weekend projects

Arkansas weather is a crazy thing.

One minute we're bundled up, watching the smoke drift from the chimneys, and smelling that heavenly aroma of a fire crackling in someone's fireplace.

The next day we're in flip flops and tank tops.  And turning the AC back on.

True story.

That was our weekend.  

Friday the kids and I marveled at the frost on the rooftops and shimmering on the brown grass.  Saturday we were sweating as we cleaned out the garage.

That's just the way it is here.
If you don't like the weather, stick around a few more minutes.  It'll change.

But taking advantage of said warmer weather......we cleaned out the GARAGE!!!!

Now, I must confess......
I had grandiose dreams when I concocted this plan.
Shelves were going to be moved, another shelving unit added, and hooks and pegs in all shapes and sizes were to grace one wall.

And I was going to take pretty pictures with my actual camera.

Yes, I saw future Pinterest pins in my head.

But that plan involved my man being at work.
And my Dad helping with all the grunt work.

My grandiose plan most assuredly did not involve my man.

I don't work as fast when he's around.
And I certainly don't make very quick decisions.

But we did it.  Together.

Although one of us shot down the idea of adding another shelving unit.
You know that someone wasn't me.

But the job is done and even though it doesn't look like Pinterest the picture in my head...the job is DONE.  Yay.

And every time I step out into the garage I'm surprised!
As if I almost forget the sweat, the laughs, the arguments, and my indecisiveness of our windy beautiful Saturday.

And because I have yet to post this on Craigslist, I'll put it here first.

FOR SALE:::::

6 leather dining chairs.  4 are ripped.

Yes, ripped.
But fixable.
If you like a project, here ya go!

oops.  I forgot to take a real pic.  {sigh}
The rips looks like this.

Leave a message in the comments
OR
email me at covet the dust {at} gmail {dot} com
no spaces, and symbols instead of the {at} and the {dot}

ALSO FOR SALE:::::::

Britax Frontier Car Seat/Booster

I love Britax car seats.  My kids have only had Britax car seats.
You can read about the Frontier seat here.

I used this seat for 2 of my kids, but only in my husband's car.  So despite the look in that top picture, this wasn't used all that much.  It doesn't look as bad in real life as it does in that picture!  And the cover has been washed since I snapped that pic.

Email me for details!

{francine}

this is francine.

francine is a leather recliner.
my husband bought her on a whim one day when furniture shopping in tulsa.
my husband never does anything on a whim.
i was NOT happy about this purchase.  we had to put francine in the family room...which was supposed to be MY room.
the room that held bright colors, vivid fabrics, and all my little things i love...read: not a leather wingback.

but i digress.....
for the last 3 days i've been praising the Lord for francine.

this is where i slept for 2 nights.
this is where my heating pad is plugged in.
this is where i'm currently sitting.
and i may never get up.

francine has become my friend.
in fact, she's become a bestie.

i messed up my back.  not sure what is wrong.
i had x-rays done yesterday, and lots of blood work.
and i got nighttime muscle relaxers.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
and anti-inflammatory meds.
ahhhh-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

and hopefully i'll soon be on the mend.
in the meantime, francine and i have more episodes of frasier to watch.

ToDaY

right now

i'm watching biggest loser.  episode one of this season.  tonight episode 3 aired...yes, i'm behind.  no, don't tell me what's going on.  i won't like you.

i'm propping my feet up after a long day with a very sick girl.
  

strep.  again.  this time our doctor said he thinks one of the reasons she gets it every month is because she sucks her fingers.  {sigh}  we've put off breaking her of that because...well, because it's just so darn cute.

what do a phone car charger, a hanger, a Mr. Potato head ear, a barrette, & a princess lipstick pouch have in common?  they're all on my kitchen counter.  i have no idea why everything congregates right there.  but it's inevitable.

earlier today

you know she's really sick if i let her go in her princess dress.

