Wedding reception complete

Just thought I'd post a link to the website of a fabulous photographer friend that took the pictures for the wedding reception for Anna and Marcus that I did last weekend. This reception along with various summer camps, conferences, and trips explain my absence in the blog world this summer.

I hope to update with pictures from our summer very soon, but for now, you can see her pictures HERE.

Can't help being in love with this boy

It's hard to believe my boy is already 3 years old!



Of course we took our fire hydrant picture like last year



And he's sporting his "I'm 3" t-shirt I made for him using my Silhouette.





Can't help loving this sweet boy!

Hello darkness...

The last several days have been challenging. Last Wednesday, tornadoes struck our area, as well as 27 other counties in the State of Alabama. The same tornado that decimated Tuscaloosa, came through Madison Wednesday afternoon flattening over 250 homes. Fortunately, we only suffered the lack of power to our home for almost 5 days.

The worst parts:
...no power
...no hot water, thus no hot showers
...not being able to see coverage of the devastation less than 2 miles from your house
...planning meals based on what will spoil the fastest
...feeling fear
...a refresher course on how to use the shotgun
...knowing that so many geographically close to us lost so much

The best parts:
...testing out our survival/emergency preparedness plans
...more sleep due to earlier bedtimes
...a clean refrigerator
...time to read my Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Family Handyman magazines.
..."smoritos" over an open flame
...phone calls from loved ones making sure we were ok
...eating by candlelight
...sitting around the firepit together as a family and actually being able to see the stars.
...a brief respite from powerlessness in Birmingham on Sunday, along with some clean laundry and hot showers
...the peaceful spirit at the outdoor sacrament meeting Sunday morning
...knowing that we still have each other, and our home

Through all of the chaos I didn't think to take pictures except for these ...

Thursday morning after our first night with no power, I went out to the grill to make breakfast and saw my peony plant beginning to bloom. All of the rain from the day of tornadoes had given it just enough to quench its thirst and bloom.

Like a breath of fresh air after the storms.



And by Friday, we were starting to feel icky. Cliff was brave enough to take a cold shower, since he had to go to work. Just the sound of his reaction to the cold was enough to deter me from EVER doing that. He sounded like he was being stabbed repeatedly. I heated up some water on the grill and then made a luke warm bath for CJ in the sink. Then the girls and I each took our little bit of warm water for sponge baths.



Easter pictures for Grandma.









Feeling grateful to be alive with my family and my home intact. Praying for those who weren't as fortunate.

"Rock" this town

Lately, we've been doing a little bit of this...



I made Cj a rock pit, instead of a sand box. He is loving it.





He's also been working on his culinary skills, making spaghetti with his friend.











And all of us had a nice sunny weekend in the Ham.

Just a snapshot of life right now

What should I post about?

I should post...

I want to post...

yet there isn't much to post about.

We have had small, brief bouts with a stomach bug lately.

I have had the partial creations that started as this, sitting at one end of my dining room table since prom weekend.



Hopefully, I will finish them before Friday.

I bought a new table at Ikea when I went a few weeks ago and have been anxiously awaiting the chance to put it into place.

So- last weekend, we removed this from our "eat-in" kitchen area.



We made the table about a year after we moved in, because the space is small and this was a good solution. But we live in this house differently than we did 7 years ago. Now I just have to sell this table and chairs to help me pay for my replacement project ... or wait until next month.

I'm going to put it on Craigs list soon, but if anyone is interested, feel free to contact me at [email protected] I am asking $200 for both the table and chairs.

Other than that, I am just enjoying the ebb and flow of life.

Best thing I never knew I needed

You may remember this...



I got 90% done and fizzled. The hardware presented a dilemma.

Do I keep it brassy? No.
Do I spray paint it? Uh, I'm not sure.
Its such beautiful hardware, I don't want to replace it.

So, I pondered. I remembered seeing something on a few blogs called Rub n' BUff. It looked like it might work for this. So my plan was to spray paint the hardware and then use the Rub N' Buff to add some dimension. For about $6 on Amazon I got 2 tubes, one in pewter and one in ebony, because I couldn't decide.



In the end, I didn't spray paint the hardware, but just used the Rub n' Buff. Can I just say that this is the coolest stuff?! Really, I used less than 1/2 teaspoon of it on all the hardware, so it really goes a long way, and I love the transformation.



So now it's done..



And I love how the hardware turned out.


That stuff is the best thing I never knew I needed. Now I'm looking around the house wondering what else I can Rub n' Buff! So cool!

With or without you

Last week CJ went out into the backyard and played by himself, exploring all of the sticks, his toys, anything that looked interesting.



I stood close to the door peeking on him constantly, almost in disbelief that he was so content playing without me.

Then, I caught a glimpse of him doing this...



getting mud all over his hands...



And then not liking the feel of it on his hands, he wipes it on the underside of my craft table (that hasn't made it back into the garage since my last spray-painting job...I know...we are so white trash.)



And like a boy...he puts his hands right back in it...



and he heads right back for the table...



He did this about 5 times...







Each time, wiping it on the table.



Ha Ha ... At least he likes to be clean.

But lately,
this is what we have been doing. (YAY!)



While going #2, this is CJ saying "Wait for it...wait for it..." Ha ha
He totally cracked me up! I have no idea where he gets this stuff!

What would we do without this adorable boy??!!