Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!


Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We had fantastic meal today at my mom and dad's house. Our menu consisted of Fried Turkey, Cornbread Dressing, Broccoli Salad, Fruit Salad, Chicken and Dumplings, and candied sweet potato's. Of course, I ate too much but who doesn't on Thanksgiving. We are back home and getting ready for the A&M and Texas football game. We are taking a little trip to Canton in the morning to shop for a few treasures. I'll let you know what we find.....

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Out for the Holidays




We had an early out today at 1:30! That's one of the perks of a teaching job. Today is my mom's birthday and we are having a barn cookout tomorrow night. We haven't had a barn get together in quite awhile so I can't wait to eat some of the great grilling my husband is going to cook. I haven't been working on too much this week but I did put together the black chair that I ordered from target.com. I struggled at first because I put the washers in the wrong place and it didn't go together right. So I took it apart and started over the next day with a little help from my husband. Once I had that little problem solved the chair went together fairly easy. I must say the two items that I purchased from target.com were much nicer than I ever expected. Very well built and a nice paint finish on the desk and chair. I am going to either buy a cushion for the chair or make one. I'm trying to decide on a color for the cushion. Haley and I went to Lowe's and I bought some 8 ft. long trim to go around my bathroom mirror. I am going to paint it black and then glue it onto the mirror. When we made over the bathroom I decided to keep my old mirror and put this trim around the edge to give it a different look. As soon as we get to this project I will post pictures. I hope everyone has great Thanksgiving! Try not to eat too much!


Saturday, November 22, 2008

Quilt Shops, Food, and back home!

Haley
Texas Rose Antique Show
Honey Bee Quilt Shop



I had a great time in Austin. I got all the arrangements for Matt's graduation in a couple of weeks and found a few new shops that I will re-visit. I went to a couple of Quilt Shops while I was there. The first one that I visited was The Quilt Store on Anderson Lane. It's a little hard to find because it is behind the shopping center but it's really a neat shop. I found the prints by Heather Bailey that I have been looking for to make a lap quilt. If you like to quilt or do cute projects Heather has fabulous fabric prints that she designs and she has several patterns and instructions on her website. I also visited "Honey Bee Quilt Shop" on Hwy 183 North and Anderson Mill Road. This is a great quilt shop and I loved looking at all the beautiful fabrics and the people were so helpful and nice. Places I like to eat when I visit Haley are Santa Rita's - great Mexican food and the nicest people that work there. I eat breakfast at La-Madeline's every morning and drink the BEST coffee! We also eat there for lunch occasionally. On the way home we stopped by "Dirty Martins" and had a cheeseburger. We both agreed we prefer "Huts" over Dirty Martins but both have good burgers. We made a stop by the Texas Rose Antique Show in Round Top and we enjoyed walking through all the booths that were set up. They had lots of vintage Christmas ornaments and other decorations as well. It is such a pretty drive through Round Top. I must say it looks much different than it did when we were there a couple of months ago for the Fall Show. If you have time to spare this is really a beautiful drive and neat things to browse through. We are back home and settled in and watching Texas-Tech and O.U. game. I have a few pictures to post but I will post more later.

Friday, November 21, 2008

I'm in Austin

I'm in Austin getting things ready for my sons graduation in a couple of weeks. While I'm here I hope to hit a few estate sales and flea markets! The Jr. League "Christmas Affair" is also going on this weekend and I hope to stop by and purchase some of my Christmas gifts. Last night Haley and I got a pedi and mani and when we were done the weather outside was miserably cold. I will keep you posted on what I find in A-town this weekend.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Cypress Knee Santa's and Texas Country Reporter!




My mom and some of her friends paint Santa's on Cypress knees that come out of the woods near the river and creek beds. My Dad and Mom go to a place on their land and he cuts them with a chain saw and then she comes home and prepares them for painting.They meet at each others houses once a week and they have a large collection of the hand painted Santa's. One of their friends wrote in to Bob Phillips from Texas Country Reporter about their hobby and he is coming to film them next Monday and Tuesday. I'll let you know when it's supposed to air. I will also bring some pictures of the Santa's so you can see how talented these ladies are at what they do.I think that it's neat and exciting that they are going to be on TV for their artistic hobby.I posted a couple of pictures today of the large bulletin board that I spoke about yesterday. These are not the greatest pictures but you will get the idea.I've also added a couple of new blog sites that are really good, so if you have time please browse those sites. I am getting very close to my 100th posting and I am thinking about what I am going to give away for that event!Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Candles and Fireplaces


We are celebrating my husbands birthday tonight with Ribs and Potato Salad. He turned a year older yesterday but I had softball games and so we are having the festivities tonight with my parents.I am battling sinus sickness again and don't feel all that great. Stuffy nose, headache, and yucky feeling! UGH....We finished up our Fall softball season last night and the girls have improved since their first game but we have a long way to go.Season will begin in January so I have plenty of work cut out for me up until that time. My daughter called yesterday and said that she was in Hobby Lobby and she was buying a large frame for half price and buying cork board for the frame to make her a large "pretty" bulletin board for her home office. She said the cost was around 50.00 which is great compared to those really large ones in the Ballard's catalogue. When she is finished painting it and has it mounted on her wall I'll post a picture. She also bought several candles to decorate her fireplace and sent me a picture of how that looks and I really like it! The candles were on sale 1/2 off as well. She has a gas fireplace but it doesn't work so she decided to put candles inside. Good choice I think. I have some exciting news that I will share tomorrow. My mom is going to be on TV! More news on that later....have a great day!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

