Christmas Cuties

We had fun with a few photo shoots this year.

 I think this one's a keeper!

Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely rotten, so we had to get creative with indoor shots. 

 These guys were good sports, but they weren't quite as enthusiastic as their little cousin, Miss Lexy! She LOVED having her picture taken. I could get used to that! 

 She was full of smiles for Aunt Brittany, and Aunt Brittany just ate it up!

 We tried to sneak Weston into a few shots, but he was quite the wild man, and wasn't having it, so this is all we got... But these 2 are the best of buddies! 

And yep, I stooped to bribery. I told the guys they could build a gingerbread train if they were good for pictures. Boy, did it work like a charm. They posed and smiled and cooperated like sweet little guys. So they got to build their train,  Mommy got her pictures, and everybody was happy, happy, happy :) 

Mom and Dad had to turn their heads as they ate most of the candy and licked the frosting straight out of the bag! ;)

Christmas Crafting!

I got in the Christmas spirit a lot earlier this year. I've had Christmas music playing for weeks, baked cookies, and I just want to MAKE things! But I'm trying to hold off on getting the tree put up until the day after Thanksgiving. We'll see if I can wait that long. 

I made Weston some appliqued tee shirts. Because it is close to impossible to find cute things for boys without spending an arm and a leg...

These were my first try at putting an applique on a shirt, but it was super easy, and so fun! I got the plain tee shirts at Walmart (3.88) and used fabrics I had in my stash. 

 I also made him a nonseasonal shirt with his initial on it.

 (Doesn't he make the most darling little model??)

 Here's an updated pic of my 3 little men for y'all! It's funny how it doesn't really hit me that they're growing up till I see them in photos - they look so BIG! Weston's just 2 but he truly believes he's just as big as his brothers. 

I have some others Christmas projects in the works - and I'm hoping to get the Etsy shop stocked up in time for Christmas shoppers also. Busy times, but fun times! 

It's Fall, Y'all.

Now that October is nearly history I finally drug out some fall decor. You could say I was having a bit of trouble getting inspired this year... Due partly to the condition of my fall stash. I found a box of white styrofoam balls, and pondered them for a while, wondering what exactly they were, until it dawned on me that they *used* to be my faux pumpkins. It seems squirrels find faux pumpkin skins to be a tasty treat and they stripped them clean. Pesky little rodents... I lucked out and found one bag that had been overlooked, so we at least have a little sprinkling of fall decor on display this year...

 Not much fall stuff in the kitchen, but I wanted to sneak a pic in because I just love my "old" cup rack :) Found it for a steal!

 This is the kitchen fall decor. One scrawny pumpkin. Yep, that's it, folks. 

 My little vintage chair looks nice and festive!

 I jumped on the burlap wreath bandwagon and made one for myself. It was a super easy and fairly quick project - pretty cheap, too! 

 I had a birthday this month, yep - I'm gettin' old. I had seen a frame I wanted in a local shop ($165.00!!!) and hubby seemed to think he could build one. So he did. Because he's just awesome like that. This baby is HUGE. The photo inside is 20x20. I think it's even prettier than the one in that fancy shop. What an awesome Birthday present!

 Mine and Jackson's Birthdays are just 2 days apart - he turned 10. I still can't wrap my mind around that one. In 3 years we'll have a teenager in the house! Oh dear... 

Woops... sorry for the pic-happy post. I guess I really should post more often, huh?!? 

Happy fall, y'all.

The Coffee Table Gets a Makeover

So my original plan was to find a large square upholstered ottoman to replace our dark and very scratched up coffee table. But....the more I looked at them, the less I wanted to spend the money. Yeah, I'm kind of a tightwad like that. I figured the least I could do was to paint the old one until I decide what to do about getting something new. 

 Here's what she looked like before I attacked her with spray paint...

Funny how changing just a few little things changes the whole look of a place! The whole room feels brighter.  I  like it so much, I may just keep it. 

 

(Honestly, I never saw the toys under the sofa till I posted these pics. Now it's BUGGING me to pieces! Just some extra random decor, compliments of Weston...)

 We recently found a chunkier white cabinet to replace the dark, small table that we had in there. It fits the space much better, and matches my "new" coffee table perfectly. I was also craving some more punchy color, so I threw together some coral pillow covers, and that was just the punch I was looking for!

Now if I could just find a smallish table for the other lamp - so far I haven't had any luck. It would have to be pretty small to fit in that space, but I'd like for it to kinda match the other table. Oh, and it has to be cheap, too. ;)  The search goes on...

I found the summer chalkboard printable on pinterest - I just love it! Ya can't beat free decor! 

In other news, this little guy turned 2 years old this past week.

Where has the time gone???  It doesn't seem like my BABY should be 2 already.

There's a Thomas the Train party in the plans for this weekend. Wish me luck as I try to make a Thomas cake... I may wish I had just ordered one!

Just a little family update...

I just realized it's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I'll give y'all a quick update on our summer so far. And boy, it's been a busy one!

The little guys have enjoyed lots of pool time. The 2 bigger boys are doing great, swimming like little fish!

 We had a HUGE yardsale, which was lots of work and prep time, but a big success! It felt so good to get rid of a bunch of stuff, free up some room, and make some extra cash. My man even got in on it and cleared out tons of his techy stash - Yay! I helped the little guys set up a lemonade stand the day of the sale - they made lots of money too. As it turns out, LOTS of folks around here love lemonade and homemade brownies :) 

I had a lovely Mother's Day with all my favorite guys. My sweetie cooked the entire dinner and cleaned it all up, too! And I might add, it was all absolutely delicious - grilled steak, baked sweet potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and cake for dessert. I'm thinkin' I got myself a keeper :)

My Mother's Day roses were so beautiful, I just had to share a piccy of those, too.

And here's my sweetheart with all his little guys on Father's Day - he's a great Daddy!

It's been quite a summer for Carson. He lost his 2 front teeth...

And then got glasses, too!

And this little guy has kept us hopping. He's chock full of life and personality and is, as they say, 100% boy. Here, he was *supposed* to be sleeping, but every time I would tippy toe past his door he would make a silly face at me. You just can't help but love him  to pieces! 

We've been doing lots of little projects here and there, so I'll be sharing some more with y'all later. But right now, I need to drag some soaking wet little guys out of the pool and feed them some supper.

 We're LOVING summertime!!

Family Photo Shoot

I just realized I never shared our newest family pics here on the pitifully neglected  blog. So, better a bit late than not at all, right?

My guys (that would be all 4 of them...) are SO happy that family photos are done for another year. We tried at least 3 different times, all with no success, so we finally said phooey on it and took the best ones and edited Weston into the pics later. He was so not cooperating. And our patience was so running out...

And I would like to know when these little guys got so BIG! Jackson's almost a tall as his mother. Wow, I'm starting to feel old...

Me and this handsome guy celebrated 14 years together this past fall - and I wouldn't trade him for anything. 

I loved the sunshiney leaves bokeh! Too bad he was such a sober faced little thing...

The middle blue eyed boy is growing up, too - he just had his 7th Birthday party. He's the family entertainer - keeps us in stitches all. the. time. Just last night he said to Jackson, "If you don't watch it, you'll get sent off to college at a very young age." Gotta love him! 

I gave up trying to get a good shot of the 3 boys together. It's hopeless I tell ya.  Here's a few samples... (pay no mind to the photo quality...I didn't even take the time to edit these!)

And then he makes his escape! 

Sigh...maybe next year...