Nesting in Overdrive.

Old

New

Yep, my nesting instinct has set in with a vengeance.  I've been detail cleaning everything, and completing little home improvement projects all over the house.  My most current was the window treatment on our side door.  The old one worked when our kitchen was a sunny yellow, but not so much now that we painted it a cool gray and accented with a deep red.  So, using a sample designer fabric square given to me by Vince's cousin Susan who is a fabulous interior designer, and some leftover charcoal Dupioni silk from a flower girl dress, I created a new one that I LOVE.  It was one of the first things I saw this morning on my way into the kitchen, and it made me smile really big.  Happy Saturday!

Snippet.

Just a little snippet from a car ride today that I would like to remember...

B: Mom, what do you call those unroofed cars again, like that one right there?

Me: They're called convertibles.

B: Oh yeah!  Mostly fancy people drive those.  You know like rock stars, singers, actors and fashion models.

Hmmmm...

I'm also including a picture of Bella's new kicks for school this year.  I really like what she chose, girl's got a little flare <3

Saturday Night Chaos

Bella posted this while V and I were cleaning up

Saturday had been a lovely day.  Vince and his Dad moved the red sofa out of Bella's room, and I hung up all of her original artwork while they took the couch to Vince's work.  I did a little back to school clothing shopping for B, and she loved everything I got for her.  I need to remember this, because one day it is not going to be so easy :) All she needs now are new shoes and a new backpack and she should be set. We had a nice dinner, and then I got Bella's shower ready for her setting the pace for a quiet evening... or so we thought...

Before Bella jumped in the shower, she went to the bathroom and flushed twice.  Don't know why that sticks out, but it does.  Anyway, about 10 minutes later, I hear her shut off the shower, and here is where the fun begins.  Immediately she begins yelling for Mommy and Daddy because there is water everywhere!  The toilet was overflowing and had been the whole time she was in the shower.  Vince went running not realizing what he was about to encounter, and he took a hard spill in the pool of water collecting at the end of our hallway.  When I arrive on the scene, my husband is face down on the ground moaning, and my child is standing in the bathroom door, naked, with a look of terror on her face.  I, being almost 6 months pregnant, made my way carefully down the hall and into the bathroom so that I could shut the water off and assess the damage.  I got Bella to her room, and then I tended to Vince, poor Vince.  He ended up with 2 chipped teeth, a possible concussion, and a cracked rib, but even though he was in extreme pain, he was able to get the wet vac and help me clean up all the water. Luckily, Bella's room has tile flooring, and our hallway is wood which made it relatively easy to clean up.  Franklin's room is carpet, but it only went as far as the doorway there so we were lucky, but the water soaked everything in the bottom of our linen closet and made it into Bella's closet as well meaning I did 5 loads of laundry consisting of towels, sleeping bags, rugs and quilts before it was all said and done.

After a long night of waking Vince every hour to make sure he was ok, and fans blowing to calm our swelling wood floors, I think things are pretty much back to normal.  Vince feels like he has been in a fight, which in a way he was... with a concrete floor.  More than anything, he's just thankful he found the mess first instead of me, because things could have been a whole lot uglier.  And besides Bella being a bit nervous about flushing the toilet, I think it is all behind us now.

Definitely not how we thought we would be spending our Saturday night!  Only now can I look back and nervously laugh about it all, and I'm thankful there were no ER visits needed <3

Before & After

I created these 3 tree paintings while I was pregnant with Bella, and hung them in her room over her crib where they have lived until now... As you can see, the color scheme is pink, green, and yellow.  Her new room is turquoise and orange.  She really loves these paintings, as do I, so I really wanted to figure out a way to incorporate them in the new room.  The current color scheme was just not going to work, but I came up with a solution.  I spray painted each canvas a new color.  One turquoise, one orange, and one white.  Then I cut up strips of card stock paper in those three colors, and glued them to the silhouettes of the original painted trees.  I added a few buttons just for fun and voila!  Now they match her new room perfectly, and Bella is stoked I was able to make them work into her color scheme.  I love how they turned out, and there will be pictures of them in the room on a later  blog about the entire room redesign. xoxo

Moving along.

It's been kind of slow around here due to several rainy days in a row.  We definitely need the rain, but not the extreme boredom that has swallowed my child.  For example, I was labeled as having "strange behavior" after a trip to the library didn't turn out the way Bella wanted it to.  Nice. Hopefully it will clear out by this afternoon so that we can hit the pool for an hour or two before noodle night tonight... fingers crossed!

We did have a very lovely and productive weekend.  Vince was able to move our wireless router out of Bella's new room, and Bella is officially in her new room now.  Pictures will be coming as soon as we get rid of the sleeper sofa and install her sassy turquoise chandelier that I created, so in other words, continue to stay tuned on that front.  On Sunday afternoon, Vince and Bella headed to Discovery Place for a bit, and then they took a walk around downtown trying to find cool fountains.  They found several, and Bella loved it.  So much so that she wants to do it again this weekend, but she wants to document and photograph each fountain for a little research project she and her Dad are working on which of course includes a website being created.  I love those two!  While they were doing that, I was busy putting the final touches on her dollhouse remodel.  Of course we still need windows and doors, but the fresh paint and butterflies really make it pop.

