Anxious.

Thursday evening, when Vince gets off work, we will be driving down to Atlanta to spend the night, and then Friday morning we will continue on to Hattiesburg, MS to Papa's house.

I'm feeling pretty anxious about this trip, and if I'm being honest, I'm really not looking forward to going.  Vince flies home from Gulfport, MS this Sunday, and Bella and I are staying with Papa through Friday.  Andrew and Sarah get to town next Thursday, and we are going to stay a day so we can spend some time with them.

I'm concerned with keeping Bella occupied, because I know she is going to get bored, and taking care of Papa on top of that is going to be a bit challenging.  During the day, I can take Bella to do some stuff for a couple of hours or so because Papa is ok at home by himself as long as he has a phone number to call if he needs to so that helps.

I'm being a little selfish, I know this, but it is really hard to see Papa this way.  I know he isn't suffering, but he is still dying and I am having a hard time with it.  It just makes it that much harder when it's right in front of your face.

He is so excited to see Bella, and I am very happy to be able to take her down to spend some time with him.  This trip will be remembered for the rest of our lives, and I can't wait to take a million pictures of Bella and her Great Grandfather.  All of that though, still doesn't make anything any easier.

I love Papa so much, this is just so hard.

Best Friends.

Yesterday, Tuesday.  Bella and I woke up, got dressed, ate some breakfast, and then headed to Hobby Lobby to pick out some fleece to make 3 blankets for a sleepover later in the evening.  She chose a cute pink fleece covered in multi colored polka dots in various sizes, very sweet.  After we checked out, we got in the car, and headed out to Monroe to pick up Allie.  We hung at the Schmitt compound for a brief moment before heading back to our house to make some blankets and have some lunch.  Post lunch, we all got our swimsuits on and left to go get Marty and meet baby Ozzie.  He is sooooo tiny!  You forget just how tiny they are when they are only weeks old.

Liz and I enjoyed a beer and a little conversation before suiting up Marty, and then myself and the 3 amigas  left to head to Pine Lake CC for an afternoon of swimming.  Poor Marty, her Dad is a bit controlling and refuses to let her spend the night anywhere so she couldn't stay and was pretty bummed.  What can you do though?  The girls had a blast at the pool, and then we all went back to our house to play for a bit until Liz came to get Marty.

I ordered a cheese pizza for dinner, and Vince had an impromptu dance session with the girls.  Allie needed it because she was beginning to get a little teary eyed.  When she started to cry a little bit, I asked her if it was because Vince's singing was so bad, and that made her laugh immediately.  She then seemed to forget why she was upset and the rest of the night went smoothly :)  While the girls watched a Strawberry Shortcake movie in a fort in the living room, I cleaned up Bella's room so that Allie would have somewhere to sleep.  Her room always looks like a bomb went off when friends come to play because they want to get every single toy out, and I don't mind because I know they were having a grand ole time.  They had built an entire city using all the pony houses and accessories.  Each residence had furniture, food, animals, you name it, and it was all set up so neatly.  Quite amazing really.

At 10, I got B & A settled in her room, and I set up the little DVD player so they could watch Tangled while they fell asleep.  They made it all of 10 minutes :)  With the girls peacefully snoozing, Vince and I settled on the couch to watch Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.  Pretty sure I fell asleep in 5 minutes.

All in all, a very lovely Tuesday.

Fresh Paint!

Yesterday, I set out to repaint the living room... and I succeeded!  It is now Woodlawn Colonial Gray and I love it.  A couple of disclaimers... 1. The rug pictured will be moving to the office where the red sofa now resides and where it will match, and a fluffy darker gray rug will be it's replacement.  2.  Molding still has to be hung and of course artwork, read "in progress." 3.  Bella's table and chair set will be repainted a mustard yellow, or the accent color pictured on the giant floor pillows sitting on the couch.  4.  The wall behind the tv is going to be a collage of cut up old doors done in a repeating pattern I have laid out.  5.  A small wall facing the hallway is going to get some bad ass wall paper and a nice mirror hung on it.  6.  I'm creating custom drapes for the windows which I already have the material for.

I think that about covers it!  I am loving the transformation so far and I can't wait to see the final product.  Stay tuned...

