Fun With Cattails

Back in the fall I purchased a lovely arrangement of plants that included a few cattails, euculyptus and other pretty green things.  They lasted a long time but I eventually decided it was time for them to go.  I started breaking them up to put in our compost bucket and the next thing I knew I had a MAJOR mess on my hand.  I had no idea that cattails basically explode when squeezed.  Thankfully, I found it quite humorous and stopped before my kitchen turned into a mound of cattail seeds.  One cattail filled my entire sink with fluffy seeds!!  I saved the other 2 thinking that my kids would find great amusement out of playing with them OUTside.  Anyway, they've been sitting in a lovely vase mason jar waiting for their lucky day.  Today was that day and it was indeed fun.  I think you'll see by the pictures what I mean.  And since I release a gazillion seeds into my yard, we may have cattails popping up all along our pond for more entertainment next year.

Home Renovations - Playroom - Progress 2

Progress is still being made on the playroom.  I'm almost done with all of the painting.  I just need to roll the walls one more time and I should be done.  I finished cutting in the other day but ran out of time to roll.  After that, it will be onto the big project which is the built-in.  Between my busyness and my friend's, we haven't found a weekend that works for both of us.  In the meantime, I knocked out a little sewing project and wanted to show you all.  Here are the new shams and throw pillows for the couch - which has also been moved to its new home.  I love the color they add and look forward to finding more places for use of fun fabric in the room.

I bought the fabric from a local store called Premier Fabrics.  They only sell a line of fabric called Premier Prints.  They have TONS to choose from and lots of coordinating choices at a really good price.  I found that they sell Premier Prints on Fabric.com for an even better price and if you spend $35 you get free shipping so it's a steal.  It's hard to tell in this picture but the two outer pillows are red with small polka-dots.  The green pillows have dandelions on them.  The only thing that is unfinished is the larger pillows are going to have 3 buttons each on the ends to "seal" them.  I want a bright green button but haven't found one I love or fits in my budget so I will wait until I find something for a good price and is exactly what I am looking for. 

The Tulip Wait is Over

I'm loving my tulips. I'm loving how each morning Dakota announces to me, "We have an orange tulip now!" or "We have a purple tulip Mommy!" I'm loving the color and I'm loving the beginning of Spring. More please :)

Gardening: Peek-A-Boo

Little things are starting to pop up and some things are still hanging around from fall.  I love Spring and I'm SUPER excited for us to really start gardening this year.  Jacob's given me a budget and a catalog and told me to pick out what I would like planted this spring so that is one of my tasks for the weekend.  If you were planting a garden, what would you grow??  I know I want some tomatoes (not a huge fan of eating them plain but I would love to make homemade salsa, spaghetti sauce & soup).  Possibly some blueberry bushes but they take a few years to bear fruit.  Oh and lots more flowers.  I would LOVE a rose garden (my favorite flower) and some potted gerbera daisies.  So many choices...anyway, just thought I'd show you what's starting to make an appearance in our yard.

We started some bell pepper seedlings in an egg carton.  You know what's so great about these??  I gutted them from a pepper I was cooking with in the fall, dried them out and saved them in a jar.  Since this is my first time doing this, I wasn't sure what would happen but was thrilled to see them poke their little green leaves out of the soil.  I'm all about recycling...I also saved some butternut and acorn squash seeds but those will be planted later in the year.

Jacob planted some tulip bulbs for me in the fall because they are one of my favorites.  I can't wait to see the color on them.  I think they are an assorted variety but I don't remember what I picked out.  :)

First flowers at our house!  Thanks to Anita who told me what this plant was last year.

Remember this?  Well, our broccoli never had ideal growing weather but somehow it hung in there and survived the winter snow.  We're hoping that it will finish growing but I'm glad to see the form of something that actually looks like broccoli.  There are about 7 plants from what I can tell.  Notice all of the weeds I talked about previously?  And...notice the netting.  Our white tailed pests friends thought we were planting our garden for them.  How silly of them.  The netting has worked great.

Same goes for our 45 day cabbage that is now on probably day 150 or something but at least it looks like cabbage and it's still very hearty.  And it is growing...just verrrrry slowly.  Hopefully this spring weather will give it the extra boost it needs.  We have about 9 plants.

