying this like i should know what "the milky wave" is, i'm thinking candy bar??)

me=so how do you do "the milky wave"?

reagan=we get under our desks and cover our heads with our hands and the ground shakes

me=oh, you learned what to do in case we have an earthquake....(milky wave!!)

reagan= yeah, an earthquake....

i think i'm in for a year of laughs....

"some day" is here

2010-08-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

when reagan was born, in the back of my head i always knew we would have some day. what i didn't know is how quickly some day would come. then i was thinking, some day i will sleep more than an hour at a time, not that in 5 short years she would be going to school. there are many more of these days to come; some day we will talk about boys, some day she will learn to drive, some day she will graduate school & college, some day her prince will come, some day she will have babies of her own.

monday is one of our some days. my baby girl starts kindergarten and she is so excited, which i am grateful for. i'm sure i will be the one crying when we drop her off monday morning! it is so bitter-sweet to watch my babies grow up. on one hand i look forward to each phase of raising my children, but on the other it all seems to happen too quickly. i can remember as a child people telling me "i'm going to put a brick on your head," now i fully understand what they were saying....if only that would work!

I'm still here....

2010-08-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

so i'm sure all of you faithful followers were beginning to wonder if i was still alive....well, i am, barely. it has been a BUSY couple of weeks. here are some pics of the random things we have been doing lately....

mason loves to drink from the hose to the slip n slide....i guess when it is 105 degrees outside you will get a drink where ever you can..

this happens in some fashion at our house daily....i'm so glad my kiddos love each other (just hope they still feel that way in about 10 years)

i could write an entire post on these 2 pics here.....j has graduated with his associates degree from the university of phoenix and he has already started the bachelors program...i can't tell you how proud of him i am....it takes a lot of discipline, effort and hard work to go to college while working full time and raising a family....SO if you are 20 and reading this and debating if you are going to college....DO IT NOW, don't wait until you are 30....it's much harder once you have a family and responsibilities....ok, i am off my soap box and moving on....

this is peyton, my nephew, at his 3rd b-day...this kid LUVS transformers...

so he had a transformer cake. as we were about to sing happy birthday, he decided to remove the transformers from the cake and whoops....lost his balance....

he seriously fell right into the cake...it was so cute! once everyone assured him it was ok, he laughed too...

i'm glad his momma had an extra tray of cupcakes!

presents....oh the bliss of being 3!!

he found a stick that was shaped just like a gun....

then he decided to do some diggin' in the dirt...boys will be boys!

speaking of boys....this little man decided he was going to help himself to some chocolate chips...

he was shoving them in his mouth by the hand fulls and as he would drop them on the way to his mouth he was saying "uh oh, uh oh", but pouring them on the floor was not an "uh oh"

and yes i let him enjoy a few even off of the floor....(he is still alive).....he worked so hard and fast to get them open before i could catch him....

needless to say, he didn't take a nap for a while!

then last weekend, we were honored for reagan to be in a wedding of some of our friends....this was all the kid talked about for weeks...seriously, she was SO excited!

this was the beautiful bride and one of the most gorgeous weddings i have ever been to!

we have also been getting ready for school to start in a week *tear* and i have been working on a project i hope to share next week....

now i have to go to bed cause tomorrow we are going to another wedding....must be something in the air, after tomorrow still 2 more to go between now and sept.!

how did i miss this???

2010-07-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

somehow i let a perfectly good bloggin' opportunity pass me by, tragic i know! anyway, i ran across this pillow and my wheels started turning. i love n-e thing with a monogram, (it's a southern thing)! so this is what i came up with. i used a similar technique to this one.

i'm hoping you noticed i painted my shutters and frames. do you remember what they looked like before? i'm hoping you didn't notice what looks like a tarantula spider web to the left above my sign....if you didn't see it, go ahead and enlarge the pic, it's there in all it's glory (how did i miss that is the ???)...lol...

this one really has nothing to do with the sign, it's just 'cause he's cute and i can :)

IT'S HERE!!!!

2010-07-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

EEEEEK!! I'm so excited (can you tell???)!!! I finally got my Etsy shop up and running! I personally think this was a little more complicated and time consuming than getting my blog started, but none the less it is open and I already made my first sale, EEEEEEK!! Check it out here, I have to go make some more poppies!!

Lots more fun things in my shop!!!

Anniversary & News

2010-07-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to say I have been happily married to my best friend for 12 years, today! Since our anniversary was today, Sunday, we celebrated yesterday by going on a hike. Several people told me today that is not their idea of fun/celebrating but we really had a good time. J hikes a lot more often than I (it's been about 14 years or so for me) but considering I don't work out and I am 30 now, I think I did pretty well yesterday. We went to Abrams Falls which is 5 mi. round trip and considered a moderate hike. The weather was perfect on the way up, but on the way back down it was HOT! We had a great time just the two of us and believe it or not I could still walk this morning when I got out of bed!

J actually jumped off the top of the falls about 14 yrs ago....the dumbness of our youth!!

saw Bambi on the way out

Now for my big life changing announcement from last week (it's really not that life changing). I worked from home for the past year keying phone applications for a nationwide phone company. The company I worked for lost one of their contracts so a couple of weeks ago I got the "pink slip" I was laid off....ugh...I know. Oddly enough I started making these flowers a few weeks ago and was thinking about opening an Etsy shop. Seems like this just fell into place, so hopefully I will have everything together and have my new Etsy shop will be open this week! I am very excited about doing something I enjoy and hopefully making some $$$ doing it! If life hands you a lemon, squeeze it 'til the seeds come out!

Sewin' Up a Storm

2010-07-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get in these moods and I just have to sew something. SO, for the past couple of weeks, off and on, I have been working on this....

and these......

and this...

and i luv this one...

and those....

oh, and these too.....

Be sure to stop back by and see why......I'll give ya a hint; pink slip & a little shop.....life changing things goin' on round here!!