i cleaned out Bubba's closet today.  while watching listening to Sense and Sensibility.  doesn't Jane Austen make everything better?  or at least more romantic??  yes.  yes, she does.

i saw pretty Fall leaves today.  i love summer.  i love spring.  and i really do love fall...before it turns too cold.

tomorrow

i'm taking care of my girl.
i'm reading lots of books to my girl.
i'm cleaning. and doing laundry.

enjoy your wednesday!!!!

i should've seen it coming

i've written about this before.  

and my apologies if you're not a fan of Amy Sherman-Palladino.

i am.

and i'm sad.

source

this awesome show was canceled.

so no more checking my dvr to see if new episodes recorded.

anybody else sad about this???  any other bunheads out there??!?!

am i the only one who hears Fanny's voice while i'm at the barre in barre class?

yes?  it's just me?  

i'm ok with that...i think.

this & that, with a rattle-a-tat

my precious doh doh is sick.  strep.  it was a long weekend.  i just force-fed her tylenol.  like, held her down, squeezed her squishy puffy cheeks together, inserted the syringe to her inner cheek, and...half still spilled down her cute little multi-colored outfit.

30 minutes later she's dancing to bubble guppies.

ok, she danced 2 minutes & is now curled back up with her blankie, but she danced. 
halle-friggin-lujah.

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tomorrow is my last day for Christmas-themed napkin art. 

i admit, on occasion, i've taken to using cookie cutters as templates.  some might say cop out....i prefer to say, ingenious shortcut.  hmmm?

not sure what january will hold for our lunchbox art.  kinda hard to draw a snowflake...on a white papertowel.

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i love the artwork, the stories that flow from the mind of my bubba.  he never ceases to amaze me with his creativity.

ok, so occasionally he might borrow an idea...or two, but there's a lot of originality too.

no, i don't keep them all.  i'd need a storage building for that.  but i do keep quite a bit of his creations.  and i plan on hocking them one day if he's ever famous.  *wink*

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last week was a long week.  the week before my man had been out of town.  i had my lip-ular issue (which is now infected and i go back to the doctor tomorrow....ugh).  and lots of other stuff.

ahem.

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and now i'm off to get yet another yogurt for my lady.  apparently this blue one is not the blue she wanted.  it's green.  and she wants boo.  very boo.

happy monday!  the countdown is on!  are you ready?

let's catch up, shall we?

been awhile since i've blogged.  took a little holiday hiatus. 

our thanksgiving was wonderful.  how was yours?  are you wearing stretchy pants too?  been on the treadmill morning, noon, and night since friday?  no?  oh yeah, um...me neither.  {ahem}

ahh, glorious monday has come....and so i'm finishing my christmas decorating, doing copious amounts of laundry {have mercy}, consuming buckets of caffeine, and smooching all over a seriously cute little lady.

so since we last talked.........

* i bought a new camera.  i haven't had a lick of time to figure it out yet OR even install the software.  so no pics to share from the new camera.  yet.

* i've been trying to blog for the last 50 minutes and haven't been able to get online.  i wrote all of the above and then....nada.  {sigh}

* christmas decorating is almost complete.  the boys helped me with the tree.

* doh doh got a much needed haircut.  just a trim, but the curls sure look a lot cuter now.

* i couldn't decide what to do on our front door.  too many options.  so i stole an idea from pinterest.  it's cute, right?  the kids love it.

* bubba met his reading goal before mid-term.  i'm so proud of that kid.  and thanks to all who recommended The Magic Tree House books.  we've read several and love them.  so fun.  we're also almost finished with bruiser's november reading list.  he's working hard on reading alone....so every book he gets to read "a, it, the, all, is, me, his, him, her, she..."  it's time consuming.  and seriously hilarious.

* i'm behind on all blog reading and emails.  {sigh}

* having trouble coming up with christmas ideas for the boys.  bruiser only wants legos.  bubba wants...well, an expensive item.  here's where i struggle with all the things we have and those who live without.  {big heavy sigh}

* on my never ending to-do list is make pillows for my living room.  also on said to-do list was make christmas pillows for those same chairs.  while walking thru target the boys and i found these on sale for $12.  i just marked 2 items off my to-do list.  oh snap.

