Show Us Your Life....School Bus Yellow Laundry Room

Today over at Kelly's Korner, the house tour continues and today is laundry rooms, bonus room, play rooms, etc. I only have the laundry room to speak of!! It's kind of hard to take photos in little rooms like bathrooms...just sayin!!! This is standing in the hallway and you can see my pride and joy. Stainless steel, front loading washing machine and dryer!!! I have had these things for 4 years and LOVE them!!! You can was a whole weeks worth of clothes in these things!!!!



You may notice several framed black and white photographs....these are all photos of our greatgrandparents and other relatives. I love the color...it's exactly the same color as a school bus!!!!



I hope you enjoyed the door....we are running out of rooms sadly!!! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Murphy's Law

So when we recently went to the fair...we inevitably got suckered into playing the game where you toss ping pong balls at little tiny bowls and if you get one in you are the lucky owner of a goldfish!!! So we departed the fair with our tiny little plastic bag with one very sad little goldfish. My husband dumped it into an industrial size pickle jar and it didn't seem any worse for wear. A couple of days later he arrived home with a large box...and aquarium and all the accessories including the little fake plants, etc. I never had fish as a child so I am absolutely clueless!!! We then went to the little pet store in town and blew about $40on three more fish....my favorite being the humongous black one with protruding eyeballs...we named him Popeye!!! Well, long story short....the fish purchased from the overpriced pet store have all met an untimely demise...and made a trip into porcelain waters! The one survivor still kicking is the one from the lowly little county fair....go figure!!!

House Tour continues....Master and Guest Bathroom

Thanks to everyone stopping over from Kelly's Korner and hope you enjoy the tour!!! Today is bathrooms so here it goes....

First one is my guest bathroom. My husband put down the travertine floors and installed the wainscoting and chair rail. I really wanted a beach like feel to it. I love the colors....secretly I like this room much better than the master bath. It is just a very refreshing room!!! The first photo is the view from the hallway! I have debated with myself about making this more kid friendly since it is technically Emerson's bathroom....I just don't know if I have the heart to change this room!!!

For some reason I ended up with a crazy reflection from the mirror over the vanity. I love the mirror and have had it in our previous home. I bought it at Lowe's a long time ago on clearance!!!


I love these two pictures...they are actually canvas and I got them for a steal from TJ Maxx!


I love the little shelf with the seashells, sand dollars and starfish. We used to have parties at our home pretty frequently and I think people took some at souveneirs because the collection has gotten smaller!


Now on to the master bathroom...first view is from the bedroom and you can see the his and hers closets on either side.

Double vanities are a must have....although I don't spend a whole lot of time getting ready and I rarely don't get to go to the bathroom let alone take a bath by myself anymore...I always have a 2 1/2 foot chaperone!!!

I am so not a shower person....and I want a tub I can swim in people!!! The wall color is called tapestry but my husband calls it refried beans!!!
The shower had a cheap glass enclosure around it so my husband took it down and we just hung up a shower curtain instead!!!
Thanks for stopping by...see ya' next week!!!

Fun at the Fair!!!

The annual county fair started last weekend and runs through this weekend and I have been chomping at the bit to take Emerson to the fair. The weather was great....not too cold...but a little nip in the air and no rain!!! I have no inspirations of riding the rides really....I'm hesitant to ride something that high and that fast that was set up in an afternoon and gets moved around so often. My husband assures me that fair rides are safer than theme park rides because the fair operators have so many more people that regulate them but I disagree. Not to mention the people who operate these things...Seriously!!!

We rode the carousel twice which Emerson LOVED!!! But mostly I think she enjoyed all the lights and loud music and people running around and the screaming from the people on the rides.



Oh...OK..I admit it...the real reason why we go to the fair is the food!! Corn dogs, curly fries, funnel cakes, candy apples, cotton candy....blah blah blah!!! I didn't say I ate all of these things....okay so I ate most of these things!!! Emerson chowed down on the curly fries but she was really interested in licking off the ketchup!!!