Summer Time "to-do's"

2010-07-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we made a list of our "summer time to-do's" which included;

*Go to the park
*Spending the night with a friend or having a friend spend the night
*Picking berries
*Go to Dollywood
*Go on a hike
*Go to the "fountains"
*Go swimming @ aunt Chelle's
*Have a bon-fire & roast marshmallows

Last week we accomplished two of the items on our to-do list. We went swimming at my sister's with the cousins. Regan had a momentary memory lapse of everything she ever knew about swimming, but she finally realized she could stand in the shallow end. Mason liked the water but didn't like being confined to his swim ring.

We also went to a nearby little water fountain that is made for kids to play in. This was our first time here so we weren't really sure what to expect. I do believe our expectations were exceeded! The fountains were huge!! It was soooo hot that day Kerri and I were wishing we had on some clothes to get wet in too, (trust me, we got wet anyway)!

We had a FUN day!!

Father's Day 2010

2010-06-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

I couldn't ask for a better father for my children. He loves God and teaches our children to love God. He provides for our family and plays with our children. Reagan and Mason love their daddy bunches!!

Happy Father's Day, we love you!!

Down on Papaw's Farm

2010-06-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well, Papaw doesn't really have a farm. He and Mo-mo actually live smack dab in the middle of the city on 3 acres, he just wishes he had a farm. Anyway, the kiddo's and I went over to mom & dad's house to take some pics the other day. With the help of my niece Taylor and her friend Sarah, we got a few good ones despite Mason's uncooperative, I don't feel like smiling, it's hot out here attitude (amazing what this little guy can say without actually speaking a word of it).

I feel like I should explain this one a bit....Reagan being the "little mother" that she is was scared Mason was going to jump/fall in the creek so she kept trying to hold onto him. As you can see in this picture Mason felt the need to express that he was big enough to sit on the bridge all by himself....

.......and he sat there like a big boy!

Here you will see Mason enjoy himself while hitting Reagan in the head with a stick. In the next few pics her facial expressions crack me up...almost like she is thinking of revenge....

the end!

Homemade Condensed Soups

2010-06-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

I love casseroles and with casseroles usually comes condensed soup. Condensed soup is full of not-so-natural things if you haven't noticed. Now that my family is trying to eat more naturally, I went on an online search for cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup recipes. I found the cream of chicken soup recipe here. As easy as it looks I made it even easier. I have issues with picking chicken off of a bone so I don't buy a whole chicken and cook it, (strange I know, to me it's just gross). Instead I buy a box of organic chicken broth, (organic because all of the ingredients are natural), and use that as the base. Now if you read the ingredients in the chicken broth you will see that it is already seasoned with almost all of the ingredients the recipe calls for.

I just added a little extra of the seasonings I already had and continued to follow the recipe. I found the cream of mushroom soup recipe here and it can't get much easier than this!

I have made both recipes in triple batches and put the extra in the freezer in portion sizes that I will use for casseroles. The next time I'm going to make a casserole, I can just thaw some soup and know that it is mmm, mmm good!!

Part 2 of Long Legs=Short Skirt

2010-05-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Reagan had this cute yellow skirt from last year that was of course too short this summer. So, like my last post, I up-cycled it! Sorry I am blogland's worst at remembering to take a before pic so use your wonderful imagination....plain yellow skirt. I bought the brown fabric from HL (I believe it was about a 1/4 of a yard). All I did was measure how much longer I wanted the skirt to be and cut the fabric. I did use the entire width, which was 54". I sewed the right sides together and gathered and pinned as I went around the skirt to make the ruffle effect. Hem the bottom and the skirt is done!

Now for the shirt. I paid $3.50 for the shirt at WM.

First, cut a strip of fabric the width you want your flower and fold in a circular direction.

Once you lay the first flower on the shirt you will have to adjust it and possibly do some re-folding, then pin in place and sew.

Do the same steps for the second layer of the flower just use a smaller strip of fabric.

Then, sew on a cute button or jewel to cover up the middle.

All done with a new outfit for about $7! Sorry, my model quit on me tonight, but you get the idea!

Long Legs=Short Skirt

2010-05-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Reagan's legs are getting longer and longer and her skirts are getting shorter and shorter. So, I am having a problem finding skirts small enough to fit her waist that are long enough. So I took a couple of skirts that fit her well in the waist but are too short and added some length. I actually made this original skirt and shirt last summer after seeing similar ones in boutiques for well over $30. (Sorry I forgot to take a before pic, just imagine the hounds tooth in place of the denim.)

The original skirt I had made was too small this year, so I cut the bottom off and sewed it onto the bottom of the too short denim skirt. Seriously, this took all of about 10 min., (even with my not-so-much-a-seamstress skills), and now she can wear it another season. I luv upcycling, recycling, or whatever you want to call it....I call it saving money....makes me happy inside!

please excuse Mason's head....

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

2010-05-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

I had this great idea to make a sign to go above my rather large kitchen window. Correction, I was really inspired by Buzzings of a Queen Bee's sign and knew I had to have one of my very own. Since the sign was going in the kitchen I wanted it to say something "kitchen-y." Eat, drink and be merry says kitchen-y to me! J said it sounds like we are going to have a drunken party....that is NOT what was going through my head, especially since we don't even drink, at all! Then I remembered this was actually in the Bible. So I looked it up and it is Ecc. 8:15; "Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun." After showing my sarcastic husband, (he was just pickin'), that I did not plan on having a drunken party, I put him to work.

J cut the wood and sanded the edges. First, I painted the wood with some white paint. Then, I found the style of letters I wanted to use off of the computer. I drew the letters freehand from looking at the type that I chosen on to some white paper. Then, I laid the paper on the sign to make sure the size and spacing would work. Then I drew the letters on to the sign with pencil. Next, I painted the letters and went around the edges with a black Sharpie so they would have a smooth edge. After the paint was dry, I took a damp paper towel and some antiquing polish, (from HL), and basically smeared it all over the sign. A little antiquing polish goes a long way! The good thing about antiquing polish is while it's still wet you can wipe it off if you get to much. After everything was nice and dry, J hung it for me. So, what are your first thoughts when you hear, "eat, drink and be merry?"