The Happy Man and His Dump Truck

That was the title of Jacob's favorite book when he was a little boy and I think Corban plays the part pretty well.  This amazing weather and glimpse of Spring is a blessing to us.

Home Renovations - Playroom - Progress 1

I have been up to my elbows in paint since my last post (ok, that's a bit exaggerative) but I've made some decent progress on the playroom and thought I'd show you how it's coming.  I know this renovation isn't going to be fast since I can really only work when the kiddos are sleeping and I need to honor any sewing obligations too.  BUT I am pleased at how it is turning out so far.  I have painted at least one coat of the brown on the bead board all the way around the room and have painted two coats on some of the walls.  This is time consuming as it requires a brush to get down in all of the cracks.  I will finish that in the next few days and start the walls.  I'm hoping this weekend is going to be my building weekend for the built-in so I need to get wall "3" prepped and painted.  I went ahead and painted the little bookcase on wall "2" because I wanted to see some COLOR with the brown.  I really like it but I made some painting errors on it.  I should have sanded and primed it first because I know it's going to scrape off as the kids use it so I may be painting it again down the road.  I sold the entertainment center on Craigslist so that is out of the way and adds another 50 buckaroos to the pot.  Cheers for progress...

I'm going to keep the same numbers from the previous post so you can look back at the before and know which wall you are looking at.

 This picture shows the old paint (left) on the bead board with the new chocolate paint (right).

I love the punch the green adds to the brown.  I had the guy at Home Depot color match one of the leaves from the decal that will be going on the wall to get this color.

 Here's a little swatch of the blue that will be going on the walls above the bead board.

Tootles to the old cabinet which is now in the storage room behind that door you see serving a new purpose.  There was some wallpaper that needed removed and check out that wild red!  I like me some red but this color is not very pretty in person and I cannot imagine a room this size painted that color.  Makes my heart start beating fast thinking about it.  I've decided to go with a khaki color on this wall behind the built-in to keep it pretty neutral.  I did a little swatch of the brown and felt it was a little much for the whole wall.  The actual built-in color is still TBD but I'm leaning towards a blue just a shade darker than the other walls and then the part that bumps out for the TV using the pumpkin Orange.  Or the whole thing may be orange.  That still may change :).

Home Renovations - Playroom - Before

Ok, Ok, I know I never did blog about the house like I promised back in the fall although I still hope to do that. Maybe by the anniversary of our purchase date which is March 27?? Anyway, when we bought our house, nothing needed immediate attention but there are certainly areas that I want to put my touch on. I'm a designer by trade so my mind is always swirling with ideas. My wallet is not necessarily swirling with extra green stuff. Jacob and I don't believe in debt (other than a mortgage) so any home projects are always paid with cash which means they sometimes get put on hold. Now that we have been in the house almost a year and I've set aside some Critterbug & Cricket moolah, I'm ready to start tackling a project. The first room on the agenda is our playroom/craft room because we have a serious storage situation in there. After 2 more birthdays and a Christmas, we HAVE to figure out how to store the toys better. They are currently hugging the perimeter of the room in a very unpleasant manner. My current sewing area is no better and I'm embarrassed to even show it. I know it appalls Jacob but I call it "organized chaos." I like to believe that once I have the space "perfect" then I'll be a little more organized.  Right.  As creative as I can be - organization is not one of my strong points - but I desire to improve. All that to say, I thought I'd go ahead and post the before pictures of the playroom and craft room so that I won't get too behind later. It is a big room with LOTS of potential but it may take a little time. If you have any thoughts, share them!

The theme of the room is going to be modern/woodsy.  We live in the woods so I want to respect that but I also want a room where I can just have FUN with some wild colors and unique decor.  What better room than my craft room and the kids' playroom.  Color scheme - light blue walls above bead board, chocolate bead board (think land and sky).  Other prominent colors to be used - ORANGE, lime (ok, that color scares Jacob a little so we'll see) & Cherry.

Not much is going to happen on this wall.  The wall and bead board will be painted and I'll put some pictures up.  Down the road I would LOVE a mantle but that's not a priority.

Left of the beam is going to define the "learning" space as I am calling it.  The bookshelf will stay under the window because it's a perfect fit but I hope to paint it a fun color.  I bought maps of the 7 continents to hang on the wall.  I would like a long rectangle table that could seat 4-6 kids (NO I am not having that many!!) where crafts, puzzles and the like can take place.  To the right of the beam will define the toy nook.  The couch will be up against that wall.

