New Baby...

If you get a free minute today please drop in and see the long awaited new grand baby of a fellow blogger friend, Olivia and Me. http://oliviaadventures.blogspot.com/ . She has the cutest blog as told by her little pup.

Dust Storm 09

I just thought the back splash dude made a mess, well let me tell you how to make the dust fly....

I wanted to surprise Camo Man by cleaning up around the base boards in the foyer. I had the vac. behind me and girls can I tell you I was going to town. Daydreaming of the weight I was losing while cleaning. To my horror I heard my daughter scream, "MOM STOP". I looked to the top of the stairs, she was pointing, I looked up to see the foyer in a huge cloud of dust.

It looked like I was driving 70 mph on a gravel road in hot dry July. You country girls know just what I mean.

I have never laughed so hard. Really what more can happen? I'm gonna have to wipe everything down anyway.

I think I plugged the hose into the wrong hole.

Can I tell you, I have learned that I do not know how to use this little mean orange machine.
So what did this girl do? Well I went to the outside freezer, grabbed a Klondike Bar and the new Southern Lady magazine and headed outside to the porch.

Bye Bye Flooring

Who would have thought flooring would be so though. When we built our house we picked out an inexpensive flooring due to the fact that our children were small. Well talk about great flooring, it did not want to leave. We finally got it up and out.

Camo Man had to peel the top layer off before using the machine.

Then we had to literally pull the machine to remove the composit part. Yes, that is my nephew. I think he wants to be a Blog Star. Is there anything this boy can't do. You might remember him adding the molding to my sisters dining area. http://susieharris.blogspot.com/

**Tip for this post, If you are in doubt about a paint color and your husband will only paint every six years, CALL a professional** We will be painting the kitchen with this make over. Yes, the gold and blue are gonna go.

This is my son with a broom, he on the other hand does not want to be a Blog Star and refused to let me take his picture. So I snapped this one fast.

We are moving right along. Next will be ceramic tile... Not real crazy about putting it in my foyer but Camo Man loves it, so what the heck. He did agree to letting me put a rooster in the back splash behind the stove. For you newly weds , this is called compromise. It takes time to learn this skill, but it will be to your advantage.

Inspiration Friday

"I am only one, but I AM ONE.
I cannot do everything, but I can do
something. And I will not let what I
cannot do interfere with what I CAN DO."
-Edward Hale

May you have a great weekend...

***Caution, this is a REALITY REMODEL ***
HGTV does not show and tell you the truth because no one would ever have a remodel...have you ever see this kinda mess when Candice Olsen redoes a room? Have you ever seen dust when Chico the electrician cuts up the sheet rock to install the light Candace found in the ten minutes before a commercial?

Be honest people, does HGTV tell you that a home makeover may cause a divorce. I wish that they would have shown the reality ... They might be scared, but I'm not.

Maybe I could save you from the makeover pain. Believe it or not there is humor somewhere in this...

Geez the pictures look so much better than the real wall. They look so blue. In real they are covered in a fine white powdery dust. The back splash will remain like this a bit longer. I ordered a piece to go behind the stove and it will not be in until the middle of May. Yes, I know we are still in April.

The day the man repaired the backsplash he left the door open. Have you ever had a mosquito buzzing your ear at 1:27 am? Then the next morning I got up for work looked in the mirror , DANG IT an big zit right on my cheek?...NOT it was a mosquito bite. Wonder if I could take some off his bill for that.

I have no stove, sink or dishwasher and really no sanity either....
Below is a picture of my living room. Camo Man thought it would be nice to give me new floors. Well I arrived home from work and he told me everything in the kitchen, foyer, study,half bath and hall closet had to go into the living room. We went from getting new counter tops to new everything.
Here is reality...it is easier to pick out a new house.

Well golly, nothing like moving all your fine china without boxes..My sister thinks she is a red neck,(http://susieharris.blogspot.com/) well I got her beat. I put all that fine china under my bed. Since this is rated PG13, I told Camo Man we will have to lay very very still in the bed. He should remain on his side, I on mine as to keep the weight distributed evenly. Heaven forbid if the bed would fall on the china. (ladies he did not buy that one).

Did I mention this is turning into the money pit. Oh, I forgot to mention money. Well lets save that for another post.
The flooring guy told us to save money we should take up the old floor before he lays the tile... How sweet he even loan Camo Man the tools. Well after 3 hours and he only had 3 foot of flooring up he called the floor man. Floor man said the original floor was put down with the wrong glue. As I type Camo Man is trying to get the floor up with a machine he had to rent. Well the concrete is coming up too... as he looks over at me with a look of what the *** are you doing on the computer.....



Stay tuned when next post will be "Remodeling and IBS"....(just joking)

Inspiration Friday

Where we love is home,
Home that our feet may leave,
but not our hearts. - Oliver Holmes

Do you have a home that your feet my have left, but not your heart?

My mawmaw and pawpaws house was my home for many years.
We lived there for a time when my parents divorced and then she
would keep us for the summer while our mom worked. I can still close my eyes
and see mawmaws bible on the nightstand by her bed, or hear the whistle of the kettle for her to make coffee in her old drip pot. How many hours did I just sit and rock in one of the two rockers on the back porch?
Their house has since been sold and moved but, my heart still remains.

(Sorry no photos of their home, my scanner is not working...)

Look At This Mess

Ladies,
I warned you this would get messy... and I am afraid I will disappoint you with my behavior. So if you believe in the perfect world, with the perfect family, stop reading and just admire the pictures.

The guy doing our back splash wanted to come remove it before the granite is installed. Well of course...now he has to repair the wall, he pulled some of the sheet rock down.



