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Sneak peek at all the fun

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Kathy

Today is crazy with work & school party fun and I am still working on that Halloween post. Halloween is a huge deal in our house so it’s taking a while to go through all the photos. Here is a sneak peek though

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I’ve got ghosts everywhere!

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kathy

Happy, Happy Halloween everyone! Due to the hurricane we had to do lots of outside prep. We put things away, my potted plants in the garage, boxed up my outdoor pretties so they would not blow away. We also brought in all the Halloween decorations that Jessie and I put up.

My house is covered in decorations that I now have to put back out. But leave it to Keith to make it fun. Check out where one of our ghosts landed.

Ghosts in my foyer!

Ignore all the mess! Keeping it real!

Maybe I should leave him, he’s pretty cute there.

Well I’m off to redecorate outside, shop for candy (hope there is some left) Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with some pictures of all our fun & the mummy dogs we are having for dinner. Have fun, be safe!

Posted in Halloween | Tagged Ghosts, Ghosts hanging on Chandelier, Halloween | 3 Comments

More Pinterest Challenge color love

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kathy

Ok so two projects during a hurricane, now that was quite ambitious. The projects were easy, making the soup too. The editing photos and posting, now that was work.

So on this one I’m just going to post the pretty pics and maybe post details later. Background, I have seen these terrific yellow salt and pepper mills all over the internet. I had the exact same shakers from my mom that were wood and I thought why spend $25.00 a piece when I can just paint mine. So that’s what I did.

I’m linking up to: Sherry, Katie, Carmel, Sarah

Also linked to Hookin Up with HOH

Posted in Link Parties, Paint, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Pinterest Challenge Fall Edition – Bring on the color

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kathy

Time for the Pinterest Challenge Fall Edition & let me tell you, there is nothing like getting your Pinterest action on in a Hurricane. We were very lucky and suffered no damage other than a few missing roof shingles. Our power stayed on & I cooked some soup & painted not one but two projects! I wish everyone had been so lucky & am praying for those who were not.

So I have been seeing painted interior doors all over Pinterest, blogland & Houzz. They are to die for and I have been croaking to get one in my house. I decided to start with the door in my laundry room to the garage first. Ours was plain builder white horrible and it needed some pretty in a bad way. I was thinking I really wanted a teal door. Sunday night while everyone was stocking up on food, flashlights & getting prepared I was at Home Depot picking out teal paint. Sure you need water & milk in a Hurricane but teal paint, now how many people consider that important? I have some “limeish” green in my washroom and thought the teal would look great with it. So instead of picking up samples to try out in the room I just picked out a chip that I thought matched the color & matched my teal to that chip. Smart way to go! (oh and I did run to Walmart for a couple of food items later so no one starved). So lets get to the door shall we?

Doesn’t look as horrible here but trust me!

I decided that I needed to brush by the hinges & Keith brought me this huge paint brush so I made him do it!

Colorization begins!

Cody took pics of me painting but I guess it was boring

Cause this is what I found when I went to edit pics

and this

of course Patches had to get in on the action

But let’s get back to the door shall we?

After

Since it’s so cloudy it was hard to get the color right in the photos, either the door was not right or the walls were not. The photo above is probably the most accurate of the door color

I was thinking about painting the trim the green color (I put the sample up). Jess thinks it would look good. What do you think?

I can’t really show the washer side yet. See how the color is kind of off? In person it is great and I LOVE it!

Love I tell you, Love

Posted in Link Parties, Paint, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

The boy is gonna be upset with me

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Kathy

And by the boy I mean my son Cody who has demanded that I not put him on the ole blog. Oops! I’m going to have a really hard time with that request. Here are the reasons why:

1. The kid is just darn cute!

2. He is a handsome young man!

3. I never have been really good at doing what my kids want me to do.

4. I just can’t help myself.

Just take the photos below for example, I saw on some awesome blog (of course I can’t remember where and didn’t pin but I promise I will try to find) this terrific idea of having your kid hold a sign with the grade they are going into for that first day of school pic all us moms take each year. Brilliant. Why can’t I think of these things? Anywho

I of course MADE my kid hold up a quickly written sign. He hated the idea. HATED would be a mild word but he loves his mom so he obliged. (ok I may have had to resort to threatening as well).

Needless to say he is not going to be happy about this but while I edit some pics for some well overdue posts I thought I would share these of my really wonderful son. He is the light of my life.

See, not pleased. “get this over with already”

Hmm, maybe at this point I may have threatened.

Yeah, that’s better!

See wasn’t this a great idea?

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I had a post planned but then…

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Kathy

I went to change one little thing on my blog and 6 hours later I have no post written, no pictures edited. What I do have are very small changes on the blog that no one would even notice but me. Oh and I added the only picture I could find of myself since all my other pics are on my old computer. So there you have it. Maybe I’ll get to that post tonight maybe not.

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I sooo have ADHD

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Kathy

Ask anyone, ask my mom, she will tell you. I’m pretty sure I have ADHD. I have always been highly distractible. This is how a typical morning of my day can go. The school bus is gone and I decide ”I better scoop the kitty litter before I jump in the shower” cause you know, you’re nasty with kitty litter dust after you do that. So I go down to scoop and while I’m scooping I might as well tie up the kitchen trash to take out. Gotta wash my hands of course so while I’m here let me load these dishes in the dishwasher. Yeah, might as well fill up all the detergents in my pretty bottles while I’m down here, laundry soap too. Hmm, might as well put on this load of wash…

Really? This could go on and on. Before I know it I turn around and it’s 10:00 AM and I have not showered and have to go to work. Now some might say this happens because I’m busy and have a lot to do. Others might say it is easy to get distracted with the business of life. My mom says I’m always jumping from one thing to another without completely finishing any one thing because I have ADHD.