This will be the future toy nook and t.v. watching area.  I'm treating it as its own room defined by the beam above.  The couch will be on the left wall and the wall right of the door will be a built-in for the t.v. and bins, bins and more bins for toys.  I bought 2 adorable decals for this wall from Graphic Spaces on Etsy.  The tree branch will be on the left pointing right and the raccoon will be running along the bead board pointing left.  I'm also going to remove the track lighting that runs parallel to the beam.  So I don't have to mess with patching the ceiling I will just put a swag-type light in it's place and center it in the "nook".

Isn't this stinkin' cute??  The only differences in the one I purchased and this one are that I chose orange birds and a darker green tire swing.  Oh, and it says, "The Cartners".

I really like this fabric and would like to make some large pillows for the very faded and stained Pottery Barn couch that I can't afford to recover.  I'll hopefully find several fabrics to coordinate.  I'm not 100% sold on this one yet but it's in the running.

 This entire wall will be a built-in.  Floor to ceiling and corner to corner.  There will be an assortment of depths and heights for the shelves.  I am in search for fun/unique bins for it.  Lots of color.  The color of the actual built in is still undecided.  The TV and VCR (Yes, I said VCR.  All of our Disney movies are on VHS) will be housed here too.

This area will now house my sewing stuff including my sewing table and my craft table that my father-in-law built for me.  I would like this wall to have my dry erase board and possibly some fabric covered cork boards and a ribbon rack.  I love these prints of puppies on the docks done by a Greenville artist that my parents bought in the 80's.  Unfortunately they still look like they would fit that time period.  I hope to remat and reframe them to give them new life and put them somewhere.  I'm all about recycling!  Dad actually saw this guy at Artisphere this year and he's still selling the same prints.  Ha.

This is just another view of what will be my crafting area.  Not sure what I am going to put on this wall but I am in desperate need of a clock down here.  I would love a huge clock but so far I haven't found "the one".  If you find one, let me know.  It needs to be a decent size (and decent price!).  Anybody need an entertainment center?

I didn't mean for this to turn into a dissertation.  Obviously you can see my excitement...and in the time I just wasted writing this, I could have gotten a coat of paint on the walls :).  More to come later!

Handmade Love

Grammy (aka Martha) sure can knit.  She's modest about her knitting skills but I assure you there isn't a missed stitch on either of these garments (Dakota's top, Corban's hat).  I keep telling her she needs to sell her stuff but then she might not enjoy it as much.  I'm sure having such cute grandkids is good motivation to keep those needles moving...I think you'll agree when you see below :).  Thanks for the sweet package in the mail Martha.  Oh, by the way, she made the kids coordinating sweaters for Christmas that I still need to photo and post on here but they were gorgeous.   

Prayers for Pappy!

If you're reading this blog please lift lots of prayers up for this sweet man...

Pappy - Dakota and Corban's great grandfather, Jacob's papaw and Sally's daddy - was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the fall.  We know that Pappy loves and serves a sovereign God and we are praying that God will place a healing hand on him, if it's His will.  Will you please pray for him?  Pray for physical comfort, strength and endurance.  Pray for Mappy as she cares for him.  Pray for Sally (Gigi) and her siblings as they serve their parents during this time.  Thank you.

Tuesday Testimonies: Marriage Struggles

So back in November I posted about how I wanted to start sharing what God is doing in the lives of His people.  Remember?  Well, I probably didn't pursue the idea like I should have and I never got it going.  Anyway, I got an amazing email from a friend today who has given me permission to share her story.  I love that she is using her past marriage struggles to minister to other people going through the same thing.  I think you will be encouraged by her Testimony.  I still remember the day that the husband of this story was baptized because it was probably one of Jacob's most encouraging moments of his Christian walk.  Thanks for sharing your story sweet Friend!!

"My husband and I started having marriage trouble around our 7th year - guess it's true what they say about the 7 year itch. I was naive and probably looking for attention and made some poor decisions which led my husband to make some poor decisions...and over the course of like a year and a half we just grew apart. I ultimately kicked him out of the house and was at my low when I just laid it all at His feet. I mean I really didn't know the Lord at that point but I was desperate. I had some friends praying for us and my parents were helping to intervene a bit.

