Box of Chocolates

I started looking at dogs about three days after Delta was no longer with us. Mark on the other hand could have lived without a dog. As the days got longer in number the more I missed having a dog. Last weekend Mark told me that he would like the kids to get a puppy for Christmas. What I heard was GREEN LIGHT, GO!  Once those words left Mark's lips I was running at full speed.   We decided that a puppy on Christmas would be cool but not ideal.  We wanted to adopt a puppy. Rescue is a first come, first serve situation. I started looking in hopes to find the perfect dog for us before Christmas.  Most dogs in rescue are already full grown and a big dog mix.  If you want a Lab or Pit Bull mix they are astronomical in number.  It is sad how many dogs are up for adoption.   On Monday while searching petfinder.com I come across a Jack Russell puppy in Ft. Payne, Alabama. For my Florida friends that is about the distance from St. Pete to Orlando. ...

Finished project  (Not quite) I have been working on many projects which I thought I would have posted by now. With Pinterest in my life I keep finding better ways to do some of my ideas. I have a lot of materials and a bunch of half done projects. I wanted to post the stools I made for the craft room. The are not 100% done (they need a clear coat which is the hubby's department). I need seating in the craft room. I will admit I was being very selfish with my craft room and realized one day that this shouldn't be my room but a room that I enjoy with the kids. So, I turned the table short end to the wall.  Which gave us two sides of 6 ft work space. I really don't want to buy more damask chairs seeing they cost over $150 and well, I like having my queen chair. I didn't want to spend a lot which is hard to do and still get what you like. I was inspired by a friend that has started to recently antique/distress/paint furniture. I bought a couple of stools at Walmart. T...

Do you have a pile of paper work from your kids school, clubs, sports or PTA that is worth keeping for a few weeks but taking over your life? The small mountain on the corner of a shelf or on the desk. The one you move 100 different places during the year. I surely am not the only one that has a pile with miles. You move it because company is coming.  It is an eyesore so you move it here and then over there. You don't know what to do with it. I have a solution!     I have three kids and the paper work from outside the house is a forest full of trees. For example, the "Don't Eat This List" from the orthodontist that my oldest reads like the bible, the PTA newsletters, or the softball schedules. I don't have enough room on my refrigerator for it all. I tried to read things and throw them away as I got them but I would forget all the details. I started a pile in the kitchen one day and it was there for years. Literally! I would go through it at times and tos...

I couldn't find a valence to match my daughters pink and black Paris themed room that didn't cost my husband a lot of his hard earned money. I wanted an inexpensive yet girly look to hide the roller shade. I also don't like to sew.  Although, I was going to sew but I couldn't find material to match either.  So one day I accidentally found Eiffel Tower pink and black ribbon. You all know the great accidental find, the one while roaming around aimlessly at the local craft store you when you find what you had NOT been looking for. Of course you fall in love and buy it knowing that one day you will use it for some project. After months of sitting around I started to google ribbon curtains and found some similar ideas but then my idea took on a life of its own, no sew!   Materials After this picture I took a couple trips back to the store to get different ribbon. Who buys all their needs for a project on the first trip? I ended up with... 2 rolls of 9 yard, 1.5 inch...

Have you ever sat down and thought, "Who am I?"  That should be a clue that I am having a major identity crisis.  I am in my middle thirties.  Right smack in the middle. 35, treinta y cinco, vifendertig, trente-cinq, trettirem.  I thought the other day, "Does 35 sound better in a different language?"  I took Spanish for years and treinta y cinco is still 35.  The only cool thing about treinta is the r sound it makes in Spanish. My husband jokes that I am half way to 70, which is really not funny. I'm not sure of how long I will live but life expectancy in America is around 78.  As I look into it more I am thankful I am not in central Africa where life expectancy is in the 40's. I would not have many more years ahead.  Then I look at the countries with longer life expectancy in the 80's and wonder what is going on in Germany, France, Australia, and Japan. Spain has a longer life expectancy too, maybe 35 does sound better in Spanish. I feel like...

The score was 10 - 13.  It is the bottom of the fourth (they only play five innings). Two girls on base.  Madison was up to bat.  My bench bunny is letting her light shine and WACK!  She hit a hard ground ball up the middle of the field past second base, past the out fielders and she is running like the wind.  In field HOME RUN!  Three runs scored and the game is tied 13-13.  So exctied I got to yell, "that's my girl!" Next inning the team held them off to zero runs.  Our first base girl gets two outs in a row (she is really good).  Our team is up to bat, one run and our team wins.  First base girl is up and gets a hit, the next girl up hits a fly ball the center field and our first base girl gets the winning run 14-13. Coach gives the game ball to a player that worked hard, went to every practice and kept a good attitude (see he noticed).  She kept a good attitude even though she has only played one or two innings a game and ot...

Well, Madison made All Stars for girls 8 and under coach pitch softball.   This is great considering that last year was her first year to play t-ball and this year is her first year in coach pitch softball.  I have to add too that her sister played on the same team and is not on the All Star team.  We have had a lot of tough life lessons around here the past couple of weeks.  It is hard to watch your kids sit on the bench for three of four innings of the first All Star game.  Part of me wishes that they only selected 10 girls instead of 12 and that two girls didn't have to sit out.  Madison gets to bat in rotation but she had a really emotional night not being in the field.  What do you say?  I feel like it is an honor just to be asked but understand her disappointment.  I can't shield her from all the disappointments in life. Every fiber in my motherhood whats my child to always be happy but life is not always happy.  Sometimes life g...