Sunday, June 28, 2009

Quick! Let's Get Outta HERE!

Hey Y'all!
I'll be absent from the computer for the next few days. After church this morning, my cousin invited me and Robbie to go with her and her sister and their kids to Holden Beach!
We'll be leaving in the morning and should come home Thursday so that I can't miss my birthday! hee hee
Hope you all have a wonderful week and I hope you enjoy it tremendously! I know Robbie and I are gonna have an absolute blast!
Be Blessed!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Wow! What a SCORE!

Hey Y'all!
I sooooooooo scored today!
I was looking on Craigslist in the arts and crafts section and I came across a Bernina Deco 650 embroidery machine. The seller was only asking $125.00. I Googled it and found one for $788.00! So I immediately emailed her and since I was closest to her and could come pick it up immediately she "let" me buy it! WOOHOO!
I called my little sister and bullied her into going with me. You can never be too safe, even if we were meeting in a church parking lot! The lady that sold it to me was absolutely delightful and was super nice too! I told her that I was a Home Ec. teacher and that I would maybe be using it in my classroom at school in my free time too, and she was happy! She was even sweet enough to make a little sample telling me to enjoy it! Since my birthday is coming up next week, Big Daddy told me to go get the cash out of the teller machine and to consider myself gifted early! tee hee! Here's my new baby!

I'm so glad that I found this machine! Be looking for some embroidered goodies to come really really soon on my Etsy shop! Since Robbie is doing much better after his surgery, my Etsy business is going to be getting organized and running! I'll be sure to let you know when it's ready, but you can click here to go there if you'd like. Nothing's ready yet, but you can at least bookmark it for later, right?!
Enough of that! This post is about great deals that I've been blessed to get my hands on; SCORES! So...away we go!
This awesome vase was $1.50 at my hometown's thrift shop. It holds all kinds of little rhinestones and vintage clip earrings. Those were a score from two weeks ago at $2.00 per pair at a thrift shop in Charlotte!
Next SCORE was this awesome vintage tablecloth I found on Ebay for a mere $4.99. It looks great on my kitchen table (with six chairs on Craigslist for $35.00 about a year ago).
Then, my mammaw gave me an old pink depression glass creamer. She said she never had the sugar bowl, but wanted me to have it. So I Ebayed the piece and found it's long lost mate for a whopping 99 cents! SCORE!
On our weekly trip to The Dollar Tree yesterday, I found a bunch of kids t-shirts. I made one for Robbie for July 4th. Here it is:
I found these three curtain panels at Family Dollar week before last. They were on clearance for $5.00 each! I knew they'd match the new to us furniture, so again, I SCORED!
About a month or so ago, Big Daddy and I went to yard sales around here. I sooo scored on this milk glass vase for $1.00! I love it with the cute little American flags in it on top of my old cabinet in the kitchen. See it in the top right corner?
While you're here, might as well see The Doublewide's 4th of July Kitchen decor!
Well, guess that's about it for now. I'm aggravated at myself because I didn't go to any yard sales this morning. I just could not make myself get out of the bed! But that's ok. That Bernina was well worth missing yard sales, right! I'll leave you with a sweet picture of Robbie working a puzzle! I swanee, that youngin' can work one F-A-S-T!
Be Blessed!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Spooked Outta My Skin!

