Balloon Arch, Take 3 and Room Renovations!

So much time has passed..but I've been informed that no one young-ish is reading anymore!  So I can write again, hooray!! : ) haha!

Our latest adventures..

We got ready for a surprise party to say goodbye to our seniors from youth group at church!  I chalked the hallway across from the entrance!  I got super tired and my hand was hurting by the bottom scripture area..so it wasn't too great, haha!

Our baby dog, Gatsby, is super big now!  He's at 32 pounds..and maybe counting?!  This is Mary Claire's room that I redid this spring..I repainted Carter's old room upstairs (her old room), and got her a new matching monogram made by a super talented friend of hers!  Carter is back downstairs, and she's up..moving completed!

This is a room I worked on for a sweet friend, it's the kids' playroom!  We still need to hang a couple of personal items..maybe their last home's door key or some special toys.

I really have been busy as I look back over pictures!  ..I helped Clay's friend, Georgia, to build a balloon arch that we could reuse (so we don't have to keep using expensive helium balloons!).  She went to Lowe's and Wal-Mart to request money and supplies to make an arch for Springdale Youth Activity Council.  Their walk was to gather food for a local food pantry.  We started with two 2'x2' pieces of plywood, and attached flanges in the center to hold 1/2" pipe (24" long) in place.  Then we got three pieces of 8'x3/4" white plumbing pipe with two fittings that would fit over the metal pipe.  I left it assembled in my garage with weights on the wood since the white needed some time to conform to the bent shape!

metal flanges attached with 1/2" screws

Sitting with weights..waiting on balloons!

We got some volunteers to help us!  And Phat Tire Bike Shop next door let us use their air compressor to blow up our balloons!! : )  We made the arch in an unused business space owned by the bank nearby..and there was very little lighting.  But we were thankful to have a big space to use!

Finished product, moved outside the day of the walk, hooray!!

Carter posing with a cutout of C3PO at Wal-Mart before Solo came out!  He looks SO BiG. :O

Easter, after church..everyone is a little crazy by now!  And our dog had recently been trimmed..he looks funny!

A really sweet picture of my parents.  They very rarely let me take pictures..when they are 80, they'll wish they took more, haha!

Baby Carter (not a baby..) lost his first tooth before school one morning!  He was nervous he'd lose it at school or during lunch..so we helped alleviate his fears, haha!

The bulletin board I did for our youth group seniors!  I went outside the box with a turquoise floral..but you can barely see it anyway!  This is a big group of really sweet kids.  We'll miss them!!

Carter graduated from Kindergarten!!  Wow, he's a big kid now.  He had a wonderful year with Mrs. Mueller!

And an even bigger shock-Ethan graduated from elementary school!  He'll be in sixth grade this fall across town.  Mrs. Cain has blessed us by teaching three of our kids..I hope Carter gets her eventually too!!

Gatsby turned ONE!!  His birthday is June 3rd, so he's officially not a pup anymore!  We adore him!!

Tiffany and I rode from the Fayetteville Square to the Bentonville Square, 31.5 miles!  What a fun day, and we needed each other..it got tiring!  (Especially since we hadn't ridden very much this spring!!) 

Wreath for a friend's big front porch!

This spring, I also had another fun project, an office!  It just needed cleaning out, organizing, and rearranging.  We only purchased five new frames, an end table, and a lamp.  It's not always expensive to freshen up and feel organized..just takes some hard work! ; )

It's a large room with lots of beautiful windows, and I already loved the color!

At the tv/fireplace end, using some beautiful art they already had!

The desk suite was just begging to be put back together..and it looks great with books and frames!  We only have a couple boxes for him to go through to identify recycle/keep/trash!

This is one of the only pictures I got of Clay running track this spring!  He doesn't like pictures..and he's always so far away too.  I didn't even get him in his uniform. : O  But lately, he's running every day from 7am to about 8:30am.  He's up to about 7 miles a day training for cross country.  Good grief, those boys are dedicated!!

I'm still not caught up..but I love to have the history for when I lose my pictures. : O  It happens!  

Hope your life is busy with fun, family, and friends!  Happiest of Father's Days to my DAD! to Ches! and to your dads and ALL the people who have guided you in life!  Hugs!!

Baby Shower!