I spent most of Monday cleaning like a mad woman.  My nesting instincts have set in with a vengeance, and I plan on riding the momentum until I just can't anymore.  In fact, the nursery is ready to be painted, and the crib will come soon after that!  It's all just so exciting <3

Yesterday was a slow day, but I did get Bella on a reading/journal schedule until school starts in order to get her back into a bit of a routine.  Thankfully, she didn't fight it, and I think she actually enjoyed it to be honest, which just shows me that someone is ready to go back to school whether she agrees with me or not :)  We have also been thoroughly enjoying watching the Olympics.  Bella gets very excited and loves to enthusiastically cheer for team USA whenever possible, and her preferred tv watching position is quite interesting on top of that.  My kid definitely inherited my flexibility skills.

As for today, B and I plan on doing some reconstruction and arranging on her lego table.  She requested the Harry Potter castle be built, and now we need to trade out some structures in order to include it on her table.  Should be fun, and I just love that she loves legos as much as I did at her age.

Tomorrow marks 23 weeks for me, and little Franklin seems to be thriving and surviving like a little champ.  He especially likes it when Bella and I sing Disney princess songs in the car together.  He starts kicking and flipping up a storm.

Well, Wednesday... Let's do this!

Sunny Days.

It's been a nice few days with lots of little accomplishments sprinkled here and there helping to keep our motivation flowing.  The nephews were in town for the weekend, staying with Pap Pap & Jamma while their parents went to a wedding in Asheville.  Vince took Bella over for a couple of late swims and a small firework show with the boys while they were here because Bella loves her cousins, and we don't get to see them that often.  So when they are here, we like to make the most of it.

On Saturday, a huge accomplishment happened in the morning... Bella decided to try to learn to ride a bike!  She has been talking about trying for about 3 months now, and when I say talking about it, I mean long, in-depth conversations about the ins & outs of bike riding so that she felt like she had a full grasp on what she was getting herself into.  I guess it all made sense Saturday morning, and she decided to give it a shot, in the driveway with Daddy's assistance.  She didn't do too bad, and later on Sunday, she and Vince tried out a little street ride, and she did even better.  I've learned with Bella, that it has to be on her terms, and if I let her come to a decision on her own, she will, and she is much happier about things.

Saturday afternoon, I took her to a birthday party for her friend Cameron, which involved a big inflatable water slide in the backyard.  The kiddos had a blast, while the adults tried to stay cool on the semi-shaded patio. Post cake eating and present opening, you could really see the sugar kick in.  At the beginning of the party, the girls were all very nicely waiting in line and going one at a time down the water slide.  After cupcakes, all mayhem broke loose!  They were climbing up the slide, going 3 at a time, launching themselves into the air before sliding, and a host of other crazy things.  I'm impressed their were no bonked heads or super collisions.  It was a very cute party, and all the girls got to take home a dress-up hula girl outfit with a pineapple water bottle with their names on it.  So sweet.

Sunday, we had a late breakfast with V's parents and the boy cousins before heading back home to paint Bella's new room!  It looks fantastic, and I will post pics when I do a before & after post about the whole process.  I'm not sure who is having more fun, me or her <3

On Monday, the Primm clan came over in the morning for a little play date, and the rest of the day was spent doing laundry and cleaning up.  Later in the afternoon, I was doing some touch up painting in B's room, when I heard her yelling my name.  When I went to investigate, I found a little girl who had finally wiggled a loose tooth until it was bleeding and hanging by a thread.  It took me 5 minutes to get her to settle down and to convince her to let me pull it out.  Felt.Like.An.Eternity.  It popped right out, and this makes her 3rd tooth that she has lost now, so far all on the bottom.  She was actually having a slight crisis when she went to bed because she was really attached to her baby tooth and didn't want to give it up, but she also wanted some money from the tooth fairy in exchange for the tooth.  In the end, she opted for leaving the tooth in her special pillow, and the next morning, she was excited to find $1.  She claims she kind of missed her tooth though.  It's tough growing up <3

Now, it's Tuesday.  I'm almost 22 weeks, and Franklin gets more and more active each day.  He seems to be a night owl because from 8 to midnight he is up and jumping, but during most of the day he is chill.  I guess we'll see... So for today, the plan is to start transferring the contents from Bella's closet to her new closet.  Exciting stuff!

Happy Tuesday Everyone <3

20 weeks

Halfway there!  Just wanted to share a 20 week bump pic.  Can't wait to meet the little guy in December <3, and Bella is super stoked to have a baby brother now that she has wrapped her head around it a bit more.  He's getting more and more active with each day that passes, and I just love those little baby kicks.

Summer continues...

After last week, this past weekend was a breath of fresh air.  Vince was able to fix our plumbing problem Friday morning before he left for work eliminating the stinky water smell and the need for a plumber which made our day start so much better!  When he got home from work that night, we had our usual pizza and a movie night.  Bella chose the Ramona & Beezus movie which was really great, but it had me crying like a hormonal pregnant lady throughout.  There was a lot of Daddy/Daughter fun times that really made me miss my Dad, but it also made me remember all the fun I had with him too.  At the end though, when he danced with his little girl at a wedding, I was a snotty, teary mess.  These hormones are intense!