BTW, I have to do something with that light fixture....anyone have any suggestions besides take it to the curb??

Carter's 1st Photo Shoot

2010-05-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

My one month old nephew, Carter, came over the other night, oh and his mom and dad came too. I played the role of "the paparazzi". That poor baby probably had nightmares of camera flashes. I wanted to take pics outside but it started raining so we had to make do inside. I think despite the darkness of being inside on a rainy evening we still got some pretty good ones.

I luv baby feet :)

wanna pinch those chubby cheeks!

Letter Magnets

2010-05-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

I made some letter magnets for a friend of mine who is getting married in a couple of months. I thought they would be a cute little something in addition to whatever else I get her. They were pretty easy to make, but a little time consuming. I bought all of the supplies at HL. All you do is take the wooden chip and modge podge scrapbook paper to it. Once that dried, I took the letter stickers and modge podged over them too. Add the magnets to the back and you're done! Lots and lots of possibilities with these!!

Mother's Day & Turning 30

2010-05-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Since today is Mothers Day I first of all would like to say I love and appreciate my mother. She has been a great influence in my life! Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, the world would not be the same with out you!

Today is not only Mother's Day, it is also my birthday. Not just any birthday, but the big 3-0! Today has been an interesting day. Mason has been running a high fever for 4 days so I am running on little sleep. This morning I woke up feeling a little bummbed about turning"30". I proceed to the kitchen where Reagan is so excited to give me her present. I have no idea what it could be but J warned me in advance to "look surprised" they had searched all over town for it. To my surprise she had gotten me a Snuggie....lol. I couldn't help but laugh and look surprised! By the end of the day I can't help but feel how blessed I am. J insisted he stay home from church with Mason since it was Mother's Day and my b-day and Reagan made my day on the way home from church tonight. A friend was teasing me and told Reagan to help me to the car tonight after church. On the way home Reagan asks, "Mom, why was Grandy telling me to help you to the car?" I explained and she says, "mom, you are the best mom ever and beautiful and my favorite person ever." My word, she made me cry! That topped of all of the presents I received today!

In honor of the big 3-0 I thought I would share 30 things about myself.

1. I am the youngest of 3-sister & brother are 12 & 10 1/2 years older

2. I have never traveled by plane, ship or train

3. I have never been west of Nashville or north of Chicago

4. I have never been out of the country
5. I have lived in the city where I live now my entire life
6. wow, #2-5 make me think I need to get out more!
7. I have never been stung by a bee or wasp
8. I have never broken a bone
9. I HATE, HATE, HATE jumping spiders (aka cave crickets/camel crickets)
10. I don't like coffee (please still be my friend)
11. I don't know how to dive (that's DIVE not dRive~see #21)

12. I am not a good speller

13. I made one D in school-not in spelling surprisingly
14. I met my husband on a double date
15. I took gymnastics for a couple of years as a child
16. No, I cannot still do the splits or a back bend
17. I changed my name in 4th grade
18. I love being a stay-at-home mom
19. The first thing I notice about people I meet is their teeth
20. I still have my wisdom teeth
21. I have never had a speeding ticket
22. I have never colored my hair
23. I got married when I was 18~will celebrate 12th anniversary this July
24. I love little baby feet :)

25. There is a reason for #20-I am too chicken to have them cut out

26. I am scared of heights, but like roller coasters as long as I keep my eyes closed
27. I had a horse as a little girl, her name was Lady Beth
28. I do not like cold weather
29. ok, #28 isn't totally true, I shortened from Sarah Beth to just Sarah, I thought it sounded more grown up, ha!
30. I look back over the past 30 years and can't help but feel that I have been greatly blessed!!

Edisto Beach~we made it!

2010-04-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Well, 10 hours and 12 stops later we made it! It should have taken about 7 hours to get here but with 2 kids that get car sick and a prego SIL we had to have a few extra stops. I have to say this is the most laid back non-commercialized beach I have ever been to. There are huge Cypress trees filled with Spanish Moss and Palm trees side by side. There are a few glorified mom and pop restaurants around the beach, a few gift shops, a seafood market, church, fire and police stations, a Piggly Wiggly and that is about it. The beach is FULL of shells, so much is some places you couldn't take your shoes off. Sunday was a little cooler and rainy so we drove inland a couple of miles and went to a seafood market and picked up some shrimp and went to a dirt floor veggi/fruit market and picked up some veggies and a freshly homemade key lime pie, mmmmmm. Yesterday we went to the beach and it almost felt like we had our own private island. The kids played (Mason slept, something about the sound of the waves knocks him out every time) and J and Daron fished. J caught a huge Horseshoe Crab and a Stingray. Daron finally caught 3 fish. We teased them and said maybe if we bought a loaf of bread and prayed real hard the Lord would multiply it. Maybe by the end of the week they will have caught enough to have a fish fry, (not real sure how I feel about that).

Edisto Island here we come!

2010-04-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

In about 6 hours we will be squeeeeeeezing the kids in the car (we have everything but the sink in there) and headed here.....

Edisto Island, SC. We have never been here but we have been to Isle of Palms and Charleston. From what I have read Edisto is a very uncommercialized beach, which hopefully means less tourists. If anyone has been here and has any suggestions of things to do or see please advise.

A whole week of doin' nothin'!!!! Can't wait!!

Worth sharing

2010-04-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you hear things that are worth repeating. Well, today I read something that I felt was worth sharing. As I have been frantically rushing around working on our yard sale we are having this weekend, trying to clean and prepare for friends to come over for dinner Sunday night after church, and prepare some things for a moms group on Monday night, I happened upon this post, "What is the purpose of the home?" It made me step back and think for a moment. I can spend all of my time trying to achieve this;

And yet still feel like this!!

If you have never been to Passionate Homemaking go check it out and see what you have been missing! She has great tips for natural living, yummy recipes and just an all around great blog!