New Sewing Machines and Cute Houses







There are so many different brands of sewing machines to choose from but I really think that I would like to buy a new Bernina sewing machine. I am going to sell my Elna machine and replace it with a newer Bernina model. My Elna is a really nice computerized machine but I would like one that does larger embroidery. Any advice from anyone on sewing machines is welcomed.
Today was a beautiful day and I had a great time working after church at the antique store. I did some work in my space and added some new items and visited with several friends that came by.This is such a nice time of the year for families to spend time with each other. I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead.I will be making a quick trip to Austin this weekend to pick up Haley. She is coming home for the holidays. She says she's ready for a break and a visit home. By the way, Jannie, one of my blog friends asked me, "Where is Buna"? Well Jannie it's a small Southeast Texas town about 30 miles North of Beaumont. The last time I went to visit Linsi in Dallas I took a few pictures of some of the cute homes in her neighborhood. I love to drive around and look at all the older cute homes.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Cooler Weather


I got up this morning and my parents and I went to an Estate Sale in Buna. We didn't find too much but I found a few small things. The weather was cooler today and it's supposed to get in the 30's tonight. We came back to Newton and grilled some delicious steaks and baked potatoes. Mom cooked mustard greens and sausage to go with it and we had a great meal. After church I'm working at the antique store tomorrow. The store has decided to be open 7 days a week until Christmas. I've decided to sell my Elna sewing machine with all the accessories and buy a new Bernina machine. I have a Bernina 930 that is a great machine but I really would like a machine that does larger embroidery. Have a Super Saturday!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Time Flies when you're having fun!







Wow! Already Friday again! Today is my son's birthday and he is 23 years old. He will graduate from UT in a few weeks and hopefully find a good job. Another big step in his young life. I remember the year that I graduated from college and I was so excited about my first coaching/teaching job. What an experience for a 21 year old. I wasn't that much older than the students. In the middle of that year I got pregnant with my first daughter, Linsi, and I decided that I would not be a working mom. I made the decision to stay at home and take care of my newborn and I've never regretted staying home for the next 12 years with my 3 children. I'm so thankful that my husband had a good job and we were financially able to make that decision. Matt doesn't like to get his picture made so I'm posting an old picture of him. He hasn't changed much though.



I bought three white pumpkins from Pottery Barn and I made an arrangement for the dining table. I put the pumpkins in a green charger that I also picked up at Pottery Barn and then I added some cute filler around the outside edges. I'll post a picture of that too.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

I'm Back














































Well I finally got my computer back today and I am posting pictures of my new curtains and some other projects. The black chest of drawers that I painted and put in my sewing room which also holds my new t.v. that I bought for that room is also in this group of pictures. We have had our share of rain the past couple of days! We are still working on the lighting in the kitchen but it's slowly getting there. My walls look really bare in most of the pictures because I haven't decided what I am going to put on them yet. I have a hard time deciding what to put on freshly painted walls but I will put something up soon and when I do I'll post those pictures too. Tomorrow my son, Matt, will be 23 years old. Man, how time flies, it seems like yesterday he was only a toddler. I used two pottery barn colors for the newly painted rooms. I used linen wicker for the kitchen and sewing room and then in the master bedroom and bath I used Oakwood manor. Both are very neutral colors but I plan to pull in color with accessories and curtains. If you go back to some of the earlier post you can see before pictures of the kitchen and some of the furniture pieces. I also included a picture of my quilt. I need to put the binding around the edges and it will be finished.

Monday, November 10, 2008

More Curtains

I made curtains for my sewing room and my master bath last week. I have two more windows to go and I'll be finished with curtains. I got my laptop back today and I will post pictures tonight of both rooms. We are slowly getting the kitchen back together. I ordered light fixtures from Pottery Barn and so far I have one of those installed.I have two more to install. The weather is a little dreary here today....rainy and cold. I cancelled all the games for tonight and postponed them until next Monday. I thought this was going to be the last Monday for softball but I guess not! Have a Magnificent Monday!

Friday, November 7, 2008

It's already Friday!!!

This week flew by for me! My laptop is in the shop so I haven't been on the computer much this week. I am hoping it's fixed when I get off work today. We are working on getting the house back in order for the holidays and it's getting there. I'll post pics of the kitchen this weekend. It's looking good. We have to finish the cabinet tops with trim and I need to make my curtains for the kitchen and dining area. I want to paint my chairs and a bench black that will go in the dining area, too. The weather is great here today. Softball class was nice and breezy. I have a young lady that decided to play softball for the first time in her little life and I am trying to make tough and aggressive! Today we were working on outfield hits and infield hits and how to run the bases with those kinds of hits. She was running sooooo slow around the bases and as I stood there I thought I know I could run faster than that and I'm 48 years old. So I decided I would call her over there and we would race.....the other girls nearly fell out when I started running with her! And I did out run her.....I guess I still have it! I may not be able to get out of the bed in the morning ! LOL Have a great weekend!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

1st Monday

Canton was great! It was extremely crowded when we arrived Saturday and we had to walk a long distance after we parked the car. The weather was beautiful but the crowd made it difficult to maneuver. I found several nice pieces that I bought.I bought a large bookcase that was painted a shabby green for my sewing room and a nice cabinet with a counter top and storage underneath for my sewing room. I am going to use it as a cutting table. I had a cutting table that was huge and it took up too much room so I am going to try and sell it. I am waiting to receive the black desk that I ordered from Target to arrive and I will be finished with the furniture in that room. It is really shaping up nicely. Junktique is going to reopen tomorrow and I am going tonight and work on my space. It has been closed since Hurricane Ike because of damage to the roof.I also found a nice chest of drawers, a black buffet, and a dresser that I am going to put in the space at Junktique. The fall leaves were beautiful along the roadside on our way to Canton. The orange, brown, green, and yellow leaves were so pretty. Have meaningful Monday!