On Saturday, Vince took Bella to the pool where she conquered two of her biggest fears... the diving board and the water slide.  Now she can't get enough of either!  It's quite amazing really because she went from being terrified to even consider it, to doing each 10 times with determination.  I gotta say, I'm way impressed.  That night, B spent the night with her grandparents so that Vince and I could go see "Legally Blonde" at Jen's theatre.  We had box seats, and the show was amazing and super hilarious!  Loved it!

Sunday was a low key day for me.  V took B to the pool early, and I stayed home to finish a VF project and just relax.  It was nice, and the outfit I was working on, turned out really adorbs which always makes me happy.  The rest of the day was spent doing a little yard work, and running a few errands in order to prep for the week.  All in all, it was a quiet Sunday.

Now onto this week... It has been good and bad, but such is life.  The pool is closed on Mondays, so Bella and I spent the day reading, sewing, painting, and cleaning.  Her room is still in progress due to the fact that I haven't sold the sleeper sofa yet, but I may have an offer, so fingers crossed that it may be out of here by the weekend.  I am so ready to paint her new room and set it all up for her so that I can then move on to readying the nursery for Mr. Franklin <3  Tuesday was a fun day.  We picked up B's friend Marty in the morning, went to Discovery Place, had lunch, and then were pool rats for the rest of the afternoon.  The girls had a blast, and it reminded me of being a kid and spending my days at Wyndyke country club all summer.  Wednesday.  Well Wednesday started out ok with a trip to the bank.  Let me back up a bit... During the play date the day before, Marty and Bella were discussing Monster High dolls, Marty's passion, and during this discussion, Bella decided that she really wanted one.  I told her that was fine, but she had to use her own money.  When we got home from the pool, she proceeded to dump out the contents of her piggy bank onto a towel, and then she dragged it into the living room where she was going to count out $25 to purchase a MH doll.  I told her we would take her change to the bank in the morning to the change machine to turn it into paper money, and then she could use $25 to get her MH doll, but the rest she had to deposit into her savings account to which she happily agreed.  So we went to the bank, and the kid had $86!  So I let her keep $26 and the remaining $60 she put in her account so that, her words not mine, her money could grow.  (We watched a Biz Kidz episode on PBS the day before on compound interest and it seemed to sink in.)  She is all about saving right now, so I am certainly going to encourage the hell out of this habit!  She picked out a MH doll, and couldn't  be more happy.  Here is where things begin to fall apart... Once home, I was doing a little VF work when Vince messaged me that a huge client had just fired him and he was extremely bummed.  This has been a very difficult client from the start, and Vince has done nothing but jump through hoops for them from the start, so to say that he was disappointed is an understatement.

Well, to get my mind off of that, I decided to make Bella a little carrying case for her new MH doll that she had asked for earlier that day.  I designed it myself, picked material, and knocked it out in less than an hour. Well, I guess it wasn't exactly what she imagined so she wasn't as thrilled about it as I would have liked which immediately hurt my feelings.  We had a little tiff about it, in which she went to her room and slammed the door, and I went to my room and cried for a brief moment.  After some deep breaths, and a bit of clarity, I came up with a solution.  I gave her one of my favorite zippered pouches from when I was a kid for her to use to keep accessories for her dolls in, and I solved the issue she had with her new bag, which she now loves.  Whew... crisis averted.  By the time we solved all of that, Vince's client had rehired his firm post a conversation with his boss.  Why this client chose to call Vince instead of the boss lady to let them know of the firing is beyond me, but for now it is has been fixed, thank God!  We ended our evening with noodle night, and on the way home, Bella zonked in the car and Vince carried her straight to bed.  Kiddo was out, and didn't fight it one bit.  Now a little funny moment... At 3 a.m. Bella woke up in tears, and here is why.  She missed "So You Think You Can Dance" because she fell asleep.  She and I watch it together on Wednesday nights because she loves the dancing, and she was devastated thinking she had missed it.  I calmly explained that we could watch it online in the morning, and that I hadn't watched it either so we could watch it together.  Problem solved.  Oh to be 6.5 again.

Now it's Thursday, and we don't have much on the agenda except for maybe an afternoon visit to the pool.  Oh, and my Mom's surgery went fantastically smooth on Tuesday, and the best news of all is that her lymph nodes are clear!  Hallelujah!  Now we can start to put all this mess behind us like it was all a bad dream.

Only 4 more weeks until school starts!  No, I'm not counting or anything... xoxox

Follow up...

My Mom spoke with her doctor on Tuesday, and we got good news.  He said they caught it early, and he's positive she can beat this.  She is having a lumpectomy next Tuesday, and they will also test her lymph nodes to make sure it has not spread to them.  Post surgery, she will more than likely have 6 weeks of radiation, and she may be on an anticancer drug for a couple of years after that.  He is very optimistic that it is only in the one area, and more importantly, that it can be taken care of relatively easily.

Whew!  Big.Sigh.of.Relief.  Of course, we aren't out of the woods yet, but it is a very positive outlook that all will be well.