Hey Y'all!
I hope you're all doing fan-tabulous today! Robbie woke up during the night/morning at 3:15 AM begging for medicine again, but he's doing great now. He/we slept until 9:30 and he's just in the best mood since surgery! I'm so thankful. His Dr. said that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would be the worst days, but I think we're almost out of the woods. I hate to jinx anything, so I'll say "almost!"
Now...the following is a TRUE story that happened to me about a month or so ago. Let me give you a little background information first so that you'll understand things a bit better.
My great-great grandfather lost his wife and his oldest son (age 16) in the early 1900s to typhoid fever. They say this fever swept through the south at an alarming rate. She (his wife) died about six months after giving birth to my great grandfater. As you can imagine, he was stricken with grief and still had four or five children to raise all alone.
He began "courting" a young lady. She had a sister named Rosie, but Rosie was the ugliest of the two. The pretty sister wanted absolutley nothing to do with my great-great grandfather, so in desperation for a little help around the farm and house, he "settled" for the ugly sister. I have a copy of the actual letter he wrote to Rosie telling her that he apologized for not trying to court her first. So, they married and she bore him like ten children and they ended up living in a small house, raising a family, living on love and faith, and doing the best they could. I have a distant cousin who is our family's historian, so thanks to him, I know all of this.
Their old homeplace is still standing, barely, right down the road from me. Our farm is between their place and the place of my great-great grandparents on the other side. I sometimes like to think I'm living on a place maybe where my great grandparents shared a Sunday walk, a little quiet time alone, or something very romantic like it.
So.....
That old homeplace is covered in vines and it's hard to get inside of the house. I love going down there---well I used to. We had our family reunions there as a child. My grandpaw owned the land until his death and we all enjoyed getting together for reunions there. There is an old spring that's down in the woods. As kids we would go every year, about this time, and clear the spring out. We made sure to take our little cups with us so that after all the leaves and limbs were gone, we could get us a good drink of cold spring water! It was the best!
Anyway---got side-tracked again...sorry! There's just so many memories...
So about a month or two ago, one afternoon after school and picking up Robbie from daycare, I thought I'd drive down the dirt road to the old homeplace and see if there were any daffodils. To my amazement, the house was covered in mounds and mounds of beautiful wysteria!
Here's some pictures of how gorgeous it was:
Breathtaking, wouldn't you say?
So, I decided to pull up in the yard and get a few pictures closer:
The smell was absolutely amazing! This scent is probably my most favorite of spring! It always brings back many memories of riding the four wheelers all through the woods as this wysteria grows wild all over the homeplace and in the woods around it.
So...
Awhile back, while it was winter, me and my sister thought we'd walk through the old house. We climbed through a window on the back, because the vines are so thick and tough that's the only way in. We spotted two old mantles. I have dibbs on one and she has dibbs on the other. We both have thought we'd put these in our homes when we build.
Now, I'm not so sure!
As I leaned in the window of the "front room" I snapped a picture of the old mantle that I've laid claim to. Just then the door to that room flew open and slammed shut. I was like..."What in the world?!!" Now..there was NO BREEZE, the air was still. I got chills all over me and was freaked with a capital F! I was a little stunned, because nothing like this has ever happened. There was an old vine climbing it's way over the mantle and I thought I'd get a picture of it. Here it is:
Just as I snapped the second picture, that door did the same thing! That was it! I said out loud, "Ok now...I'm gone!"
I couldn't get to the minivan fast enough. I was scared plum outta my skin!
A few days later as my family was here eating supper, I told the story. My daddy, who has witnesed several things that would scare you to death said, "Well. You should have told him that you were just there to take some pictures; that you weren't going to hurt anything. If you do some work around there, he'll leave you alone."
Whatchew talkin' bout Willis?! "Him? Who's HIM?" He told me that he thinks it was my great-great grandfather. Yowsa!
As for me, I won't be going around there for awhile. It still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up! I was not at peace there. I didn't have a sweet, "this is my family's history and I love and embrace it" kind of feeling---at ALL! It was more like I was scared to death and couldn't get home quick enough.
Have y'all ever had anything happen like that? If so, please comment and tell me.
Have a great, spook-free day!
Be Blessed!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Quick Update

Robbie's doing as well as to be expected after having the surgery on Monday to remove tonsils and adenoids. We woke up at 4:15 AM screaming at the top of his lungs and he was begging for his medicine. That's the hard thing about being a mama because it seemed like forever before I could get him calmed down. I had to turn on the TV and even though he was lying between me and Big Daddy, I'm not sure if he ever went back to sleep. Me and him got baths this morning and I've just filled him up with Campbell's Alphabet Soup so I'm praying that he'll be ready for his nap pretty soon.
His potty issues are pretty much gone. Even with being sick, he's doing wonderfully!
My daddy showed up yesterday afternoon with a big load of sand for the backyard for Robbie. He's not supposed to do anything much for two weeks, but he was wide open so we took him out and let him play for a little bit.
I also have been getting some squash, zuchinni, cucumbers, and a big mess of green beans out of the garden this week. Man...there's NOTHING like peeling a fresh cucumber and salting it to death before eating the whole thing!
Y'all have a great day!
Hopefully me and Robbie can get out of the house tomorrow....might ride to a few "junk" stores to browse. I'm getting cabin fever!