Easter Weekend Recap

2010-04-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

I realize it is now a few days after Easter but it took a couple of days to re-coop from the weekend. We colored eggs, hunted eggs, had a melt down, went to church, hunted eggs again, had another melt down (or 2), and went to church again. Busy weekend for little people but they had fun!

Happy Birthday Friend!!!

2010-04-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my RLF (real life friend) Kerri!!!! We have known each other and been friends for about 14 years (almost half of my life). We got married 3 weeks apart and had all of our babies just months apart. We have lived next door to each other (I know we both wish we still lived in those houses), gone on trips together and worked in our church together. I can honestly say I have no bad memories of my friend Kerri.

I know ya'll wish she was your RLF too! Go here and wish her a Happy Birthday!!!

(if you want the scoop on this pic click here)

Just wanted to let you know I luv you Kerri and thanks for being my FRIEND!!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2010-03-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

My second homemade recipe was powdered laundry detergent. Ingredients are, 1/3 cup of soap, 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda.

I chose the lye soap over the popular choice of Fels Naptha because it seems to be more pure. You can use any bar soap you would like I suppose, I may try castile soap next time. I bought the lye soap at my local hardware store, (little pricy @ $3.79), cut it in chunks and chopped it in the blender the best I could. I could have grated it, which would probably would have worked better in the end but patience is not my best virtue.

Use 2 tablespoons of detergent per load. I also made some fabric softener with 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups baking soda and 4 cups of water. This is also supposed to help with static cling.

My Thoughts:

So, I have been using this detergent and fabric softener for the past week. I am pretty impressed with the detergent. I used it on a load of towels the first time just in case it left spots or something crazy. I was very impressed with the spot removing power of this mixture. Reagan had a red shirt with a glob of gum stuck on it, I mean it had been washed and dried on there, hard as a rock stuck, (unfortunately I didn't take a pic cause I really didn't think I would get this out). I have never tried to get gum out before so I thought I would give my new laundry potion a test. I added about a tablespoon of detergent and just enough water to a bowl for the spot to soak. I checked the spot after 30 min to an hour and it was actually starting to loosen and dissolve. I couldn't believe it! I let it continue soaking and then made a thicker paste out of the detergent and let that continue to sit on the gum. The gum came out however, it did leave a bit of a stain, but since it was on the inside of the shirt you can't tell. Pretty good to get gum out and not even damage the shirt or fade the color!!

Now this fabric softener I'm not totally sold on yet. After the ingredients are mixed together the baking soda separates to the bottom. I shook it up and filled the liquid fabric softener holder in my washer. When the clothes were done the baking soda was still in the fabric softener holder, which I didn't like. I have since then used just vinegar and it seems to work ok, the clothes are not quite as soft as I like, but they don't really seem staticy. And in case you are wondering they don't smell like vinegar when they are finished either. So there ya have it, my science project for the week. Has anyone else tried homemade detergent or fabric softener?

Linking up with

The Thrifty Home
My Backyard Eden

Homemade dishwasher detergent

2010-03-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of all of the things I bought this weekend to make homemade cleaning products. First I made dishwasher detergent. I combined 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1 cup of Borax and shook it up.....that's it, no kidding! Use 1-2 tablespoons per cycle. I also used white vinegar in the place of rinse aid. I have washed two cycles of dishes using this recipe and I have to say, it seems to work just as well if not better than my old detergent. EZ PZ, cost effective and eco-friendly!!
Stay tuned, next up is laundry detergent :)

Cleaner and Greener-You ARE What You Eat

2010-03-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

I am starting a quest to eliminate some of the chemicals we consume and use in our home. It is a little overwhelming to think of all of the things we eat and use that are filled with chemicals. I am not going no-deo extreme or anything, (as of now), but I would like to change some of the basics. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 speaks of your body being the temple of the Holy Ghost; that being said I want to take care of my body to the best of my ability. Below I share a little of my view on food. I have been doing some on-line research about cleaning products and such the last couple of days. I plan on making a couple of those cleaning recipes this weekend. I hope you will follow along on this cleaner and greener journey and please feel free to add any comments or tips!

You ARE what you eat
Growing up I always heard the saying, "you are what you eat". This saying has become more real to me over the past year or so of my life. I am quickly approaching 30 and it would frighten me to know how many chemicals I have consumed in my life time. My friend Kerri really brought this to my attention when she told me of an old school friend of hers that is a vegan/dietitian and she was going to have this friend make out a "plan" to basically change her eating habits. Kerri, I love you, but when you told me what this chic eats and doesn't eat, I thought you were nuts. However, since then, I have been more aware and conscious of all of the "non-food" products in our food. I have started reading the labels of food ingredients and it blows my mind of the junk in everything I eat that I can't even pronounce. Seriously, I nursed both of my children for months just to hand them a cheerio or gold fish at 10 mo. old that has about 4 recognizable ingredients, something about that is just not right. I'm not sayin' I'll never eat another Big Mac or my kids will never have another Chicken McNugget, (which btw did you see the article on MSN the other day, 30 ingredients in a McNugget, you just thought it was chicken). I just don't want my kids to become accustomed to being "chemically feed." Over the past few months I have started changing the obvious and easiest things first. I try to buy all natural chips, snacks and juice and diary. I can't do this cold turkey and I may never be "all natural" but I do plan on eliminating what I can. Any one that has tips or suggestions, please share!

Refurbished Bench and a Pillow

2010-03-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

Kerri and I had yet another swap. I traded her a chandelier for this bench.

I had to do a little sanding and some painting but I think it turned out pretty well. Originally I was going to make a skirt around the bottom and put baskets under the bench to hold toys. Now that it is painted I kinda like it the way it is so for now I'm going to leave the skirt off.

Then I saw a pillow similar to this one (sorry, I can't remember whose blog it was on to give credit).

I used part of a canvas drop cloth to make the pillow and some fabric scraps for the flower and button.

Then I folded the fabric scraps and stitched them together, placed them on the canvas and sewed them down. I did two layers of this and frayed the edges. Then I put the button on to cover the ends.

Now I have a nice bench on my once long, empty wall. However, I still need something above the bench. Don't worry, I'm thinking!