Round 2

If I'm being honest, I was beginning to regret agreeing to taking Bella to see Hairspray, but for my own selfish reasons so I left the decision up to her.  She was waffling herself some, but in the end we went and it.was.amazing.  Bella sat in my lap and was at the edge of it the entire play.  This is not a short play either, it's about 2.5 hours long and she didn't get fidgety once.  In fact, she repeated numerous times that she can not wait to be in a play, and that she wished her acting classes started tomorrow :)  I waited until the end to reveal that Edna, the main character's mother, was in fact being played by a man.  She found this hilarious, and on the way home we actually had a pretty deep conversation.  She decided for herself that as an actor, you can play any part that you want, even girls can play boys and vice versa because acting is really just a big game of pretend.  Wow.  How does she know so much already?

We got home around 6, and while Bella ate dinner, Vince and I did some painting.  He painted the outside where our gutters had been removed so that we can re-install them.  I spray painted our mailbox black again after it had been tagged with orange spray paint by some bored teenagers, and then I repainted our fireplace inside.  I also painted a larger area next to the fireplace with the sample paint I had gotten that we are going to use in the living room in order to see how the color was going to look in the space.  Well, I love it and I think I'm going to go get the paint today and paint the whole room because I love it so much.  Good bye Pacific Coast Blue, and hello Woodlawn Colonial Gray!

For now though, it's time to feed a hungry B-bo and then move some furniture around to prep for painting.  Happy Monday all <3

Hairspray and Stained Glass Lighting.

Keri came to town on Friday to spend the night on her way down to Atlanta, and Jen Hamilton got us some kick ass seats for Hairspray at her theater for the evening as well.  It was a really great show, and we went out for a few drinks and girl talk afterwards.  Keri and I didn't make it home until 2 a.m. and that is a first for me in a very long time.

Saturday morning, Keri left around 9:30 to make her way down to ATL for a few days, and after Vince got up, we made a Lowe's and Target run for various necessities.  One of those necessities being a new stained glass overhead light for my studio that is beautiful.  Vince installed it that night and this morning when Bella saw it she said, "That is a very pretty light Mama."  Also, yesterday, Mark and Nicole came to hang out for a bit, and Nicole picked up her messenger bag.  She just got a new teaching position at Providence High School so I'm hoping to get some super sweet orders from a bunch of teachers/students.  We all went to dinner at Hawthorne's Pizza, and when we got home, I carried a sleeping B-bo straight to bed.

Now it's Sunday morning.  I'm on my second cup of coffee, and we are getting ready to make another trip to Lowe's for some more supplies.  A lot of home improvement has been going on around our house.  Then, this afternoon, I'm taking Bella to see the matinee performance of Hairspray.  I think she will really like all the costumes/singing/dancing, and she is super excited about going.

All right, time to run a few errands...

Custom Cushions Anyone?

I made a custom cushion and small throw pillow from scratch today.  I had some leftover fabric from the 8 table runner order, I made these, and I'm super pleased with how they turned out.  Now the kiddo is asleep and it's time to enjoy a little quiet time.

xoxox

Swimmer B

Bella finished up her second round of swim lessons today, and she came really close to passing Level II.  We need to work on her front/back crawl for 25 feet, but other than that she did awesome!  I am very proud of her, and this year I really saw her gain a lot of confidence in the water.  It really is so wonderful to watch her grow <3

Time and Money.

During the summer, Bella and I have been doing a little kindergarden work every other day or so just to keep her fresh.  I think it's one of her favorite parts of the day, and it is not a battle.  Some days she busts out her school book on her own.  Anyway, we have been working on time and money this week, and teaching a 5 year old about time is tough.  You try explaining why 3 = 15, 6 = 30, 9 =45, and so on.  It's not easy, and I can only imagine how hard this would be with a class of 24 kiddos.  She's having a much easier time with money, go figure.  Money she's interested in, time, especially mine, she's not.  Sounds about right.

Side note:  I picked my car up last night, and it runs like a dream!  I think it deserves a trip to AutoBell.

and.... Last day of swim lessons today.  Pictures to follow in an afternoon post.

Day 3.