My Mom is remaining positive, and has even joked that she may be getting that much wanted boob job after all.  Dear Lord!

So, for now, I have calmed down, taken many deep breaths, and am looking forward to putting this all behind us.  This week is turning out to have a much better ending than start, and thankfully it is almost the weekend.

Stay tuned for a post about Bella's bedroom makeover because it will be awesome!

Upset & Pissed Off

So my Mom got her biopsy results back yesterday, and what I didn't want to hear is happening.  She has breast cancer, and I'm pretty upset about it all.  Right now, her doctor thinks it's localized, and it can be treated with surgery and a little radiation, but we won't know for sure until she talks to her doctor this afternoon and comes up with a plan.

I am so tired of all of this.  I was thinking this year would be full of nothing but good news.  I mean, we are having a baby boy in December, and my Mom found Bill and just got married last weekend.  Now this?!  To say I'm frustrated is an understatement...

For now, all I can do is pray and stay positive.  I am SO happy that Bill is there with her for all of this, and that she is keeping a very positive attitude about it all.  Her exact words were, "Don't worry Suzy, I'm going to beat this."

I really hope so because I can't lose my Mother right now.  I need her...

June and July

Where to begin?  Well, June 10th, my baby girl finished Kindergarten.  She didn't just complete it, she killed it if I'm being honest.  Almost all 4's with a sprinkling of 3's here and there, and I could not be more proud of her!  Look out first grade!

The first week after school got out, Bella went to horse riding camp.  She told me that it was the best week of her life, and she wished she could do a week of horse camp every month!  It was so fun to see how passionate she was about it all, and she really did learn a lot about horses.  One day, she fell off her horse, but this did not deter or scare her.  She stood up, brushed herself off, and climbed right back on as if nothing happened. Amazing.  At the end of the week, they put on a show for us to show us what they had learned.  I was in awe, watching my 6 year old control and direct her huge horse Mick.  You could just see the determination and love for it all oozing out of her pores.  So, hopefully next month, Bella is going to start horse riding lessons as well as continuing to attend Clover Buds the first Tuesday of every month. (It's the precursor to 4-H club)  She deserves it, and couldn't be more excited.

A few days after horse camp was over, we drove up to Virginia Beach to meet up with the Schmitt clan  for some beach time fun.  Bella and Allie had not seen each other for months, and they couldn't be more happy to have a few days to hang out together.  We spent long days just relaxing on the beach, and soaking up the sunshine and waves.  B-bo even got the hang of boogie boarding this year, as well as Dominick, and it was cool to see the lightbulb moment that they had figured it out.  At night, after the kids were tucked into bed, Laura and I would spend a few hours watching stupid tv, laughing, and just enjoying hanging out.  We also had not seen each other in a couple of months, and it was really great to hang out with my friend <3  We headed home on a Thursday feeling refreshed with perfect sun kissed hair and golden skin.  It was a great trip.

The Friday after we got back, I had to get ready for my Mom's big visit.  A little back story here is in order.  My Mom met a man a few months ago, and on Memorial Day weekend her proposed to her.  There is more to the story, but I'm not going to go into all of that here.  I, to say the least, was shocked because I had no idea she was even talking to anyone.  Well, she had flown out to Virginia to help him finish packing, and then drive across the country with him back to California because he was moving in with her.  We were their first stop on their cross country trek so that we could meet Bill, and feel better about things.  I was extremely apprehensive about it all, but in the end it all turned out to be just fine.  Bill is a very kind and caring man, and I could tell that he really loves my Mom.  So I am extremely happy that they found each other, and I haven't seen my Mom this happy in 5.5 years.  My Dad would be so happy for her too because he would not want her to spend the rest of her life alone, and I have a feeling he may have had a little something to do with getting them together, at least I would like to think that anyway :)  So, this Saturday, July 14th, they are getting married in Vegas at the Venetian, and I couldn't be more happy/excited for them.  Then next year, on their one year anniversary, they are going to have a ceremony in Cali for family and friends.  One stipulation though, they have to take us all to Disneyland while we are there, so Bella is looking forward to being a flower girl again and visiting one of our very favorite places... Disneyland!

Now onto the 4th of July.... We made our way down to Atlanta the night before loaded with fireworks and excitement.  Each year, we stop in South Carolina to purchase legal/awesome fireworks for the show Vince puts on in his sister's backyard.  With each year that passes, it gets bigger and more amazing, and this year did not disappoint.  The grand finale was called Shotgun Wedding (in honor of BB and Bill) and it was spectacular!  Thankfully, it had rained a few hours before our show taking away any concern about setting the yard on fire which always puts my brother-in-law, Bill, a bit more at ease.  Post show, we played a few rounds of Apples to Apples while watching the show in Washington DC before calling it a night.  It was a great celebration, and we always have fun in Atlanta with V's sister and crew :)

Our next big day was July 11th... the day we found out if we were having a boy or a girl!  I was so excited I could hardly stand it!  Bella and I were convinced we were having a girl, while Vince was pretty sure it was a boy.  Well, it's a BOY!!!  When the ultrasound whispered it into Bella's ear for her to tell V and I, instead of telling us, she just started crying :(  She really wanted a baby sister.  But, after we talked about it for a bit, and I explained that Frankie would never steal her clothes, hog the bathroom, or put a dent in her special bond that she has with Pap Pap and BB, she decided that a baby brother would not be so bad :)  Now she is super excited, and can't wait to meet her sibling, Franklin Miller Ammirato, this December.  I am over the moon excited to meet our little guy, and he will have a December birthday like his Mama.  It's all just so exciting.