Spring Dreamin'

2010-03-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

We had be-u-tif-ful weather today and it reeeallly made me want spring to come oh so quickly. I wanted to share these lovely rooms which also made me think of spring. And just in case you were wondering, this is not my house, (a girl can dream) all of these pics are from Country Home magazine.

{photo credit: Country Home.com}

Luv, luv, luv a claw foot tub!!!

{photo credit: Country Home.com}

Ohhhh, love the green, so fresh and springy! I could sit here and sip sweet tea all day!

{photo credit: Country Home.com}

MMMMM.......love to sit here and eat some of these.......

{photo credit: Country Home.com}

are these not the cutest spring cupcakes!!

Spring, come quickly!!!

Reaganisms and First Steps

2010-03-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

First Steps

Mason will be 14 mo. old on the 8th. He finally decided to take a few first steps 2/20 and he still just stands, claps his hands and takes 2 or 3 steps, then drops down to crawl. I had to lure him with his paci but I finally managed to get a couple of pictures of him walking.

Reaganisms

Reagan is quite observant for a 5 year old. She has been saying some pretty funny things lately. Here are a few that made me laugh.

Reagan was looking at her Bile Sunday morning and spells, "H-O-L-Y B-I-B-L-E", then asks, "mom, what does that spell?" Me: Holy Bible. Reagan: Mom, are there un-holy Bibles?

She saw a commercial for ProActive, the anti-acne products, and said, "mom, hurry I need some of this to get rid of my freckles!" Seriously, she has like 3.

Reagan was wanting J to buy some batteries for one of her toys and he told her he would and forgot. So, she asked me to get some. I asked her if she knew what kind she needed and she said, "yeah, straight one's."

I nearly lost it on this one: "Mom, why when you turn into a grandpa or grandma do your teeth turn yellow?" thank goodness grandpa and grandma were not around!

Kids, they sure can put a smile on your face!

Shopping Your Friends Closet

2010-02-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

We have all heard "shop the house," well how about shopping someone else's house, or better yet, their closet. Kerri and I are going to sell our kids clothes from last season in a local consignment event in a couple of weeks, so we have been quite busy preparing. You wouldn't think getting all of this stuff together would be such an ordeal but the sorting, ironing, hanging and tagging is quite time consuming.

Since both of Kerri's kids are about a year older than mine it works well for me to shop her stuff before the sale. This way I get first dibs and she gets 100% of her sales price instead of 70%, win win for both! So last night we went shopping at "Hebert's Closet". I loaded up for Mason and got some much needed semi-casual stuff for Reagan, she is finally starting to be able to wear her stuff for more than one season so she didn't need as much.

If you have never shopped your friends closet I suggest you try it or at least search your area for consignment events and sales. I have found that if you consign or work the sale you can get in early and will have the best selection, lots of brand names for a fraction of what you would pay retail. Hopefully the clothes I will be selling at the event in a couple of weeks will more than pay for what I bought from Kerri. That means I am dressing my kids for almost free and you can't beat a deal like that!

Cool, Cool, Cool Tricks!!!

2010-02-26T21:13:00.000-08:00

So if you have young kids you get my title, if not, go to yogabbagabba.com, fun fun stuff. Ok, on to the cool tricks. My dishwasher has been playing some not-so-cool tricks lately. No matter what kind of soap I used or what setting I chose my dishes kept coming out with a soapy film all over them. Well, lucky for me I go to church with a man who owns an appliance repair business. So I told him all my problems and kept my fingers crossed that he wasn't going to tell me to head to Lowe's. You will never belive what he told me to do. You ready?? Apple cider vinegar, yep, a whole gallon of it. Run that stinky stuff through on an empty cycle and it will clean all of the soap build up out of your pipes and hoses. Cost me about $3 and now I have sparkly dishes again, yippee!! Pretty cool trick don't ya think!!

As you can see in the picture I didn't use all of the vineger. I have heard of people washing their hair with apple cider vinegar to remove styling product build up and it is supposed to leave your hair so clean and soft. Has anyone tried this, I am just wondering how long will I smell like a pickled apple???

Bedtime Bribery

2010-02-20T06:13:00.000-08:00

Reagan has been sleeping in her bed for some time now the only catch is J has to lay down with her 'til she goes to sleep. When she turned 5 we told her that she was a big girl and needed to start laying down by herself. After her story was read and prayers were said, there was a wee bit of resistance that first night.....she ~~cried~~ wailed for over an hour! At one point Mason woke up and started crying too. I just laid in bed and laughed. J asked why I was laughing and I said it's either laugh or cry with them! I kept waiting for the neighbors to call the police to see what was going on, thankfully they didn't. The second night we laid down the law. Ok, so we bribed her. We told her she could leave her lamp on and if she went to sleep by herself, without crying she could get a cool night light and at the end of 7 days she could get a prize; she was asleep in about 30 minutes. Bribery works like a charm! Today we went to Target and she picked her prize; a bling-bling cell phone. We are very proud, way to go Reagan!!

Spray Painting Kitchen Cabinets

2010-02-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

Before

It has been a busy few days at the Stafford house. J went out of town this week and I got the bright idea I was going to surprise him and spray paint the kitchen cabinets. Yes spray paint, in February, in the snow. Crazy I know, but that's just how I work. I researched spray painting cabinets on the internet of course and found someone that had great success so I felt that I could do it too. I recruited some help, all of which asked that I not mention their names to J when he got home, (I think they doubted me just a little). First, I set up a make-shift spray paint room in a little mud room off of the kitchen. I lightly sanded and then sprayed all of the cabinets with a spray primer. Then I coated the back side of all the cabinets with 2 coats and the front sides with 1 coat of Krylon spray paint. This took about 4 cans of primer and 6 cans of Krylon.