Finally...as we were leaving they had one of those little games where you throw the ping pong balls and you win a fish. Well...between Ross and I we landed six...and I said no the the six goldfish and went home with my one little fish and a pink bear. The fish is now swimming around a ginormous pickle jar until I get out and find him a more suitable living arrangement.

Celebrating Halloween and lots of firsts...

Friday was actually quite amusing. I noticed on a sign that they were having a petting zoo, pumpkin carving and face painting at a local business so we got her dressed and drove there. Now picture this "petting zoo" that was by a local animal "rescue". Notice all the quotation marks. I wish I had taken pictures. Well the petting zoo consisted on three animals tied to a chain link fence. A baby buffalo and two goats. In various cages there was a opossum, about 8 cats in one cage, 4 small yapping dogs in a cage fit for a bird, oh and don't forget the wolf being wrangled by a young girl. Now when I say wolf, I mean straight out of a Sookie Stackhouse novel. My eyes were as big as saucers when the girl says oh you can only pet the back end of the wolf as she muzzles it and wrestles it to the ground. Ummm, NO! I quickly picked up Emerson and whisked her away. So, Emerson is the only person up here and they have horse with a saddle and I set her up on the saddle and held on to her and she did truly enjoy it...but the lady was like, "You want one or two turns????" Seriously!! Okay so we decide to head back to the car and they tell us oh there is face painting up there and points up to the building. So we go up and see they have a pack of face painting crayons that you buy at Walmart and I guess that means I'm supposed to be doing the face painting. Oh well, not a total loss because Emerson got her ginormous balloon and itty bitty pumpkin and away we went. I really wish I had taken photos of the "petting zoo".

Saturday night we went trick or treating. There was some controversy about when people were actually doing this because Halloween fell on a Sunday this year. This is a small community with a whole bunch of churches. The county officials and the paper proclaimed that trick or treating would be on Saturday so that's what we planned. First we went to the local mall that was having an event put on by the local mom's club. It was packed!!!! We quickly left there as well. Thank goodness that the actual trick or treating went off without a hitch. This was Emerson's first time trick or treating....she's a natural to say the least. We practiced saying "trick or treat" all week but she had stage fright when it came down to saying it to strangers. She would walk up to the door and just smile at the people holding enormous bowls of candy. But don't dare touch her bucket of candy or she would throw down in a nanosecond!!! I didn't buy her a costume this year.....just used various things laying around like her leotard from gymnastics, a tutu a friend made, and some wings from the dollar store. She insisted on carrying a toothbrush so we said she was the tooth fairy!!! We tagged along with my life-long friends Jenna and Kim and their respective broods!!!

Sunday was pretty low key and we went to a local church that was sponsoring a trunk or treat and I actually liked that even better then walking door to door!!!

I enjoyed being with Emerson all week and relishing many firsts like eating her first tootsie roll, trick or treating, riding a horse!! Tonight we're headed to the county fair for some fun!! I don't know how much of the rides we'll do with my little 31 inch princess but hey who can complain when they cotton candy and candy apples!! Yummy! Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween!!!

Yeehaw!! One word to describe my guest bedroom..

Over at Kelly's Korner and Show us Your Life Friday's the theme today is guest room. My husband had complete control over the decor of this one ladies.

This is the view from the hallway. This used to be our bed but it got very crowded with myself, hubby, 4 pugs and the baby, so we upgraded to a king sized bed and now we have kicked out the pugs and the baby sleeps in her crib but somehow we still end up sleeping on the edge.

I certainly wouldn't describe us as "western" people but we do have horses and a very noisey donkey named Buford. Who needs a doorbell? He brays VERY loudly every time someone drives up to our house. I love the sign in the corner, it says "I whisper but my horse doesn't listen!". The bedding and curtains are all from Target....the curtains are amazing...amazing because if you close them it's like sleeping in a cave. This comes in quite handy if you work nights and sleep during the day!!! The bed is an antique 4 poster rice bed.