Now, we are just enjoying the rest of our summer, which seems to be zooming by at an alarming rate, with lots of swimming, play dates, Discovery Place trips, sleepovers, homemade slip-n-slides, cardboard houses, fence painting, plays at Jen's theater, and fun!  Time goes by so fast, and I just want to enjoy every minute of it because our kids just don't stay little long enough.

This weekend, we will continue to work on Bella's new room which is going to have a turquoise/orange color scheme with a horse theme.  Once we get her stuff moved and situated, we can then fix up the nursery for Mr. Franklin.  In other words, lots of fun stuff is going on in our world, and I'm just trying to soak it all up.

Happy Summer to you All!

8 Weeks

Just before we left for Spring Break, I found out that I am pregnant!  Well, yesterday I had my first Dr.'s appointment, and things are progressing nicely.  My doctor told me that my uterus is nice and plump, which made my husband giggle.  He then said if he ever said anything about me was plump he would probably get punched ;)  I would of course not hit him, but I might throw him a look that could kill...  So, we are very excited and can't wait to meet the newest addition come early December.  Bella is especially excited, and is dreaming of a little sister.  We shall see...

Spring Break 2012 + Easter

Our Spring Break this year was amazing!  On Friday, March 30th, we flew to California to begin our vacation.  My Mom picked us up at the airport around 11 a.m., and from there the fun began starting with a much awaited hair appointment she had set up for me in advance.  I got it evened out and recolored a rich reddish brown with some long bangs added in and I love it!  After that, we stopped at the store to pick up some stuff for dinner, and then headed back to her house to relax and get ready for the next few days.  We only had one hiccup.  Bella threw her guts up Friday night, but luckily she got it all out then, and we didn't have anymore problems :)  That is the first time she has ever puked, and she did not like it.  I'm just thankful she didn't inherit my sensitive gag reflex.  My Mom helped me get her all cleaned up, and then we all went to bed because we had an early start in the morning.

Saturday morning, Vince and I headed to L.A. to catch a boat to Catalina Island, while my Mom and Bella headed to the San Diego Zoo for a day filled with animals and a behind the scenes tour which my child absolutely loved.  She got to feed a rhino, pet all sorts of animals, and in all the pictures taken, her giant smile proves she was having the time of her life.  Meanwhile, Vince and I arrived at Catalina Island which is about an hour west off the coast of L.A., walked to our adorable/modern bed & breakfast, checked in, and then we took a glorious 3 hour nap.  When we woke up, we ventured out to find some yummy dinner, and then we walked around the island a bit before calling it a night.

Sunday.  Today, Mom and Bella went to Disneyland, and had a blast.  There was no wait for any of the rides, and they rode about 30 and just did whatever they wanted.  Bella was in Heaven, and so was BB.  Vince and I had breakfast in our room, then we did a little shopping before lunch.  That afternoon, we rented powered bikes and rode all over the island.  The views were breathtaking, and I'm glad the bikes were powered because if not, the hills would have been brutal!  It was so fun zooming all around and checking things out.  After dinner, we walked to the Grand Casino to see The Hunger Games.  The building is no longer a casino, but is now a museum and they show a movie nightly in the grand ballroom.  It was really neat.  Instead of commercials on the screen when you walked in, there was a man playing the organ down front next to the stage.  The domed ceiling was covered in a beautiful mural that was done in the 20's, and when they dimmed the lights to begin the movie, the entire ceiling sparkled with tiny stars while the previews played.  So cool!  All in all, we had a wonderful time in Catalina and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cool place to visit.


On Monday, we met up with BB and Bella at Legoland.  We got there around 3 in the afternoon, and since they had already been through the park that day, we decided to head to the hotel pool to eat and relax for a few hours.  It was just what we needed.  After swimming, my Mom and I went down to the hotel restaurant to have a glass of wine, while Bella and Vince ordered room service for dinner.  B ended up falling asleep before the food arrived because it took forever, and Vince sent it back because she was out.  Long story short, my Mom ended up getting a free weekend stay in the future out of it which we were all happy about because she can go back and enjoy the spa.

Tuesday, we all went to Legoland and had a blast.  What a cool amusement park!  It's just amazing what they have built out of legos, unbelievable actually.  We spent a good 4 hours roaming around and checking everything out before loading up and heading back to BB's house.  We were all asleep by 9 p.m. which was fine because we were headed home the next day.  All in all, it was a fantastic Spring Break!

Easter.  Vince's sister and crew were in town, as well as Diane's niece from Pennsylvania.  We spent 4 days hanging out with the Ammirato family having a great time.  The kiddo's played tennis, dyed Easter eggs, played hide & seek, and of course hunted for Easter eggs on Sunday after church.   It was a beautiful Easter Sunday, and it was really nice to spend it with family.


