Photostory Friday: magnolia blossoms

This past winter we had a fairly severe ice storm here in Kentucky. Many people were without power for weeks. Our power flickered on and off, but we never lost it completely. Just when you didn't think it could rain and freeze anymore, there would be another day of it. Hearing the trees limbs moan, groan, and creak with all the weight of the ice was like some horror show. We lost several branches of trees.

Most significantly was this magnolia in the front yard. I seriously didn't think it would come back. One branch snapped right in the middle of the main trunk. Another branch was touching the ground from all the ice on its branches.

So this past spring, I was pleasantly surprised to see these gorgeous blossoms on our little tree.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Ice Ice Baby

Arctic fox mittens that Livi is wearing were mine from when we lived in Alaska. They are very warm!!

Brrrrr......

Cell service was spotty...big tease. I would think I had service, then NOTHING!

Decided to watch Narnia since I couldn't watch my trash DVR'd shows.

Electricity kind of flickered, but never went out for more than an hour

Facebook could be accessed in brief pockets of service on my phone.

Games....played my share or Dora Dominoes this week.

Had homemade ice cream

I think this is the longest I have gone without blogging since I was at my mom's (aka the land of no internet).

Just so thankful we had food and shelter.

Kind of ice storm related: The faucet kept leaking, then it leaked under the sink. Not sure if it was related to the storm. But Husband installed this gorgeous new faucet.

Livi loved sledding down the big hill in our neighborhood

Made good food despite the icky weather

No cable or internet for the week

Only ice left as of this afternoon is a bit in the shadows in the yard...freaky!

Pizza night, we still had it on Friday.

Quite a sight, all the broken trees. We lost one tree. Others were touching the ground so heavy with ice.

Raced down the hills in the sleds

Sounds of ice-laden branches cracking off the trees sound like cannons going off.

Thankful we had water and power throughout the week

Until Sat, I had not left the house since Mon afternoon....

Washed a bunch of jammies this week....snow days = jammie days in our house

Xpect to be stir crazy after that many days in the house

Yes, I was so ready to leave

Zipfy sleds are the best! I even rode down the hill once or twice.

Photohunt: wide open skies

Photohunt is hosted by TNchick

This past Friday we woke up to cloudy skies, rain, and melting snow and ice. So by early after noon it was kind of nice to see the bluest of skies I have ever seen. There were white fluffy clouds in the wide open skies. Very nice end to a week that even included two snow days of missed school.

Happy Saturday, y'all!

Friday Fill In

Friday fill in courtesy of the talented Janet.....thinking of her and her dad

1. Said the night wind to the little lamb, "Hush little baby, don't say a word...(I sing this to Will every single night as part of his bedtime routine)."

2. The first Noel, the angel did say, my oh my what a beautiful day This was my backyard this afternoon....you never would have known we missed two days of school on the account of snow this week!

3. All too soon we will be going, Over the hills and everywhere.

4. It came upon the midnight clear, all were sleeping peacefully in their own beds....until around 5AM or so.

5. Will and Livi, Let your heart be light.

6. And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing sing loudly, sing proudly...just keep singing baby girl.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to letting the kids open a present, tomorrow my plans include a movie with the kids...Bolt or The Tale of Despereaux and Sunday, I want to check and double check everything for Christmas!

Photostory Friday: seasons

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I grew up in podunk Oklahoma. There are four seasons there: almost summer, summer, barely summer, and a wee little bit of winter. After thirty years of living there, I married a soldier. Oh the far away lands we would go I though. First stop: Alaska....and Fairbanks, Alaska at that!

We had four seasons as well: almost winter, winter, barely winter, and a wee little bit of summer. After three wonderful years there, we were going to move again. Oh yeah....a chance for some seasons. Where was Uncle Sam going to send us? Can you believe it, we went back to Oklahoma. Granted, I love Oklahoma. My mom lives ten minutes from where we did there. Will was born there. She was able to see him very often. But I really longed for seasons.

From Oklahoma, we moved to the east Bay of California to a picture perfect town. While the weather there is absolutely gorgeous, I still didn't have seasons. After a very short stint there, we were on the move again.

Kansas here we come.....oh, the joy of four seasons. I loved it. I loved wearing a light sweater in the evenings while at the chiminea with the neighbors! But KS was only a school for a year. We were on the move again. So many places were mentioned of where we could go....where oh where would Uncle Sam send us.