We watched that movie Fireproof and I started realizing that believe it or not all of this – the giant mountain we were trying to overcome in our marriage – was “normal”. And better yet, that all marriages go through struggles like mine and yours but yet somehow everybody thinks that it’s a sign of something being wrong in the marriage! It’s like this big taboo thing that nobody ever wants to admit to – struggling in marriage. Talk about a revelation! I knew deep down that I wouldn’t find anyone better for me or my girls than my husband. So I knew that God and I had to turn things around.

As you can imagine, we had a lot of dirty laundry that wasn't being aired. Lies, deceit, secrets... that just all began unraveling - it was like God was just unfolding it all right in front of us. Initially the truth hurt the relationship really bad. In fact I thought we weren't going to be able to get past it. But in the end, truth was the only thing that enabled us to move forward.

We laid it all out on a sheet of paper - all the ways we had hurt each other. That helped us to see that it wasn't just one or the other - we were 'even', so to speak. We both had to start over - that it had been a two-way street that got us where we were. It was ultimate disclosure.

Then we started having the hard conversations about what we each want, need out of the relationship (I had to take notes during the conversations so that we could stay on track because we would end up arguing and getting side tracked from making progress).

All in all it took us about a year to really recover from all of that. It was very gradual and the trust was very slow to come back. The total disclosure allowed us to monitor and hold each other accountable through cell phone records, email, and Face Book. It was extreme but it was what we had to do to rebuild emotionally.

I attribute all of this to God because He lifted me up to do the work that it took to rebuild. He gave me the words to speak during those conversations because I prayed and asked Him to. He moved in my heart to love again. And the best part is that my relationship with my husband is the best it’s ever been. I know we'll come across more mountains, but next time, I'll know that, through God, it's possible to overcome them."

Such encouragement.  If you'd like to share your Testimony so that others can learn from your experiences, email me triciacartner@hotmail.com.

Classic: The Family Coat

Sometime around 1954 my grandmother and grandfather purchased this little wool coat for my daddy.  56 years and a few moth holes later my sweet (and ever moving) son got to wear it.  These pictures are special because they were taken in my grandmother's front yard over Thanksgiving.  Her face beamed as she remembered her very own little boy wearing it for one of his first Easters over a half a century earlier.   Although it will stay in Brad's family, I appreciate him letting Corban wear it for a season.  Now, I just need my dad to locate the picture of him wearing it and the collage can be complete.   

I'll be back soon...

I'm having a hard time getting motivated to blog because I have a ton of pictures to go through and upload.  Those of you who blog know what a daunting task that is sometimes.  Anyway, I'll get my act together soon.  So now...in addition to the things I said I needed in the last post:

Dakota's First Soccer Season
Thanksgiving
Christmas Decorating
More Videos of Dakota reciting Scripture

I also need to add:

Corban's First Haircut
Christmas
Snowdays
House Pictures (that I've been promising for months!)

I'm going to try and not do anything cool so I don't get behind.  Ha.  Maybe next week will be my lucky week?? 

Things I forgot

I found these pictures on my camera and thought they deserved being posted.  I still need to post blogs about:

Dakota's First Soccer Season

Thanksgiving

Christmas Decorating
More Videos of Dakota reciting Scripture

before Christmas so I don't get too behind. But...I'm not holding my breath and you shouldn't either :)  Enjoy these photos that didn't get posts of their own.

The kids graduated car seats.  That's always a big deal especially for the one that's been looking at the back for a year.  Dakota was thrilled to move to a booster and it makes life MUCH easier getting her in and out. 

We stopped by a fall festival at a church near us on Halloween Eve Eve and Dakota wanted her face painted.  It took about 45 minutes to wait in line and then she said she didn't want it done any more.  I told her she was getting her face painted after me & grammy she waited that long.  Since Gigi likes cats so much that's what she got on her face.  She sure does make a cute one! 

Oliver, Stetson and crew came for Corban's birthday and we got to take them to the zoo.

I found my son in the bed like this one day after Jacob put him down for a nap.  It was warm so Jacob just put him in the crib with only a diaper on.  Guess that was too much for Corban.  Luckily I caught him before we had a situation on hand.

She looks like an angel when she sleeps.