And there you have it!  So far, Spring has been great and I am now looking forward to a fun filled summer!

High and Low.

Last week was up and down to say the least.  It had its really great moments, but I also struggled a bit emotionally this week, and I will get to that in a bit.

                                               








              Tuesday was Valentine's Day.  I know that a lot of people don't like this day, and just see it as a holiday forced upon us by Hallmark, but I really like it, and it was always a fun day when I was a kid.  Bella and I spent 3 hours the night before creating paper animals out of heart shapes before placing them in woven Danish hearts for her friends.  She did not complain once that it was taking too long, in fact it was me wondering if we were ever going to finish :)  They turned out adorable, and she was so excited to give them out to her friends.  For dinner, the 3 of us went to our new favorite local spot, The Hill Grill, for all you can eat wings for V & I, and a yummy grilled cheese sandwich for the Bsters.  All in all, a very lovely day.

On Wednesday, I got a new car!  Here's where things got a little emotional for me.  So, my car, Lou Corrolla, was my Dad's car.  It's a 2003 with a lot of miles on it, and the struts need to be replaced for a smoother ride and slower tire wear.  Well, I really didn't want to spend $1200 to get Lou fixed, and was wondering what to do.  My Dad always took care of my car, made sure I was getting the oil changed, buying me new tires, etc.  Well, it seems, he still is.  Without my in-laws knowing my car situation, Diane told me that she was getting a new car, and would I like her CRV instead of trading it in.  It's a 2000 in excellent condition, and it has literally been driven like a grandma it's whole life.  She wasn't planning on getting a new car until closer to this summer, but she ended up finding what she wanted much sooner and Wednesday, Frank helped me get all the paperwork together to transfer the CRV to me.  Here's where I am having a hard time.  Lou was my Dad's car.  The steering wheel has indentions in it from his hands, the driver's seat has his impression, I can still feel my Dad when I drive Lou.  I know that Lou is just a car, and that letting it go doesn't mean I am letting go of my Dad.  It just had physical reminders of him all over it, and it has been very comforting driving Lou for 4.5 years.  On the flip side, I have a new/safer car and I know that my Dad is smiling in Heaven because of it.

Friday was class picture day.  Bella wore my favorite dress of the moment which happened to be very similar to the dress I wore for Kindergarten class pictures.  I can't wait to compare last year's picture to this year's because she really has grown a lot in a year.

As for the rest of the week, if it wasn't raining, we were hanging outside.  The first thing Bella does when she gets home from school is rush out to the backyard to swing and play in her wisteria fort until dinner time.  Once we get our new fence built, the dogs will be able to hang out too because right now we really can't let them out of their pen because Jane likes to jump our current fence and terrorize the neighborhood.  Bella loves her dogs though, and is ready to be able to play with them more.

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Liz and I went to see Cabaret at CPCC where Jen Hamilton is stage manager.  It was a really great performance!  After the show, we went to Common Market for a few glasses of wine and conversation.  It ended up also being BINGO night, so we played a few fun rounds, had some laughs, and won nothing :)  I got home around 8, chatted with Vince for a bit, and then promptly fell asleep on the sofa.  V says he tried to wake me up 3 times to get me to come to bed, but he was unable to rouse me and I eventually stumbled to bed around 3 a.m. I think.

It was a great week filled with fun, a touch of sadness, and lots of love from family and friends.

Now, it's a new week.  B is out of school for the first 2 days of it, and she requested a trip to Ikea today.  Why not?!  Besides that, I will be doing some laundry/clean-up, but not before I have a second cup of coffee.


Have a great week everyone!

Recap of a Lovely Week

And it really was... Wednesday, Paul & Dean came out to finish hanging crown and trim in the hall bath, to replace the brick molding around the fireplace, and to fix the side door frame.  It all looks AMAZING!  Especially the bathroom.  I still have to paint all the trim, but it really looks so good.  I tried to get on track for Vintage Fresh this week, and I had a little success.  I completed a 5 foot round rug out of 5.5 pairs of jeans that I'm pretty proud of.  It would be great to take to the beach, camping, on picnics, or just about anywhere because it's super durable/washable and cute.  Can you beat that?  I didn't think so :)  I also made 30 woven Danish heart pockets out of felt for Bella to put her finger puppet valentines in for her classmates.  Yes, the idea came straight from Pinterest, but it was relatively easy and the end result turned out very cute.  Friday, I helped Jen H. repair and create some new mic bags for CPCC.  That took some time, but it is always nice to hang out and chat.  Bella found out that she got the narrator part in her school play next month, and she couldn't be more excited.  She told me that Miss Alexa chose her because when she writes and reads she does so with feeling and emotion, which is very true.  Growing up, my Dad used to tell us to do things with more feeling/emotion, so when I heard Bella tell me this, it was like listening to my Dad :)  She is so much like him sometimes it's scary, but in a good way ;)

