I'm back!

So it has been a while to say the least! My laptop died and I put the blog on temporary hold. And then I seem to have forgotten that my blog existed. But now hopefully I will be able to get back into the habit of writing here again. 

The last 3 years (yes, 3! Bad blogger! Bad!!) have been incredibly busy. I went back to work part time. We got pregnant and welcomed a wonderful baby boy into our family. I became a Girl Scout leader. Tressie is now 10 and in 4th grade. Reagan is 7 and in 1st grade. Addie will be turning 4 this summer and Wyatt is 2. And as if those 4 weren't enough to keep us busy, we also have our two cats, Doc and She-Ra, and three dogs, a 2 year old Great Pyrenees/American Bulldog mix named Cupcake and 2 dachshund puppies, Pretzel and her brother Ringo.  I have started (and at least semi-finished) many diy projects, some of which I will be sharing here soon.

Here are just a few photos of my latest project. My mother in law had this awesome old record player in her basement. Unfortunately some of the grandkids decided that it would look great with some purple spray paint so that made it a good candidate for a new coat of paint. 

The cord was all chewed up and I am not an electrictian so I'm not sure whether or not it still functions as a record player but I had other plans for it. But first, it needed some color. Coral?? Yes, please!

I love the look of the bright pop of color with the dark wood inside. Not to mention the lovely gold speakers! I'm not usually a fan of gold but it's been calling to me lately. The speakers were also a victim of the purple spray paint but I was able to cover that up with a little metallic gold paint. I still might go back and cover the speakers with some fabric later at some point but right now I love it the way it is. 

(Please ignore the buckets of toys and shoes. In case you missed it up there ^ we have lots of kids in this house!) 

Here the record player/tv stand is in its new home! I am absolutely thrilled with how it came out. It only took me 2 years to get around to starting, and then less than 5 hours from start to finish on a beautiful sunny Sunday. Regardless, I will count this project as a success. It fits in perfectly with my clock and shelves and I am loving the pop of color against the light blue walls. It reminds me of the beach. Where's my piña colada??

Thanks for joining me for some of my ramblings! I will try very hard to post before 2017. ;) Until next time!!

Xoxo, Christina 

Happy birthday to my sweet Adeline!!!

Tomorrow is Addie's birthday. I can't believe it has already been a year since she joined our family!

I haven't had a chance to post any this week. I was sick a couple of days, crazy busy a couple of others, and on top of everything else my laptop is acting up. I will be back with a longer post and more photos once I have my laptop working again. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and 4th of July!!!

Busy busy

With only 1 week to go before Addie's birthday party, I have been a busy little bee trying to put everything together. 

Right now Addie is falling in love with baby dolls.  I have been looking for the perfect baby for her for almost a month,but just couldn't find the right one.  So me being me, I decided I would just make one myself.  How hard could it be?  Sure, I have never sewn anything more complicated than curtains AND my sewing machine just died, but that won't be a problem.  Well, one new sewing machine, a couple of days, and several frustrated attempts at fine tuning the pattern (because not only was I making the doll, I was also making my own pattern), we had baby Evie.  For a first attempt I was so proud.  And then I realized that you could see the threading that is on the backside of her face right through.  Good news is I was able to give the less than perfect Evie to Addie early and she really loves her.   I am now working on her second baby to give her on her birthday in hopes that she will love this one just as much.

Lots of love and slobbery baby kisses for baby Evie. 
New baby in the works is in the bottom right corner. 



The girls all like this doll so much that I now have orders for 6 more after I finish up Addie's birthday baby.  And by orders I mean demands from Tressie, Reagan, and my niece for babies for themselves.  And yes, Michele, yours is in there too. :)

Clockwise from top left: tinsel garland wreath, bubble/pinwheel favors, pom poms,
circle garland, cupcake toppers, and pretty handmade pinwheels

Other than experimental doll making, I have been trying to get a lot of the odds and ends for her party together.   You see that wreath?  It cost me $4 and 5 minutes.  I saw some tinsel garland at Dollar Tree and thought it might make a cute wreath.  I already had a straw wreath at home that I wasn't using, so I just wrapped the garlands around it and VOILA! I have a happy, sparkly, festive wreath perfect for July 4th and our Addie's birthday.    For the favors, I got some big bottles of bubbles, wrapped them with some pretty paper, added a tag, and then added in a pinwheel.  Simple but I really like how they came out.  We have some pom poms that are currently living on the mantle until it's time to put them up for the party.  My kitchen doorway has been taken over by these circle garlands that I made.  At the party, these will be over the table with all the sweets, along with the pom  poms. I love how the circle garlands and cupcake toppers came out.  I ordered a package from Dimpleprints and used it to print out all of the tags, banners, and signs.  It was a very affordable way to really personalize her party.  I still have to put together the pendant banners and put together the cupcake toppers and pinwheels, and a few other things, but things are definitely coming together. I am trying to do as much in advance as possible so that all I will have to worry about next week is the actual decorating, doing some major cleaning, and a ton of baking.  I can't believe my baby is about to turn 1!!!