* over the holiday we set up doh doh's big girl bed.  i'm emotional about it.  don't really wanna talk about it.  she loved her crib.  i loved her crib.  i loved her bedding.  i loved the compactness of it...making lots of floor space.  now she has a big black iron bed taking up way too much play area.

we put the crib in the attic.  which signals finality to me.  did i mention i'm emotional about this topic? 

happy monday to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

maybe if i use enough exclamation points i'll stop the tears over taking down my babies' crib.  maybe not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

another random post

good MONDAY moRning!!!!!

i've been a little mia on the ole blog the last couple of weeks.  i plan to change that this week.  {i know you are all holding your breath in anticipation. *wink*}

it's a great monday morning.  i hate this time change, BUT even with my man out of town we were up early this morning and to school on time.  i even treated the boys to a little biscuit and chocolate milk from McD.  ya know, to ease the pain of going back to school on a cloudy, dark monday morning.

it didn't hurt either that i grabbed some much needed caffeine.

ahem

* doh doh is wearing a pair of nemo & dori underwear.  her first time to wear undies.  {i detest the word panties.  hate it.  loathe it.  refuse -- absolutely refuse -- to say it.  but she can't say under-wear.  i haven't asked if she can say panties.  i can't go there.  yet.}

* the fact that i hate that word so much probably says a lot about my personality.  or maybe not.

* i have no idea where doh doh is right now.  considering this is our first little adventure with potty training i should probably try to locate her.

* this week, i'm digging into Proverbs 31.  finished reading a fiction book last night and the main character was a great example of the proverbial woman.  i need some work.  ahem

* i love this picture.  she doesn't hold my hand very often....ya know, she's too big.  but every once in awhile...and i treasure those moments.

* we have only ONE thing on the calendar this week.  one.  uno.  un.  and that's tennis tomorrow afternoon, which might get rained out.  i have tennis tonight and a wedding shower tomorrow, but then NOTHING.  {cue the hallelujah chorus}

* today....i'm doing laundry.  sheets, clothes, towels, you name it.  and while i fold, i'm gonna watch last week's biggest loser.  and then project accessory.  anyone watching that now that project runway is over?  no?

* saturday night i had my family over for a little party.  we watched the game, celebrated my mom's b-day, and just hung out.  my kids love their cousins so much it's almost ridiculous.  i needed a quick & easy dish so i made this crockpot bbq chicken.  it's yummy.  or so my non-vegetarian family thinks.  i'll take their word for it.  i don't do her oven fries, b/c i do my own.  without sugar.   why is sugar added to everything?!?!?!

ok, here i go.  off to conquer the world of laundry while watching bob harper motivate the world.  sounds like a good monday, right?

i should probably also find doh doh.

totally random

we just put all kids to bed.  early.

* my man & i are about to climb into bed and veg out while staring blankly at something on tv.  sounds like fun, doesn't it?

* i'm completely exhausted.  the last week or so has just flat. worn. me. o-u-t.

* my house is a disaster area.  the kids can no longer cram the overflowing dirty clothes basket with even one more sock.  my kitchen is filthy.  i need a day at home.  with nothing to do but focus on my house.  i don't have one of those days coming any time soon.

* i'm considering canceling lunch tomorrow with girls from church just so i can have from 8-2:45 with nothing but my house and doh doh to occupy my time.  is that bad?

* i had to wash spoons tonight so my kids could eat cereal and "macapony" cheese.  pathetic.  {don't judge}

* i'm listening to the hum of the dishwasher.

* tonight i'm going to bed with a dirty kitchen, laundry baskets bulging, dirty floors, a cluttered family room......and i don't.  care.  at all.