You are kidding me? Texas....It was so against my Boomer Sooner upbringing to even think good things about Texas. While I never felt like Texas was my home, I loved the house that became our home there. I made some of the best friends ever there....so sad to say Texas does hold a special place in my heart. But just a wee little space!

When Husband returned from the deployment (which was a year ago on the 19th!!!), it was time to move again. Husband, please Husband, can we please go somewhere with seasons. I love me

some seasons. Kentucky here we come.

I got seasons. We arrived in the summer. I witnessed some gorgeous colors this past fall. Now winter is in full swing....WITH snow!

I had to take a pic of these lights .....they line the patio area. The little caps of snow are so pretty!

More snow on my little evergreen trees out front! I am loving the seasons so far.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Some Bloggy Bling and a cute little mug

My lovely friend CrackerJack over at Izzy N' Emmy has given me the BrainyBlog Award. Now if that isn't cool, I don't know what is! Thanks so much Alisha for thinking of me at Tuesday Update!

I proudly accept this award, so I must . . .

1) Think of at least 5 bloggers that you believe to be “Brainy Bloggers”

2) Post it on your blog for all to see! Let them know you’ve awarded them by email, twitter, etc or via a comment on their blog!

3) Share some linky love and link back to both the person who awarded you. Izzy N' Emmy

4) Come back to the Brainy Blog Headquarters to sign our Mr. Linky and then pass it on!

I would like to pass this award onto the following brainy blogs:

• Corey at Living and Loving Every Minute of It : Her photog skills are awesome, she also does some tutorials every once in awhile. I never fail to learn something!




• Claudia at On-A-Limb - bring peace to the world one tomato at a time




• Libby at From Robinson Road for bringing the other side of the world so much closer




• Mary Alice from From the Front Lines - Another fellow military wife going through this thing called life.




• Laski Gal from From the Cheap Seats -Her writing inspires me to the put more thought into my random posts!
  
  

So go on and visit some new brainy bloggers.

Guess what came today??

My dining room furniture! Will wanted his big mug in it...and it had to be the crazy face. What you can't see is the long bench on the side Will is on. It can slide in between the table legs completely if we need. I am not sure I am happy with the placement of the dishes in there, but for now it works! The new light looks great. I am very happy with the way it all came together. Thanks Husband, for all your hard work, it looks wonderful!

Stocking up on Overstock

I am so lovin' Overstock.com. The entry way and dining room has wood floors. Wood floors echo. Two kids under five are loud! So wood floors + loud kids = a need for rugs. Enter Overstock.com. I have gotten two gorgeous rugs since coming to KY.

This rug now graces the dining room floor. It is HUGE...like 9'6" X 13'6"...I got it for a steal, it was 78% off the retail price. With shipping less than the mocha choca locca latte I treat myself to....it was a bargain! It is a 100% wool as well.

Though the edges look black in this pic, it is really a dark green. It goes so well with the drapes I finished this weekend. The wall color as well as the Red Cornelian wall are also represented rug.

This runner is in the entry way. It totally brings out all the floral colors of this San Francisco painting we have along the long wall of the entry way.

The gold color along the border is very similar to the Nacho Chip color we use in the living room and our bedroom. But in real life that color is much more muted, more like a light butter color. Again, 100% wool and 50% off.

I am hooked! I ordered the runner first....since I wanted to see the quality of the rugs. I was impressed enough to order that mongo rug. I will definitely be ordering again.

I have my eye on some cute little white rocking chairs for the front porch.

A little sneak peek: I am thinking this is the light fixture (from Lowes, of all places!) to go over the table. The table is a rectangular table. So this will look gorgeous. Livi and I are going to run by one more store in the morning on "girl day" to see if there is anything I like better. Either way, we will get one tomorrow, so Husband can hang it before the furniture gets here the following week (or two).

So, have you ever gotten anything at Overstock?

Weekend update

It was indeed a working weekend. Forget about Labor Day being a day of rest, there is work to do in casa Tuesday Update. First Husband applied Gila window tint to the windows in the front of the house. You can see on the left how it is already cutting down the glare. It cools the interior by at least 5-10 degrees. We first discovered this tint when we lived in OK. Will's room faced the west. It was so hot in there in the afternoon and evenings. We (as in Husband) applied this in TX as well. I can't likey a hot house. I am certainly not going to have b00b sweat in my own home!

