An Incredible Man

I'm not sure how I got so blessed but I remember the day I met this man!  A boy at the time, and I was a boy-crazy teenage girl!!!  My dad told my sister and I we were getting a new pastor at our church and the first thing we asked was, "Does he have kids?  Sons?  Are they hot?"  Ha ha!  We went through this loooong line to say, "Hello" and shake all their hands...afterward my dad asked what we thought and I remember saying, "Uh...he (the pastor) can stay".  Little did I know...

Four years later I asked that boy - now a Hot college guy, to my Senior year High School Cheerleading banquet, and I'm not sure to this day why...but he said, "Yes"!  The rest is history folks!  Even though his friends gave him such a hard time...we began dating, fell in love, got married 2 years later and began a life together!

He is the most incredible man, hand-picked by God for me...everything I asked for on my "list", and the BEST father ever to our children!  

Curtis Jon Downs - you are my ROCK!  I love you more and more each day!!!  Happy Father's Day my love!!!

Another Project - Life Verse Painting!

I've also been working on this - my dad made me this HUGE canvas to put our family life verse on!  I had a BLAST working on this!  In case you are wondering the verse is Colossians 1:9-12 - my FAVE!

a far away view...

and a close up...!

Re-Do's

Remember this:

We bought this desk for $200 at a garage sale...and these?:  

8 foot bookshelves for $25???  Umm, I'll take two please - same garage sale:)

We finally finished them and here's what they look like now:)

The desk - this thing is HUGE, my computer looks like a toy on it now - ha ha!  We sanded and stained, sanded and stained, until it was just how we wanted it!

and the bookshelves...honeslty - we just spray painted these - dontcha just Loooove what a little spray paint can do?  I am loving arranging and re-arranging these, can't wait to buy something pretty to put on top of both!  What do you suggest?

In the meantime, it's been fun putting my little do-dads all around:)

and rearranging books like this...

and just for fun...here's another view!  I'm linking up to Thrity Decor Chick - check my links on the right!  She's got some great projects and ideas there!

Summer Snow!

One of the fun gifts Kinsley asked for and received for her birthday was this Snow Cone Maker!

It has been super fun, and they LOVE making snow cones with it!

And...in this 100 degree Texas heat we've been having lately, I've been loving it a little bit too:)!

Kinsley's Art Party

Kinsley's Birthday Party was a big success!  I think it turned out exactly how she wanted it to!

We began with the invitations:

They said:  Crayons, Paint, and Markers Galore!  A Very Artsy Celebration is in Store!  Creative, Fun, and Masterpieces Great...Come and help us Celebrate!

Didn't my hubby do an awesome job?!  

Then it was on to the food...

We went for a rainbow theme here to include all the colors, so...rainbow frosted cupcakes on an easel:)

Even the inside of the cake was rainbow!:)

Fruit in every color!  Mmmm!  We also had veggies in a variety of colors and rainbow goldfish to munch!

Now for the decor:

I got this precious idea from a party website to hang paint cans and attach tablecloths to look like spilled paint!  I thought it turned out adorable!

On to the FUN:

As each kiddo arrived they were given their very own art smock and ushered outside to create a one-of-a kind masterpiece!  I think they enjoyed not having a certain picture to paint but they were just allowed to create whatever they wanted!  The ice trays served as great paint holders - and allowed just the right amount of paint to be squeezed out without being too much!

Here's the birthday girl working hard!

Group shot of all the little artistes':)

A colorful masterpiece!

We also had a play-doh table and a drawing/coloring table set up for the party-goers to explore!

After eating cake and opening presents we were sure to get pics with all Kinsley's friends in front of the chalkboard picture frame for Thank You Notes (I actually ended up emailing all the photos to parents with a note of thanks, but it would have been super cute to make photo postcards like this, that was my original idea in the perfect world of plenty of time:)!)

For party favors each kiddo went home with their smock, their masterpiece, and a new set of watercolors!

