That's Disgusting!

The weather has been so nice lately. And with the cooler fall weather comes the flies. Yet, I still love living in the country!

Uh, No!

Blynn: Mom, I'm so thirsty. Can you put my drink up to my mouth so I can drink it?
Me: Uh, no!
Blynn: I'm busy playing my game and I don't want to stop, but I'm so thirsty!
Me: Uh, no!

Where's George?

Well, last weekend when we flew to AZ, half way through the flight Blynn asked me for George. Do you all know who George is? He is absolutely a member of this family. Blynn doesn't do anything without him and we have never lost him, until last weekend. The above picture is how she looked when she realized that she had left George at our departing airport. Todd called the airport as soon as we landed and they asked if it was the bear that looked like it was 254 years old. Yep! That's the one. So, we had successfully recovered our beloved family member, but we would have to go the whole long weekend without him. Let me emphasize that Blynn has never slept any night without him. So that first night wasn't so great.

Reunited and it feels so good!

AZ Weekend

Here's more pictures from last weekend. We also got to spend half the time with family and as you can see, a good deal of time was spent in their beautiful pool. Todd's sister and her family live in AZ and they have an incredible backyard. It was nice hanging out with them too, and seeing their regular schedule.

I love this face. Rusty makes this one all the time.

The posing comes naturally. She can't help it, and I didn't teach this to her.

This is always a sign of a good weekend. After we got home, Rusty climbed in the chair and fell right asleep.

Reunion 2009

I am coming away from this last weekend feeling very full. And for me that usually means food, but this is a different kind of full. We flew to Arizona to visit family, and an added bonus was that I got to spend a couple of days with my friends from college. I am very thankful for my parents for the gift of my college education, but I think the best thing I learned and received while I was at college was this group of girls. They are those true friends that will tell you absolutely anything, encouragement or correction. And I think that comes from years of living so closely with one another, whether in a dorm or an apartment, it's such an intense way to get to know one another that it is hard to match those kind of friendships outside of college. We spent most of our time just visiting with one another. I have definitely come away by learning things that I need to start implementing in my daily life. I could not ask for a greater bunch of Christian women to call my friends. I love you ladies!


Just for fun:

Eleven Twelve

Do you remember this classic Sesame Street song? I think this is where my love for the Pointer Sisters started. I love these old classic SS and Electric company songs. You can search and find them all on YouTube. Blynn and Rusty love watching them too.

10 Years

This is Todd napping in the middle of the afternoon, and since Todd NEVER naps, the only conclusion is that we were at a wild party the night before. I have had the great privilege of being married to Todd for 10 years today!!! We threw a party for ourselves, complete with great food, bouncehouse (since there are significantly more little kids running around), and dancing. A big thanks to my brother in law for mixing us up some great dance music.

My Boys

Rusty likes to pick out his outfits after his Daddy has gotten dressed so they can be, "same, same".

Better than popcorn and a movie

Yesterday morning they cut the corn across the street. This is hard to miss, as it is a convoy of large equipment, so you can hear it coming. Rusty loves watching this and it turned out that they were entertained by this for a good 45 minutes. As long as it included a snack, a bowl of cheerios, since it was 7:30 in the morning.

3 Special Steps

Are you wondering how a dresser goes from the ugliness shown above (missing the hideous gold knobs that were already taken off) to this magnificent specimen:

Well, I'll tell you. First, one of my favorite blogs to follow is Life in the Fun Lane and she is constantly repainting furniture during her daughters nap time. So, after soaking in all of her knowledge, I tried it myself on a dresser, 2 end tables, and a huge mirror I got at a garage sale for $50.

Step 1: spray one coat of primer on hideous dresser (I used Zinsser primer which doesn't require sanding) Step 2: Spray two coats of color on said dresser. I lightly sanded with 220 grit sand paper between each coat. This really helped smooth it out. Especially since the top of this dresser was that really shiny/shelacked formica like top which I knew was going to be difficult.

Step 3: Take turns with your husband because it is ridiculously hot outside; and if you don't, you may overheat. We also were completely out of ice this day, and I was dying of heat. So I was forced to reach for the only cold drink in the refrigerator besides milk which was Diet Coke. I'd like to note that I haven't had a Coke or Pepsi since the 5th grade which is when I decided I didn't really like the stuff. I only drink the soda that real people drink, which is 7UP.

I have the Husky HVLP gravity feed paint sprayer that connected to Todd's handy dandy air compressor. I love that air compressor.

Step 4: Spray paint gold hardware black. If the original hardware has good structure, you can save so much money by using the original hardware and just painting it the desired color. I also saved a ton of money by buying my paint for the dresser from the "oops! section" at our hardware store. So I have no idea the name of this color, but I do know that a whole gallon was $5. And I have a ton left over.

Step 5: Distress to your liking. Or not at all!

Step 6: Move into your son's room and stare at it!
Did I say 3 special steps? Can you tell I watch too much Special Agent Oso! It's the new favorite around here.