New Summer Linens... count the happies!

Overall, I decorate with a very neutral color palette, adding minimal color and interest in art and antiques.
This holds true in my bed lines too.  Normally I have shades of creams and taupes, with some yummy texture in a knitted throw.

I was ready to change out my bedding for the summer.  I found a duvet I loved but it was $565.00.  

Choke. Sputter.  Gasp.

So, that got the stubborn streak in me riled up, and I decided instead to do all new bedding (minus my linen sheets that I will never swap out cause I love them so) with fabrics and items I already owned.

And this was my results!

I love crisp white in summer bedding, so I already had this cotton/linen coverlet, so it made the 'cut'.

I have my 4 linen pillows stacked in the far back.  The ruffled brown shams I have owned for quite some time.  They are a very odd shade of faded brown, but in this ensemble they look great.  I even had all these pillow inserts, and made the covers to fit them... cheap!

The linen pillow covers are made from left over fabric from a prior project.  I loved the raw end of the fabric and thought it was much more interesting than a hemmed edge, so I incorporated it into the design of the cover.

I found this giraffe print ribbon back at Christmas, and I have put it in so many projects since that I may be tipping over into excessive... but don't tell me if I am... I prefer to remain in my giraffe print happy place!

And this chunky weave loveliness is actually a blue ticking table runner I bought over a year ago (actually I bought 4 of them) on sale at PotteryBarn.  Regular priced $54, Clearanced to $9 each.  Scarf!  Each table runner is forever long, it took only one to wrap around this pillow form and do an envelope opening in the back, and I still had leftovers. 

This is the EXACT fabric that the expensive duvet I wanted was made out of.  I already had this yardage fabric that I got long ago with Hobby Lobby coupon, and had just enough left over from other projects to make a lightweight throw to go at the foot of the bed.  Yay!  

This is actually the most pattern I have had on my bed in forever... I quite like it!

The browns in this print beautifully tie in the deep chocolate linen of the tufted headboard, the odd brown in shams, and the hemp of the table runner pillow.

I swoon over the grey blues!  Heaven! I also love the fun farm toile with a wink towards our own place.

Crisp and cool just as I had pictured it in my mind's eye.

Have I ever showed you one of my all-time favorite art finds?

I found this gigantic piece of loveliness at a furniture store, of all places.  It is an original oil painting.  I was told it was by a local artist but they didn't even sign it... can't imagine being capable of such work and not signing IT!

This is where I admit to an art No-No!  I so loved this piece, so very perfect for our farm... but when I originally bought it, the colors were very vivid!  Like extremely, very, very, vivid (attempts at condoning my actions).  So I made a 'wash' of umber paint and brushed the wash over the top of the painting.  It muted the whole palette down, not omitting the colors by any means, but bringing the overall feel of the piece more in line with the tones in my house.  Do you think the art police now have a warrant out for my arrest?

These photos do no justice for the exquisite brushstrokes, especially in the meadow.  Sigh.  In love.

Our master bedroom is still evolving.  But this is one of our newer furniture pieces.  I found this cabinet at Crate & Barrel.  Its proportions are perfect for this nook by the fireplace.  It will eventually hold all the electronic mumbo jumbo that it currently heaped on the mantle waiting for the flatscreen tv to be mounted, etc, blah, blah, blah.... husband? are you reading this? honey? will the electronic extravaganza ever be hidden away behind these lovely cabinet doors?  honey?  sweetheart?  love?

Design note, do you walk into a room sometimes and know immediately that it 'works', but not sure why?!

The answer is usually the use of subtle repetitions.

Case in point here... the square grid on doors of cabinet reference the square tufting on headboard, reference the huge square art canvas, reference the square slate tiles on fireplace.

Your eyes love repetitive elements and will cause your senses to approvingly absorb a space without you even really knowing why..... but NOW you do.  Give it a test.  Find a picture of a room you love in a magazine.  Pick it apart... you will notice repeats in color, shapes, and/or textures, etc.  Its how we are wired!