Nothing like walking in from work at 5:00 in the afternoon to find this. My beautiful children that are old enough to pour their own cereal and milk, have the nerve to ask WHATS FOR DINNER. Well I will spare you the cursing in writing. Lets just say I won't win Mother of The Year for 2009.

What you don't see in the pictures is the ten inches of tile/sheet rock dust. It covered everything. If I would have had a little warning I could have put the table and chairs in the living room and covered the china cabinet with a big sheet.
Nothing like mopping the floor three times. Oh and that pink stuff sticking out of the wall is the insulation. When I approached Camo Man about it(he comes home for lunch everyday and saw this before me ) he stated "Your the one that wanted to do this. Here's the mop bucket."

OK, Let's find the positive...To those people that do not like me cause I am getting a new kitchen, well you can start laughing cause I am thinking what and the heck have I done. It would have been easier and cheaper to convince Camo Man to buy me a new car.

Second positive... Camo Man said he does not want to cook and I am to tired so...LETS EAT OUT!!

** Next post , hopefully pictures of the repaired sheet rock. Yeah , Yeah we did take those beautiful children out to eat with us...

Spring Has Brought A Kitchen Remodel

Good Monday morning, are you ready for this...I'm not sure what in the world I was thinking. I wanted to redo the some of the house. I never thought Camo Man would go along with it. First we are going to start with the kitchen. Yes, we are helping stimulate the economy. Before leaving for work I grabbed the camera and took a few before pictures. Stay tuned because this will not be neat and clean...but hopefully will turn out beautiful. Am I scared? OH YEAH



Camo Man's only stand was to refuse to let me rip out the cabinets or repaint them.Ok, I guess that I will not fight that battle. I'll just add new knobs...




Feel free to stop in during this journey and comment.

So Easy, So Fabulous, Fruit Dip

You have got to make my fruit dip for Easter. You will be the hit of the party!
This recipe has been in our family so long, not really sure where my mom received it.

You will need....

One jar of marshmallow cream (Sm Jar , I think is 12 OZ)

One cream cheese (8 OZ)

Teaspoon of vanilla OR almond extract

Fruit

Food color if you like (we always added a drop of red so it will be pink)

Let the cream cheese get soft. In medium bowl, blend the cream cheese and the marshmallow cream with the mixer on slow . It may take a few minutes, but you want it to be smooth, no lumps of cream cheese.

**TIP You may want to stop the mixer after a few seconds and get a spoon to get the cream cheese and marshmallow out of the beaters. Add in the vanilla and a shot of food coloring. Do not over mix, it only take a few minutes. WA LA you are done.

WOW TWO TIPS IN ONE RECIPE

**TIP To keep your apples from turning brown. Save your pineapple juice in a little bowl. Dip your apple slices in the pineapple juice. Lay them on a few paper towels to drain. Put into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

CAUTION --- I have witnessed children and adults dipping there fingers in the bowl to eat it ...Its that darn good.

I will be out of town, so there will be no Friday Inspiration, but please leave me a comment on how your family likes this dip....May you all have a blessed and peaceful Easter.

Afternoon Tea Giveaway

My gosh you sure can make alot of friends here and you don't even have to clean house. A new blogging friend, Sue at http://countrypleasures.blogspot.com is hosting a give away.

Please stop by and sign up to win this beautiful book Afternoon Tea.

It has all the information and beautiful pictures showing its readers how to host a lovely tea party.

So drop in, tell Sue I sent you, and sign up to win a great book...

EGGceptional Wreath

On my walk back from getting the morning paper, I realized I should show you my Easter wreath. Ok, ok I know Easter is but a week away, but maybe you can use this idea next year. This is a great project to do with the kids, they can pick and hand you the eggs while you hot them glue on.

All you need is to take a styrofoam wreath and hot glue , various sized Easter eggs, Easter grass and a piece of ribbon for hanging.

**TIP , place the glue on the egg, then place egg on wreath. If you put the hot glue directly on the styrofoam, we all know what will happen.
Then glue in the Easter grass as a filler between the eggs. Loop your ribbon through the wreath and tie at the top.

**TIP, I used a wire ribbon , seemed more stable and makes a prettier bow.

It is a very light wreath so you can hang it almost any where.

Inspiration Friday

I was looking on my book shelf to find something with encouraging words. Well I found this little book called Thoughts of Gold in Words of Silver. When I looked in the front cover I saw that it was given to me by my mawmaw. She had written the date Dec. '79.
Here is a little excerpt ...

Don't Get Higher Than You Can Hold

Build today,then,strong and sure,

With a firm and ample base;

And ascending and secure

Shall to-morrow find its place.

- Henery Longfellow

The ladder of progress. Climbing has its perils (you may fall off), but staying on the ground has its hazards, too (something may fall on you). Climb, but don't climb faster than your strength will let you stay. And be nice to the people you pass on the way up, for you might need a friendly hand to break your fall on the way back down.

This message is so true even today. You can use these words to describe many situations.

My blog, I have slowly grown and made many new friends, I want to have that base on which to grow.

To the person trying to run that marathon, you have to build yourself up to have the strength to win.

These words might help the person who is having finical woes, tackle one problem at a time.

Let me know how these words might inspire you to build a strong base....

And The Winner Is ...

CONGRATULATIONS

The winner of the Crocs Gift Certificate is Amy over at
" The Mommy Chronicles"

http://thepurvisfam.blogspot.com/.

Drop by and congratulate and visit her blog.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by and commented. I am looking forward to visiting each and everyone of your blogs. Make sure that you stop in often. We will have a great spring and summer with guest bloggers, Inspiration Friday, easy recipes and of course more give aways.