Busy Day Today

I don't really have a blog today. I'm getting ready to go to a wedding which I'll post on later. So, for now, here's a cute picture of Seth playing "get the pacifier" with Emet. Have a great day!

Tooth Fairy Time

Elijah lost his fourth tooth at school yesterday. There is nothing cuter than a toothless grin (unless it's on a grownup).

He's A Hair Twirler

Emet loves hair.
He uses my hair as his security blanket when he can, and when he is sleepy he begins to twirl his own hair. We went on an outing today with my friend Kristen from Vail, and as we got home we realized that Emet had twirled his hair into a knot that left his arm just dangling from his head! Hilarious!

Rain!!!

Whenever this little guy makes his home in my garden, I begin anticipating the start of school, falling leaves and cooler weather. Not so this year. My garden spider made his home in one of the hottest spots on our patio, and the heat has been not relenting...until today! It's raining! Praise God! All the plants and creatures-including humans needed this desperately. Relief.

New Arms

My new painting by David Arms. It's hanging in the front room now, but it might not stay there. It desperately needs a picture light...

Studio Pictures

O.k. I finally have pictures of the studio that I have been talking about for the last week. It's done! There's a bit of arranging left to do, but not much, because my husband has agreed to not bring in very much stuff (whew!). He is building a new wall sized adjustable easel. Other than that, all he needs is his mixing table which just got a new slab of smooth marble to mix paint on. All paint and brush storage is underneath! Hopefully this will inspire him to keep it put away (fingers crossed). Today I will be transforming this space into our guest room (to welcome my good friend Kristen) by pulling out the futon and putting all the art stuff away.

Watergirl Designs

I love these mesh cuffs by Watergirl Designs. Mesh and chainmail is something that I don't do, but I adore the look of!

A Chocolate Bath...room

So, I decided to have the downstairs bathroom painted chocolate brown, which coordinates with the color scheme in the new downstairs studio. The studio has grayish blue walls, a chocolate ceiling and dark trim (which we will eventually do throughout the entire house.) I love my new grommeted curtain, but I'm not so sure about the new color... what do you think?
BEFORE


AFTER

Me and Grommet

I stayed up late last night making five curtain panels for our freshly painted new studio/ guest room. I had initially planned to just purchase some white flat sheets, but I couldn't find them without their partner: the fitted sheet and their two pillow cases. I wasn't about to spend the cash on five whole families of sheets when I would only be splitting them apart. So I opted to just get fourteen yards of white muslin, which I hemmed into 8 foot panels and then I put in grommets at the top. Putting in grommets is so easy, that I ended up taking down my bathroom curtain that was pocket hung and put some grommets in that too! I am hanging the curtains on heavy gauge picture frame wire instead of a traditional rod. When I get them hung, I'll post a pic of the new room!

Almost Done...

This week I have also finished painting our upstairs bathroom walls and oil based trim (a stinky job, especially in a small room). Now all that is left for that room is to install an outlet (you can see the empty electrical box in the picture) and add a small towel bar and a small glass shelf above the toilet. We're almost there!

Completed Project!

I finally finished our family photo hallway. I decided that the best thing to do with all of the pictures that I love to look at, was to put them all in one place. And that perfect place for us is the hallway that leads to the downstairs bathroom and the two downstairs bedrooms. It was a small, almost unused space anyway, so now it is a large scale photo album! I'm soooo glad to be done with it!

CBS

I have been involved in Community Bible Study for seven years now, and I look forward to the study every year. I have been in the leadership in the past, but I took some some time to just go to the class so that I could take care of the baby. Well, this year I was asked to come back into leadership and after much prayer and scripture searching, I have decided to do it. Not that I feel completely capable or unafraid to lead, because I have so much fear, but I feel that the Lord has specifically told me for this situation "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 11:7
I am excited to do this because I need the Lord so much in order to do it. I think that it is such a gift of grace that He provides things in our lives that cause us to want and to need to be near Him. Otherwise I would always be caught up in myself; and I am miserable when my eyes are on myself. I love Him for making me need Him! Because He is always faithful. I have never looked for Him and not found Him. I have never asked Him to open my eyes so that I can see His presence in my life only to find He isn't there. I am excited that He is the one who is in charge and that He holds me up so that I can cling to Him.
Community Bible Study
Mission Statement
"To make disciples of the
Lord Jesus Christ in our
communities through caring,
in-depth Bible study, available
to all."

Baby Scare

We spent our weekend at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. We thought that Emet had ingested some of Kaleb's ADHD medication, and so we had our first ambulance ride that wasn't for fun. Luckily our neighbor stepped in to care for the two big boys until their grandparents could get to our house to take care of them.
Once at the hospital, nurses and doctors hooked sweet little Emet up to all sorts of monitors while he looked on in utter confusion. Because the pills were extended release, Poison control made us stay for at least 23 hours for observation. Emet never did show any symptoms, thank the Lord. But there are still at least two pills unaccounted for. I've search every nook and cranny in our home to make sure they are not there, so I don't know what to think. All I know is, I'm glad to be home and I am very, very tired.