I always get excited when I get to give a Baby Shower!  My friend, Courtney, is pregnant with a sweet baby BOY!  This really works out well for me, since I have a lot of white and baby blue in my house right now!  And I'm so excited for her!

My friends, Tiffany and Veronica, are also hosting, so we are making p-l-a-n-s.  Courtney wanted NO games (haha!  I kinda want to have at least one game as a joke-'cause I'm like that-but we hostesses without the mostess agreed on no games in her highest honor!).  So.. Tiffany listened to her words "if we just get together and have cookies, that's fine!" so we are having a cookie party/exchange!

We are having some soups, cheese, crackers, cake (too many c words?  Her baby's name will begin with C too!!), and CooKiES!  We meant to put on the invitation for everyone to bring a batch to exchange and totally forgot.  Oops.  So now we are having the best baking marathon EV-AH!  Seriously, I've made dough, frozen it, prayed it wouldn't lose it's rise ('cause I don't even know..is that ok?), and kept going!  I'm pulling old favorite recipes she's had (like the time she was teaching my little Ethan at the church preschool) like the Chunky Chocolate Gobs with Mounds and Oreos inside and my choc-oat-chip cookies (kinda like this, but one tablespoon of REAL vanilla extract!).  And new ones, like these lemon-frosted shortbread cookies and THE chocolate chip cookie!

I do love a good party centered around food a baby!  haha!  I picked up balloons early (since they last over two weeks with hi-float!), and I made a cutesy chalkboard and mantle for her, and I've gathered all kinds of white dishes and cake plates to elevate our food.  No pun intended, ha!

She's not expecting fancy, so we'll do fine.  We've been saving Starbucks Frappucino Jars (think like this) to add milk, iced tea or punch and blue striped straws.  Tiffany got some little Chinese take-out boxes for everyone to take home some cookies.  Cute stuff.  You should just have a baby already so we can celebrate! : )  Of just come join us Friday night, I'm sure she wouldn't care, haha!  But no games.

I'll try to take a few pictures of the shower to share.  It should be a lot of fun! (and sugar!)

Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”  Mark 9: 36-37 

Play Ball!

I consider today a Free Day-a day I didn’t count on, a freebie (since I was supposed to be taking Mary Claire to the doctor in Little Rock).  Fun!  I was slow to get around, then met Mom at the movie theater to see Sex in the City.  It was good, but some bad acting at the beginning.  It has been a while since they acted together.  Once they got going, it was better.

*Only read if you aren’t going to freak out if you know a little about the movie:  Stanford got married-and it was a beautiful white wedding-with swans!  Carrie learned to appreciate Big, Samantha enjoyed a rendezvous with an older (same age as her!) man, Charlotte admitted how hard it was to be a mother and learned to trust her sweet, sweet Harry, and Miranda took a leap of faith, and trusted herself-they are growing up!  It made me miss them a little more to see them: all the beautiful clothes, funny moments, friendship, and romance.

So, then I ran by Wal-Mart and hurried in the door-we had to make an early dinner again tonight.  I bought more fresh ears of corn-so we had those again.  Then Clay had to be at another game.  Ches took Ethan, and I took Mary Claire.  She got to play with her little buddy, Abby, and Ethan climbed the bleachers, hanging out with another team's players, the Angels.

Then, Clay was up to bat, and got another hit! Yay, Clay!  We were so proud of him.  This is him getting ready to hit..

And here's him hitting the low ball!

I took Mary Claire and Ethan home a little before it was over.  And..Clay even called me after the game to tell me he got to bat two more times-and both times made it home (not a home run!), and the second time batted his teammates in!  He was so excited!  I'm happy for him, since it hasn't been the best season ever.  It's just getting better!  They won 12-6, Yay, Clay!

Here's what we did at home-play outside!

Clay's home now, so all's well.  The other two are in bed, so we are halfway there-and it's already 9pm!  We have to do better.

Ok, I have made progress on the chalkboard!  I started to letter it today, and Ethan wanted to "help" me, so I let him paint a canvas black too.  His wasn't dry till this evening, so he'll have the pleasure of chalking it tomorrow.  Maybe with colored chalk?  I scalloped the edges (tracing a cd), then wrote one of the quotes I love!  Here's my latest project:

I can tell that it's hard to tell it's black with white chalk, but I promise it is!  I took this as it was turning dark, so I had to use the flash.  My plan is to put it all casual-like over my fireplace with some other natural stuff.  I'm going for more neutral-colored, and more casual/summery.  That's not really a theme, but you know.