I took Dakota to see Veggie Tales Live with her friend Sydney.  It was a lot of fun and I think she really enjoyed it.  Who doesn't love a ginormous dancing asparagus??  I hope to take her to more shows this coming year.  Especially Beauty & the Beast at the Orpheum since that is one of her favorite movies right now.

Pierced and Pampered

Dakota has been asking to get her ears pierced since before her birthday in August and we kept telling her that we would take her.  Over Thanksgiving we were at the mall with my cousin Jess and her daughter Harlie who is 3 months younger than Dakota.  We walked by the Piercing Pagoda and I said, "ooo we could get your ears pierced now Dakota!"  Long story short, Dakota chickened out but Harlie got hers done instead.  Ha.  I was a little disappointed, not because Dakota didn't get her ears pierced but because I don't want her being afraid of things...especially things I know she really wants.  However, when I know Dakota is scared of something, overcomes her fears and does it anyway, I beam with pride.  Anyway, she has been telling us since that day that she never wants to get her ears pierced until this past Thursday.  Out of the blue she said she wanted them done so I figured I should cease the opportunity and take her.  She also needed a haircut but it's always so hard to chop those pretty golden locks.  So...we went to Sweet & Sassy and took care of both.  What a cute place.  She got her hair cut first and they sprayed it with glitter and a fragrance of her choice (she chose cupcake) and then we did the ears.  I could tell she was a little nervous but she did so great.  She cried a little and told me she never wanted to do it again (which currently she thinks if she wants to change earrings then she has to get them repierced - we'll cross that bridge in 6 weeks).  She got to pick out 2 lollipops and we headed to the grocery store where I proceeded to smash her finger in a grocery cart.  She forgot about her ears hurting...

 Her hair was starting to get really long and stringy and very hard for me to comb so we took off about 2" and it looks MUCH healthier now (forgot to take an after picture).  She's only every had 1 other real hair cut and that was a year ago.

 Watching the Incredibles.

 Little man enjoyed a lollipop while he waited.  I wanted to get him a hair cut too but I figured Jacob would shoot me if I got his son's hair cut at a place call "Sweet & Sassy."  Guess we'll go to Sports Clips and rid him of his mullet.

 Checking out the puppy's earrings while she waits for hers.

 So proud of you baby girl!!

Classic: Daddy's Helpers

This picture was taken in "stealth" mode.  I was hiding on the porch watching my family work in the yard together...my heart was smiling even though Dakota once told me that "hearts don't smile."  I love watching my husband interact with the kids (and dog) no matter what the activity.  Here they were planting our orchard - 4 apple trees and 2 plum trees.  When they bear fruit in a few years, I'll be able to look back at this picture and remember this sweet Friday afternoon.

Classic: Filling Daddy's Shoes

Shutterfly Sees Big Picture

Yep, Shutterfly sees the big picture this Christmas season...it's all about GIVING!  On cyber Monday I started designing my Christmas cards on Shutterfly trying to get a killer deal...there were so many cute options to choose from that I spent all of my kids' naptime looking and never ordered them.  I'm glad I waited because now I will get 50 of them for FREE for sharing their greatness with you!  My favorites are the religious cards because I want my receipients to know that Jesus is the reason I am celebrating CHRISTmas.  Hmmm...which one will I choose??

I'm terrible about getting pictures printed but Shutterfly makes it so easy!  You just upload your photos, select what you want and have them shipped to you.  You can even incorporate your photos into gifts.  I could really use one of these since my scrap piece of paper isn't doing the trick...

And since I just started drinking coffee I could use one of these with pictures of my kids to remind me of why I need coffee to get through the day (kidding)... 

 And I love a good puzzle.  They remind me of my childhood.  Grammy likes to do puzzles too.  Maybe I'll get her one of these one day...

And last, my favorite are their photo books.  They are cheaper/quicker/easier than scrapbooking.  My cousin has tons of these and it makes me want to go back and document the last 3 years of Dakota's life since I never got past her 1 month birthday in her scrapbook.  You can also make them for trips and holidays or any special event... 

So if you're still looking for any Christmas cards or Christmas gift ideas don't forget Shutterfly this December.  They really are a great deal and I love a company that's willing to SHARE.  Have a blog and want some cards too??  Go here ASAP.  Now...if only the USPS would do a promotion for free stamps I'd be set!