How Could I Have Known...

Six years ago, our lives would be forever changed.
Six years ago today, we welcomed our newest baby girl to the family, Megan Grace.

Who would've ever been able to imagine all the joy she has brought us in 6 years?
She is so spunky and funny and sweet and smart and caring.
I really could go on about this little girl forever.
Did I mention that she is a major "Mommy's Girl"?
She wants to live with me forever.
That's right, the girl has plans.
She is never leaving home and will stay with me forever.  :)
She is going to be an artist when she grows up.
At first she was going to sell her art on the street in front of our house but now she is going to have a shop (that I work in and her Daddy builds for her).
She is already worrying about who will buy her art.

She has even told me countless times that she has prayed and asked God for us to die at the same time but "I don't think he's gonna let us" she always adds.
I know, it sounds a little morbid, but you gotta know my Meggie.
She worries about things like that.


How could I have known in six (way too short) years what you would mean to me??
 
How very much I love you ?*  How your smile lights up your entire face and your eyes sparkle?*  How you can bring tears to my eyes in a heartbeat with the intense things you say sometimes?*  How you are very insightful and worry about people's feelings and at the same time, can be honest to a fault?*  How sometimes, baby girl, you don't have a filter on your little mouth and just say what comes to mind?  I love you for being you.*   How I love the way your sweet, soft little bony hands feel on my face when you rub it and tell me that I am "the best Mommy ever and how could you possibly love another Mommy better" for the millionth time?*  How I love when you pray you always start with the same thing.  "Dear God, Thank you for this day.  (usually) thank you for this food, thank you for everything you made, please pray for everyone who's sick, please help the poor people, and please help no more trees to fall on anyone's houses?"  Every time.*  How you are so thoughtful and considerate and don't want us to spend money on you because you don't want us to be poor"?*  How you worry about your sister when she has to go to the doctor?*  How you scream because you are terrified of the cat even though you say you love it?*  How you are too chicken to go to the bathroom by yourself (even though you're doing better)?*  How you are too chicken to sleep by yourself (even though you are doing better...just another sign you are growing up)?*  How you sing non stop until you you drive your sister crazy (isn't that the whole point)?*  How you love to help fold laundry?*  How you like to help me with the flowers in the yard?*  How you love your chocolate milk at night?*  How you so desperately love God and want to be a Christian?*  How you are tough and most usually will not cry?*  How you love to help me decorate?* How you can hop right out of bed and get dressed for school because you are so spunky?*  How you love your bubblegum and Nacho's with Cheese?*  How you could tell me repeatedly that you love me so much your heart could just explode?*  How you would constantly tell me you love me so much your heart hurt?*  How your favorite restaurant is Texas Roadhouse and you always order the seasoned rice?* 

How could I possibly have known how much I would love you in 6 short years?

Happy Birthday My Sweet, Spunky 6 Year Old!

I LOVE You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Armoire Makeover for the Birthday Girl

Most of you know I have been working hard on my daughter's armoire and have been trying to get it finished by her birthday.
It belonged to my husband's grandmother.
My husband and I saw the potential in it and knew it would be perfect for one of our girls.
It sat in our basement for almost a year.

I am happy to say, now she is all done!!

Here she is...

Remember what she did look like...
She was a groovy girl.  :)

Remember my very crafty and creative friend Lee,

Well, she kept me sane while working on this piece.

I could not have done this project without her!

She even painted the polka dots and suggested a turquoise color for the "M" (for Megan).

My silly little five year old, very soon to be six, has requested her room be painted for her birthday.

Turquoise.

We decided the turquoise M would look nice when the walls are painted.

We put quilt batting under the panels to give them some added dimension.

Before:

After:

I wanted to put some pretty turquoise matching canvas bins on the second set of shelves but Megan would not hear of it.
She wanted a place to put her "treasures".
I reluctantly agreed since it is hers. :)
This girl knows what she wants!





Here is one last before and after:

I very much wanted to use the Old White Chalk Paint that the Blog World is currently raving about.

My very budget minded husband put the hammer down.

Well, not really but he did make me feel too guilty once we realized we would also have to purchase the wax.

So...we went with a much more budget friendly 6 cans of Heirloom White Spray Paint.  :)

I found these adorable knobs at Hobby Lobby along with the trellis fabric that was just what I had in mind.

We also found the cute little wooden monogram at Hobby Lobby.

Megan already had the bins from the organizer she used to have in her room.

The entire makeover was around $55.00!!

How's that for a huge impact for little $$?

