spinning, laughing, dancing

spinning, laughing, dancing to

her favorite song

a little girl with nothing wrong

is all not alone

eyes wide open

always hoping for the sun

and she'll sing her song to anyone

that comes along

fragile as a leaf in autumn

just fallin' to the ground

without a sound

crooked little smile on her face

tells a tale of grace

that's all her own

spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song

a little girl with nothing wrong

and she's all not alone

-seven years by norah jones

snagglytooth

first lost tooth - may 24 - she feels bigger than the hole in her smile - sigh

Celebrate: Dakota Graduates Preschool!

It seems like just yesterday that I popped this nugget of cuteness out...

...but today I watched her in her first of who knows how many graduation exercises.  If she's like her daddy, it could be a lot.  It was pure sweetness and my heart was proud.  I can't believe we start the big "K" in a few short months!  Sorry these first pictures are horrible but my camera wasn't liking the lighting and well, I'm no professional.

 Walking down the aisle to "Pomp & Circumstance"

"This Little Light of Mine"

"You're a Grand Old Flag"

 Proud Mommy & Daddy

Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Rene

Sillies.

p.s. Do I get a prize for blogging about something the day it happened??  That's an achievement for me!

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

Not me!  My friend snagged these chairs for me last summer while doing a local mission project.  They were headed to the dump and she thought, "Trish, can do something with them."  Although I tend to steer away from mid-century style, I thought they were pretty cool and that they would look great in our playroom.  They are low to the ground which is perfect for kiddos and 5'-2" mommas.  Like most of my projects, they sat around for a while until I decided what I wanted to do with them.  I hate rushing into a project only to be dissatisfied with the end results due to poor planning or rash decision making.  Last year, The Nester blogged about a fur ottoman and I filed it in my noggin (I would have "pinned it" but I hadn't sold my soul to that craze yet).  These chairs seemed like a perfect opportunity to remove said inspiration from my imaginary file cabinet so I began...

It was October and Hancock's had their fur on sale for 50% off.  Since that stuff costs $20/yd and I knew I'd need around 2 to 3 yards I figured this would be the time to grab it.  I went to the store that was most convenient to me and found the color fur I liked best; described as "the big bad wolf" by the lady at the cutting table.  Unfortunately they only had 1 yard left.  I bought what they had and started recovering the bottoms that afternoon (legs had been spray painted a few days before).  Big mistake.  After several trips to other Hancocks, I came up empty handed on the matching fur and here I was with my chairs 1/2 finished.  Doh!

I waited a few weeks to see if they would get another shipment and when I went back they told me, "Oh that fur was for Halloween we don't keep it in stock.  We'll probably have something different next year.  If you have your receipt, we can use the number to locate some."  Riiiight.  I never keep those things.  Discouraged, I went home and tried to think of another idea (1/2 fur, 1/2 something else??) and started moving things around in my junk craft room.  To my delight, I found a receipt under a pile of randomness!  Not just any receipt but a receipt that had the words "faux fur" written on it!  Seeing as this isn't something I buy on a regular basis I knew it was my ticket to finishing my chairs.  I took the receipt to Hancocks and a kind man tracked down the last bit of fur in Memphis.  Yeehaw.

After all this fur tracking, I dropped one of the chairs, breaking its back leg but Papa Clarence came to the rescue and helped me fix it with his super-clamps and wood glue. 

Now they are done and I love them and I need to vacuum my craft room.  Hope you enjoy!

Monday Smiles ~ 04.09.12

#1
I got a message from our receptionist at work today saying there was a package for me up front.  An early birthday present from dad & Martha made me smile.  I knew I was getting them but wasn't sure when.  Excited to have a little shine in my step.

#2
Got this from my favorite little girl when I got home.  Coloring is one of her favorite things to do and she's getting so good at it.

#3
Our beans started sprouting over the weekend but I was surprised to see how much more they popped up today!  Crossing my fingers for a big harvest this year.

#4
Jacob recruited me to help pressure wash and seal the porch this weekend.  I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to do it but I did enjoy our time together and it looks really nice.  Here's to many cookouts this spring.

#5 not pictured
Tonight starts our church softball league.  I'm serving as an "as-needed" player since I'm working now and not sure I can make all the games.  I would give you a picture but didn't want to wait until I got home tonight to post this.  The game doesn't start until 9:10 so it's going to be late by the time I get home.

I hope you had a good Monday!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter from Eads, TN!  We love you all!

Monday Smiles ~ 04.02.12

Let's face it.  Mondays stink!  Why else would Karen Carpenter have written a song with the line "rainy days and Mondays always get me down?"  Or why would there be a need for the phrase "having a case of the Mondays?"  As a SAHM, weekends welcome the extra hands of daddy as he helps referee, change diapers, cook, clean up spills, etc.  It's nice to be able go to the bathroom in privacy and to pawn off some parenting responsibility to the other better half.   Come Monday (wasn't that in a song too??) it's back to an exhausting, solo act.  Now that I'm a WAOM (work at office mom), weekends welcome sleeping in and extra time with my family.  It's no surprise that when the alarm rings early Monday morning, I'm less than enthusiastic.