Yesterday, Saturday, we went to breakfast at Jimmie's before Bella and I headed out to pick up Allie for a sleepover.  While out there, I did a quick photo shoot of La and her friend Jenn because they just recently wrote a children's book together and it is getting ready to be published!  They needed a picture for their book jacket and asked me if I would help them out to which I replied of course!  If you can't tell, I'm very, very proud!  Post photo shoot, I loaded up the girls and we headed back home.  I edited a few photos before taking a shower and meeting Jen H. to go see a play, "Jack Goes Boating."  It was terrible.  I've never seen a terrible play before, so there's that, but I mean ugh.  Worst part was, we couldn't leave at intermission because Jen's friend was in the play, and we were supposed to meet up with her afterwards.  Thankfully, her friend was too tired to hang, so we got to leave after all, but not until enduring 2 hours of a bad story that relied too heavily on taboo subjects (pot smoking, foul language, sex), and never seemed to absorb me in.  I still had fun checking out a new theater, and spending an evening with my bud, so all was not lost.

Now it's Sunday.  The girls were up at 6:30, and had turned the living room into a messy art studio before I could have my first cup of coffee.  They made some great creations though, and it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to see them put their imaginations to work.  The big announcement for today though is... Bella lost her very 1st tooth!  That sucker has been hanging on by a thread for a couple of weeks now, and today she was brave enough to finally let me pull it.  The one next to it will be falling out any day now as well, and she will be left with a nice gap on the bottom :)  I remember when that tooth came in because it was her first and only for a long time.  They really do grow up tooooooooo fast.  Now she and Allie are building towers with Dixie cups and listening to Pandora on this chilly Sunday morning.  I guess Queen Charlotte the groundhog was right when she predicted 6 more weeks of winter.  3rd cup of coffee, here I come!

Monday.

Was pretty good, considering it was a Monday after all.  I started my day as a Reading Buddy which is always a great way to start my day.  I read with all the kindergarteners individually, and they were all especially chatty wanting to tell me all about their weekends.  I just want to squeeze all of them!  I got back home around 10:30 and began finishing clean up from our party.  It really wasn't bad, I just needed to get the kitchen back under control, sweep and mop all the floors, and do laundry.  I think all the Christmas tree needles are finally out :)  On my way to pick up B from school, I stopped by Jen Hamilton's to return everything she forgot to take with her post party, and we hung for about an hour and chatted.  Always nice.

Last night was V's first class of spring semester, so Bella and I got Chick-fil-a for dinner on our way home from school.  Once we completed our usual routine of bath/dinner/homework/FRED book, we settled on the couch and watched an episode of Cake Boss together before I tucked her into bed.  I just love that sweet, sweet girl <3  I then poured myself a glass of wine and turned on Antiques Roadshow to watch until V got home.  Well it was the episode in Houston that my parents went to, and I got to see my Dad, walking/talking/breathing, and it made me both happy and sad at the same time.  It was so good to see him, but it also reminded me just how much I miss him.

After Vince got home from class, he some how convinced me that it would be a good idea to watch the movie "Absolute Zero" with him.  That's 2 hours of my life I will never get back...  He redeemed himself though by letting me snuggle in and fall asleep so I wasn't really too upset ;)

Now it's Tuesday, and I have a little laundry left to finish up and that's about it.  My bronchitis is trying to come back so I think I will take it easy today because I really don't want to go to the doctor for antibiotics.  If I don't feel better tomorrow though, I'm going to breakdown and go get some because I am tired of feeling crummy!

Ok, time to fold laundry and soak up some sunshine on this chilly day!

xoxoxox

BYOT 6

Was a roaring success!  It rained off an on the whole day, but we did not let it dampen our fun.  After some breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee, I finished cleaning/setting up the house while Vince hung a huge tarp up in the trees to provide shelter for all of our guests while we watched the trees burn.  He also dug out the firepit, and got a fire going so that it would be nice and hot/ready for later in the evening.

After lunch, Vince met with 2 clients, and I got Bella bathed/dressed/packed and ready to head to her Grandparent's house.  Nathan and Keri showed up around 3:30, and Keri rode with me to drop off Bella and get a few more things for the party.

Once we were back home, we all blew up balloons and put glow sticks inside of them for extra fun.  We had a small helium tank that we used to fill up about 30 balloons, and those we put out under the tarp by the fire.  The unexpected fun thing about that was, after we lit the first tree, the extreme heat sucked all the balloons out from under the tarp, and into the air where they randomly popped as they flew away.  It kind of sounded like gunfire, and it gave us all a little scare and a big laugh.

15 friends + 20 trees = a whole lot of fun!  We started out slow only doing one tree every half hour, the first tree being lit at 6:30.  Then, once everyone arrived, they went much quicker.  At 10pm, we lit our last tree, and once it finished burning, we all made our way back inside to hang out and stay dry.

It was a great time, and I can't wait to do it again next year!  

One Word...

PRODUCTIVE.  That is how I would describe this week.  It all started, last Saturday, when Vince replaced our side screen door with a lovely new one.  What a difference it made just changing that one little thing.  The side of our house looks quite respectable now.  On Sunday, he rehung Bella's swing in the backyard, and we have one very happy kiddo on our hands now.  She loves to swing, has ever since she was teeny tiny, and she has spent a good couple hours a day on her swing since Vince hung it nice and safe.  I love that she is spending so much time outside swinging and rearranging her wisteria fort.  good.stuff.