During

They still needed more coats so at this point I rolled a coat of Creamy White Behr Primer and Paint in one. Once the doors were hung, I rolled another coat using a small sponge roller, this really made the paint look smooth. I do think spray painting the first few coats did save some time, but I am glad I rolled those last couple of coats, spraypaint can be tricky and stinky....if I would have inhaled any more of that stuff I think I would have died! It took about 2 1/2 days to do all of this and I put the last knob on about 15 min. before J walked in the door. J was surprised and yes he loves it (especially loves that he didn't have to do it)! A BIG thank you to all of you anonymous helpers!!

After :)

For all of you out there in blog land that are about to take the paint-your-cabinets-plunge, here are my suggestions;

DO
*sand first-especially the non-wood areas
*prime-I liked the spray primer, it was quick and easy to apply
*prime again-I love the Behr primer and paint in one from Home Depot, this extra primer in the paint will help keep the paint from chipping
*paint the last coat after you re-hang the doors, this way you will see them as they will be and see what areas need repainting
*use a small sponge roller for the last coat-it leaves a smooth finish
*use paint that is washable and durable
*get helpers

DON'T
*try to surprise your husband while he is out of town
*spray paint in the house-the smell and spray paint dust was too much at times even with doors & windows open-it was a lot of cabinets
*buy cheap paint
*be afraid-I was nervous once I saw the doors waiting on the floor to be painted, but I was not turning back and I'm glad I didn't!

Good luck!!

Mason's Room.....(Green Rocker cont.)

2010-02-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the pictures of my grandmother's green rocker don't quite do it justice. You are probably thinking J was right about this chair right now. So I thought I would share a little more of Mason's room so you can get the "full effect".

The "Choo Choo" above his crib are the paperish letters from HL....$1.99 ea., but you know I got those on sale for $1 ea. Little spray paint and there ya go.

As you can see in the picture above, the bedding is trains, but I didn't want to have just trains so I also played off of the stars in the bedding. I got these little metal stars on a stick, (I'm not really sure what they were for), and added a magnet to the back and some spray paint and now they hold pictures.

I bought the large star and some paper stars (same as the "choo choo" letters) and spray painted them too. Then I took some string and hung them from the large star and we have a mobile over the changing table.

I bought all of the star stuff at HL around the Fourth of July and it was all half off. I think we spent around $175 on this room (we already had the furniture) which included the bedding, rug, toy basket, wall paint and all of the accessories. Not bad for an entire new room!

Grandmother's Green Rocker

2010-02-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

I ran across a post at A Penny Saved about a green velvet sofa she is going to use in her nursery. As I was reading I was in disbelief because I thought I was the only one who would ever want green velvet furniture. When I was pregnant with Mason I knew I would need a rocking chair for the nursery. Being the frugal one that I am, I remembered my never-get-rid-of-anything dad had a rocking chair that belonged to my grandmother in his attic. My whole family, husband included, couldn't believe I actually wanted "Mimmie's green rocker". But I had a vision. Ok, not really, I just needed a rocker. I got the chair and placed it in what was our office/catch all room before we converted it into the nursery. Every time J went in there he made some not so nice comment about the chair. I have to admit there were a few times I went in that room and wondered what was I thinking myself, but I had already proclaimed it's greatness so there was no turnin' back. I really didn't have a plan to start with, so when I went shopping for crib bedding I looked for something to match that green rocker. I found some bedding at TJ Maxx and I believe it was $70 for the set and I was in business! The set included a quilt, bumper, skirt, sheet and 1 valance. Since the room has 2 windows I took the valance that was in the crib set and turned it into 3 pillows.

Now with the pillow and a throw on the rocker it fits right in. I know deep down J is glad I got this thing, especially while he is rocking in a comfy chair in the middle of the night!

I'm linking up to "FREE Friday" @ A Very Blessed Nest!

Goodwill Hunting

2010-02-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

These are my latest thrifting finds. The railroad posters/signs were .99 each, the mini bowling pins were .99 for all 4 (aren't they so cute), the little vase thingy was .99 and the plate was $3.99, I know I splurged on it a little. All of this for $10.85!!

Many of you have left sweet comments about some of my thrifting transformations and many have also said that you don't have much luck at Goodwill. So, I want to offer some Goodwill hunting tips.

1. Broaden Your Horizon

I typed in Goodwill & my city in Google and it pulls up a map of the closest stores. I couldn't believe it, but there were about 11 in a 35 mi. radius of my house! And to think I usually only go to 3, oh what I have been missing!!

2. Go Often & Savings Secrets

Because the inventory is always changing, I go to the store closest to my house almost weekly. Find out when the sales are. I know the last weekend of the month is 1/2 off weekend-1/2 EVERYTHING! My area stores also offer various sales throughout the month and a senior citizens discount day.

3. Make a List

I have a list on my fridge of what I want to do in each room of my house. I have this for 2 reasons; 1-to remind me of what needs to be done and 2-if I happen to have a light bulb moment of something great I want to do in a room, I want to write it down before the bulb blows. This list also helps keep me focused when I go in a thrift store if I am slightly overwhelmed with all of the stuff. It is also a good idea to have measurements of spaces you are trying to fill on this list, just remember to take a tape measure with you to the store.

4. Don't Always Follow the List

Just like rules, lists are sometimes meant to be broken. If you see something you just love, love, love and it's $3 but you don't know what you are going to do with it, get it. If you really like it in the store you will find a place for it at home.

5. Don't Cast Judgment Too Soon

For instance, if you see a piece of furniture that is a horrific color don't walk away too fast. Look at the "bones" of the piece. Is it solid? Could a coat of paint make this beautiful? How much money will I have to spend on the transformation?

6. Be Patient

Ok, I realize this could be the hardest tip yet, but Rome wasn't built in a day and your house wont be either. I have been married 11 1/2 years and have never felt like my house was "finished". I know that's very encouraging (sense the sarcasm). Don't get stuff just to fill up space cause you wont be happy with it even when it's filled. Take your time and enjoy the hunt.

7. Take a Friend or a Camera Phone

It is always nice to have a second opinion or some reassurance about a potential purchase. And it's nice to have someone along to share the thrill of a great find!

Good luck on your hunt!!