K, 

I am now stepping down from my amateur, absolutely no formal training, but instead small fortune spent on design books, novice of the most dangerous type, interior design SOAPBOX.

And I'll leave you with this snapshot of my husband's side of the room.  Ummmm, tad unfinished I would say.  Someday, I want an art ledge dripping with art and photos and 'finds' that speak of he and I.  It will be fabulous... someday.  Thought. Maybe 'someday' would come about much sooner if my creative urges were not so terribly distracted by the mess of cords and whatnots on the mantle.  Just sayin'. 

I am so exhausted by my novel post, as I am sure you are, that I shall now go take a long nap amongst my new. CHEAP summer linens... now I'm really dreamin' cause I've reeeeally got to work outside.

AllStar Season 2010

Ty was chosen this year to be on the Huntsville Nationals AllStar team.  He was thrilled.  Being fairly new to the whole culture of baseball, Ty has a natural talent for this sport.  I say you KNOW a child loves something when he spends every available moment doing 'it', never complains to practice 'it', asks when he will get to do 'it' next, and talks about 'it' constantly.

That is what Baseball is for him.

The AllStar players are announced after regular season.  They are given only 2 short weeks for practices.  This is an amazingly short amount of time when you figure all these AllStar players played on different teams for regular season and now need to create a new pattern together.  There were players on this AllStar team that were asked to play positions they had never played before, and stepped up to the challenge beautifully.

Ty was chosen to play his favorite position... First Base.  He loves the constant action it offers and he played first base and short stop during the regular season so it was something he was very comfortable with.

AllStars is a dream opportunity because it allows you to play with and against very talented players.  A hit that would have given Ty a homerun easily in the regular season, was fielded quickly and would only result in a single or double.  This pushed Ty to work harder and stretched him tremendously!

Ty loved working with Coach Conrad.  Ty was always aware when Coach arrived at the field and listened to him intently and wanted to work hard for him and the team.  Coach Conrad has a great talent for bonding with the boys and making his expectation clear.  

The Nationals were ranked 4th after the seating rounds, which was AWESOME.  We played with tons of talent and heart.  We did not make it to the finals but fought hard and the boys were great examples.  Not all parks have the same requirements of age and skill, so we were one of the smallest and youngest teams, often resembling Davids and Goliaths, but again... the experience was tremendous.

I hope Ty gets the opportunity to do AllStars Baseball again.  I would gladly drive him to nightly practices, wait, watch, chew my fingernails in nervousness, yell, cheer, close my eyes cause I just couldn't bear to see the next play, eat ballpark hotdogs along side a soft pretzel, sweat in the bleachers, stand in the rain, etc, etc... to see Ty 'in his element'.  I love this boy!

Our little WOLF

I don't know what you've been told,

Cub Scout colors are blue and gold.

I don't know, but its been said,

Wolf Den 3 will use their heads.

Sound off... 1... 2

Sound off... 3... 4

Bring it on down,

1, 2, 3, 4,

1, 2... 3, 4!!

Ty attended our local Cub Scout Day Camp all last week.  5 days, 7 hours each day, heat index topping 108... but this boy was dressed, breakfast eaten, and lunch packed each morning ready to run out the door.  At the end of the day when i picked him up, delightfully exhausted, he felt the need to tell me every minute detail of his day.  So fun.  His favorites activities were archery and martial arts.

I am so thankful for the work that had to go into this event.  Everything was superbly organized and well-done.  Clear down to the most efficient pickup car line I have ever witnessed.  They had nearly 400 young boys attending, the car line always looked like a daunting forever long extravaganza, yet it went super quick! 
Our resident Wolf scout gave the whole experience a huge thumbs up.

By the end of the week, the above little ditty changed a bit as noted below. It was so fun to pull up for pickup, roll my window down so I could hear groups of boys all over camp chanting their little cheers!

I don't know what you've been told,

Cub Scout camp is getting old!

The bees, the fly-s, and the heat,

MAN!  I got some achey feet!

Sound off....

