SpLAsH!!!

We intend to take advantage of every minute of summertime. I signed Jackson up for kindergarten (through A Beka) so I want him to enjoy his last few months of freedom to the fullest. It kinda made me sad to think about it - life as he knows it is about to cease. And it will be that way for the next 13+ years. Poor child.

So, what better way to spend summer than in the pool?

The goggles just slay me.

Poor little guys. They're pitifully scrawny. Their own father said they wouldn't be winning any Mr Universe titles any time soon. And I'd really have to agree with him. Must remember to buy those wheaties...

I love this picture of the little peanut making a splash. Isn't water neat?

Jackson had to watch the little guy go down a few times, and make sure it wasn't deadly or anything before he took the plunge himself. The big weenie.

Awww... what a little sweetie.

I took some cute videos of them screaming down the slide and splashing into the pool, but...

I can hardly bear to admit it....

I took every one of them with the camera turned sideways. And what's worse is...

I do it all the time. (hanging my head in shame) You'd think I'd remember the next time. Because it really is quite uncomfortable to watch videos standing on your left ear.

sigh...

My Happy Place... and a FOF

Our master bedroom is mostly finished, so I decided to go ahead and share it. I never did have much patience... If you want to see the room before, click HERE. I love the lighter colors, it's just so soothing.
90% of the decor in this room has been spray painted. I just gathered up things from around the house, painted it all white, and voila. New room. The curtains are all sheets from dollar general. I turned them around backwards to make the colors softer. I'm thrilled with how well they matched everything. I'm holding out for an old headboard, so far craigslist is letting me down.

I'm almost too late to get in on the Finished Object Friday, but here's my project. I bought this antique buffet from craigslist (where else?) for a mere 30 bucks. It's huge and SUPER heavy, and I love all the details on it. I knew it would be a great piece to paint...

Here's the finished project. I picked up the mirror at a Thrift shop for 8.00.

A few of the knobs were broken, so I got some clear glass ones for the top drawer, and I think I like them better. The little curtains in the dresser were the pillow cases that came with the sheets. I haven't quite decided if I like it with curtains, I may take them out and have some open shelves for pretty boxes or something. What do you think? Are the curtains too much?

I'm enjoying the shabby cottage look. I had really gotten tired of our dark formal colors. I think it's important for your bedroom to be a restful place, and a place that makes you happy.

I tried to link up to Chari's Finished Object Friday party, but I think Mr. Linky's on the blinky...

C'mon out to the Porch...

Yep. Progress is still being made at the old Fogleman house.

Remember this picture? This is the house when we first bought it. The black doors and shutters really depressed me, but there were other things to be done first, so we put off that little project for a while. Well, I tried to be patient. I really did. But finally the black just had to go. I bought the paint and we gotter done. So what if the urge struck me right in the dead of winter. We were out there painting shutters, bundled up like crazy Eskimos with snow flurries flying about our heads. Oh, yes. Just ask Dave. He remembers it most keenly. Not fondly, but keenly.

Ahhh. Much better. But wait.

WHO HID THE HOUSE?
I mean, I like shrubs and all, but when they threaten to swallow up your house...well, that's a different story. What good is a pretty porch if it's buried under bushes? So after much hint dropping, asking nicely, and maybe just a teensy weensy bit of whining, my sweet hubs wiped out the bushes for me. Actually I think it was the part where I threatened to hire some guy to come over and take them out that got him going.

WooHoo! The porch has finally come out of hiding. Now I have a whole new flower bed just waiting for plants. Short plants.

I also white washed my porch furniture, and basically did a little "fluffing".

The chairs started out green, and the little table (that I picked up at a local Thrift shop) was black. Generally, I like things to match. So, out came the trusty carton of spray paint.

I found some used pillow shams (From the Waverly Garden Room collection) that I loved, so I stuck them on the chair cushions for a quick redo. I really like the new colors. It's so much brighter. I plan to add a few more sheer panels. I put up one that I already had to see if I liked it. It really softens the look of the whole porch. Besides that, it's a cheap way to add some punch - you can get the panels for 4.97 at Wal-Mart.

I needed something for my table, so I "shopped the house", and found this metal can. It had a rooster on it before, so I painted it (of course) and glued on some flowers that I cut out from scrapbook paper. Then I shabbied it up by sanding of some of the paint and paper.

The front porch is now so much more inviting!

Maybe next week, I'll take you out back to the deck and show you around.

Cowboys and Indians

Our living room was a battle grounds for some cowboys and Indians on Sunday afternoon. Jackson is the little Indian, the Cowboy is Rev. Hedstrom, the conference President.

The boys just love it when the Hedstroms come through for a visit.
We all got a kick out of the cowboy game - things get pretty interesting when a 5 year old is making up the rules! It takes a special kind of person to go out of their way to make a little boy's day. Someday Jackson will look back and treasure times like these...

Photos for your Friday...

How about a few photos to get your Friday going ?