Just for fun, here are a couple things I learned about food poisoning today:

If you get sick (fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea) in 6 hours or under, it's usually from Staphylococcus, from pasta salad or food that's been out too long.

If you get sick (vomiting, diarrhea with/without blood) within 6-12 hours, it's usually from E. Coli in meat or even on lettuce/veggies.

If you get sick (nausea, headache, d-word), it's usually from Salmonella (chicken).  There was an ER doctor on Dr. Oz today helping to explain how they diagnose food-borne illnesses-very good!  If you don't take care of yourself, you can get bacteria in your blood-sepsis.  Ok, that's enough.  Maybe this will come in handy for Memorial Day if you plan to eat outside? : )  You're welcome! heehee

Don't Blink!

Ethan had Mother's Day Out-his last one this year.  I was sad to end an era.  He goes to preschool this fall, so he is now officially a big boy.  His teachers were so sweet and made him a laminated scrapbook with pictures from the year.  Ches picked him up, which was good and bad.  I missed out on the good-byes-I would've been a mess, so it's probably better.  I am just emotional period!
Today was supposed to be Mary Claire's orthodontist appointment, but I forgot!  I called an hour after the appointment (when I finally looked at my calendar), and made her a make up appointment next Tuesday.  I felt bad, but they didn't seem to mind.  It's only a 15 minute appointment to get her spacers, so it will probably be fine.
I shopped and kept decorating..more candles, rocks, shells, glass, a picture frame.  And...guess what I made this afternoon?  I have been wanting a huge chalkboard, and I decided I needed one (to try) over the fireplace.  Maybe with a poem, a recipe..something!  So..I painted a huge canvas!  Take a look:

Ok..so disregard all the other stuff laying around.  It is exciting!  I haven't tried to write on it yet, but I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.  I used regular paint, but I can always wipe it with a wet paper towel.  The paint bottle says it's permanent after it's dry, so *fingers crossed*!
I was trying to get ready for a trip to Little Rock tomorrow to take Mary Claire, but she cried after school since she was going to miss the Fairy Tale Ball at 1:30.  We got out the Halloween dress I got her for this fall (got it last November first-on sale!)..it's a longgg princess dress.  And that's the problem (well, besides that she was going to be gone).  I have now dried it for about 30 minutes-and it won't shrink!  It's too long!  She said she doesn't care.  I just know she'll rip it, but she insists.  And she has at least 6 other dress-up dresses, but she wants the new one, of course.  So..I rescheduled her appointment for July 7th, so we'll be in town tomorrow.  It works better anyway-I'm always in the mood to wait to go to Little Rock!  and she gets to go to school and the Ball. : )
Ok, so on to our evening!  The kids swam for a tiny bit, and we had a great dinner-I've learned that grilling can be faster than :cooking:.  I got fresh corn on the cob yesterday, and today I learned how to cook it!  I just peeled the husks off, brushed it with olive oil, and wrapped the cobs in foil.  I grilled them at about 350 degrees for 15 minutes-oh, so good!  and pork chops and french bread.  Easy, and fast!  Clay wanted more corn, so I'll have to make more next time.
Then we had Clay's baseball game.  We prayed before dinner that Clay would have a good game, and get a hit.  I felt like I needed to be there, especially tonight.  He was playing a good team, and he needed support.  Ches went early, since he had to be there by five.  We went a little later, and Mary Claire was giving me SO much grief.  She didn't want to go, wanted to know why we had to go, etc.  But, ha!  She got to play with a couple girls, climb all over the bleachers, have a ring pop:

And then..Ethan had to have a Pacifier (that's what it looks like!):

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It was actually a good game!  His team lost, but they put up a good fight!  Clay did indeed get a hit, got tagged out on the way to second, but we were still proud of him.  He was happy, and that counts.  I was so glad that I went.  I met a new mom (it's a small world!), and got to see his hit.  I hung around for the after party (coach's talk):

These kiddos are growing up fast!  I sure hope I don't miss it.