This photo shows the bookcase with miscellaneous items. I really like the teepee lamp on top...it's actually a lamp shade for a full size lamp but I just put a small little light inside and really like the way it looks. Also, we had no hand in the death of the cow hanging on the wall. I really like the antique desk that sits in the corner.



I guess that's about it....thanks for visiting and for any comments, love me some comments. Very excited about trick or treating this weekend with the little one!!!

Emerson's Room

This week over at Kelly's Korner she is featuring children's rooms! I love Emerson's room and I spent a lot of time thinking about it and sitting in it before she was born just imagining what life would be like once she arrived. Before it was transformed into the nursery it was a guest room with furniture I had bought in high school and pale bedding I had purchased eons ago. This is a picture of it before...




Before I even found out I was pregnant, I was in love with the Penelope bedding from Pottery Barn and when we finally confirmed it was a girl, it was ready, set, go!! I love Pottery Barn but not the prices so my husband built me the changing table that I was lusting over for around $200...much better than the $2500 price tag in the catalog!!!




We took an existing dresser and painted it white and added crystal knobs and then my husband build the top to match the crib that I bought at a boutique. I love my crib but unfortunately the bumper pad doesn't fit it correctly and you couldn't put a mobile or the little rainforest player due to the thickness of the sides.




My friend Pam made these cute little birds for one of my baby showers and I LOVE them!!



I found these little fairies and tulip wall decals at Pottery Barn and thought they looked really cute!






This bookcase system was bought online at JCPenney and all the baskets were purchased from Michael's and I made the basket liners to match the bedding!!! The chair was purchased from Walmart and is a rocker and I think with shipping I paid $200.00. The ginormous rug is a Pottery Barn rug that I bought off Ebay for around $200 delivered.




I love her little room and will be very sad when she grows up and doesn't like the little girl look! Hope you enjoyed the tour!!!

18 months

Picture taken one year ago today!

I can't believe my baby is 18 months old today. I sat in front of my computer today and looked at pictures from a year ago today and cried. Why does time insist on flying by so quickly??? I don't know how much she weighs...we go for her 18 month appointment next week. She weighed 21 pounds at her 15 month visit so my guess would be about 24 pounds. She learns something new everyday...this week I was trying to feed her lunch and she kept shaking her head no when I would try to give her a bite and after a couple of attempts she exclaimed, "I said no!"...holy schmoley!!!! She said her name for the first time yesterday...I think the three syllables is difficult..and I can't get her to say it again today!!! She is truly a joy and the best thing I have ever done!!!

Mommy's Little Helper

Attention: No children were injured in the following pictures!!

Emerson's favorite thing to do now is to climb in the dryer while I'm folding clothes. She quickly climbs in and turns around and hands me clothes from the dryer to fold. I can't keep her out of the washer and dryer if I'm anywhere in the vicinity of the laundry room. Maybe when she grows up she can do the laundry as I despise it!!!

The Office/Craft Room

I'm really enjoying this show us your life at Kelly's Korner. I had a lot of fun last week looking at everyone's kitchens and reading the sweet comments from people who stopped by my house!! Today is the office....so here goes nothing....
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This is what you see when you walk in the door. The desk I bought from Office Max a few years ago and the bookcases on either side are actually the left and right side of an entertainment center but since my house had a built in entertainment center, we had to repurpose it elsewhere. Until recently, I was hanging on to my PC and resisting the urge to buy a laptop and then my PC died a brief, painful death and forced me to buy a new computer. Ummmm...I so don't miss my PC. The office is right next to my daughter's room and if I wanted to browse on the computer while she was napping then all four pugs would follow me in there and make a bunch of noise and that was the end of nap time!!!

Pictured here is the entertainment center that I repurposed to hold all my craft materials. I haven't touched this cabinet since my daughter's 1st birthday!!!



This is the filing cabinet that matches the desk...also purchased at Office Max...I try to keep all my paperwork organized and sorted if I bring it in the house. I hate shuffling the same papers over and over!!!