We couldn't be happier with it and neither can my soon to be six year old little birthday girl!!  :)

Linking to:

MET Monday 

Savvy Southern Style

Making the World Cuter

Today's Creative Blog
Stories of A to Z
Beneath My Heart
Sew Many Ways
Serenity Now
Debbiedoos Newbie Party 
Thrifty Decor Chick 

Make a List Monday Linky Party #3 Going On Now

 

It's time for my 3rd Make a List Monday linky party!

Remember, this is a great time to make a list of all the projects you would like to check off your to-do list, whether big or small.

Being intentional about getting things done gets things done!
I would also love it if you would like to include pictures of projects or anything else that you checked off your to do list from last week!

I would like to show you my to do list from last week and my progress along with my to do list for next week.

I like to keep 3 things on my list because for me, that is manageable! 

You can do however many you wish!

Last week's list went like this:

1. Finish Meg's armoire before Saturday!!  Mark this baby off my to do list.  She is done!!  I will show pictures later today hopefully so come back and check it out.  :)

2.  Finish purchasing and making the remainder of Megan's birthday supplies.  Had Meg's birthday party last night and was able to accomplish everything I had planned to do.  I think it turned out really nice and the birthday girl had a great time.  Here's a little peak at the party.

3.  Make a gallery wall in my Sunroom.  Oops.  With all the armoire finishing/birthday hoopla I never got around to this.  That's okay.  There's always next week, right? 

Speaking of next week...here's the plan!
1.  Okay, I'll make some progress on that gallery wall.

2.  I'm having a yard sale this weekend...need I say more?

3.  Paint my beautiful brass lamps a new color and bring them up to date.




Linking to:
Debbiedoos Newbie Party 

My Entry Way

I wanted to show you all my entry way.
It has been this way pretty much since we moved here three years ago.
I would love to make some changes, but it probably won't happen for awhile.
I'd like to have a new rug that is bright and maybe has a touch of black in it (since it will be connecting to my dining room).

 I'd also like to paint this table.
Not sure what color just yet.

This is the view from my front door.

This light... bless it's heart.  :)

I'm just not sure what to do with her.

The brass metal shades have.got.to.go.

Don't know whether to try to paint them, replace them, or nix the lamp altogether.

Do you see those dark spots on the ceiling over the lights?

Can't figure out if they are shadows or dark spots literally on there due to the lights.

Weird.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the little tour of my entry way.

I just love the tone an entry way sets for the house.

Maybe I need to work on these projects sooner rather than later.  :)

Linking up to:

Tabletop Tuesday

Serenity Now

Make a List Monday Linky Party #2 Going On Now

Time for Make a List Monday Party #2.
This is a great time for you to make a short list of things you would like to get accomplished this week.
It always helps to be intentional.
Give me a list and I'm more likely to get it done.
Declare that I'm gonna get it done on my blog, and then there is an even greater chance it will get done.
Notice that I still didn't say 100% chance?  :)

So go ahead and link up your list.
Remember, it can be either big or small things.
Small things add up and give a great sense of accomplishment.

Each Monday for the next two months, we'll meet up for the linky party.
I'll keep the Linky up until Tuesday evening for those that want to participate.
Sound like fun??!
I can't wait to see what everyone is going to work on this week!!

Here is my list from last week.

1.  Paint Megan's new dresser/armoire and get as much completed on it as possible this week.  Remember that her birthday party is coming up in 6 days and it must get finished.  It's not there yet, but SHOULD be by her birthday.  I have a trip planned to purchase the rest of my supplies on Monday.  Here is the progress so far...

As you can see, we have a long way to go but some progress has been made!

2.  Plant flowers in our old fish pond that we had to fill with dirt.  Check.  I will have a more detailed post on this soon, but for now...

3. Get party supplies purchased and ready for Meg's Birthday party.  I have made some progress here.

Can you believe I found those for $1 each at the Dollar Tree?  I thought the trays would be perfect for serving the little sandwiches we will be having.  Also, remember the pennant banners I found for .25 each at Goodwill?

Okay, now for this week!!

1. Finish Meg's armoire before Saturday!!

2.  Finish purchasing and making the remainder of Megan's birthday supplies.

3.  Make a gallery wall in my Sunroom.

Linking to:
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Tim!!
We love you!!!

My Happy List #2

We have been out of school for two weeks now.While things haven't slowed down for us a lot, they have slowed down some.
Hopefully there's much more relaxation in store for us this summer!

1.  I am happy that the girls and I got our Summer to Do List ready this week and have already been able to mark a few things off.  We have lots of plans in the works!  :)

2.  I'm happy that the girls and I started a Bible Study/Devotion time this week that really went well.  I love spending time with my girls talking and learning about God.  They ask such good questions and have such sincere hearts.

3.  Kacie Beth came back from her Mission Possible event at church and has told us how much she has loved serving others and her community.  She is starting to form friendships with other kids in our new church and that definitely makes me one happy Momma!!