Mommy disclaimer:  I do not, never have, never will be one to schedule, schedule, schedule every minute of my kiddos days.  I love quiet time, they love 'off' time.  But Friday marked the end of a very long week... We had registered Ty for Cub Camp before we were notified that he made the AllStar Baseball team.  I would pick Ty up at 3pm from Camp, have him change into his baseball uniform... he would lay down and sleep while I drove to the field.  I would park in a shady parking spot and let him sleep for a little longer, usually a total of about an hour.  Then up he shot, excited to PLAY Ball.  I was exhausted, but thankful at Ty's age he could keep up that pace.  Will blog about AllStars next.  It was a wonderful experience!

A Perfect Fit

In our church we are given many opportunities to serve in different areas and auxillaries.  Some of these 'callings' can really challenge me, usually causing me to grow which is afterall our Heavenly Father's plan :)

But there is one calling that I have done several times in the past and hope I have the chance to do many, many, mazillion times in the future.

And that calling is the Primary Nursery Leader, and I recently was called to do just that!

We currently have 14 little Nursey children between the ages of 18months and 3 years old.

I may, just may, be a tad prejudice but I truly think these 14 little people are just about the cutest characters I have ever been blessed to hang out with.

So amazing how you can already see emerging personality traits at this young age.

Love it, truly... I know I say I love a lot of things, but this love is, some Sundays, more that I can even express!

Last Sunday, of course, was Father's Day.

My dear husband was in Utah spending time with his Dad and brothers.  So I had fun helping my 14 cutey patooties make a little goody in Nursery for their daddies.

Of course this was the sample, their masterpieces were much better since at this age they embrace their creative genius and feel NO need whatsoever to color within the lines.

Closeups of the little daughter owls and the son owls.  I was tickled with how fun they turned out.

Our Lesson the week prior was on Reverence.

We had a fun discussion on LOUD and rambunctious animals versus quite and well-behaved animals.

Kids always relate so well to animals, snort!

We acted out roaring lions, mischievous monkeys, and chirping birds.

Then we acted out mellow cats, goldfish, and little mice.

We then made a 'Church Mouse' out of paperplates and foam.

I also made them these necklaces with an adorable poem attached that I found years ago in a Friend Magazine.

What If?

If a mouse would ride to church

In your pocket on this day,

What might he tell his family

That he heard you do or say?

Would he tell them you were reverent,

And you listened to your teacher?

Or would he say he'd never seen

Such a noisy little creature?!

Would he tell them how he loved the songs

You sang so sweet and clear?

Or would he groan from all the talking

That entered in his ear?

Could he take a little snooze,

As you walked so nice and tall?

Or would he scream with awful panic

As you galloped down the hall?!

Would the little mouse get sea sick

From the tipping of your chair?

Or would he feel safe and cozy

As you reverently sat there?

Would the chapel be a reverent place?

The sacrament the same?

Now tell me, would the little mouse

Be really glad he came?

If a mouse would ride to church

In your pocket on this day,

What might he tell his family

That he heard you do or say?

Cute, HUH?!!?  So pardon the never ending grin I currently have on my face, I'm just having so much fun and wouldn't mind having this exact fun, every single Sunday, for say...... the next 5-10 years, snort!!!!!

Obnoxiousness Documented

I bet each bush, flower, and tree just shutters down to its roots when I exit my house with a set of clippers.  Seriously.

As I mentioned in a prior post, more is simply MORE when it comes to bringing fresh blooms and anything green and gorgeous into my home.

No vessel that can hold water, or surface that can hold a vase or jar is exempt.

(Cringe... just look at those filthy windows,ugh!)

This is 'Solomon's Seal'.  It is one of my 3 favorite perennials ever... keeps company with Hostas and Hydrangeas.  In the spring there are tiny little white blooms that dangle under the stem.

I love beautiful book covers, isn't this one breathtaking?!

The photography is so gorgeous and inspires me.

Boys say the darndest things...

So,  out here on the farm, can I just say that there is somewhat a different mode of 'play'.  Play involves bows & arrows, bonfires, pellet guns, 4 wheelers, snakes, paintballs, etc.  Cuts, bruises, and the occasional sprained ankle are commonplace.