*  i'm also overlooking the hideous play room......normally a pre-bedtime check, it went overlooked & i just discovered a heaping mess.  which will still be here in the morning.  tonight we sleep.

* i have much to blog about.  hopefully i can squeeze in some time tomorrow to post it all.  i'm also working on finishing out the walls in my living room.  yay!

* i think i've decided to skip lunch tomorrow.  i just started going to the wednesday lunch with some church friends.....will y'all excommunicate me if i miss one?

* i'm considering taking that chance.

think of me

think of me fondly.....

tomorrow morning about 6:30.  central standard time.

i have to have a little...procedure....ahem...done.

ok, it's a colonoscopy.  is that too much info to share in a blog post?

well, who cares.  i've never been accused of being the soul of discretion.

being discreet?  not really my forte.  (those who know me just snorted out loud. for reals.)

and by the by, today's title is all for leslie and kate.  b/c yesterday they sang the carpenters.  today they can sing phantom of the opera.  it's just how we musical folks roll, y'all.

ps......tomorrow, after the meds have worn off and i've consumed an entire large onion pizza (don't judge) and a vat gallon of salsa with salted chips, i will show you my totally awesome score at the antique store today.  i almost did a back flip.  in the store.  almost.  like, if i could do one.  in all honesty i was doing one in my mind.  but only in my mind.  promise.

pps......i might also consume a platter of cheese enchiladas.  at what point did i think playing tennis on a "clear liquid only diet" day was a good idea??!?!?!?!?  i think that justifies cheese dip as well.

rainy days & mondays.....

....always make me productive.

last week i almost did a post on how i needed a rainy day just to get stuff done.

ask & ye shall receive.

it is a glorious, rainy, 64 degree day here.  too many would put me in a permanent state of depression, but i love love love rainy days!!!

i had all the beds made by 7:30 this morning.  yes, you should applaud.

i've been working in the craft/play room ever since.  it was lookin' nasty (read that like ms. jackson would sing it, please).  fabric everywhere.  shadow boxes, yarn, wreaths, decorative paper, pictures, kids' artwork.....all of that had exploded up in here-uh.

but no mo.  (that's for doh doh.  we hear that a lot.  mo!  no mo!  mo!  no mo!  she just screamed it across the house b/c she needed mo yogo.  cuteness.)

my craft table has been cleared off AND dusted.  (applause once again is in order here, folks)  and i'm fiddin' to clean off the boys' desks (we have vintage school desks in here for them.....BIG mistake......clutter magnets, that's all they are.  clutter.  mag.  nets.)  then i'm sortin' thru toys (for some reason i'm leavin' off the endin's of all my words toda....get it...todaY...toda....todaY....le sigh.), organizing legos, and hopefully carting some stuff to goodwill. 

moving on...............yesterday i cleaned out my garden.  sniff.  sniff.  i had let my tomatoes spill over the garden and they were beginning to choke out  my roses.  neglectful gardener...yep, that's me.  i picked a ton of green tomatoes (fried green tomatoes....holla!!!) and several little red ones, which doh doh polished off last night.

my fingernails are still stained an odd yellow/greenish color.  but it was good to get all of that done.

tidbit of info about yours truly:  i'm an overall fanatic.  FANATIC, i tell ya.  in the 90s.....oh, honey.....it's all i owned.  much like dresses and skirts are to me today, back then i was the overall queen.  i still own....well, a lot.  A.  LOT.  most are broken.  and yesterday....well, these gave out on me as well.  hence the picture.  like the knot?

don't judge.

okey dokey...time to get back to work.  time to tackle the fellas' stuff....and then.....THE TOYS.  (cue brass portion of Star Wars music....dunch dunch!!!!!)

and apparently time to turn off nemo and turn back on buzz for my little demanding lady.

haPpY moNdaY!  maybe you have a rainy productive day today too!!

happy friday

i haven't been very good about blogging this week.  i have no real reason why.  however, that last post was so long it was a good week's worth of reading.  right????