Of my car being in the shop... Monday, I didn't mind so much because the pool was closed, and I got 7 loads of laundry done, both bathrooms cleaned, and completed another Vintage Fresh order.  On Tuesday, Frank came to pick up Bella and me so we could borrow Diane's car for the morning.  We dropped him back off at his house and then headed to swim lessons.

A few observations at swim lessons... Bella does not sit still in between turns practicing with the lead teacher.  She was constantly going under water, swimming to the assistant, talking, and being all around pretty distracting.  I try not to intervene because I know the teachers can handle it, but it's hard when in my head I'm screaming.  I was able to catch her attention a couple of times to signal for her to sit on the steps and use her listening ears.  She did, and then gave me a thumbs up that she understood.  She did much better, but even sitting on the steps she continued to bounce/blow bubbles/ask questions.  I'm seeing a little more Vince in her, but she also loves to swim and loves being in the water so I get that sitting still in a fun pool is hard for a 5 year old.

After swim lessons, we went by the post office to mail Jen a package, stopped at McDonald's for a happy meal (it's summertime, I'm not an animal), and then went to return the car to Diane.  After the cable guy was done at her house, she took Bella and me home.  Bella spent most of the afternoon creating various worlds of imagination that became pretty complex and included pets, legos, a rainforest, a vet's office, a dance studio, a school and some Strawberry Shortcake figurines.  Before I forget, on Sunday, Bella and I did some research into kiddo acting classes and found some perfect for her.  So starting this September, B-bo will be taking acting classes through Children's Theatre of Charlotte at Imaginon and she is beyond excited.  So much so that she has really amped up the singing and dancing, which I didn't know was possible, in order to practice for her class.  This also includes facial expressions in the bathroom mirror and different voices.  she.is.awesome.

Now it's Wednesday, and I still do not have my car back.  It needed a major tune up which included a long list of repairs and maintenance.  It should run like a brand new car when they are done, and it's worth the money because I need Lou Corolla to last until at least 12/13/14, and by doing all of this, he should :)  I am also going on a big road trip beginning next Thursday down to Hattiesburg, MS and back so I need Lou to be in tip top shape.

I should have my car back today at some point, and until then I still have plenty to do at home.  Hopefully though, I will be able to get it this afternoon in time to take Bella to the pool for a bit before Noodle Night tonight.  She is going to need to get some energy out some how, and it is just too hot to do anything outside but swim.

Time to work on and finish up some table runners!

Bedding For A Tiny Bed.

I finished up this little project today.  My client found this doll bed on the cheap for her daughter, bought some cute fabric, and asked if I could make some fun bedding for it.  Sure, why not?!  Bella has been whining since I finished how much she wishes she had a doll bed like that for her dolls... poor kiddo has nothing to play with.  Anyway, it turned out cute, and now I am making 8 table runners each 7 feet long, for a wedding.  The bride chose fabric from Ikea that is gray with a giant outline of a flower in cream that repeats down the center.  I'm going to cut the fabric right down the middle, and use canary yellow thread to hem them which is the accent color and it should give the runners an understated punch.

Time to feed the kiddo before she dies of starvation.   The way she is acting right now, you would think that I never feed her...

Where's my glass of wine?

xoxox

Wow.

My brother just sent me a picture of me being, well awesome.  Really, are there any other words to describe this moment?  I drank a lot of wine, if you can't tell.  I especially love how my cousin Jordan is watching the floor in case that is where I end up.  I do know that there were no falls at this event.  Congrats to Andrew and Sarah!

Nice End.

Vince and I completed 3 hours of yard work which included mowing the front and back yard, significant tree removal, and garage/backyard clean up.  It was a 2 shower kind of day.  Now we are going to enjoy some homemade mini pizzas made on English muffin halves while watching something interesting on Netflix.  I will leave you with a dinner making shot and a couple from our aquarium of the ghost shrimp and the cool orange plant.

Happy Sunday night all <3

Just for fun.

It seems Prince Eric had a long night...  Bella was playing Barbie school earlier today and this is what I walked out to see.  All of her Barbies lined up neatly along the sofa, paying attention like good little students.  I stand corrected... The Barbies are all getting ready to go to the zoo as soon as they all get their shoes on.  my.bad.  Next time I will make sure I get my story correct....

