Redecorating!

Besides having Mallory for my bed partner, the other thing that happens every time Brad is out of town overnight -
DECORATING!!!  Or should I say RE-decorating!  I LOVE to decorate my home.  And I LOVE to decorate with things I find for really, really cheap or FREE!!  Yes, I have been known to bring things home that I find in a trash heap on someone's curb!

Last week my mom's neighbor put a beautiful wrought iron plant stand out for the trash!!!  My sweet Daddy went and got it for me and man, was I glad!!!  It's HEAVY and I love it!!!  But, it was a little dirty and needed to be cleaned up a little before bringing it inside.  And, I wasn't quite sure where I was going to put it.  Well, this weekend I got inspired and decided to get it cleaned up and bring it in!!!  I decided it would look perfect in my office in front of the window.  I already had a table there that Daddy had made, but it would find a new home in my kitchen. 

Here's the trash heap plant stand in it's new home!!! 

Can you believe someone was throwing this away?!?!

The rest of my office got organized and cleaned up.  I am a Disney collector so my office is where I display all my Mickey Mouse stuff.  I've done everything in red, white, and black.  My next project is to recover my chair or make a slipcover for it. 

Well, the table my daddy built (the one that used to be in this space), got moved into my kitchen.  I think it looks much better here.  And, it's a drop-leaf table, so maybe I can use it to serve from, too!

Oh, and remember how much I love free things?!?!  I found this little desk about 4 years ago sitting beside the dumpster at my Nanny's apartment complex.  While I was in the RE-decorating mood, this little desk got moved from my laundry room into my dining room.  (I don't have a dining room table, so my dining room is a sitting room/piano room.)  Anyway, I think this little desk goes perfectly in here.

Can you believe I found it beside a dumpster?  It has a glass top and everything!!!

The desk was originally in my laundry room.  I thought I would use it as a folding table, but never have.  So, once I moved it to the dining room, the void in my laundry room was just crying for the bakers rack I had on the back porch.  So, after a good scrubbing, the bakers rack is now home in the laundry room.

AAAaahhhhh!!!  I just love rearranging things and making it all look brand new!!!  It's so much fun!!! 

Go over to Southern Hospitality and check out the fun things people from all over have found this weekend and turned trash into treasure!!

My Bed Partner

Any time Brad goes out of town overnight, Mallory sleeps in my bed with me.  It's really a lot of fun for both of us.  It's a tradition I used to have with my mom when my daddy would go out of town.  I'm glad to get to share this same sweet memory with Mallory. 

Here's my bed partner, her cow, and her little doll.  I never know just how many other "friends" are going to be sharing the bed, too!

And beside her, on the floor, are all the other babies and animals that must sleep with us.

And here's little sweetie, Jack, all snug is his bed.

Night night!  Sleep tight!

New Dresses and PJ's!

Check out these precious dresses my mom has made for Mallory!!!!  She'll be wearing the first one to church this Sunday.

This adorable navy one has her initials monogrammed in red !!!  LOVE IT!!!  The picture doesn't do it justice.

And this pink & green polka dot has the CUTEST ruffled ribbon around the bottom and on the pockets.

Mallory is one blessed little girl!!

I found these Halloween pj's at Walmart and just had to get them!!  After their baths last night, they got to wear them for the first time.  Fun memories!

Psalm 32???

I try to use scripture references a lot around the house, especially when disciplining the kids.  I use Ephesians 6:1 ("Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.") on MANY occasions.  Mallory has been listening and must be catching on!  Tonight after being warned numerous times that she was going to fall if she didn't sit still, she fell out of her chair.  She wasn't injured - not even a little bit.  It was her feelings that were hurt more than anything.  I didn't rush over to her as I usually do.  Instead, I told her I didn't feel very sorry for her because she had been warned that that was going to happen.  With tears streaming down her face here's what she said...

"Mommy, did you know that Psalm 32 in the Bible says that mommys are supposed to love on their children when they get hurt?"  I told her I didn't realize that's what that verse said!!!  But, I immediately cuddled her up and reminded her that the Bible says, "Children are to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right!"  :-)

And as a sidenote - I looked up Psalm 32 and found that verse 8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go."  How fitting!!!  Coincidence???  Not a chance!!!

A Surprise for ME!!!!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!  When I got home this afternoon, THIS was waiting for me with a note that said,

"Just a little something to let you know how much I love you and appreciate all you do for us.  Love, Brad"

I was totally shocked!!!!  I had mentioned that I would love to have a laptop and thought about asking for one for Christmas.  I NEVER expected Brad to get me one NOW as a SURPRISE!!!  But, he did and I'm so excited!!! 

New Allergy

I've been hitting fabric stores a lot lately.  Like I said before, when I get in this mode....!!!  Well, today in Hobby Lobby, Mallory was playing make-believe while I was wandering through the rows and rows of fabric.  All of a sudden Mallory starts pretend sneezing!!!  I continued to shop, but kept hearing these little bitty, high-pitched ahh-choos.  I decided to ignore them because like I said, she's in imagination world and I'd hate to interrupt!  :-)   In a second, Mallory comes up to me and says,

"Mommy, ahh-choo, ahh-choo, I'm allergic to fabric.  We need to go to another part of the store now." 

I just about lost it!!!!

Backpack

Sometimes I get in a sewing mode and when that happens, I could spend hours at the machine.  The past two days have been no exception.  Tonight I embellished this backpack for Mallory.  Mama monogrammed her inital on it with a precious polka dot font!!  Of course, Mallory doesn't go to school, so this is just for fun.  But every little girl just HAS TO HAVE a bag for all her things!!!  So, why not make it a fun one?!?!

Made for Mallory

Back in July I found the cutest fabric and just knew what I wanted to do with it! But after I got it home, I got busy with other things and it sat in my office in my "to do" pile. Today, I finally got it out and decided to whip up something special for Mallory. Thanks to my sweet mother for monogramming her initial on it!!! Now, I'll have to make a bow to match and she'll be set! I got Mallory to try it on for me and she went into "model mode"! :-)

I decided to stay up late and get the bow made!!!  Now, I'm done!

Yard Work

I'm really enjoying this cooler weather, so today I decided to get out in the backyard and do a little work. No, not a little, make that A LOT of work!!! What I expected to take an hour or so, ended up taking all day! You see, as the temps during the summer got hotter and hotter, our 62 round shrub just kept getting bigger and bigger. And, it was WAY TOO HOT to get out there and give them a trim. So, today, I did. I SO wish I had a "before" picture for you, but you'll just have to see the fruit of all my labor. This is the gate that leads into our backyard.

Did I mention there are 62 round shrub in our backyard? Oh yes, 62!! I counted each and every one of them as I trimmed them into nice round balls again.

One of my favorite things about our backyard is all the flagstone pathways and brick columns. But today, all the flagstone was totally covered in weeds and clippings as I raked it all into a zillion piles!

Yep, I raked it.... I couldn't start Brad's gasoline powered blower! Then, I bagged it all and filled our outside trash can plus 5 trash bags FULL!!!

Unfortunately I accidentally severed the cord to the fountain as I was trimming. But, no sparks or flames!! It was unplugged. (I learned my lesson after I accidentally cut the extension cord while I was trimming several years ago! Very scary!!) I've got to get a new cord so I can get the fountain running again. I just love the sound of running water! So calming!!

Now I'll just have to wait for mums and fall plants!!! That little lost planter is going to get a new home and new plants! I didn't have the strength to move it any further! Whew! I'm exhausted!!