And in celebration of her first birthday, Addie decided to show us something new.. Her first steps!!  I can't believe how big she is getting! Why can't they stay little forever?

Happy Father's Day!!

Father's Day 2010
Reagan, Darin, and Tressie

July  2010
Darin, me, and Addie

 I just wanted to wish a very happy Father's Day to my incredible husband Darin.  He truly is the best husband and father that I could ask for.  Plus he grilled me an awesome steak today, so he totally gets bonus points for that. :)

July 2010
Juan, Tressie, Reagan, and Julieta

And of course I can't leave out Tressie and Reagan's daddy.  They are with him today and I'm sure that they are having a blast.

In a related note, my house has remained clean for over 24 hours.  That is about how long they have been gone.  Coincidence??

January 2009
Grandaddy, Reagan, and Tressie

And then there is my Daddy.  He passed away in September of 2009.  There is still not a day that goes by that I don't miss him, but I am so thankful for the love that he gave to me and my girls.  He taught me so much about the type of parent that I want to be and the type of father that I want for my children.  He might be gone but the legacy of love and family that he left will always be here.

September 2010
Paw Paw and Addie

Last but not least is my father in law.  He came into our life a little bit before my dad passed away and I don't know what the girls would do without him.  Tressie and Reagan were VERY close to their granddaddy and were devestated when they lost him.  Paw Paw has been there for them every step of the way and they just adore him. 

And a very happy day to all the other daddys, grandpas, uncles, friends, father figures, single mommas, and everyone else out there too!  I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

One proud momma!

This is my Tressie with her game ball.  Yup, she got the game ball!!!  I am incredibly proud of our whole team but I am going to take just a moment to brag on my baby.  Tressie hit every time she was at bat, got several girls out when she was playing 1st base, and ended up hitting the game winning ball.  Her coaches awarded her the game ball.  I could not be prouder!!  This is her first year playing softball and she is loving it.  She made the all star team and now she is playing so well.  Have I mentioned how proud I am???

Here's one of Tressie's hits.  She actually made it to 2nd on that hit but I stopped

recording too soon.  And yes, that is me that's screaming like crazy  in the video. :) 

Both teams did so awesome!  Our team was ahead most of the game until the 4th inning when we got tied 12-12.  They had already decided to end the game at the end of the 4th inning since there was a lot of lightning in the sky.  Our team was up to bat and we got 2 girls on base, with Tressie and 2 other girls left to bat.  Tressie made a great hit and LeLe was able to make it home.  I am sooo proud of all of the girls.  I can't wait to see our Americans play again!! 

My phone/camera died right before the 4th inning so sadly I was not able to get any photos or video of the game winning play but here are a couple of other photos that I snapped today. 





Coach MawMaw and her PG American All Stars





Before the game

Playing 1st base

This very proud momma is also a very tired momma!  I am off to bed but just had to brag a little (ok, a lot) first.  I hope everyone has a wonderful night!  

Making Father's Day crafts with the kiddos

Father's Day is fast approaching so Tressie and Reagan were wanting to make something for their dad.  I found this tutorial for making a paperweight.  http://www.craftsbyamanda.com/2010/06/dad-rocks-paperweight-fathers-day-craft.html   The recipe is very similar to what we used last year to make salt dough ornaments for our Christmas tree.  The girls really enjoyed that so we decided that this would make a perfect project to make for their daddy. The girls chose to do one each with their hand prints.  It didn't come out exactly as planned but they were both happy with the results and I am sure that their Daddy will cherish them.



For each paperweight you need 1/4 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup water.  We made 2 paperweights, so doubled the recipe. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  Mix the salt, flour, and water.  Shape the dough into a ball and then flatten on the cookie sheet to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Put your hand print into the dough or whatever design you might choose to do.  Then bake on cookie sheet at 250* for 2-2 1/2 hours until completely dry.



After they completely cooled, the girls painted their paperweights.  Reagan likes to use a lot of paint (she used about half a tube of pink paint just on this paperweight!) so it soaked up into the paperweight and made it puffy and crackled so the hand print was much less defined than it normally would be.  Tressie used a more "normal" amount of paint and hers did not have that problem at all.  We fixed Reagan's by tracing the hand print with a paint marker.  Of course she had to draw on fingernails. :)

They finished them up by adding their name and year on the back.  Now let's just see if they can keep it a surprise until Sunday.  What do you have planned for Father's Day?



Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday is cleaning day at our house.  And as everyone knows, you can't clean without some music to help you along.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have a VERY eclectic taste in music.  This weekend my husband was making fun of me when my ipod went from Meatloaf to Lady Gaga to Blake Shelton to Eminem to Warrant and then to Buddy Holly. Yeah, eclectic....

Well, this is the playlist I am listening to at the moment.  I've got some Eric Hutchinson, Counting Crows, Weezer, Augustana, Lily Allen, Weezer, and Cake rocking, just to name a few.  What are you listening to today?