A few of my favorite things.... {award}

My sweet friend at Life, Crafts and Whatever kindly awarded me with my second "Kreativ Blogger" award! What a fun way to start a Friday. 

I'm sure that I have mentioned eleventy million times that I am uber boring and have no "fun facts" left to share. I'm going to reach really deep here and pull out whatever comes to mind. After all, this award comes with rules and I am only one to obey. 


Rules: 
Thank the person who awarded you and link to their blog. {check}
List 10 {seriously...10} interesting facts about yourself {seriously... interesting}
Share the Love to whoever you want... {that's the easy part}


Interesting Fact number one: 
I have a new name for my bed. Yes, strange, but it dawned on me 2 nights ago that my bed is a "vacation". I long for the moment in which I can lay down and relax. When I wake in the morning the first thing I think is "It's over too soon". Both of which I say about vacations. Hence... my bed is now my "vacation". The hubs has even referred to it as vacation. "Babe... let's go on vacation now". Awe. 

Fact number two: 
I have come to rather despise the wind. In fact, I am really beginning to loathe it. I don't loathe much. It's just that it will.not.stop.no.matter.what. Not even ease up. It's keeping me from doing the things I love outdoors. Go away 30mph+ gusts... go away.


Fact number three: 
We are researching adoption agencies. That is indeed a fact. Lord willing we find the one that we feel God has lead us to by July, we will start the process of getting our home study and profile complete. We are beside ourselves with excitement!!! {Don't ask why July, that's just the month that the hubs and I feel is best and we are sticking to it.} We are "sticker-to-it kind of people. 

Fact number four: 
My fur baby was just recently diagnosed with diabetes. She lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks and she was drinking gallons {no exaggeration} of water every day. She would tinkle in her kennel {which was not like her} and got to the point that she would lay in the floor and tinkle on herself and not even get up. We took her in and her glucose levels were at 630! According to the vet she should have been dead. {I don't even want to think about it}.  We are now giving her Insulin shots twice a day.... for the rest of her life. 

Fact number 5: 
I LOVE my new house key. It's the small things right. The Deeps has adorable keys to choose from. This is my new lovely. It's especially wonderful since I can spot it out quickly when I have a toddler that needs to get in the house quickly. 

Fact number 6: 
I accidently bought this popcorn, only to realize it's awesome! Seriously. It comes in a bowl. Perfect for our movie nights. 

Fact number 7: 
It's true. I'm the worlds best author at night when I lay down to go to sleep. I write Best Selling Novels in my head but would never be able to write them on paper. What a shame.... 


Fact number 8: I have a huge surprise project that I am sharing on Sunday. It's been my "baby" for the last 2 months or so and I can't wait to reveal it to others. I do hope that you will love it too. 

Fact number 9:  I was featured on Elle Belle Creative. Yes I was. She chose to spotlight the activity tray I made for Kyah.  Thanks miss Elle Belle! 

Fact number 10: I could live on Cadbury Eggs, Tuna Helper, Hot Tamales, Taco's Al Pastor, Sweet Tea, Star Crunch Snacks, Fruit {especially strawberries and apples with Nutella}, shrimp scampi, zesty dill pickles and chips and salsa. Oh and frozen yogurt. mmmm. {can you tell I'm hungry}


The lovely ladies that would like to share this award with are as follows: 
Bon Mot 
Miss Lovey Creations
Lady bug Blessings
The Crafty Nest


{they are great crafters}


See you SUNDAY with my big reveal!!! 

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Little Oinkers are so...

CUTE! FUN! SQUISHY! And I assume in some cases edible {although I don't really want to think about that part}. 


This past weekend we celebrated Easter by waking up with a cold and not attending church. Ok, so that's not the ideal situation, but we made the best of it on Saturday not knowing what laid ahead. 


Our neighborhood holds an annual Easter "Spring Fling". At this "Spring Fling" they have the Easter Bunny, a Petting Zoo, a Clown that makes balloon animals, the famous egg hunt, face painting, etc.  I'm sure you catch the drift. 


We decided to walk there since it just so happen to be down the street from our home. Kyah had a blast! 

Kyah wasn't quite prepared to see a giant bunny but he did manage to give him a few high fives. He could care less about the clown.. he just wanted his "el-fant" balloon. 

