First Grade

Yesterday was a big day for my big boy...his first day of first grade. Dropping him off was much different this year than it was last year, I must admit! I found the start of first grade much more emotional than kindergarten, for some reason - - perhaps because he seemed like a "real" big boy this time, and not so much a little fish in the big sea. No, I did not cry all over my poor son as he found his desk and hung up his backpack...I saved the sniffling for when I was in the car, on the way back home!

Yesterday was also a big day for Griffin, as it was hard for him to let his best buddy go for the day. They squabble just like all siblings do, but at heart, they really are such good friends. Griffin must have asked me a million times, "When is Cammy coming home?"

It was also a day of firsts for Griffin and I, as we have never really been alone with each other. Camden was gone just under 3 hours each day last year, so that didn't really give Griff and I time to settle into any type of daily routine. Although Griffin missed his brother, it was obvious that he was enjoying having Mummy all to himself, which made me very happy. I am so glad that Griffin won't be starting preschool until next fall, so that we can have this time with each other.

Camden's teacher has a program to encourage positive behavior called "The Busy Bee", where one student is the "Top Bee" of the day. When I dropped Camden off yesterday morning, I asked him what his goal for the day was, and he promptly told me it was to be "Top Bee". When I picked him up in the afternoon, sure enough, he had been chosen as Top Bee in his class. My boy is determined, I tell you!

The afternoon didn't go as well for us - - Camden was out of sorts and ended up shedding quite a few tears, asking lots of questions as to why I couldn't go and sit with him at his desk when he's at school, etc.. Heartbreaking to hear, but I assured him that probably most of the kids feel the same way on the first day of school. So, here's hoping that today, and each day forward gets easier for him. I'm so proud of my Camden.

Thank you for all of the nice emails and messages yesterday, letting me know that you were thinking of Camden...I appreciate that so much!

And Now for Some Shameless Self-Promotion....

I can't help myself...I am so excited to tell you that I have been "featured" on another blog for the very first time! I feel like such a rock star! If you like a good makeover like I do, then you will love this new blog. It is called Better After, and it is a collection of all kinds of makeovers, from home to furniture to decor. You'll be amazed at all the wonderful ideas lurking there. To see my feature, click here. Then, take some time to check out the rest of this great new blog. It is so much fun!

Summer Wrap-Up

School starts on Thursday, so we are scrambling around this week, hoping to get all of our last-minute things done before then. In the meantime, here's a look at what we've been up to.

After a long, hot two weeks of Annual Training, Steve hiked the Seven Devils with two of his Army buddies Cliff and Bud. Bud was Steve's CHU-mate when they were in Iraq. They had a great time and came home with a bunch of great pictures.

The little boys spent a week at Vacation Bible School (along with their cousin Banzer) and they all had a great time!

Then, there was a canoe trip with Daddy....

A first, and very successful "Moms Night Out" at the Yellow Cottage, with good friends...

A little camping trip for Camden and Daddy....

While the big boys were off camping, Griffin and I enjoyed some special one-on-one time.


Back-to-school cupcakes...

And last, but not least, cousin fun!

A Spanish Lesson

Griffin loves "Go Diego, Go", and is constantly asking me, "How do you say it in Spanish?" Here he is, giving me a little Spanish lesson of his own. Gosh, I love this little boy!

Stale

I've been having some blog troubles lately...maybe you've noticed. In a nutshell, it is all about balance. I have a lot of things I'd like to write about, but just haven't been able to make the time - - whether it be from pure busy-ness, or that I just can't get organized enough to sit down and make it happen. As many of you who blog may know, it can become a vicious cycle - - the more you don't blog, the more you feel like you have to blog, which, for me, leads to the serious inability to blog.

Steve has just returned from a three-week absence. The boys are in Vacation Bible School all week this week. The first day of school (for Camden) is in 16 days. We are off to Florida next month. These are the things that are on my mind lately. So, while I try to get my blogging act together and get back at it, I apologize for wasting your time as you click over here, only to see the same stale old post that has been here for two weeks.

What is Old is New Again: Another Thrift Store Makeover

I found this cute little tea light lamp at my local thrift store a while back, and I liked it, but it was a little rough around the edges. For 50 cents, I went ahead and grabbed it and waited for inspiration to strike.

For one thing, I didn't really care for the faux silver base. The lampshade was a bit faded, and it also had some staining around the top. So, last night, after I (finally) got the boys to bed for the night, I got out my little utility knife, some spray paint, fabric scraps and glue. The result?

The paint color is Krylon Oil-Rubbed Bronze, which is a nice, metallic-y brown. The fabric is just a piece of reproduction vintage that I picked up at some point. I love how it looks on the mantle. Much more to my liking, now!

Sponge Stamps

It has been a little nutty around these parts. I've been ill for a better part of the week, and we are currently on Week Two of Steve's 3-week absence, but I digress. I sat down about 45 minutes ago to compose a blog post, and in that time I've been stopped no less than 15 times to: console a weepy child (that would be Griffin), put a stop to sibling bickering, make lunch, clean Moon Sand off the floor, break up another bickering match, clean Moon Sand off little hands (note: Moon Sand is messy!), redirect a begging dog out of the kitchen (at least 5 times), etc.. Alas, nothing different than what any other mother does on a daily basis, but the constant side-tracking takes any inspiration I may have had to write, and tosses it right out the window. I'm determined to soldier on though, and get something new written. So, here we go.