yesterday i had planned on blogging.  but wasn't home long enough to do a post.  i wanted to post about this little lady.

y'all probably remember me asking for prayer for sweet Glory.  her awesome momma KK was my bff growing up. 

let me just insert here.....there are no words to express my deep love for this family.  i've known kk almost my entire life.  i love them all like my own. 

just a little back story.....Glory was born with 2 life-threatening issues:   heart and esophagus.  she has lived almost her entire 14-months, save the last couple, in the hospital.  yesterday she went into surgery to replace two shunts.

all day yesterday my thoughts were with all of them, especially sweet Glory.  last night, while snuggling with a sleepy little lady who refused to go night-night in her own bed, i prayed and prayed.

she is doing well.  please pray.  this little lady has proved what an awesome God we serve.  she has proved she has the spirit of a true fighter. 

a few months ago, i ordered a pillow for sweet Glory.

chrissie grace did a fundraiser via her etsy store to raise funds for a precious family adopting a sweet little fella from russia.

the pillow just reminded me of Sue Sue, KK's sweet grandmohter and one serious inspiration to me.  Sue Sue passed away not long after Glory was born....this just seemed like something she would've made or bought her great-granddaughter herself.

i loved it so much!  think i need to get one for my Doh Doh!  and now is a great time....chrissie grace is doing another fundraiser for the same family.  go here and here to read about it!

chrissie grace was also one of our sponsors at craft weekend.  love those people!!!

she has much, much more than just pillows.  and you don't have to choose that Scripture verse for the pillow.  but how fitting for sweet Glory, right?

"the child grew and became STRONG in spirit" Luke 1:8

amen!  and amen!!!!!

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and now back to laundry.  and cleaning.  and tennis tonight with my man!  for date night!!!  woo-hooo!!  enjoy your weekend.  GO OUTSIDE!!!

monday's bragging rights

my. goodness.  i can't believe i haven't posted this week!

just to get you up to speed:  we're all well.  i am EXTREMELY grateful for all your prayers.  bruiser had it the worst.  by the time the stomach virus hit bubba, it wasn't too bad.  so thank you!!

* i had planned on blogging monday, but never did.  you should be glad.  i worked so hard cleaning, organizing, etc. around my house that i was just gonna brag thru my entire post. you probably would've spent days being jealous of me.  we certainly wouldn't want that to happen. *wink*

* yesterday at Doh Doh's mother's day out {or "school"}  was picture day. i -- of course -- completely forgot.  a friend said she couldn't believe that SHE remembered and I forgot...b/c I always have it "all together."  *ahem*  I responded that clearly we need to reevaluate the nature of our relationship.  if she is under the impression that I have it "all together" she is most sadly mistaken.  in fact, i'm pretty sure the words "That Amy girl has it all together!" have never been uttered.

* so i sent Doh Doh in the cutest little black floral tank top, a cream polka dotted shirt underneath and the most hideous jean shorts you've ever seen.  i hated them all summer.  she never wore them all summer.  not sure what possessed me that morning to put her in a pair of shorts i loathed....as if the slightly cooler temps magically made the shorts cuter.  {they did not}

* my one saving grace was her hair....it was precious.  two little knots on the sides.  precious.  then i went to pick her up....and there was this hideous loose pony tail.  {think the not-so-cute-messy-pony}  her teacher {& my super sweet friend!!!} had decided to straighten her hair a bit while waiting for pictures.....and one of her rubberbands snapped.  she was left with 1 rubberband....not big enough for all of my girl's hair.

* i doubt we order pictures this year.

* yesterday i checked the boys out of school early to bid bon voyage! to our friends who have been here from Africa for the last month.  we worked on saying, aurevoir mes amis!  seriously, it was adorable.  they said it perfectly.  even Doh Doh yelling, mes amis!  mes amis!  mes amis!  cuteness.  bruiser struggled a little b/c he doesn't use the english V sound....let alone a soft french one.  cuteness. i took the opportunity to teach some more french to them....until airplanes started flying.  they quickly lost interest.

