Maddie's Birthday Surprise. . .

Well, we were able to surprise Maddie for her birthday with a room makeover. We did as much as we could in one weekend and she loves the transformation so far!

Here are a few shots of her room, thus far.

We didn't want to spend a lot of money, so we used a lot of what she already had.
We still need to...

paint bookcases white
Frame some of her artwork above her bed in white frames
Touch up paint
New artwork for walls.
Fix closet door (we broke it when we removed her carpet. oops!)
New ceiling fan
New curtain rods
Rehang paper lanterns
hide cables and cords
and re-accessorize

Phew, I'm tired just thinking about it!

She truly loves it so far and it was so fun surprising her.

I couldn't wait for her to get home and see the progress!

Happy 10th Birthday, Maddie! We love you!

Fave song Friday. . .

Another old favorite of mine.





You may recognize it as an old Rolling Stones cover.



Happy Friday! : )

Bullet Friday

I have been a bad blogger this week, so I am gonna do a quick Bullet Friday post. Totally copying this from my friend Heather.

I loved her list and thought I would give it, a go.

• I have a ton to do this weekend. Mainly, getting a certain little girl's room decluttered and primed and ready to fix up. : ) (It's a birthday surprise, so keep it under your hat!)
• I am hoping my dear, sweet husband will get into the attic and get our fall stuff out.
• I am looking for any fun and frugal birthday party ideas. We are going to do a mock sleepover for Maddie's party and I need some fun activities that don't cost an arm and a leg.
• I am going to attempt to paint Maddie's bookcases this weekend or at least get them primed to be painted. They are laminate so wish me luck! Any tips and tricks are appreciated!
• I made my first trip to Ikea last weekend and have been meaning to blog about it, been busy though. Got some cute stuff and can't wait to go back and buy some more cute stuff! I seriously have a wish list made out.
• Can you believe my 9 yr old did not like my Fave Song Friday choice? Most 9 yr olds love Miley Cyrus. Not Maddie.
• I won *the* neatest family name sign from Allison. She had some amazing blog giveaways last week and I won a sign. YAY! The seller makes the neatest stuff and I will definitely post about it when I receive it. Thanks again, Allison!
• Maddie got all A's on her interim. Go Maddie!
• Jeff won't get home until later tonight, I am thinking Maddie and I might have dinner out.
• I truly love weekends, that are spent at home. This weekend will be spent at home and I am so looking forward to it. Even if it's gonna be busy!
• Ok, I could go on and on...but I won't! ; )

I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! : )

Fave Song Friday. . .

Love this song, it's fun and cute, I have had a hectic week and this just puts a smile on my face.

And no, this was not Maddie's choice. : )

Happy Friday!

Fave song Friday. . .

Happy Friday!

Funny thing about Freckles. . .

I have freckles and have had them since I was a little girl.

I despised my freckles when I was little, truly despised them.

I did EVERYTHING in my power to rid myself of them.

I tried rubbing lemons on my face, I tried hiding them with make up (without my mom's approval, mind you).

I can even remember begging my mom to buy me some sort of skin lightening cream and using every.single.bit of it.

I laugh about the skin cream now, b/c I believe it was made for age spots and here I am using it for freckles at the age of 10. :)

But, nothing ever worked.

I can remember being in elementary school and reading the book "Freckle Juice" and thinking that little boy had to be crazy to want such a thing as freckles!

Why would anyone want freckles?

Had he lost his mind?!

Here, I was doing everything in my power to get rid of them!



I guess, I thought that because I had freckles, I would never be considered beautiful.

But, what did I know at 8 or 9?

Of course, now that I am older, they don't seem to bother me so much.

I guess, over the years I had forgotten about how much I used to despise mine until Maddie made a comment about hers.

She loves hers.

Her daddy and I love hers. : )

It just made me think about wrong I was when I was a little girl, because I honestly don't think she could be any more beautiful.




It's funny how things change, isn't it?

Well, that's one less thing to do...maybe

I painted my armoire, this weekend.

Finally, right? : )

The only thing is, that the color is not *quite* what I was going for.

I used Glidden's Antique White and it's a bit brighter than I wanted.

By no means, is it a stark white but it's not quite the creamy white, I had in mind.

Still, I do like the change.

It definitely brightens up my living room which is what I was going for.

Here is a before pic...





And the after...



Much, much better, right?!

I wanted it to look distressed, so some places have the brown coming through.

I love that it's not a perfect paint job.

I also, love that the white shows off some the details, that kind of got lost in it when it was darker.





I really am liking the change, just not sure if I should go a shade darker or leave it as is.

What say, you?

Should I leave it or go a tiny bit darker?

Show Us Your Life-School Pictures

Kelly at Kelly's Korner does a "Show Us Your Life" post every Friday and each week, she does a different theme.

This week's theme is school pictures.

I wanted to participate but all I have is one of my senior pics on my pc.

I graduated in 1995, so this pic was taken in 1994.



I had *just* gotten all my hair cut off and was rockin' one of those awesome palazzo pant suits.

So, stylish, wasn't I? ; )


Anyhow, I thought this was good a giggle. : )

Fave song Friday. . .

Maddie and I are big fans of Barlowgirl.

So, I let her choose which song she wanted me to post.

We hope you like it! : )

Happy Friday!

I love end of season clearance!

B/c I got these for $5 a piece.

 

I snatched them up b/c I had been lusting after these for a long time.





Susie actually found some at Wal-mart that look just the PB, ones. Lucky girl!

For a fraction of the PB cost too!



Anyhow, I love mine and I love the price!

Now, I can't seem to make up mind if I wanna keep them the bronze color they currently are, or slap a bit of paint on them. What do you think?

I also need to find some bigger candles to go in there too, I just put what I had on hand in there, for now.

Not to shabby for $5 a piece, eh?

I am linking this is up to The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday party.

Check back here for more great ideas! : )

Unfinished projects. . .

I swear, I am completely surrounded by unfinished projects.

I am always so gung ho to get started,and then it fizzles out.

I guess working full time and raising a family can tend to get in the way, as well.

I still need to finish this

this
and I finally figured out what I want to do with this, but have yet to start it.

And that does not include the growing list of things I want to try!

Hopefully, I can get one of these knocked with this upcoming long weekend!

Are you surrounded by unfinished projects too?