All in all, it was a colorful, creative and artsy-rific time!!!

What other cool bday ideas have you heard of?  We love out-of-the-box parties!

Super Saturday!

Today was a good day!  The kids wanted to sell lemonade using their cute new lemonade poster we bought for $1 in the dollar bins at Target!  They actually made $7.50 - pretty good for a little lemonade stand, and just a couple of hours I think!  Kinsley loved waving cars down and screaming "Lemonade, Get Your Lemonade Here"!!!  Kaden was a great salesman too, making sure everyone had a straw!

Then they wanted to make forts and eat smores - here's Kinsley's fort in the dining room:)

And here they are reading books by flashlight in Kaden's fort in his room!  Excuse Kinsley's nakedness but this is us...real life...she loves going au natural:)  

Just enjoying summer!!  Hope you are too!

A Quote for YOUR Weekend!!!!

I was cleaning out/organizing my home office and I found this quote by Charles Swindoll:  LOVE it!!!

ATTITUDE

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company...a church...a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a CHOICE each day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our ATTITUDE...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I REACT to it.  

And so it is with you...we are in charge of our ATTITUDES."

Summer Patio(s) Renovation

I have been dying to renovate my patio's out by the pool but just have not had the time, nor the money to do it like I want to...so...I am entering a contest on Making It Lovely, haven't checked out her blog???  Go!  She is amazing and along with her husband, they have completely renovated their house, and did a stinkin' good job I must say!  Plus they have two adorable kiddos!  I get so inspired when I visit her site!

Here is what my patios look like now:  (literally, I JUST went outside and snapped these picks, please forgive the trash bag with my daughters latest painting project, and the leftover trimmings from our oleander that froze this winter)!

 First patio, right outside the back door, covered - dreaming of a backyard living room, comfy cozy seating, fireplace or firepit, long breezy curtains, some type of art or sculpture on the walls, or a swing... again... - I used to have one but it broke:(

Looking at the 2nd patio from the side of the pool - this one looks out onto the yard that we have off to the side from this direction

  2nd patio looking toward the pool - All that's out there right now are things our neighbors and friends have so generously offered - thank you sweet friends!  I am dreaming of chaise lounge chairs to lay in, a table and lots of chairs filled with sweet friends, lights strung across us overhead, a cozy little nook for reading in (love the Pottery Barn one Making it Lovely has), a fountain in the middle of the patio by the hot-tub...ahhh...the possibilities are endless!!!

This Summer I Promise...

This summer...I promise to let you be a kid...to let you sleep in until you naturally awaken, to let you watch cartoons until your hearts content, to let you eat popsicles for breakfast, to let you swim in the pool until your fingers and toes turn to raisins...

...to let you wear your funny swim fins and goggles to neighborhood pools and friends houses, to play with you in the pool rather than just relax and lay out/read a book/text on my phone/talk with my friends...I promise to take you to lots of parks, to let you play in the sandbox no matter how dirty you get, to go on nature walks with you...

...I promise to let you wear pajamas all day, or run around in just your underwear, to let you get the playroom as messy as you want without making you clean it up each day, to let you paint and play with play-doh, to do crafts with you, to let you play in the sprinklers in your clothes, to take you on surprise trips to get snowcones, ice cream, or to see a movie...

...I promise to be silly with you, laugh with you, turn up the music and dance with you, build you sheet forts in the dining room, bake cookies and brownies with you and let you lick the bowl and spoons, I promise to play board games with you and let you pick the game, to let you make pallets in my room to have a slumber party, to catch fireflies in a jar with you, to take you on fun field trips....

...to let you invite friends over to play or walk you down to a neighborhood friends house just to say hello, I promise to make you lots of Kool-Aid in all different flavors, to let you play outside until it gets dark, to let you play on the Wii, the DS, and the computer and to play on these things with you...

I promise to let you be a kid, to soak up your summer, to delight in all things you love to do...I promise this because I know these days go by fast...and I want you to enjoy the WONDER!!!!