* doesn't that little face right there make you wanna swoon?  no?  just me?  that's ok.

* over the weekend...wait, let me rephrase that....over the GORGEOUS weekend....we hit the nature center here and some trails.  it was so awesome.  we almost didn't get doh doh to leave.  it was a struggle.  let's just say she and the geese and ducks bonded.  oh, and the shish.

* i had wanted to take them out there to do some pictures.  the area -- an old army base -- has lots of stairs just out in the middle where there once were army barracks.  i am just drawn to all those stairs!  i opted to not take my camera....so i used my hipstamatic app instead.  i didn't even try other settings, just kept it on the one b/c....well, i was being lazy AND had limited smiles outta these sleepy kiddos.

* fun fact:  this area is where Elvis Presley had his famous locks chopped off when he went into the service.  the army barbershop where that happened burned down over the summer during our intense heatwave and horrible fires.  just a little town {and rock-n-roll} trivia for ya.

* another little town trivia:  my man and i watched {the new} true grit over the weekend.  he'd seen it a few times.  i had not.  i prefer.....well, let's just say i prefer the non-realistic flicks....that i like to hope think is realism.  happy-go-lucky musicals, all happy endings, lots of smiles....think Pollyanna {b/c we all know her legs were healed in the end}, the {original} Parent Trap, Pride & Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, Sense & Sensibility....that's my kind of entertainment.  shoot 'em ups?  uh, notsamuch.

* i had a sleepless night(s) thanks to true grit {a claim to fame for our town} b/c of the blasted bear man.  anyone remember that?  typical coen brothers.  that dude straight up creeped me out.

* another interesting thing about that movie.......i had a friend in it!  yep.  the lady who ran the boarding house.  used to do theatre with her.

* took doh doh to the grocery store this morning.  after 2,479 questions, 642 texts from my husband, a checker who kept stopping to use her hands in a non-verbal manner, a toothless woman behind me who wanted to touch my child.....well, i've spent naptime with my feet propped up.  guess i better put away all the groceries now, huh?  don't worry....the refrigerated stuff was put away.  i hope.

Many of you woke yesterday morning excited with the nip in the air.

I almost shed tears.  I kid you not.

It's not that I don't enjoy Fall....I just really LOVE summer.  And the older I get, the worse it gets.  I used to love the 4 seasons.  Now I dread anything but Spring and Summer.

What's really bad is that I'm married to a winter-lover.  Go figure.  Opposites truly attract.

So anyway, fighting thu my depression over summer leaving me, over the weekend we started sorting thru a few hand-me-downs.  These jammies absolutely crack me up.

What cracks me up even more - besides the stance - is that this is my extremely hot-natured child.

In footed jammies.
When all he can sleep in is underwear.
With one sheet covering him.
Even in the dead of winter.

That's his cousin's beach hat.  In footed jammies.  ilovethisboy

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Yesterday I made bruschetta for lunch.  And for the first time all summer I used store-bought tomatoes and onions.  Ugh.  My basil is full, beautiful, and growing like a weed.  But my maters......siiiiiigh.

I did find this one, hidden in the back, but as you can see it ain't a great one.  Do you see why I hate Fall?  And winter???????

My roses, however, are in full bloom.  shhhh, even the ones I neglected all summer.

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I know this is going to seem really weird to you all.  But I have no secrets. 

And clearly no shame.

Yesterday I put a shower curtain liner in the boys' bathroom.
The curtain I had.  A liner....well, it was never really top priority.

So I snagged a cute sea-themed liner.  And for the first time since moving in almost a year ago, they used their own shower.  And my shower heaved a sigh of relief.  *wink*

And Doh Doh liked it, too.  hilarious.

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And I leave you with this.  The note left on Bubba's plate after dinner last night.

What a nerd.

{And yes, I'm teaching him to spell FINISHED.}