These were just a few of the amazingly gentle animals. I'm always surprised at how tame these animals are. Especially for babies. Picked up, thrown, stepped on, hit... you name it. I think that we have also come to the conclusion that the baby chicks are laid to rest upon their return to the stock yards. Kids were picking them up and throwing them as hard as possible back into their tub. I'm not talking about little kids. I'm talking kids that are old enough to know better. Like 8-12 year old kids.{I would also like to add here that parents need to teach their children to be more gentle. Prepare children and then discipline them with they misbehave... Ok, enough with my soapbox}. 

Daddy Dubs holding the bunny so that Kyah could "gently" pet it. 

The worlds cutest oinker. Seriously, is that not adorable. Alright, so the dirty water isn't much to look at, but that sweet little baby oinker sure is something.  So tiny and so hot. 


To put it's size into perspective, here is oinker tiny with my tiny. 

NOTE: Kyah was dancing in circles in this picture. He was so giddy over the "dog" that he just couldn't keep still. 

Lastly... me and my bunny bear!  What a hot, windy, stinky trip to the petting zoo! However I must add that it was SO.MUCH.FUN and I have officially decided that he's getting a baby pot belly oinker for his birthday. 


shhh. Don't tell! 

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Kill two birds with one stone...

I had huge plans of updating with photos, but oh.my.word. It has been so stinkin windy here that I haven't been able to paint anything. 


Instead I have been working on a much more important project that will be revealed on May 1st! It's that "thing" that I have never been more excited about. Member that one? I could just squeal thinking about it. 


The hubs had a good friend of his come to visit. They are playing Golf all-day-everyday for a few days this week. That means more Thrifting time for me and Kyah.  Here are a few finds that I picked up this morning. 

I'm all about finding me some bright fun colors for the spring and summer. Since  Mr. Dubs and I will not be going on vacation this year, I need to bring vacation to us. Hence, bright colors, whimsical designs, the beach... 

Mentioning lack of vacay this year, we have been talking about international adoption. Not at all sure if this is the direction that we will go, but it's a new look into things. For the last year and a half all we have talked about it Domestic Infant Adoption so that we could bring home our little bundle of joy from the hospital. After church a few days ago, B had a desire to adoption internationally. Where this came from I have no idea, but I am totally going to roll with it.  I have been reading more about it and talking to moms that have gone through it. What an incredible experience. Before I say too much more, I need to talk to B tonight and see what he thinks about some of the information I have come across. The good news however... we have not been able to find an agency that we like here in the area. On the other hand, there's an amazing agency for international adoption right down the road. 


Here's to the wind dying down a bit in these next few days so that I can post a few pictures of some projects I have been working on. 

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Trash to Treasure: Small Kids Wooden Chair

{NOTE: very simple post}

Just as soon as I saw this cute little chair at Goodwill, and I saw it's $3 price tag, I was sold!  I knew exactly what I was going to use it for.  You guessed it... Kyah's new chair for the patio. 
{Yes, this is the only before picture that I have of it. Pink and Icky is all you really need to know anyhow}. 

The theme for the patio is teal and green. Of course, this little chair had to follow suit.  We are also the "dubs" so you know that I had to personalize it too!

My little booger loved it! 

He sat in it to eat his "nana" while taking a break from playing. 

Are these not the cutest little toes you ever did see! 

We just LOVE this little chair. It goes perfectly with the new patio {which I can't wait to reveal when done}. 


I will have a post coming later this week for those of you that need "Thrifting Tips".  If you have any particular questions for me, please ask and I will include that in the post. 


Until then... craft away my friends, craft away!

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It's just what Texan's do!

I have been working on several projects but I have yet to take photos. I did however want to share a few photos with you that we took this past weekend. My sister in law and her hubs came to visit and they brought little Sadie Bug! Gosh, I love this little girl.  She and Kyah had such a good time playing together. This was the first time that they truly spent enough time together to get used to one another and actually "play". We pulled out every toy in this house. Let me assure you, we are talking lots and lots of toys here. 


We played in the water hose, Kyah's favorite!  

We went to the park...

went for frozen yogurt, shopped at the outlets {in which they got new clothes.. not I} and eventually got around to taking Blue Bonnet Pictures.  


You knew that was coming didn't you.  You are not a native Texan unless you stick your kids in a field of Blue Bonnets and take 168 pictures. {Not that I counted the number of pictures or anything}. 


Here are a few of my favorites. 

Do take pictures with your native flower? 