Be Blessed!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Successful Surgery!

Praise God that Robbie's surgery went really well yesterday. We had to be at the outpatient building by 7:15. That was NOT fun because neither me or Robbie are morning people--AT ALL!
He was happy to be there---like it was an adventure or something. I've been prepping him for about a week telling him everything that was going to happen. He kept telling the nurses that he was going to "donate his tonsils" today! It was precious!
They took us to a small room and we stayed there until it was time to go home. I snapped some pictures of him before and after surgery and I hope you enjoy them.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. He's healing really well--it's almost scary how fast he's recovering. The "Negative Nancy" in me is just waiting for the ball to drop or something bad to happen, but I'm putting my faith and trust in Jesus Christ to pull us through this and to heal my little boy!
Before we got out of the van yesterday morning, we said a prayer and he added his little "Amen" at the end. It almost made me cry because I'm so thankful to God for everything!


Hopefully I can get my little "to do" list done today since Big Daddy stayed home today too.
Here's the list:
#1. Clean out the pantry and throw away food that's out of date.
#2. Clean out fridge and freezer.
#3. Do some laundry!
#4. De-junk (bah-ha) the dining room!
Hope you get your things done today that need to get done too!
Be Blessed!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

I'm Just Plum Wore Slap Out!

And if you ain't from The South, that means I'm really tired! HAHA
We went out to eat with Big Daddy's Daddy and Step-Mama last night at Logan's Roadhouse in Gastonia. It's been a week since I had two teeth cut out of my mouth because an impacted wisdom tooth decided to move in sideways onto the root of my back tooth! Can I tell you how wonderfully awesome it felt to crunch a salad and grind a ribeye in my mouth? Yumm-O!
As it usually goes, Robbie begged Pop Pop and MiMi to go home with them. hee hee Of course they wanted him to go to, so we had the night to ourselves. Me and Big Daddy have had a long week and it was nice just to come home and go straight to bed. I got my hair cut again yesterday and I opted for the stick up in the back style. I love it because it's so easy to fix and I'm always in a hurry. So, other than trying to get fixed on my pillows so that I could read that 15 lb. hardcover book, "Breaking Dawn," I enjoyed myself. That's the last book in the "Twilight" series and they're really good. I think I probably just laid there and read for over an hour and it was so nice and relaxing.
After being woke up to the sound of my daddy on the lawn mower across the road at Mammaw's, I decided to get out of the bed. Had my coffee and then it was ON!
Me and Big Daddy started moving all of the old furniture out and I began the process of cleaning up the new to us leather furniture. It was NOT fun, but it's done. Murphy's Oil soap is great for cleaning leather furniture--just in case you ever need to do it.
Before we knew it, everything was out and then in and it was lunch time. On our way to eat with my daddy and a few of his buddies at the local greasy spoon, I spotted a yard sale. Only bought a cute little dark brown suede leather lamp shade for Robbie's new lamp. It's a vintage western wagon lamp and it looks so good in his little cowboy room, don'tcha think?
I also bought this cute pottery had and pistol piece to put on his dresser for $3.99. It's cute too!
After lunch me and Big Daddy took lunch to mammaw and I did the usual Saturday morning cleaning. We then left and headed to Big Lots to buy his Father's Day gift. Me and Robbie got him a Cuddler Recliner. It's a really dark brown and it's leather. It's SOOOOO comfy and Big Daddy is in the den right now, trying it out! Here's a picture of it! And here's Big Daddy himself in his chair!