I did the get the panels pinned and sewn together. I figured out I did the panels with lining, the sheers, the hardware cost less than half of ONE of my inspiration panels! I originally wanted use the little rings and just clip the panel to the rod. But once the rings were on there, the panels were lower than the sheers. I didn't like that at all. So I took them down, sewed a little pocket at the top, and threaded them onto the rod. Overall, I am very pleased with them.

I couldn't quit get the entire window but you get the idea.

The Kilz Casual color, Cornelian Red is only on this one wall. The other three walls are our neutral color. My goal over the next two days or so is to get the floor in here cleaned up. Since we ordered the rug and furniture for this room, it is basically empty. So it has become a holding area for all kind of things. Things are I am freecycling, a huge box of packing paper, tools needed for various projects.....etc.

Overall, a great weekend!

Getting my crafty on....

This was my inspiration. I love the color of these drapes. They are very similar to the Nacho Chip that I use in my main living area as well as our bedroom. The red/maroon in these are a tad darker than my Cornelian Red I use....but I still love it. The walls in the dining room area light neutral with one wall in the red (which really looks like wet terra cotta rather than a red). We ordered our dining room furniture last week. It should be here in 2-3 weeks....so I thought I better get around to putting up some window coverings. I went to the one and only fabric store and brought home some samples last week. Though the above Pottery Barn one is absolutely gorgeous, I knew I could make some for a fraction of the cost. Since Husband has a long weekend, I went by to get the fabric today.

Whew Hoo.....my favorite words were plastered all over the storefront: Sale 50-75% off decorator fabrics. I was kind of shocked my little Hancock Fabrics was hustling and bustling at one in the afternoon. But it was. I grabbed my mongo roll and lugged it to the cutting counter. By the time I got it and the lining fabric, it was the cost of half of one of my inspiration drapes!

I love the embroidered polka dots. It gives it some texture without having to add a fringe. It is so fun and whimisical. I am trying to incorporate a bit of fun and unexpected in this room. I can't wait to get started.

I did get this hardware in an antique bronze finish. I will hang some light sand colored sheers behind them since they are hanging along the edge of the window rather than cover the entire window.

So, for fabric, lining fabric, and hardware....it was the cost of ONE PANEL!

Weekend update

This weekend was very productive for the Tuesday Update home. We, as in Husband, hung the pictures that were in our bedroom. It is one wall of family and friend pics, all in black frames. It turned out very well!

We received the runner in the mail for the front hallway. I have to admit I was a bit scared of ordering from Overstock.com. But I am thoroughly impressed. It is a ten foot long 100% wool runner that was very reasonable priced. I will definitely be ordering from them again. It also got here in four days!

Plants are finally in the urns that flank the garage. The planters are hung on the porch. More flowers are in the rusty little cart in the front yard.

Finally, my big Martha moment:

Remember the window treatment at the spa I went to in OH.....I loved this simple window treatment. But those little balls, which I now know are called witches' balls, are about 15-25 a piece! So for one little window in the downstairs laundry/bathroom, that would be nearly $200 after window hardware. NOT....no way....so I got my creative juices flowing.

I saw some grapevine balls at Target. I do love my grapevine lights, so I thought I might be able to work with something like that. But Target only had a handful of small ones. When I was in the candle section, I noticed a mongo box of some scented potpourri with grapevine balls and all kinds of dried pods. True, it was sandalwood scented. But how long can that scent last? That stuff never lasts....so I went ahead and got a box. Heck, I'll get two, just in case I want to go a little crazy.

Whew hoo! My window has the same look at a fraction of the cost.

Want a closer look? The little balls are hung onto these little rings I found at Walmart of all places (in the jewelry section). I was looking for a ball of jute when I saw them. I originally wanted to use the little clips like they did. But I couldn't find any in the same finish as the rod. I have had this curtain rod since we lived in KS. With the Fragrant Clove color on the walls, I knew these would be perfect.

***edited to add: this bathroom is a very dark pumpkin orange color...for the life of me, I could not get it with the camera. There are those florescent energy saving light bulbs in there, so it really distorts the color on the camera. ***
We are in the final stages of finishing the house: the little things like flowers, candles, etc... The dining room furniture is ordered. It should be here in two-three weeks. Whew hoo!

Happy weekend, y'all!