I spoke to my doctor once about this and the fact that I once put my keys in the ice container in the freezer and had to change all my locks because it took me 3 days to find them. She said it is easy to have ADD when you are a mom of 5 and to give myself a break. She did not think it was so much ADHD as motherhood. I won’t even go into all my childhood symptoms.

But how do I know I have it? Well because I work during the day and the only real time I have to blog is at night. I read so many other wonderful blogs and those bloggers are beyond awesome and when do many of them blog? At night, usually late at night after the kids are in bed. Many of them say they sit and watch their favorite shows while posting, writing posts, reading comments, etc…

How do they do it? Tonight is a perfect example. I want to write a post. Oh, maybe about this…

or this…

BUT it is Tuesday and after putting little man to bed and dishes and this and that all I want to do is watch NCIS. It is a family affair, every Tuesday we all gather and watch. DVR’d of course.

Now all these fabulous bloggers would be able to do both but not I. If I write or read I will completely miss every single second of the show. I WILL NOT CATCH ONE SINGLE WORD!

How do people watch TV and do stuff. I can fold laundry, maybe a couple of other very auto pilot things and watch but nothing else. I am always so impressed with those who can.

Does that mean I have ADHD? Not sure that would be a definite diagnosis factor but in my book it is a complete confirmation. That and I have not showered yet today!

Posted in Just a note. | Leave a comment

Hubby’s Hobby Love

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Kathy

Keith doesn’t really have any hobbies. He’s great at doing all kinds of projects around the house (when I can get him going), woodwork, painting, building, electrical. Heck he finished our whole basement completely by himself but hobbies, not so much.

He does have a second love though besides his family. His bike. Yep, he loves that bike. Does he ride his bike? Well sometimes. What he really loves is hanging out in the garage and changing up the bike. Mirrors, exhaust, rims, lights, gauges. You name it he changes it.

When he’s not in the garage he is on his laptop surfing for parts, reading up on the bike. Wrist Twisters, the man is addicted. Craigslist from around the country. He’s there.

Packages come to my door from here and there and everywhere. When one shows up I know he will be in the garage for the night. But that’s ok, he’s pretty cute on that bike.

Keith & his love, Honda 919

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Days of chaos, moments of life

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Kathy

I’ll admit it. My life is chaos! Everyday filled with drama, mess, laundry, to do lists, work. I’m also recovering from surgery so it’s even more nuts. Every where I look is a pile, something out of place, every surface filled with something that doesn’t belong. My floors are a maze of toys and bags, shoes and backpacks.

My life is also filled with moments of joy, love, laughter, comedy, music, smirks, giggles, new adventures. Great meals created in a messy kitchen, a baby girl so pleased and happy with herself she does high jig kicks, a boy coming into his own with his jokes and songs and drama. Daughters busy and trying to keep up with all the tasks of their own lives while giving to the family as well. A worn out husband trying to stay awake until 9 pm. Conversations where we all talk at once, getting louder and louder but still catching most of what everyone says. Politics, TV shows, problems, likes, loves, the days events shared.

These are the moments of my life. Moments I treasure even as I complain about the chaos, the mess, the noise. I would not trade them for one second of peace, quiet & order. I would like some order but never at the expense of our moments.

As I watch my life from afar some days I am reminded of how lucky I am. How fortunate I am to have a family that is close and loves each other unconditionally. How lucky we are to be together and able to share our moments with each other.

Today I am thankful even more so. Members of my family, Missy, Mandy & Cody are walking this weekend in the 2012 Walk to End of Alzheimer’s walk in Pittsburgh PA. They have worked hard to raise awareness and donations. The girls hold the cause close to their hearts as their grandfather has Alzheimer’s and my grandfather did as well. The are saddened by the effects it has on him and their family.

The cruelty of Alzheimer’s is immense & watching a loved one not even know their own children, spouses, loved ones can be heartbreaking. While our loved ones are still with us in body, they are lost to us in a fog of unknowing, memories, moments of our lives forgotten.

Today, please hold your loves ones close, overlook the chaos that may surround you and rejoice in the moments of your lives.

Posted in Family Life | 2 Comments

Pinterest Challenge Summer Edition

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Kathy

So this post is probably more about goals than the Pinterest Challenge at this point since there is only two hours to still link up. Here’s the story, I was working on some projects already so when I read on Young House Love it was time for the summer challenge I was determined to join the party.

The Pinterest Challenge Summer Edition

I worked on the project over the weekend & rushed to finish up so I could take the photos on Tuesday morning. Photos taken, mission accomplished. Then… I got a ton of work in and was slammed all day. No problem I will post when Cody goes to bed. Midnight rolls around and I’m still playing catch up on the days work but finally 1 PM and I’m ready to go through the photos. Ok but where are the befores? The lighting is off and the color seems not right even with editing. FINE, I’ll post in the morning, it’s still open so no big deal.

A week later and still no post. I haven’t even finished going through the photos so since the party closes in a hour I’m posting what I have. I am determined to complete my goal so here goes…

Project number one was to redo some picnic benches we had. I had already planned to do it when I saw this

Source: westelm.com via Kathy on Pinterest

This is sold out but it was like 300.oo. Really? Here is my version:

My version of West Elm bench

We made 2 of them actually. More details to follow in another post. Then I pinned this picture from the wonderful Emily A. Clark. I love everything she does!