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Spring has sprung and so have the "Baby Tweets"

As soon as spring "sprung" I emerged from the house and began work on my spring patio. The progress is coming along great I might add. As a matter of fact I need your help with something.  I need to snap a picture and post this coming week so that I can get your amazing feedback.  I'm stumped with one area and would love ideas. The sweet hubs advice: "It looks fine empty". That my friends is not a solution... just more of a reminder that we have a problem. 


::: back on track:::


As I was setting things out that I had stored to use for decor, I propped a twig wreath on a table against the window. I made my way in for a quick break and noticed these two little birds perched on the twig wreath. Adorbs!

I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots before they each moseyed along. 

A few days later I purchased two ferns to hang on the patio. Not long after, one of the ferns began to die. Thinking that it was just my complete inability to keep plants alive I kept watering it. The hubs even had a bet on me to see how quick I would kill them. This gave me determination to keep these suckers alive.  It was my mission! 


One thrived, one kept croaking. Blah. However, these adorable little finches were always on the fence, singing me songs and letting me take their picture. They were my friends {or so I thought}. 

A few weeks later I was out working on another phase of the patio. This phase required me to remove the ferns from their current position and replace when my project was complete. 


Little did I know, that I would find some baby tweeters-to-be in my fern. Four of them to be exact. They eggs are about the size of my thumbnail. Granted,  If I was the small mama finch that delivered them, I would have thought they were the size of cannons. 

And here I was thinking that she was just sitting on the fence signing me songs. Yea right. She was cursing me and tweeting her death threats. 

After completing my project I hung the fern back up and came inside so that mama could be reassured her little tweets were safe and sound!  

We are very excited about watching them hatch and grow into sweet little tweeters! Now that you know about them, you can ride along too! 


Also: Someone recently introduced me to this amazing live stream video of Eagles that are raising 3 eaglets. I'm completely addicted and love watching this eagle family! Kyah even enjoys it and says "bird" when I open my Mac. Love that boy!  You have GOT to check this out! Simply amazing!  Currently there is a dead fish in the nest with them. Guess it was snack time. 
CLICK HERE FOR THE LIVE VIDEO FEED
{it starts with one 30 second commercial but never has them again} 

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Trash to Treasure: Kids Activity Lap Table

It was just too gorgeous to be indoors today {can I get an amen from those fellow Texans}.


I dug through my "treasures" and found a perfect project to complete while Kyah played in the backyard.  I have had this piece for almost a year. It made it through the move and then sat in the get-to-someday-pile some more.  After looking at it today I decided that it could not sit any longer.  It needed to be made into a little pretty. Well, in this case made into a Kid's Activity Lap Table. 


When I first spotted this tacky ole' thang I knew what I wanted it to become. It was just a matter of deciding exactly what I wanted it to "look" like. 

Since I had everything on hand, this project costs me a total of $3 {what it costs for the tray}. Now, considering it has set for a year, I'm going to even out that $3 and just round down to Free! When things sit that long, they become free... in case you didn't know. 

Here are the steps at a glance: 

Steps in Details: 
1- I went through my paint and chose blue. Since I have a little boy that will be the current user of the tray, I wanted to keep it boyish. 
2- I chose two 12x12 sheets of scrap paper from my stash. I had two choices out and let Kyah choose. He was so excited about the circles that he smiled, pointed and said "ball". Therefore, circles it was! How could a mommy resist that!
3-  I sanded it down. Not completely, but enough. 
4- I gave it a good coat of spray primer and let dry. 
5- I then took my can of Blue and went to town!
{here's where it gets fun}
6- After it dried I sanded it down to give it a distressed look and to expose the underneath wood {cause that's the cool thing to do}. 

7- I mixed a green shade of paint {that I bought in the "oops paint" section a Lowes a while back} with a bit of water to dilute. 
8- Laugh if you need to, but I have tons of burp cloths from when Kyah was an infant left over. We never had to use them... ever.  I took a handy burp cloth {similar to cheese cloth} and dabbed it in my green paint/water mix. I rubbed over the entire piece going in sections. I gave it a nice heavy coat, let it sit for about 10 seconds and then wiped off. 
9- Once dry {which happens quickly} I took my scrap paper and cut it down to size. 
10- Using Modpodge, I adhered the paper to the top of the table and smoothed out the bubbles... some were just so stubborn so they won. I was not in the mood to fight with paper bubbles. I then applied a coat of Martha Stewart's High Gloss Modpodge to the top and let dry. 

Now, we can eat snacks, color, play games, etc and do it in style! 

Have you completed a Trash To Treasure lately?

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