This picture is one of my favorite things ever...no..not the picture frame.....THE DYSON!!! I have had my Dyson for seven years...that's a long time for a vacuum and it's still going strong.


I think we lost our decorating steam when it came to the office as it was the last room we put together after we moved in so it has the plain walls and a hodgepodge of decor. Oh well...I'll save that for another day!!!

My husband's domain!!!

Today over at kellyskornerblog.com everyone is giving a tour of their kitchen...and I thought it would be fun to participate. I got in late on the dining room one which was my inaugural tour so here goes....

First and foremost...my husband is the cook in my family. He balks at me and my grilled cheese or gasp..mac and cheese that you heat up in the microwave. He is a fabulous cook!!! My friends at work all marvel at what he manages to pack up for my dinner when I go to work. Yes ladies...he cooks pretty much every day and when I work on the weekends he packs my lunch including dessert and drinks. I consider myself very lucky!!! But let me note that I do all the cleaning in this house...while entertaining the 17 month old!!!

This is the view from the dining room. I usually sit up at the barstools while my husband cooks and browse through magazines or chat him up.


This is standing in the breakfast nook which I consider part of the kitchen. We had to adjust to using the electric cooktop as we always had a gas one in the past. I miss that sound when you turn the dial and it makes that clicking. Also, sadly, no roasting marshmallows on the cooktop anymore. Come on people, I know someone has done this before!!! We bought the island separately at Circle K in Jacksonville for like $200, what a steal!!!!


I took this picture standing in front of the cooktop. This is the breakfast nook/bar area. The bar area doesn't get much action any more...we haven't had a party in 2 1/2years. I usually sit here with Emerson for dinner and we put a dvd player in here and play "Your Baby Can Read!" while she is eating dinner.


This is actually intended to be used at the door to wipe your feet but I hung it up behind the cooktop. We bought it at Gardenridge eons ago and I still love it!!!


Sometimes I think that this little seating area is wasted space and that I would really prefer more cabinets there but then I sit there sometimes when people come over...people always seem to congregate in the kitchen and I think wow this thing is great. My favorite part of this space is the molding I stenciled and hung over the curtain, it says "There is spirit, There is grace, in our country place!". I saw this in a magazine a long time ago and stole the idea.



Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of my kitchen!!! I have to run...homemade pico de gallo is waiting...Yummy!!!!

There's no crying in baseball!!!

I have been keeping a friend's little boy for the last couple of days to help out. He is 19 months old and all boy. It was actually kind of nice to have a really long play date. It was amazing to see how much he entertained Emerson. I think mother nature is trying to fool me into thinking about having another one!!! They both had a great time with minimal fighting, thankfully!!! At the end of day one they were both filthy so I decided to put them in the bathtub and this was Emerson!! I had to crop the photo for nakedness!!!

The Dining err Play Room

My living space including the foyer, living room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast nook are all one room so it's kind of hard to define spaces. I had to relinquish some control over the OCD cleaning thing since I had Emerson...so toys have invaded every aspect of my house. I really like my dining room although I basically only use it to sit at the laptop and watch Emerson play kitchen.



I love my dining room table and hutch and buffet. We bought it three years ago at a great store called Circle K that is A-mazing!!! We have extra leaves for the table and it will comfortably fit 8. I don't keep all the leaves in it all the time and we leave two chairs out most of the time unless my whole family gets together. My husband's grandmother left him tons of paper thin Haviland china and what you see displayed pretty much stays up all year long. I like to decorate it at Christmas time and in the fall with pumpkins, gourds, and squash and a couple of the crows before Halloween.



I also have a sideboard that I have also used as a sofa table in the past and now it sits on the other side of the floor length windows in the dining room and it usually has baskets underneath it but now Emerson crawls under it. I put an assortment of Halloween figurines I have picked up through the years.



I eventually would like to have french doors where the two windows are to a deck outside and hardwood floors....this will have to wait on some funding!!! lol!!!
Ofcourse, no post is complete without a picture of Miss Sunshine herself...I dressed her up for the cool fall weather today...so cute!!