Practice...

I did not finish my projects today...sigh...but I did get some work done. I'm still practicing with my camera, and I tried to get a good photo of what I am doing in my hallway, but alas, I could not. I think the lighting is making it look bad, and it's really hard to get a good angle in a really cramped hall. So I decided to take photos of the kids messy room while they were in there trying to straighten it up for me. Boy, they have a lot of stuff!

House Projects

I am going to be doing projects around my house today that have to get done. I have been practicing with my camera, so that when I finish a room I can post it. Hopefully I will be ready to post a completed room tonight. Fingers crossed that I get it done...

Laugh Riot

Reader's Digest just put out their "Laugh Riot" issue which features several of the worlds favorite funnies like Alan Alda, Ben Stiller and Kelsey Grammer. I thought I would just post some of my favorite lines from funny stand-up comics.

Image from flickr.

"Have you seen the deer heads
on the walls of bars,
the ones wearing party hats,
sunglasses and streamers?
I feel sorry for them because
obviously they were at a party
having a good time..."
Ellen DeGeneres

"I constantly walk into a room
and I don't remember why. But
for some reason, I think there's
going to be a clue in the fridge."
Caroline Rhea

"So they're showing me, on
television, the detergents
getting out bloodstains.
I mean, come on, you got a
T-shirt with a bloodstain
all over it. Maybe laundry
isn't your biggest problem
right now."
Jerry Seinfeld

"Why are women wearing perfumes
that smell like flowers to
attract men? Men don't like
flowers. I wear a scent called
'new-car interior.'"
Rita Rudner

"When I was in London, I went
to buy some chocolates. The
cashier was like, 'That will
be ten pounds.' I'm like,
'Rub it in, why don't you?'"
Carol Leifer

It's Time For A Change

I think I need a new laundry basket. This is what happens when you carry great piles of dirty garments down the stairs and mounds of folds back up.

I love all of the baskets pictured here. I just have to make sure that whatever I end up getting, it can easily be toted from one level to the next.
Image form Apartment Therapy's top ten laundry baskets


So, I will probably end up getting something like this
Crunch can from the Container Store

What Makes Me Happy Today

Thanks Carrie for showing me this commercial! It's very cute! I love being with people who understand me!

Films from On The Lot

I have been watching Fox's On The Lot occasionally this summer. I haven't seen all the episodes, but there have been a few interesting mini-movies that I have seen. The finale is next week to see which director will win the chance to make a movie with Steven Spielberg. My favorite movies from last night were "Army Guy" and "The Yes Men" (click on the film names to watch them).

Dream Lamp

I've found the lamps I want! They're something I'm going to have to save up for, but I am in love! They are these Alex Marshall lamps from 2Modern. The rectangular shape is perfect. Now I just need to decided which one of his cool glazes to get and whether to get one of these lamps and one of something else, or to be completely symmetrical and just do two of these. I usually lean toward a-symmetry and a look of long term collection of things, but in this case I have the idea that I might want complete symmetry to balance the a-symmetrical room...what do you think? Maybe I should post a picture of the space....

Party Inspiration

Another photo to inspire me for my Wonderland party. I love the graduated ladder; I'll have to incorporate something like that, maybe in the form of a checkered felt runner at the front door. And I definitely need to set out all of my chess boards!

Photo taken from Dwell Magazine.

School Days, School Days...

Today is the first day of school. My boys look so handsome in the new standard school attire. They are excited about today, and I am too!

Erwin Olaf

I got my Martha Stewart Living magazine in the mail this week and on the back cover was this ad for Kohler by Erwin Olaf.
I'm sure you are familiar with his photography, and even if you don't know his name you'll probably recognize his work because he has done ads for everyone from Lee and Diesel jeans to BMW to Microsoft and tons of other companies. I thought the Kohler ad was so funny and it reminded me slightly of the famous children's illustrator and regular back cover artist for Reader's Digest, C.F. Payne. Anyway, I thought you might enjoy a gander at some of his other work. I particularly like the series represented below. But be warned, if you go to his sight there are some quite graphic pieces that are not suitable for children.

"New York Times"
"Hope"

"Grief"

Lights in the Sky

Tonight the annual Perseid meteor shower will be at it's peak (around 1am central time Monday morning will be the best time to view it in the Nashville area). We have a new moon so the sky should be nice and dark, so if you can, find a place away from the city lights and enjoy a very cool sight!

Nashville's Tomato Fest

Today the 4th annual Tomato Art Festival held in East Nashville's Little Five Points.
Festivities start at 10am. There will be art, tons of stuff for kids to do, contests, food, and the event is FREE! You know how much I LOVE something free to do on the weekend! So grab your hubby and your kids and come on down! And if your kids want to dress like a tomato, they will certainly fit in! Scroll on down to check out some of the artwork that will be featured.