Roadside Wreath-Take 1

2010-02-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

I was driving through town the other day and just so happened onto a street that it was "that time of the month", monthly garbage pick-up time that is. I noticed one house in particular that had quite a large pile at the curb. As I passed, I slowed down and low and behold they were throwing out some grapevine wreaths. I turned my car around and snatched em right up.

There were 3 wreaths in all!

I took the smallest wreath and put a bowl in the middle with some nuts, acorns and a candle in the middle and I now have myself a new centerpiece. Here's the rundown on what this cost: wreath-roadside-free, bowl-had it-free, nuts-had em-free, acorns-out of the yard-free, candle-had it-free, ribbon-had it-free. So that's a grand total of FREE!! That's one 4 letter word I love to hear!!

Chalkboard Door

2010-02-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

I have showed this chalkboard before in a post titled "The Big 5", which was about Reagan's 5th b-day. But since Kerri at A Very Blessed Nest is having a "Free Friday" McLinky Party, I thought it deserved its very own post. We are in the process of changing out flat wood doors to panel doors through out our house and being the frugal, don't want to get rid of anything kinda person that I am (thanks Dad) we have some of those flat doors in the garage. So in need of something kinda large on my kitchen wall, I thought what better than a chalkboard? So I pulled a door from the garage and painted it with some chalkboard paint. J put some baseboard trim around it and ta-da, a FREE chalkboard! Do you have something free and fabulous? Come join the party at AVery Blessed Nest!

Inspired By Shutters and Burlap

2010-02-01T12:15:00.000-08:00

I needed something on the wall above my desk area, which is in my living room. Since it is the living room I wanted it to look somewhat attractive and not to office-ish (try saying that 3 times fast). I love how the Nester uses shutters in various places in her house and I thought that would work perfect in this space. I found these shutters at the Habitat store for $10 and painted them red. Then I added the picture frames, which I got from Goodwill for $7 for all 4 of them. The iron shelves came from Pottery Barn Outlet several years ago. Then I ran across this burlap wreath on Where the Heart Is. So simple and inexpensive, right up my alley! And there you have it, shutters and burlap!

Home Sweet Home!

2010-02-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

J had a conference this past weekend in Nashville so I thought it would be fun to take the kids and do some thrifting while he was there. My friend Jennifer was also in the area visiting her parents so we had our Goodwill trips all planned out, but instead we got....SNOW and lots of it, about 8 inches! Friday morning it started snowing around 8:00 and we had no food in our hotel room. My "mother bird" instincts kicked in and I loaded up my niece and kids and we headed to the store. We got about 3 blocks down the road, which was already getting covered with snow, and there was a wreck. I slowed down to go around and a man ran right into the back side of my car!! He said to me, "if you would have sped up a little I could have gone between you". Between me and the wreck!?!?, and they say women are bad drivers!!! Thankfully everyone was o.k. just a big dent and broken tail light, anyway, back to the hotel. After J got out of his class we found a Wal-Mart and got some food. It took us about 30 min. to drive 5 miles, the roads were bad, people sliding everywhere. We did everything you can possibly do in a hotel with 3 kids. We were getting a little stir crazy if you know what I mean.

We went outside for awhile but it was very COLD!!

I40 looked really bad Saturday evening so we were not sure if we would even be able to come home on Sunday, but thankfully they scraped the roads Saturday night and Sundy afternoon we were homeward bound! It was a loooong few days but we made it. Home sweet home!

Chandeliers Out My Ears!

2010-01-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

{1 of 2 old fans minus the glass globes}

I have been wanting and waiting to replace the fans in my living room and kitchen since the day we moved in our house almost 2 1/2 years ago. The living room is long and ~~has~~ had 2 ceiling fans. The delimma I faced was do I put 1 large light in the middle or 2 lights back in the place of the fans? I really didn't want fans again and didn't want huge flush mounts either. So I was in Lowe's the other night for the 1,000th time and nothing I saw really "struck my fancy" if you know what I mean, so I walked out empty handed yet again. The next day I was in Goodwill and walked back to the house ware section and low and behold there were 2 matching chandeliers just sitting there waiting for me! I looked for a price and you wont believe this, $30 for both!!! What are the odds?!?!?! I couldn't believe it, just the night before I was ready to buy something in Lowe's and would have spent at least twice that much on 1 light. With chandeliers in hand I thanked the Lord for that blessing all the way to my car!! The next day I was in the Habitat Store and found another light for my kitchen, $5!!

{my new chandeliers}

The only problem with this light for the kitchen was that I had just bought one off of Craigslist about a month ago and J had painted (it was originally green) and hung it up already. I was a little reluctant when he brought the first light home because it was larger and more ornate than it looked in the Craigslist picture. I knew he would not want to re-hang another light in the kitchen and 2 new ones in the living room, but with a little convincing that this new $5 light would fit the space and our style much better, my ever so sweet husband hung yet another light. Love him :)

{Craigslist chandelier $20-originally replaced kitchen fan}

Keep this Craigslist chandelier in mind, I'll tell you more about it in a minute. So below is the new kitchen chandelier and the living room chandeliers. I debated on painting them or not but in the end decided they would look better with everything else in my house if they were black. Especially the kitchen light, it's finish wasn't in the best shape, but nothing a can of spray paint couldn't fix! Gotta love spray paint!

{new $5 Habitat Store kitchen chandelier}

Now that I look at this picture I see how badly my ceiling needs to be re-painted and yes I will be taking the plastic off of the shades ;)

{2 new $30 Goodwill chandeliers}

One last thing; the Craigslist chandelier I showed you earlier, Kerri and I did another swap so check back to see what I traded for and what she does with her new chandelier!

Blessed Weekend

2010-01-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday was vey nice outside and almost 60 deg., so we took the kids to the park. When we got there I think everyone in the county had the same idea. None the less we had fun!!

They loved to slide and swing!!

She was climbing the pole thingy; can you see the nervousness in her face??

