Happy Halloween!

All I can say is Thank the Lord this day is over...its been a WHIRL wind of a holiday I must say. And here I sit...blogging with one eye open...must be "bouncing off the walls" from all the TREATS! OHHHHH yeah, we have at least a 8 pound bowl of candy we compiled between the two girls...or CATS I should say.

And I have to admit...I have owned a few cats in my lifetime but never two this CUTE! BRAGGGGIN, yes, I am...the costumes turned out too cute! I bought the ears, bow tie, and tails in a set...sewed the bow tie and tails on, made arm bands out of fur...black tights, black shoes, a little mascara for whiskers and a nose...and here they are! Homemade and ADORABLE I must say.

Wade, myself, and two cute kitty cats, "Mama Cat and Baby Cat", started off in Murfreesboro at a wedding rehearsal, yes on Halloween, Bentlee is a flower girl in my cousins wedding tomorrow. Then we stopped in to see our FAVORITE daycare/sitter/friend, MACHEL! What a "treat" that was for all of us. We have not been able to see her lately and she loves the girls as much as we do. Then we headed back to Conway for the church fall festival. They both got prizes when their names were drawn from a pot, they played games, got WAY too much candy, and Bentlee won 2nd prize in her age group of costumes. She was thrilled! And Halloween is not complete without actually Trick-or-Treating...so, we hit a few houses after the festival...adding to the heavy treat bags...and finally we are home. Again, THANK the Lord this holiday is over! FUN but CRAZY~CRAZY!

I could HARDLY wait to share the photos...especially this one of my mom with the girls. I cherish these simple moments that my mom is able to share with our girls...it makes the day even more special...even more than a holiday.

My dad

Just wanted to give you a quick update on my dad. His hair is growing back (LOL!) and all is well, he finally returned to work this week. He was not out of work due to cancer but his back had not completely healed. That was a blessing in discuise if you ask me, it helped him slow down and "smell the roses" a bit. He had his 6 month PET scan with the oncologist in Chapel Hill last week and he got a good report. The doctor assures them there is no cure for cancer but dad claims "VICTORY in the LORD". He says it will not come back...and would not discuss future options with the doctor. Praise GOD. Continue to pray for my Dad...his faith is so strong and has taken him this far. November will be the one year mark of his diagnosis.

More signs...sold my first one Saturday!

Doneille was my first customer on Saturday...bought my "M" sign right off my wreath...LOL! Thanks for the business...and she placed orders for a few more for Christmas. She and I are considering doing the Ho-Ho Craft Show in Conway??? We'll let you know what we decide...I can ALWAYS use the money for sure and it fills my "creative space" within my body...if that makes sense.
Here are a couple more I did this morning...the B is a white background, distressed, with a black letter and silver ribbon. I was curious how the white background would look and to jazz it up a bit I added the silver ribbon and may brush a little silver paint around the edges??? the picture does not do it justice but its pretty cute, a bit more "plain" than the brown/fall look but very versatile.
The P is one I did for Michele, she needed a birthday present and VOILA...here it is. This board is more narrow but she had a small letter she had ordered from UCL and it worked perfectly. The letter is soft gold and the ribbon looks really pretty with it.
If you want to order keep in mind the boards are tan and white for now... I may branch out to some brighter colors for kids room but not until I see if anyone really wants them.

Happy Anniversary!

Here is the cutest cake I bought for my mom and dad for their anniversary from Bentlee and Rylee. I knew they would not actually eat the cake since neither prefer it but we had a lunch at church yesterday and I knew the kids would eat it. It was just SO darn cute I could not resist. Doneille can't take the credit for this but I feel sure she could duplicate it, LOL!

I also ended up giving them the ceramic tile I made in the below post. I suggested to mom that she put it on the alter table with the new fall arrangement and I wish I had taken a picture of it because it was beautiful all together. I just hope mom takes it home and doesn't actually leave it at church, lol.

I am always up to something...

Here is one of my new little projects I have been thinking about...I got some initials from UpperCase with nothing special in mind...just thinking Christmas presents when I ordered them...so, here is one I did for myself first.

I thought I had more ribbon in the closet but I was wrong...it worked out pretty good though. I did have this pretty fall ribbon and it turned out great. the paint color is the same as my doors...a pretty brownish, taupe whatever...the board is about 6 inches.

I have started making them for Bentlee's teachers for christmas and I have one for my sister have to add ribbon and walmart selection was terrible last night)...just a little something to tell my sister I love her, she hardly ever gets little stuff like that. And I plan to make more. I figured if anyone is interested in these I can make some for you. They will be $7.50 each....special orders only. I also bought letters for the kids I keep and I am considering making kiddie one's for their bedroom doors or doorknobs, you could really hang them anywhere.

I had no idea I would hang this in my wreath but how cute it is! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

What a perfect PERSONALIZED gift for teachers, coworkers, etc. They could go on office doors...hang on a knob, on a dresser...on the wall in a small space somewhere...in the bathroom, the ideas keep coming. I also considered making some larger one's with three initials...have not tackled that yet (got another test next week so my time will be limited).

My creative juices are FLOWING these days....need to scrap some of this energy!