Having Fun.

Friday didn't start out so great, but it definitely was just fine by the end of the day.  That morning, I tried to go tee shopping with Bella which proved to be one big headache.  At one point, she said to me, "I wish Daddy was at home so I could have stayed with him ."  She wasn't the only one feeling that way.  I didn't have as much luck as I had hoped, so we went back home and did some cleaning up until Vince got home around 12:30.  That is one perk right now, summer hours for Vince.  He gets off at noon on Fridays.  With Vince home, I tried to go tee shopping again, still with no luck.  I was feeling too rushed I think, and I will try again next week.  Trust me, I don't score every time no matter how much it seems like I do.  I do go a lot though which is key to finding the good stuff.  Anyway, when I got home, Vince left to take Bella to his parent's house to spend the night.  That's right, free on a Friday night, what ever would we do?  We met up with our friend Shawn for dinner at Dish which was delish as always.  After dinner, Shawn and I browsed at Boris & Natasha while Vince got us a table at Thomas St. for a few drinks.  Vince and I made it to 10 p.m. before we called it a night.  Home by 10:30 and sleeping on the couch by 11.  I know, edge of the seat excitement.

Saturday.  We woke up around 7, did some stretching and went for a 1.5 mile run, and it felt great.  We are trying really hard to make this a habit, and it's always easier to accomplish something if you have a partner. Frank brought Bella home around 9:30, and after I got her a snack and found Good Luck Charlie on Netflix, Vince and I went outside to mow and clean up more of the pear trees.  We worked on the yard for about an hour and worked up a monster sweat requiring immediate showers.  I fed Bella lunch while Vince changed the battery in his car, (We discovered it was dead Friday night) and then he and Bella went to Discovery Place.  I had grand plans for the couple of hours they would be gone, but I took a nap instead.  They got home around 4, and Vince took a nap and Bella colored while I sewed.  I completed a tee skirt for JSP and a messenger bag for another client.  I gave Bella a bath, and then fed and put her to bed before waking Vince up from his nap.  Guess he was tired.  All in all it was a very fun and productive day.

Now it's Sunday morning and we are tossing out plans for today.  Here is what we have so far... go for a run, yummy breakfast by Vince, Costco/Pet Smart visit, more chainsawing...  Sounds like plenty if you ask me.

Happy Sunday Everyone

xoxox

The last few days...

Here is a quick list...

• laundry, laundry, and more laundry
• swim lessons and a huge swing off of the rope swing <3
• The Children's production of Alice in Wonderland at CPCC.  Jen Hamilton got us tickets and watched the show with us.  We took Allie along, and it was a great show.  Bella told me at least 5x that she wanted to be in a play, and now we are talking about acting classes.  oh.buddy.
• I have 4 orders for Vintage Fresh right now, and yes Jenny, your t-skirt is at the top of the list <3
• Vince read the Hunger Games series and loved it.  It's been fun discussing it for the last few days.

That about covers it.  Now it's time for another cup of coffee, and some garment prep before we head to swim lessons.

Oh and a special shout out to my friend Amanda today.  She has one of the coolest birthdays I know because she was born on 7.7.77   So happy birthday to you and your sweet boy Rigby too.  She and her youngest share a birthday, too sweet.

All right, time to get this Thursday rockin'!

4th of July Fun

Our holiday began on Saturday.  After a morning of breakfast by Vinny, running errands and packing, we were ready to head to Atlanta.  On the way down, we stopped in South Carolina for fireworks, and yes I made Vince call his sister to make sure it was ok before we bought them.  Her response, "We kind of expected you to and YES."  We made it to Katie's house at 6:15, had a delicious dinner of ribs, coleslaw and baked beans, and then Bella put on her 4th of July fairy costume to head to Atlanta Lily's party.  Bill, Katie and I took Bella and Trip while the Grandparents and Vince stayed home.  They had a huge inflatable bouncy water slide that convinced Bella to change into her swimsuit immediately.  She wore her fairy costume all of 5 minutes, but it got noticed in that quick 5 minutes because I received several comments about it :)  (I will post pictures of it later this afternoon)  Bella spent the next hour going down the slide with her new friends, Kelly and Margo.  I don't think they let go of each others hands once <3  We stayed for a few fireworks and then called it a night.  When we got home, the kiddos took a bath in Katie's super cool tub, and watched a little Animal Planet while they cleaned up.  adorbs.  Ben and Nathan, my older nephews, were both away at camp, and Bella and Trip were digging being the only kids in the house.