But as I was leaving the farm one day last week, I glanced over at Christian hanging with his friends at the barn... and I see blood!

This blood is coming out of his hand... through what appears to be an entire roll of paper towels rolled around that hand... on top of that is also layer upon layer of duct tape... and yet, I am still seeing blood.

Dear mothers out there in blogland... please reassure me that this would be reason for concern... because my son was quite irritated with me when I stopped the truck to investigate!!!  This is how the following conversation transpired...

Me:  "What in the world have you done to your hand?!??!!"

Christian:  "MooOoOoM....(insert multiple syllables here in a one syllable word, and the look of irritation as he tries to calm my fears and rising need to freak out in which Christian views as completely unnecessary especially in front of the other 'fellas')   It is only a flesh wound!!!"

To his defense it did not need stitches but it was a doozy of a cut... not a mere 'flesh wound' son!  A slight understatement I would say, boys!!

Last week Ty spend everyday at baseball camp.  It was an extra hot and muggy week and after 5 hours of camp each day ,he would climb in the truck a flushed, red, sweaty mess.  And this is how our conversation went after the first day...

Me:  "So.... how was it?"

Ty:  "Torture... and so much FUN!"

The next day he climbs in the truck after camp with the hugest smile...

Ty:  "thank you, Thank you, Thank YOU mom for letting me come to camp.....

and I really mean thank you,

I'm not just saying that to be nice like I usually do!"

and there you have it...  out of the mouth of boys, snicker! 

He beat me to 'em

I've been waiting, watching, stalking my many hydrangea bushes... waiting for the first blooms to finally come.

I woke up from a nap to these beauties.

Shawn clipped these first blossoms and brought them in to me.  Love that man!

Now I have blooms a plenty!!!  The official obnoxious display of all things hydrangea can officially begin in every vase and windowsill in my home, giddy, giddy, giddy!

"The best week EVER!"

Ty loves baseball.

Really loves baseball, like his sister loves animals and his brother loves camping.

So when Ty exclaimed, "This is the best week ever!", he really meant it.

Last week was his baseball team party... Pump it Up action, teammates, trophies, and pizza... great time!

But the REAL kicker was when they announced that Ty was the Team MVP!

Ty is in so many way just like me: shy, observant, quite content to hang in the background.

Thankfully, he has his daddy's genes too, so he is: disciplined, competitive, extremely athletic, and determined.

This combination has served him very well in baseball.

Ty is not the kid you would label as the 'team spirit'... much too mellow for that, 

but when he is at bat or playing first base, he will draw your attention.

Bazaarly, this fact terrifies him but thrills him to no end.

So to know that his team chose him as MVP, meant more than they will ever know.

Shawn was one of his assistant coaches this year and was a tad, just a wittle bit, proud of him too!

Ty wasted no time placing his newest trophy and MVP ball on his art shelf.  Proudly placed with previous game balls, photos, and artwork... a few of his favorite things.

Adding to his 'best week ever' is the fact that he gets to spend this entire week at baseball camp. 

And just when Ty thought his life could not get any more fabulous, his dad announced to the family this morning...

Ty made the Huntsville Nationals All Star team!

Ty wanted this so bad, I just can't even express how badly he wanted to be an All Star.

He understands that the way you become a better player is to play with the BEST and play against the BEST... and that in a nutshell, is what All Stars is for him.

Congratulations Ty!

We are so stinkin' happy for you!

before & after

Before... lovely daughter got driver's permit,

After... precious, lovely, & overzealous daughter got driver's permit.

Ummmmmm, me thinks that daughter needs some more practice.

And along with that practice, me thinks daughter needs to work off a $310 repair bill.

I don't know who has been consoling who more... Savannah and I keep telling each other that in the future... the far, far, away future... we will laugh about this.

And YES, I have Savannah's OK  to blog about this.

But it took a full 48 hours for her to wipe tears and lick her wounds before said permission was given, snicker.