My baby's looking so grown up these days. He's 3 years old but, I declare that picture makes him look at least 5. A little update : at his last Dr. visit, he weighed in at a whopping 28 pounds, fully clothed including shoes. His brother weighed more than that before he turned 2. Maybe I should get him some Wheaties...

The kids aren't the only ones looking older. Check out the crows feet on Mommy's eyes. It's the boy's fault. They're aging me. I'm sure my age has nothing to do with it.

And I just had to share these pictures of Jackson. He really cracked me up.

It looked so easy...

Hmmm. Maybe it will work better if I stick my pinkie up...

And blow a little harder...

I Love it. He finally got so aggravated he threw it down and declared it broken.


I've got several projects in the works right now (don't look so surprised), and I'm trying to talk the hubs into pulling out some humongous shrubs this weekend. Our house currently looks like it has been eaten up by monster shrubbery, and I want to rescue it. So maybe I'll share some before and afters with you all next week. Till then, Happy Weekend!

FOF Beachy Vignette and Guest Room REDO!

It seems like it's been awhile since I posted a "Finished Object Friday"! So, I have several little things to share.

First, I wanted to display some of the sea shells we found on the beach, as well as my little sandpiper friend that Holly gave me as a memento of our trip. (Thanks, Holly - I just love him!) Anyhoo... I found these apothecary jars at Wal-Mart and I knew they were just the thing I needed. Alls you do is add some sand and the shells, and let it sit there and look pretty. I plan to add a little more sand to the bigger jar, it looks kinda empty. I'm pretty happy with how it looks on my dresser, and every time I see it I'm reminded of the crashing of the waves and the smell of the sea air. It's good for my blood pressure. Wait a minute, I've never had high blood pressure. But if I DID, I'm sure it would be good for it.

Remember I told you I was redoing our bedroom? Well, here's one of the projects I came up with for my "new" room. I found these el cheapo platters at Dollar Tree - shoot, it doesn't get much cheaper than that.



As always, I spray painted them...





Then added some rub on words and ribbon.
Cheap and Easy. That's what I'm talkin about. There's another one of my Goodwill vintage hankies on that freshly spray painted shelf...

I actually repainted our guest room several months ago, but I never did show it to you. I don't know if I just forgot about it, or if I thought you probably wouldn't give a hoot about the color of my walls anyway. But, whether you really care or not, here's my guest room and it's freshly painted silvery blue walls.

I wasn't sure if I'd like the color, but once it dried, I loved it. It's a very calming, easy-on-the-eyes kind of color. It actually looks lighter in this picture - must be the flash.

That wraps up my Finished Objects for this Friday! Stop by the Chari Tree to see other projects or to post one of your own!

Girls Getaway...

I'm back! Didja miss me? I'm just now gettin around to blogging. We girls had a great time at the Gulf. No schedule. No kids. No responsibilities. Not enough time...

I have one great Mother-in-law, and two awesome Sister-in-laws. Aren't they pretty? They make me feel like Dopey the Dwarf. One of these days I'm gonna grow up.It was so relaxing just to listen to the waves and watch them roll in.

I was the paparazzi, following them all around with the camera.

How-DEE! Miss Minnie Pearl's all ready for the sun...

Awww...We're color coordinated and everything. Holly was our personal wardrober - because she has some pretty cool ideas.

Eatin at the Crab Trap - it was worth the trip down there just for that.

We made lots of great memories, ate lots of great food, enjoyed the sunshine, and just enjoyed all being together for some girl time. Now it's back to the real world. I'm currently buried under piles of laundry. But I'm loving being with my little cowpokes again. I just couldn't stay away from them very long. And I think they're pretty happy too.

I. LOVE. THRIFTING.

Hello. My name is Brittany. And I'm a thrift-a-holic.

I noticed some others bloggers were doing a thrift party, showing their treasures, but as usual, I missed it. But I'm gonna share some of my finds with you anyway. Because I get a thrill out of a great bargain, and why should I keep it all to myself? Actually, truth is, I'm kinda low on bloggy material right now. Forgive me.

You know how I love transferware and toile. Right? So you know I couldn't pass up these brown transferware pieces at Goodwill at only 99 cents each. I got 2 other saucers that aren't in the picture.

I have several pieces of blue, and LOTS of red transferware, but I don't have any brown. Till now, of course.

I also found this antique coverlet at Goodwill. I love the detail. I won't even tell you what I paid for it - it would just make you sick.

I got this little beauty for a buck. Only when I got it, it was a yucky brassy bling blingy color. Spray paint fixed her right up. Once again, it was the detail that caught my eye.


I found the set of doves for 99 cents each. Yep. Spray painted them, too.

I also found several pieces of vintage linens and hankies. I'll share more of those later.

I have a hard time passing up pitchers, too. I've always loved a pretty shaped pitcher, and this one was a steal.

I'm in the process of redecorating our bedroom (most of these pics are part of the redo), but I'm not totally done yet. I'll be sharing it a little later. It's very cheery and summery, and I can't wait to show it to you!

I hope you're all having a happy yard sale season! (If I go yard saling, I'd have to get me a boat, because it's STILL raining around here. And quite frankly, I'm sick. of. it.)