Anyway, I sort of feel bad for Monday and how everybody hates it.  It can't help that it got stuck at the beginning of the week or that it always has to follow Mother's Day, Father's Day and Jesus' Resurrection.  So - I've decided to make a conscious effort to find 5 things each Monday that make me smile.  I want to share them with you in hopes that you too will find smiles in the little (or big) things that Monday brings.

Here's to happy Mondays...

#1
Dad and Martha got me this awesome fish planter for Christmas.  I love it's uniqueness and I love that it came from Go Fish, a store in Greenville with an awesome purpose:

"Our company purchases most of the items we sell from the indigenous people of developing nations. We never argue a price or take advantage of the poor, but always give them the dignity and respect of buying these hand-crafted goods at their asking price. All we ask in return is consistent quality. We have established meaningful long-term relationships with many families and individuals. Through the efforts of Go Fish staff, store partners and customers, the lives of many of these people have changed for the better."

As I left for work this morning, I realized that over the weekend (I was out of town), Jacob bought me some plants and helped fulfill this little fishy's purpose which is to hold plants, not dust.  I love it.

#2 

These little rice packages from Uncle Ben are pretty sweet.  I normally don't buy individually packaged food because I'm cheap but I had a coupon for these.  In just a short 90 seconds, I was able to have perfectly cooked rice with my salad for lunch.  They are only 2 servings so they wouldn't really work for a family but are great for a quick lunch.

#3
I signed up for the first of 7 exams I need to take as part of the ARE.  Although it required $210 and will require lots of studying, it's still worth smiling over because it means I am moving forward in becoming a licensed architect.

#4
Today I started my first project in Revit. I won't go into detail about the program because it will bore most of you but basically, if you are still using AutoCad for construction documents you are "behind the times". I was trained in this software 5 years ago at LRK and never got to use it on a project. Because of it's complexity, most managers don't want the learning curve to affect their project's budget or schedule.  I'm thankful that at F&A we are finally moving forward.

#5 not pictured
I got to go on a run by myself tonight.  Usually I am pushing close to 100lbs of kid & stroller so to be able to run alone was nice.  AND while I was running, Jacob was cooking dinner!  Pretty sweet deal.  Running alone allowed me to soak up the near setting sun, caterpillars, butterflies, geese, flowers, etc.  It was such a nice run that I won't even let the copperhead that was in my path ruin my day.

Until Next Monday...

Camping Cousins: September 2011

Nothing says fun like 4 muddy kiddos.  Back in September we were able to meet Lauren & Chad and their boys for a cousins camping trip which we hope will become a fairly regular adventure.  I know I am waaaay behind on my blogging but this was such a fun trip that I didn't want to neglect sharing it.  Plus, L&C didn't have their camera so they might enjoy finally seeing some photos. 

We met on a Thursday evening after dark at the Big South Fork National River & Rec area near the KY/TN border.  The next day we did our best at picnicking and hiking but the weather was far from perfect.  Thankfully the kids didn't mind and used the extra mud to enrich their fun.  The Rowland clan had to head back on Saturday morning so the Cartner Clan found a new place to explore.  We found our way to Cumberland Falls, considered the Niagra of KY where the previous day's rain strengthed her flow.  That night we camped in Mammoth Cave National Park so that we could enjoy a cave tour early Sunday morning.  We wished we had more time to spend at MCNP but maybe we'll go back another time.

Check out Jacob's posts from this trip if you'd like to know more about the areas we surveyed - unlike me, he gets things done in a timely manner.

 Even though it was so wet, we were able to get a fairly decent campfire, albeit a little smoky.

 Thanks for participating, Corban.  A little delayed?

 Josie.

 Excuse my wild hair but Corban's face is too sweet not to post.

 Hello Deer.

Enjoying lunch underground!

Celebrate: Halloween

This year Dakota decided she wanted to be Tinkerbell so it only seemed appropriate that Corban be Peter Pan.  There was talk of Jacob being Captain Hook and I being Wendy but given that I was still sewing Corban's costume 30 minutes before the Fall Festival, we had to settle.  I bought a pattern for Dakota's costume which was a mistake because it was too time consuming.  It's cute, yes, but I should have just used my architecture skills to come up with my own design (buildings, Tink, same thing right??).  I spent maybe 15 minutes on Corban's (and 1/4 the $$) and his was just as cute.  Thankfully I have a daughter who appreciates the things I make for her (for now) so it was all worth it.

As usual, we enjoyed the church's Fall Festival the week prior to Halloween and spent Halloween night with our dear friends, the Alleys.  This year cousins Oliver & Stetson were here so they got to go with us.

Blowing up her balloon to pop.

One sticky Peter Pan!

Making monster hands at school.  Mommy got to help with the party - one of the perks of being a SAHM is being able to participate in school functions.  For now, it's still cool for me to show up.

Turning her friend into a mummy with tp.