The rest of the week seemed to fall into place as well.  I was a reading buddy Monday morning, and then I came home and completed my t-shirt blanket that I started 4 years ago.  I backed it with a cozy gray fleece and it is keeping me warm while I type my blog :)  Wednesday, I spent some time with Laura making tee shirt loop necklaces and taking pictures of sweet baby Scarlett.  It was so nice to sit and chat with her for a couple of hours.  Also, today, because they are studying Africa in class right now, Bella wore my African dress that I had made for me while visiting my grandparents in Lome, Togo when I was 8.  I only had to hem the skirt, othere than that, it fit her perfectly.  I still remember my Grandmother taking me to the market to pick out my material, and then the seamstress measuring me while I decided on the style.  Papa and Grandmother were definitely smiling in Heaven.  Thursday, Diane took me to lunch and to pick out my birthday Tom's.  She gave me money for some, but wanted to go with me to pick them out.  We had a great time, I also got a pair for Vince, and she also got Bella an outfit at Gap Kids before we had lunch at Qudoba.  It was a very nice time.  On Friday, I stopped at an estate sale after I dropped Bella off at school, and I scored a really cool Letterman painting from the 80's.  Once I worked on valentines for Bella's teachers until Jen came over to hang lights around the fire pit for BYOT on Saturday.  First we had to take the lights off the house and our Christmas tree, but she got the job done and they look fantastic!

As for today, we are finishing up a little bit of cleaning, and mainly just preparing to have a great time tonight!  We have a 70% chance of rain, but we are not letting that dampen our spirits.  Vince is at Lowe's right now getting a huge tarp to make a nice canopy just in case.  We are going to fill it with balloons with glow sticks inside.  I'm just so excited!

I will post tomorrow about all the fun we had setting 20 Christmas trees on fire one by one at our annual B.Y.O.T. event.  Or Bring Your Own Tree.  It.will.be.epic.

Before & After

This summer, we had to replace our bay window in the kitchen.  Well bay windows are uber expensive, so we opted to replace it with 2 regular windows instead.  After painting the new windows, painting the kitchen a fresh gray, and hanging new fabulous drapes, we have a wonderfully inviting breakfast nook!  Only thing left to swap out is the rug.  It will be the same color, but it will be a circle shag rug instead.  I am extremely happy with how everything turned out, and I especially like it when things turn out the way they looked in my head :)  Happy Friday everyone!

Bella is 6!

                                          I cannot believe my beautiful little girl is 6!  Can we slow down just a little bit?!  I gotta say, 5 was spectacular, but I'm pretty excited to see what she does with 6 :)

To celebrate, we threw a Black & White Animal Party and invited 10 friends.  Damn Pinterest!  It has so many great ideas, that I had to try a lot of them, and in the end it created a very magical party for Bella and me, who am I kidding ;)  I made a table runner from leftover material I had, and then Bella picked out a canvas zebra print that we made napkins and party hats from.  I made a rose ball using 200 paper roses made from streamers and glued to a styrofoam ball.  Trust me, you will see that bad boy at many parties and celebrations to come because it took hours to make, and I just really love it!  Vince and I blew up 70 balloons and stuck them to the ceiling for a cool balloon canopy effect.  We custom ordered her cake from a cute local bakery in our little town of Mint Hill.  It was beautiful, and beyond perfect for the event.  Add confetti, lots of stuffed animals, oreos/chocolate covered pretzels, and presents from your friends, and we have ourselves a rocking good time!  The kiddos all loved it, and at the end of the day, Bella told me that it was an awesome party!  That's what I'm talking about :)

Now to talk about Birthday Circle at school... We just did it yesterday because last week, B-bo was really sick and did not go to school at all.  So, yesterday, I went to school, had lunch with her, and then stayed for birthday circle :)  She and I had made a poster with pictures of her from each year, 0-6, to share with her friends.  First, Miss Alexa lit a candle in the middle of circle (the sun), and then Bella held the earth (a globe) while she walked around the sun 6 times and shared her pictures.  At the end, her classmates sang "Happy Birthday" to her at the top of their lungs, and then I passed out sugar cookies for everyone to share.  I apologized to Alexa for sugaring them up at the end of the day, and her response was that Bella warned her that morning, and as long as there was a cookie for the pregnant lady that she was fine with it :)  Bella was in charge of passing out napkins to everyone before I handed out the cookies... I hear her say, "If you are talking, I may have to skip you."  I had to turn the other way to keep from cracking up.  Miss Alexa said she was being a great helper, and Bella even earned the "Leader of the Day" award.  Yes, I am a proud Mama <3

So, now it's official... Bella has said Good-bye to 5, and Hello to 6!  One more thing before I end this... her stats for the end of the year... She weighs 37 lbs (8th percentile) and is 43.5 inches tall (22nd percentile).  Her doctor's response, "Looks like she's going to be tall and skinny."  In other words, she is progressing just fine, my little string bean.

So bring on 6!  It's going to be fantastic!