My new UpperCase Living!

I finally got my new UpperCase Living stuff from my party.

Here's a lookie for you...

This was my freebie...and I LOVE it! Although, I think I am giving this to my parents for their anniversary today (even though I have about $6 in the whole thing, its worth way more than that to me)! 37 years for them today...WOW! Will I be able to make it that long? :>
Its a two part...I bought a ceramic tile and a black wrought iron stand and VOILA! Its super nice looking! I got the background in linen so I should have gotten a bit darker ceramic tile but its still nice, the wheat is not as light as it looks...the wording is the copper color that I think is the BEST color!


Here is the one in my girls bathroom....got the electric pink and its awesome! Hard to photograph, sorry, but cute all the same. Bentlee is thrilled with it and I think she takes it seriously, HOORAH!


And the newly painted back doors received my long awaited vines! I ended up cutting them in 6 peices each, it was a real booger to get like
I wanted it or had visioned it. They are linen colored also and its just enough for the doors. As always, they look better in person. Someone thought I had stenciled them! Wade is not happy with them but when has that ever stopped me, LOL, after all, who has the crafty eye in this house???...LOL!

Handy-Man

Here are a few projects I have been working on since I have been home, things I have put off for some time...finally getting around to them...the weather finally permitted me to paint my back doors. Wade, Dad, and I put up the fencing last week...we have had the fence up beside the house, a storm took down one side and Wade and I finally took down the other side and VOILA, we have a $$$-free project! And since I bought too much paint for my backdoors I decided to go ahead and paint the shutters since we took them down and pressure washed the house. I am not sure about the shutters...they were navy blue so this looks a bit "blah"...its growing on me. I have painted the side door and front door the same color but have to put a second coat on those next week. So, just in case you thought I was sitting around eating Bon-Bons and screaming at the kids, LOL, I have been using outside time and naptime very wisely...did I mention how tired I am this week after all the handy-man stuff last week? But it sure does feel good to be getting all these little home projects done..and if I had more money I could REALLY get some stuff done, LOL! My neighbors think I need some Ritalin, LOL!
BTW- Wade was a trooper last week...I worked him hard on his days off, and "we sure 'preciate it"!

Can you feel the concentration?

If you have small kids the picture of concentration has a whole new meaning...I LOVE to watch my oldest daughter Bentlee really concentrate on her work...I can feel the determination she has to please me and herself. It was hard to really capture this moment and I sure do wish I could download the video I took of her counting...if only you can see her little mouth forming the numbers as she writes them and how hard she tries to write them. Can you imagine her saying "firty one, firty two...(thirty one, thirty two)?
Bentlee had some trouble with her small motor skills in PreK. Now that she is in Kindergarten Wade and I can see her overcoming those difficulties more and more each day...she colors better, she forms/writes her words better, and I love to SEE how she is learning by looking at her school work she brings home each day. PreK was a play/learning environment, Kindergarten really takes a learning "curve" of sorts...they are not playing much anymore, they are absorbing SOOO much more. I can only imagine the day I will sit and listen as she reads, which won't be long...we take so much for granted each day...the minutes turn into hours, the days to weeks...PreK to Kindergarten....and tonight I stopped the clock as I sat and watched my daughter with patience and I almost cried as I realized the value of me sitting right there with her...can you really feel her concentration?

Pumpkin Farm

Friday morning I decided we needed a "field trip", the air was cool, the breeze was blowing and fall was definately tickling our toes (i.e. flip flop days are getting to be few and far between, guess I may buy some toe socks right, lol)...anywho, the three toddlers and I set out for the local pumpkin farm.

The kids really enjoyed this little trip...we even walked the pumpkin patch and had sort of a pumpkin "hunt". The kids kept seeing the pumpkins growing underneath the big green leaves and saw the large yellow blossom. I tried to explain how the pumpkins came from those large yellow flowers...I think I lost them, LOL! I took loads of photos but as you know dial up internet prohibits me from sharing ALL those photos...FROWN!

They each came home with a small pumpkin of their choice and much less energy after all that walking in the patch.

I did manage to upload a new header picture. Sweet Rylee in the pumpkin patch with her long pigtails, did I tell you how much I am enjoying her each day? She is such a joy, such a blessing to be with her each and everyday.

Trash the Dress

The pictures are online!

Tara's pictures are just awesome, she is new and up to date on photo applications, etc and made us look really good, even with wet hair...not bragging or anything but Michele and I did a pretty good job too, not professional or anything but pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Visit Tara's website and check us out...www.photobytarastore.com....click on Michele and Shelley in the pulldown column, password is "trashed". Enjoy!

Michele, I know you don't mind me sharing these with everybody....or you shouldn't anyway! WE ROCK!

And I will say this again, I would DO this again in a heartbeat..I have more idea's now...facial expressions I would like to use, etc. The location was perfect, just not my dark, squinting eyes...and mean looks, LOL! If you are consider doing this, GO FOR IT! It is a once in a lifetime experience and like I told the lady at the pond that thought we had lost our minds, "I might not be here tomorrow, live for today, have fun, what are the chances my girls will wear this dress in 20+ years!"...