The boys had the itch to do some painting this morning, so I took the opportunity to finally make some sponge stamps for them. I saw this idea in a magazine, probably two years ago, so I tore the page out and put it in my "idea" file. I'm really good at collecting ideas, but not as good at executing them (see above paragraph as to why).

All you need for this project is a hot glue gun (a mom's best friend, if you ask me), some assorted plastic caps (from detergent bottles, medicine bottles, or any other kind that are easy for little hands to grasp), a package of dish sponges, and a pair of scissors.

Cut the sponges out in various shapes, and then glue them to the tops of your caps. Voila! Sponge stamps.

(I know, I know...you wish you had mustard-yellow-speckled a-la-1970's tile counter tops like mine. Don't try to deny it)

These were a huge hit with the boys. They wash up easily, and I think we'll be getting a lot of use out of them, whenever we paint.

An Interview with Camden

Me: Hi Camden, how is your morning going?

Camden: It's going fine.

Me: What are you doing right now?

Camden: Griffin's pretending that I'm the Bad Guy, but he's really the Bad Guy.

Me: So, tell me about your fabulous mohawk.

Camden: All I can say is it is cool. Can I go play now?

Me: No. Humor your mother for a minute.

Camden: But Mummy, I don't want Griffie to mess up my line of cars!!

Me: Okay, I'll make this quick. Shall we talk about Titanic?

Camden: Okay...my favorite part is the bow. I like the pictures of the bow on the bottom of the ocean.

Me: Tell me about your brother.

Camden: He's annoying all the time and he always breaks stuff that I build out of Legos and it is annoying.

Me: What's your favorite food?

Camden: My favorite foods are tacos and cookies. And carrots with dip.

Me: Favorite cartoon?

Camden: Wonder Pets are kind of lame. I like Pokemon.

Me: If you could be anything in the world, what would you be?

Camden: The thing I want to be is myself because I have fun. I want to be a shipbuilder but only if I don't have to get a lot of shots to be one. I don't like shots.

Me: Thank you for your time, sir.

Camden: You're welcome!

Scenes from a Day

A Thrift Store Makeover

A couple of years ago, I found this beat-up old rolling cart at my local thrift store for $10.00. I immediately liked it, but didn't quite know what I would do with it. I brought it home anyway, and didn't get the inspiration to do anything with it until a couple of months ago.

So, I took it apart and gave all of the pieces a good scrubbing. Then, I gave each of the trays a coat of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Primer in White. Next came a couple of coats of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor spray paint in Banner Red Gloss. Once it was dry, I put it all back together, and, voila! I had a brand new rolling bar/tea cart for my dining room:

I love how it turned out, and I'm glad I finally figured out what I wanted to do with it.

Peg Doll Necklace

See this little girl?

She's on her way to Maine to see this little girl ~

(that's my lovely niece, Violet)

I love the little wooden peg people that you can get in just about any craft store...they are really inexpensive, and there are so many things you can do with them. I saw this idea on one of my new favorite blogs recently, so I thought I'd give it a try this past weekend. I love the way it came out, and I hope that Violet will like her, too!

Of course, the boys were intrigued, and wanted me to make something for them as well. So, with a little inspiration from Her Cup Overfloweth, I came up with these:

I made this Superman for my nephew. I made a Spiderman for Griffin, but he went missing less than 4 hours after his paint was dry, and the Batman I made for Camden vanished not long after (thus, no photographic evidence of their existence)! Hopefully they will resurface, but in the meantime, I'm having a hard time not painting up a whole little family of peg dolls!

Peanut-Butter-Chocolaty Goodness

Oh, Lordy...is this pie yummy. The boys and I enjoyed a lovely cookout with Rex, Kasey, and Banzer on the 4th of July (Steve was under the weather, so he missed out on all the fun, unfortunately), so I made this pie. You may recognize it from The Pioneer Woman ... when I saw it on her website, I knew I wanted to make it. Very, very simple, and delicious beyond imagination. I would put this pie in the same category as a cheesecake (i.e., super-rich) - - so yummy that you want to go back for seconds, but if you eat too much, you will most likely wish you hadn't.

The Tree Fort

Steve started building a tree fort for the boys back in May, when his parents came out for a visit. I think we can safely say we are entering the home stretch of completion. It turned out so nice, and the boys just love it! There are times when I want to take a chair and a good book, and go hide in it myself (like today, for example - - Calgon, take me away!). There is some painting yet to do, and I still need to make a curtain for the door and shades for the windows, according to Camden. We picked out some cute canvas material the other day, so I must fire up the sewing machine this weekend and get it done.

It appears that there isn't a roof on the fort, but Steve used some clear plastic stuff, so that daylight would still shine in....love that idea!

The boys wanted a little sign to hang outside the door, so here is what I came up with.

I was happy to finally find a home for this nifty cow bell - - my mother got it for me at Stonewall Kitchen back in 2005 when I was home for a visit. Unfortunately, our house is brick so I've never been able to hang it up!