So check THAT ONE off the list--Big Daddy is WAY happy!! hee hee
While we were in Big Lots, I wanted to look at the Martha Stewart paper craft items that they've been advertising. I couldn't find them, but while I was looking around, I found a large bin of floor rugs. I looked through and spotted a HUGE rug that looked like it would match our den once we get our fake hardwoods installed. The price tag said $19.00, but there was a $75.00 price on the paper rolled up in the rug. I took it up and the girl scanned the $19.00 tag and BAM! I just got one HECK of a deal!!
Here's the proof!
And here's the rug:
While we were moving things out, I could NOT bear to part with Robbie's changing table. Just couldn't do it!
So...I have moved it into the craft/office/junk room and have found a good use for it. Light fabrics and my big basket of trim and ribbons on the bottom. Cute little lime green baskets for doodads on the top shelf. Him getting older is killing me a little each day, so this will always be in sight as a reminder to treasure each moment God gives us with him.

Yesterday was Robbie's last day at Daycare for the summer. They had a Father's Day party and dads and pappaws were invited. They had brownies and ice cream with chocolate milk to drink. The kids sang a song and presented their homemade "gifts" to their dads. This is Big Daddy's favorite. You'll have to click on it so that you can read it, but his teacher asked them questions about their dads and then wrote their responses, just as they were telling them. Tooo Tooo precious!

Now I've got to get in my kitchen and get busy. It's a wreck!
Hope y'all have had a fun day!
Be blessed!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Creative Day

Well....my plans weren't to do much today! I paid for Robbie to go to daycare this week so I could get the carpet up and get things ready so that our new flooring man could come and put them down. He has a sister that's hospitalized right now, so as our luck would go, we've been put on hold.
After taking Robbie to daycare this morning, I took mammaw her breakfast and ate mine there too. We had a good little visit, but she wasn't fully awake, so I didn't try and get on her nerves by hanging out too long.
I came home and had every intention of lying on the couch to catch up on some TV shows that I'd DVR'd. I ended up only watching 1 episode of "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" and then that creative/cleaning/get up and do something you lazy oaf urge hit me.
I really wanted to just take a shower and go junkin' again! Me, mama and Robbie went this past Tuesday and there wasn't anything much. I did get a few good things but wasn't in the mood to make myself get ready! hahah
So....
I got online and got caught up on my blog reading and played some games on Pogo awhile. Then I did all of this:
*Three loads of laundry
*Cleaned Robbie's room and made his bed (That he STILL won't sleep in!)
*Made Robbie a pillow to match his decor out of some bandana fabric. It's the one on the right.
*Cleaned the bathrooms
*Cleaned my office/craft/junk room
*Made this awesome name plaque for Robbie. The "dot" on the I is an old washer and an old button.
*Shopped on Etsy and bought these cuties from one of my favorite bloggers: Magpie Ethel. You can visit her cute little adorable breath-taking shop here.*Made these cute little Key Fob keychains. I bought the kit in March and just now got around to getting them made.
*Went through and bagged a jewelry order for my cousin Kelly. *Covered some strawberries in sugar and will make some Strawberry Preserves tonight!
*Organized some old kitchen gadgets a friend of mine from church gave me. He also gave me the old dough bowl they're in!
*Put the milk glass creamer and sugar set my mammaw gave me on my little kitchen cabinet shelf.
*Celebrated with my little man because he pooped on the pottie and not in his jockies! We are STILL struggling but thankful for evenings with dry jockies at bath time!
*Neglected my nap because I DID some stuff today!
I'll leave you with a few shots of Robbie's new Cowboy Bedroom! Enjoy!
You can't see this very well because the sun is setting outside the widow, but there are two bandanas tied to both ends of the curtain rod. Thought it was cute!
See that picture framed above the chest of drawers? We had a Pig Pickin' to celebrate Robbie's adoption becomming final. I asked everyone to get in the picture and they also signed the matte for the frame. We probably had around 100 people here at The Doublewide that evening! I love this and I know when he gets older, he will really appreciate it too.
Did you get anything accomplished today? I know I did and it feels great! WOOHOO!
Be blessed!