She's such a carefree child.

Notice the food that usually can be found around her mouth.  :)

I'm am so happy to be a Mommy to these two girls!

I have so much to be happy about!!

Linking up to:

Friday Favorites

I haven't gotten on the Pinterest Bandwagon yet. I played around on there one day but never got back on.
I plan to play around a little on it over the summer.

I had quite a few photos saved on my computer in my idea file and the hard drive crashed.
I had not saved them anywhere else and therefore all was lost.  :(
I've slowly started building my inspiration files back again and thought I would start sharing a few of them each week.
They may not necessarily be photos that are actually from the past week and probably will not be.

I just love this photo from Pixie Lane.
Actually, I think I love EVERY photo she has!!
She works magic with her displays and her pictures and I could just look at them for days.
Just look at that bench.
It gets me every time!





This closet makeover from Bower Power caught my attention.
It was built in a basement and looks functional and do-able.
Just what I like.  :)
Not only that, Katie is hi-lar-i-ous.
You just never know what she's gonna say.




Here's the other side of the closet.




While we're on that note, I spotted these boxes while drooling over at Whimsy Lane.
Don't you just love that name?




$5.99 for two at Ikea!!
Wow.
I really need to get to Ikea.

And this next project is A-DOR-A-BLE!!


You must go over to Love of Family and Home and check it out.
You will never believe the before.

If this next photo doesn't make your heart skip a beat, you may not have a pulse.  :)




Is it just me, or is that gorgeous?
A Thoughtful Place is quickly filling up my inspiration file.
Perfect combination of comfort and class. 
I love it and I love the feel of it and the colors of it and I would love to curl up in there and call that living room mine!!

Thanks for stopping by and viewing my Friday Favorites.
I hope you gained as much inspiration as I did!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

Going on a Treasure Hunt

After Megan's dance practice the other day, I braced myself and informed the girls we were going to stop by Goodwill.
Insert moaning and groaning here. 
Megan doesn't mind it much because I think she may have inherited a little bit of my decorating obsessed gene.
I mean, seriously, the kid asked for paint for her 6th birthday to paint her room.
Kacie, on the other hand, does not care for Goodwill.
As we get out of the van she informs me, "Well, okay, but I'm not touching anything."
In her 8 year old mind it is junk and it smells and I will have to agree with her, a lot of it is and it does.
Megan responded to Kacie's comment by saying, "Remember Kacie, there are treasures in there."
Wonder where she heard that? :)

I had in my mind that I would like to find something to use for decorations for Megan's upcoming birthday party.
I glanced around and, as usual, did not find anything I was impressed with.

Then we found it.  Our treasure. 
I spotted it and my heart started racing and I got SO excited.
So did the girls. 

Pennant banners with initials on them!
They are from a company called Bombay Duck.
I really needed one more "a" to have a complete set for Kacie and Megan but I could only find one "a".
I looked online to see if I could find another one.
Apparently this company is from London (I think) and they were $6.75 each!!
I think we'll share the letter "a".  :)
They are a very high quality and remind me of Pottery Barn and Land of Nod.
Most of them were still in the package.
And for .25!!!
That's not just a bargain, that's a steal.
I figured the possibilities for them when decorating for birthday parties are endless.
And they can hang them in their rooms (if they take turns).  LOL

So one decoration for Megan's party purchased.
For $1.25!!

Let's just say Kacie is now a believer and now has bought into the idea that there really are treasures to be found at Goodwill.
Who knows?
We may go back again today.  :) 

Linking to:

  Christina's Adventures
Frugal Friday 
Sew Darn Crafty
Southern Hospitality 

Splashes of Color

I wanted to join Tracy's Nature Photo Party so I went out looking for some inspiration in my backyard.

Disclaimer:  My camera is not the best and I did the best I could with it. A new camera is on my list.  :)

Don't you just love the splashes of colors that flowers bring?

Hope you have a wonderful day.
It's raining and storming here, but we need the rain!

One of My Favorite Displays

I wanted to show you one of my favorite displays.

 The lamp was on clearance at TJ Maxx.
 Plate and rooster-Homegoods.
Vinyl A- Leen the Graphics Queen
Print- Steinmart ($14.99)

Last year on my birthday I went looking for a small piece of furniture for my dining room.
I wanted to paint it.
I found this washstand, that I LOVE!
Got it home and my husband said I could not paint it, that it was too nice.
I was frustrated for a couple days and now I'm glad I didn't.
I really do love it.

I just love the details on the sides.
We think we should probably replace the hardware, but that won't be happening any time soon.

Linking up to Table Top Tuesday.
Also:  Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays