Oh what have i done

well , a whole lot of this and that.  But havent really blogged about any of it. 

Score!! Found 3 packs of these at our Gateway store for $1 each. 

Made a table for my craft/sewing/computer/junk room.  I kinda/sorta went by

the directions Tracie gave here.  I still have to get my drop cloth to add the skirt around it. 

And then it'll be so pretty. 

Made a sign with vinyl I won. 

Made a photo holder for my grandkids pics.  The back has clothespins

glued on upside down to hold the pics.  I put 5 across.

(hoping to make some more of these soon to sell)

columns after they have been painted - also added black satin

ribbon around the top and bottom base. 

My two pregnant ladies back in September or end of August.  This was the day

of Amb's bachelorette party.

Pretty hospital door hanger Amb made for her sister.  She added the name,

date of birth, and weight afterwards.

Built a little box to go in my kitchen window,, glued moss around the top edges and stuck

in some fall floral picks.. added two little pumpkins to the side that Jeff stole from mel.. .

Think I'll keep the box and just change out the decoration for each season/holiday. 

10/17/11 - went to the dr with my oldest one.  29 weeks here.

Got to see Ms Skyelar on the sonogram and hear the hearbeat.  So sweet!!

Emmie and her mama went to so she could take a picture with the man

that delivered her.  He is the sweetest Dr.  Im glad that Amb is also using him.

Emmie in her little nightgown hanging out with pappy for a few minutes. 

Lots of random photos but wanted to update the blog with pics.  I plan on doing the blog 2 print thing one day so I want to keep it updated. 

Thats it for now,, Have a great week! 



 

Oh baby

Its amazing how such a tiny little baby can melt your heart and change your daily life.  First thing I want to do when I get up in the morning and get home in the afternoon is see this sweet little face.  

Not sure why my picture keeps turning sideways. 

Cant wait to meet our 2nd little granddaughter in about 11 weeks. 

Amberly - about 27 weeks

Wedding pics soon ..

October 1st came quickly and the wedding was just beautiful.  The weather was perfect and the bride was gorgeous.  Hoping to have wedding pics really soon but I just had to share this picture of my beautiful little granddaughter taken on Aunt Bam Bam's wedding day. 


  Emmerson Leigh - 12 days old - and she has already stolen all of our hearts.  Especially Pappy's.  Thank you God for this sweet little blessing. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Liz's storybook life

 

***excerpt ***
Once one has breathed in the deep pungent aroma of sewage, you never again forget the nose-hair singeing, eye clawing, throat gagging experience. It comes over you slowly. You begin to feel like a character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as your muscles involuntarily jerk and you run screaming and blowing raspberries. Anything to get away from the mind-numbing stench.


But let me explain.


It was 6:30 a.m. I was standing in my retro pink tiled bathroom trying to open my bleary eyes and ready myself for work. As I stood there, peering into the mirror and wondering what demented nighttime fairy had planted four new wrinkles on my face, I paused and sniffed.


“Matt… what’s that smell?”


Matt staggered from the bedroom in his underwear, eyes half shut. “I don’t smell anything.”


I pointed my nose into the air like a hunting dog. “Seriously? You can’t smell that? Did you go to the bathroom in here earlier? I told you to use the room spray when you do things like that.”


Matt puffed out his bare chest and gathered his pride as best a man can with sleep in his eyes and a small hole in the side of his underwear. “I just woke up!”


I frowned, catching a glimpse of my makeup-less hot-rollers-in-hair state and tried not to think about the fact that I looked fifty instead of twenty-nine. “Well, help me figure this out. Because something smells ripe.”


We sniffed the sink drain and ruled it out as a suspect.


“Is it coming from the toilet?” Matt asked, examining it from top to bottom.


“No, that’s not it,” I snapped. I’m not known for my milk of human kindness in a disaster. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a survivor. I plan on eating my radish like Scarlet and clawing my way out of the nuclear dust while dragging my loved ones with me. But I won’t be doing it with positive phrases and a smile.


“Hon, I just don’t know. We’ll call a plumber after work, maybe it’s coming from under the house.” Matt staggered a little, trying to get past me and out of our tiny bathroom.


“Well, that’s just great,” I moved aside and pulled the shower curtain back so I could perch on the side of the tub and give Matt room to move out the door.


That’s when the full brunt of nastiness filled the air around us, a swirling mix of excrement and acrid stench that would have brought the sewer dwelling Ninja Turtles to their knees. Where the normally slightly-clean-with-a-hint-of-soap-scum bottom of the tub should have been, there sloshed gallons and gallons of brown sewage.


I clutched the front of my sweatshirt and held my breath. Matt began to dry heave.


“Get out and shut the door!” I screamed as we bumbled into the hallway.


“I’ll deal with this,” Matt grabbed my shoulders, trying to talk and hold his breath at the same time.


I could feel my eyes glaze over, the horrors of typhoid and hepatitis in our bathtub filling my mind. But more importantly, I could envision our evaporated savings account. In my mind’s eye I could see the long, gray hallway at the bank. A worker shrouded in a black suit pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlatched a small locker labeled “Owen Bank Account.” Inside were two small stacks of quarters and a few crumpled dollar bills. It was bleak, not only because the banker with an unimaginative wardrobe gazed at me with an expression that could only be interpreted as “You’re a Big Fat Loser,” but also there was a very definite possibility we wouldn’t be able to pay for a plumber.


I wasn’t necessarily a spend thrift. In fact, I was downright frugal when it came to decorating with thrift store furniture and rewired vintage lamps. But the fact was, we were poor. We were starting out at starter jobs with starter salaries. We were starter adults with a starter bank account.


“Okay,” I nodded numbly, thankful that Matt was taking the lead on such a disastrous biohazard. “But make sure the plumber is super cheap. We don’t have much money!”


I left for work like a wino stumbling through a fog, not really remembering my commute, not really doing any work as I sipped my coffee and stared blankly at the computer screen. A disaster of such gargantuan proportions had previously been unthinkable in my life, and now I found myself attempting to push the image of a vast sea of bathtub poop from my mind. But I was sure of one thing: Anne Shirley never had to get ready for work while breathing raw sewage.


Liz has a real talent for writing  and always makes me laugh or cry.  I cant wait to read this book.  Check out her blog to find out how you could win 1 of 10 advance copies of her first book.  Good Luck!

She's here

Yesterday was a very long day for all of us and I am worn out so I know the new mama is exhausted but
Emmerson Leigh Walsh is finally here.  Mama and baby are doing great.  Counting our blessings and Thanking God for this precious little one and her mama.  We love you Mel,, You did great and she is BEAUTIFUL!    ( Meme and Pappy cant wait to love her and spoil her rotten)

Amberly is in nursing school and was her own private little nurse.  She was able to

be in the delivery and see her 1st niece make her grand entrance.  To say she was

excited would be putting it very mild.  But it also made her a little nervous about

her own delivery in December. 

Just a few minutes old and getting her footprints done.   I think she looks like Mel

when she was born, except Mel had more hair. 

BEFORE : She was feeling good.  Inducing and contractions had

 not started at this point.

Justin, Melanie and Emmerson.  The absolute best experience ever is seeing

your "little one"  bring their own little one into the world.  Amazing!  She weighed

7 lbs 6 oz (congrats Uncle Dax on guessing the weight). 

Watch out Emmie, your mama has been collecting bows and headbands

the whole 9 months.  This is just your first one to model.  



Its a messenger bag

Last week I won a giveaway over at Funky Junk Interiors.  Jeanne Oliver was so generously giving away one of her messenger bags.  I rec'd my package in the mail yesterday and Im in love with it.  I took it outside to see if I could get a few good shots of it so you could really see how pretty it is.   It is very well made and the ruffles are just sturdy enough to stay the way they should, there is a nice size zippered pocket on the inside as well as an open pocket for a cell phone and its very roomy.  I know I will get lots of use out of it.  Thanks again Jeanne and Donna for hosting the giveaway. 

She wrapped it so pretty I really didnt want to open it.  I saved the thick twine

and made a bow out of it. 

   Jeanne has some really pretty things in her etsy shop and some leather cuff bracelets that I cant wait to buy.  I know my girls would just love them. 

Wedding prep - take 1

Here is a just a bit of what we've been working on.  And in our true fashion we have waited until its getting very close to actually get our butts in gear and get busy.  But thats okay, thats how we roll and we get it done.  

This is two of the columns (unfinished) that will be sitting by the arch with ferns on them. 

They are gonna be painted white and maybe distressed a little, not sure about that yet. 

Some bags for the bridesmaids that will have a few goodies in it.  We bought the

bags at Hobby Lobby and then cut out the letter and used heat & bond to attach. 

and bouteniers for the groomsmen and ushers and the Dad. 

Not professionally done but we're happy with them.  

And another view,, I'm thinking maybe it needs just a touch of ribbon at the base

or something??

And this one,, is the maid of honor , and is getting ready to deliver

any day now.  She's been at 1cm for 2 weeks,, the Dr has a tentative date set for

induction if nothing happens between now and then.  We'll have a better game plan next

Tuesday when she goes back.   (I think I've taken her picture in the elevator every time I've gone to the

dr with her and I think she has said something like "really mama??" every time.. LOL  

Amberly (and Skyelar) - almost 20 weeks.  I need to get the elevator

pic on her next visit.  She has had the easiest pregnancy.  NO morning sickness at all. 

Which is a blessing because she is also in nursing school. 

stay tuned for a post on the kitchen island Jeff is in the middle of building.

Win a Ruffled Messenger Bag

Edited to add::  I won!!   woo hoo!   Thanks so much Jeanne Oliver and Donna at Funky Junk Interiors. 


Would you like to win this beautiful messenger bag? Then head on over to Funky Junk Interiors.  Good Luck!

ITS FRIDAY...

I am sooooo glad its Friday.  There is still so much to be done for this wedding.  My head is going in a thousand circles.  Amb's bridal shower is this weekend.  Her Aunt Sissy, and mamaw's are giving the shower.  She's really excited.  We're planning on working on the bridesmaid bouquets this weekend.  I hope to have some pics to show you on Monday and hopefully get some constructive feedback on. 

found this thread in my sewing basket,, I wonder how long I've had it.  I havent

seen thread for 20cents at WalMart in FOREVER!!

My shoes LITERALLLY fell apart at work yesterday,, I mean the more I walked

the worse it got.  Kinda the way I feel lately.  Planning a wedding and getting prepared mentally

for a new grandbaby and trying to keep the house somewhat clean and the family fed is wearing me out. 

(horrible picture ) oh and did I mention,, we have a new lab puppy and 4 little kittens.  

Can't wait to get rid of these little suckers.  I'll be offering a free box of food and a cat litter pan as

an enticement to take a free kitten.  I hope it works. 

Headband holder X2

With two litle GRANDdaughters on their way I decided to make these cute headband holders after I saw the girls at Shanty2Chic make one.   I didnt put mine together exactly the way they did but the basic construction is the same.   These are really easy to put together and hold lots of headbands.  Emmie's is full already,, now we have to work on filling up Skyelars'. 

Materials I used : 
1 - square dowel ( $2.47)
Gorilla wood glue
scap 2x4's
wood biscuits(won from a blogger a while back)
paint
scrap chair rails
1 - curtain rod finial
scrap 1x2
screws



I only spent $2.47 on 1 dowel for both of these.  Everything else I had on hand.  And these were really fun to make.  It would be a great gift for a little girl paired together with a few headbands. 

I used a scrap 2x4, scrap 1x2, biscuits on the end of the dowels and an old curtain rod finial for this one. I screwed a 3 inch screw up from the bottom of the 2x4 and then on the part sticking out screwed the 1x2 down on to the 2x4.  Used wood glue to attach the dowel to the 1x2 and then screwed on the finial.  And it was fine.,,, But wasnt nearly big enough to hold even half of the headbands Emmie already has. This was painted with sponge brush and distressed just a bit.

  So I took it half apart and added a second arm.  Now its good to go.  I just have to give it a final spray paint job. 

For this one I used scrap 2x4, two different pieces of chair railing and wood biscuits. And

I painted this one using Rustoleum Painters Touch spray paint in black.  I love that paint. 

This is Skyelars'.. her nursery bedding is gonna be pink and black so I painted hers

black instead of the cream color. 

Thank you Whitney @ Shanty2Chic for the inspiration! 

Just a bunch of randomness

Scatter brained would describe me very accurately lately,, lot going on with babies and a wedding on the way ... So without further delay ,, lots of random pics.  Enjoy! 

not the best picture,,  Tyler &  River - that bow didnt stay in her hair too long.

Mel's gonna kill me for this pic but I love it.. Jeff feeling the grandbaby move. 

waiting at the dr to find out what Amb is having,, Its a Girl. 

Ms Skyelar Rayne Russell will be here around the 1st of January. 

Jeff made leiutenant -- So proud of him! 

The wives got to pin on their new badge - I think he was scared I was gonna stick him. 

Jeff, Tyler and Amberly - Melanie had a funeral visitation to go to and couldnt be there. 

TIME to get back to work,,,   Have a great weekend.

Ill be sharing pics soon of a desk I made using Traci @ Beneath My Hearts basic plan and a kitchen island that Jeff is building me. 

And the winner is ...

 So sorry,, I was away from the computer all day yesterday and didnt get to announce the winner of my giveaway.  So without further delay,, the winner is .. .

# 11 - Steph at Hegland Happenings  - Thanks Steph for following my blog!  I'll be making and sending you a banner similar to the one below with your choice of colors/wording. 

Congratulations, Steph ...   I'll be emailing you shortly to get your mailing address. Thanks to all who entered my little giveaway.