Sunday.  After a yummy breakfast of homemade blueberry pancakes, Frank and Bill left to go play golf, Vince, Katie and I took the kiddos to the pool, and Jamma stayed home.  Bella completed a major accomplishment at the pool... She went off the diving board for the very first time, and with a little push from Vince swam to the side like a big girl.  I could almost smell the pride oozing from her pores :)  She jumped off it another 15 times or so, and loved every minute of it!  We headed back home around 2 to have a late lunch, and then Katie and I went to the Expo to get our race numbers and to do a little shopping.  After picking up our numbers, we found some running skirts, an LED ring, and a headband to complete our patriotic outfits for the race the next day.  When we got back, Jamma was helping Trip and Bella make homemade banana pudding, and it was really sweet how well they were working together.  I was also impressed with how quickly Trip licked his spatula when they were done.  We had another yummy dinner that night, followed by Uncle Vince's spectacular fireworks show!  It.was.awesome.  Some people walking to the country club show saw ours on the way and thought the show had already started.  It was so good, that Katie made it an official part of 4th of July from now on.  Unless there is a drought of course.  Sounds good to me :)  I went to bed kind of early since I had to run a 10k the next day...


Monday, July 4th, 2011.  Peachtree Road Race Day.  42nd Annual.  60,000 runners.  My first time...

I loved it!  I didn't run the whole thing, but I ran about half of it, and I completed it in 1 hour 25 minutes. Not bad for my first time and no training.  The raceway was lined with lots of spectators cheering us on, and bands playing music.  I really had a lot of fun.  One little sad note though, I ran past Huey's, the place where Vince and I had beignets and coffee on our first date, and it's closed now :(   Anyway, after crossing the finish line, collecting my t-shirt and grabbing some water, I began my trek to the H balloon to find Katie after the race... She was in corral C to start and I was in R.  In other words, her start time was about an hour ahead of mine and she finished about an hour and a half before I did.  By the time I finished though, I had caught up with folks from corral J so I was feeling pretty good about myself.  We made our way slowly to the MARTA station in order to make our way home.  We walked another good 3 miles in our trek home, and when we finally did make it, my shower was amazing.  Vince helped me pack up, and he loaded the car.  Oh yeah, when Vince walked me to my starting point for the race, I noticed his car door was open and his hood was popped.  Long story short, his car got broken into.  Thankfully there was nothing of value in it, so the thieves got nothing, and left before destroying or messing anything up.  Whew!  For once we caught a break, but it still felt kind of gross knowing somebody went through our stuff... We made it home around 5, and I was pretty useless the rest of the evening.

It was a really great 4th!  I had a lot of fun, we made some great memories and started some new traditions.  Speaking of tradition, I will be attempting my first half marathon with Katie this Thanksgiving in Atlanta.  This I will train for though ;)  Yep, I liked the Peachtree Road Race that much.

Looking forward to next year already!

Rough Finish, Happy Start.

I should know better.  I let playtime go 5 minutes too long before bed last night and all hell broke loose.  Allie started bawling that she wanted to go home, which upset Bella, and started a whole chain reaction of events.  A lot of soothing words ensued, a call to La, a couple drinks of water, and a story seemed to calm the troops into dream land.  Before the storm settled though, Allie told Bella that she wouldn't be able to spend the night again until she was 9, and Bella did not like that at all.  Girls.

This morning, both of them were awake at 6:30 happily playing like nothing happened.  I can tell Allie feels a bit silly about it all, and she definitely does not want her Mom to come and pick her up right now like she did last night :)  In an hour, we are all going to put on our new swimsuits, and head to the pool for some fun in the sun.  I'm just glad everyone has had some sleep, and smiles have reappeared beautifully <3  Lemonade Mouth anyone?