Then today, Sunday, we had two awesome church services. J and both said on the way home how blessed and spoiled we are wth God's mercy. I never want to get so busy with everyday life we forget where God has brought us from and all he has kept us from. Ephesians 2:3-5 says "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)." I am thankful for "But God"!!

Bathroom On a Budget

2010-01-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

Sadly I don't have a before pic of this bathroom, but it was not pretty, trust me. We got a new sink & cabinet on clearance as a floor model at Home Depot for about $70. J did some work on Jacob and Kerri's yard and they traded us a pedistal sink (in another bathroom) and we used the faucet off of it. We laid new floor and painted the top half of the walls, then the biggest part of it was done.

On to the fun part, decorating! Even though this is the kids bathroom I wanted something not too "kiddish" since it is also the guest bathroom. I have had this green and cream shower curtain for several years and that is what I started with. I found this carnival print fabric at Hobby Lobby and loved it. It is gender neutral enough for Reagan and Mason and doesn't scream rubber ducky (I really dont have anything against ducks, just not the look I was going for). All I did was sew the carnival print fabric with the pom pom trim to the bottom of the shower curtain. By adding length to the shower curtain, I was able to raise it almost to the ceiling, which makes the bathroom look SO much bigger; try it you will be surprised. I also already had most of the accessories; picture frame, wire basket with tissue paper and books, shelf and the canisters. The only accessories I bought were the "R" and "M" towel hooks, which of course came from Hobby Lobby. My advise; spice up what you have, bargain and barter for what you don't!

Reformed Dresser

2010-01-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a dresser to put beside my front door for a few weeks and walked in Goodwill the other day and low and behold there it was (not sure why I was surprised, I always find great stuff there). I quickly went to the counter to pay so they would hold it for me. The price sticker said $30, but guess what, it was 1/2 off weekend. Yes, I got this for $15. As the Nester would say, "hate me". I painted it the creamy white that I painted my bookcase (earlier post) and painted the handles with oil rubbed bronze spray paint. Now that I have bragged about what a deal I got, I need some suggestions with the picture frames. I was thinking creamy white with black matts. What do you think???

Ok, so I finally did paint those picture frames and put some pictures in them.....I know you'll sleep better tonight knowing that! ;)

Bye Bye Black Bookcase

2010-01-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

We have a large built in bookcase in our living room. It has been black for the last couple of years, not cause I loved it black, cause I dreaded to paint it something else. So the other night I got motivated and started painting. Several coats of paint later and me saying, "oh my word, I can still see black, I hate this thing", it is now a creamy white. It looks soooo much better. That end of the living room is not as "heavy" looking anymore. Notice in the after pic the frames are painted and actually have photos in them!

Inexpensive Centerpiece

2010-01-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

We have a table in our kitchen that seats four. I wanted a centerpiece that was not too large or extravagant and that would be semi-childproof. I found this plate at TJMaxx for $2. Not sure what I would do with it at the time, but you can't pass up $2. I already had the candle sticks which came from Goodwill, think I paid $3 for both. Added a few neutral candles and some acorns and greenery from my yard (free, love that!) and I was done!

Now ya see that table runner under the centerpiece, made that too. I wanted to add a little pop of red to the blues and green so, I cut the red S's off of an old runner and hot glued them right on (gotta love hot glue).

Furniture Swap

2010-01-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

Kerri and I were both ready for some new stuff a few months ago so we got to talking about what we wanted and ended up having a mini-swap-meet. We traded rugs and I traded her a chair for a dresser. The dresser had 3 drawers that we took out and made shelves for all of our TV stuff. I painted it this blue color before I bought my new couches, so needless to say I will be repainting it.....I also want to put some fabric inside kinda like a valance to cover the top two shelves so I dont have to look at the TV stuff all of the time. I will let ya know when I get all of this accomplished.....meanwhile, take a look at Kerri's blog http://averyblessednest.blogspot.com/to see what she got from the mini-swap-meet.

THE BIG 5

2010-01-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

Today is Reagans 5th Birthday!!! It's hard to belive she is 5 already!!! Since Mason's birthday is Friday, we are going to have one big party for them both on Saturday. We wanted Reagan to feel special on her actual birthday so we let her decide what to do for the evening. First we went to Sweet Celebrations and had ice cream, then we went to Chic Fil A for dinner, you can do that on your birthday.....lol....

You can see my new chalkboard in the top picture and the picture below. We are changing out the flat doors in the house to panel doors so we have a few of these in the garage. I needed something large to put on that big brick wall in the kitchen so I painted one of the doors with chalkboard paint. J hung the door on the wall and then put the trim (baseboard) around it. Simple and cheap!

The Older I Get, The Faster It Goes

2009-12-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

TIME....the older I get, the faster it goes. Looking back over 2009 the past few days, I just cant believe another year has come and gone. 2009 was a good year for the Stafford family. Don't get me wrong, we had a few bumps in our road, but when it was all said and done, we had a blessed year. The year started with the birth of Mason, Jan. 8, a healthy, beautiful baby boy. Shortly after Mason was born, J started a new job that he loves and it has been such a blessing that I am able to stay home with our kids. In this economy you are blessed to have a job, much less one that you love.

In April, we had our boat parked outside of our garage and it caught on fire in the middle of the night and did some damage to our house. This could have been tragic but I am thankful the Lord had his hand upon my home and family that night.

In July, J and I happily celebrated 11 years of marriage.

In September we were able to take a vacation with some family and friends.

And we just finished up the year with an awesome holiday season. I am so thankful for the goodness of God upon my family this year and looking forward to a great year in 2010! God Bless & Happy New Year!!!

Ginormous windows cont.

2009-12-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

So here is the finished product. I think it turned out pretty well.....

Ginormous Windows

2009-12-30T06:01:00.000-08:00

Last night we tackled the ginormous wall of windows in our living room. I wanted to put up a cornice board and while waiting on J to build it I found some at none other than Goodwill. They were about 2 ft. short for our over 13 ft window so J had to piece them together.

A Blessed Christmas

2009-12-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

This was Mason's 1st Christmas. More presents, more mess, more fun! We had a great Christmas and hope you did too!