Happy Holidays

Where does one start? I guess at.."Hello" As we embrace the Holidays, we take time to reflect on all that has occurred over the past year and our loved ones. I wish everyone a wonderful Holiday Season.
Heather

They are Back and So am I

I want to start by first apologizing to all my friends in Blogland. I have had so much going on in the past few months that something had to give. I have visited you all from time to time and missed everyone way to much. The girls are back in school, I am back to work at the shop and I have a new puppy named Ace. Need I say more.



Over the next few days I am going to add some current projects from around the house. I hope you enjoy.
Heather

Hello Again!!!

I first want to send out a big apology to everyone and a super big Thank You! I really appreciate all the kind remarks about my various posts. I will try to reply to everyone personally as I get a chance. I have been so busy the past 2 weeks that it has been impossible, to say the least, to keep up. I am going to try to my best this week. Please be patient. Your support means so much to me. As for an update...fundraising is over (yippee), Savannah is off to Catalina Tuesday for her 6Th grade field trip, I purchased a new car, still spring cleaning and winding up the school year with events almost everyday. I am beat. On the brighter side I thought I would post a few pics of my living room/ dining room combo. Several of you have the same scenario with adjoining rooms. In our conversations I have promised to reveal what I have done to try to update this problem. My home is 25yrs old. No fancy 14ft ceiling, no 1000sqft great room just a modest little Spanish style home that wraps her loving walls around me everyday. In my book less is so much more. I hope you enjoy the pics but please remember I am Crazy so you will probably see things changed again. As of May 5Th this is it....lol

My Herb Garden

Living in Arizona gardening can be somewhat of a challenge during the summer months. Not so much the growing but the maintaining. IT is hot. I love to garden and this is my small escape until my husband and I plant a new garden in a shady spot. I purchased this green house a few months ago. I love the little bird on top. Unfortunately it has lived in the garage until last weekend when I decided enough was enough I needed to make room for the huge thing that I love so much. Off to the Depot (Home Depot) I went. They had a wonderful variety of herbs. I chose basil, oregano, peppermint, chives, thyme and spearmint. It takes up quite a bit of my counter top but it makes me happy. There you have it..My Herb Garden.

Call Me Crazy.....You won't be the first

After I redid the entry, you might recall a few posts back, I stood back and it felt off. Time to go shopping. I found this adorable old table at one of my favorite haunts as well as this incredible old chippy window. I am trying to decide what to put in the pains. Some of my thoughts are; white starfish, bird prints, old sheet music, vintage post cards, or family photos. What are your thoughts? I will finish the table scape according to what I put in the window.



Thanks for your help. I will post the results soon.
Heather

93 Blessings

My husband's (Shawn) grandmother turned 93 yesterday. WOW! I can not wrap my mind around what that means. All of the changes in the world she has seen and experienced is truly amazing. Her father owned the local general store when she was a child. During the Great Depression they moved out to a farm. What a change for her. Not sure she liked it to much. She went to College, yes college, in Chicago. She married my husband's grandfather in her late 20's and had two daughters. Grandpa was is the Navy so they lived in Japan and all over the US. Until they settled in Phoenix.




I am not sure what you wish for at 93. By that time it seems that most dreams have come true.


I am so glad that I have had the past 20 years to know and love her. My daughters have been blessed to have a great grandmother who is still able to participate the best she can in there life.





I thank God for giving her such a long and wonderful life. She has inspired me to look forward to growing older and that although the body changes you still see things through the same eyes.

We love you Grandma Alyce.
Heather

OH Savannah

Hello, I am back. So much in going on around here....Endless fundraising for the Odyssey World Finals in May, out of town guest and trying to get through my Spring cleaning. In my madness I managed to clean out Savannah's room. If any of you have a tweenie you know what a chore this can be. My daughter is a Pack Rat to put it mildly. I am always amazed at what she keeps as mentos of her life. Needless to say after many tears, Diet Pepsi, and hair pulling I DID IT!!! Yippee!!!!! I am happy with the results and I hope it stays organized for a few days..LOL Let me know what you think.







Please scroll down to Holly's room update. I published it second but it went after Savannah. I know some of you were curious to what I am doing in there.
Heather

More Dots...

Still working on Holly's room. The bed arrived on Friday. Yippee. It feels like this room will never be complete. In between..planning our trip tp Maryland, fundraising, yard sales, closing my shop, out of town visitors and taxes there is no time. One by one I am putting the fires out. I did this fun project yesterday. A mild distraction.

I found these paper mache letters at Joann's this week. They are $7.99. I bought some white paint, foam brush and circle stamper.



First give the letter a coat of white paint and let dry.



Second stamped on the dots using the wall color paint. Dab off the extra paint before applying. Let dry.




Hang on wall. I used a little hot glue..bad me. You could probably use double sided tape but mine fell victim to Holly's art project this past weekend.



What do you think? It was fun and staying with in the demands "Only polka dots". "No art", "Only blue and white"...what a pain but that is Holly the decorating diva.
Heather

A Best Friend

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN- Weep not for me though I am gone into that gentle night. Grieve if you will but not for long upon my soul's sweet flight. I now am whole, I am at rest there is no need for tears; as with your love I was so blessed for all those many years. I wait for you my master friend so until, that time I plead. Uplift your heart with what we shared, as 'cherished' memories.


As some of you know in January our beloved 17 year old collie, Max passed away. This weekend it was time to spread his ashes and place him back into the yard that he loved so much.


My husband brought home a gardenia tree to plant in his name.


We cried, we prayed and we said "Welcome home".


We placed him in the soil and planted the tree.


Holly added soil with his food scoop



"Welcome Home Max, Welcome home."

Night and Day

People always told me before I had children "They will be your teacher", "You will never be the same", "No two kids are alike", "They will change your life"."Yeh, right"I would say. I knew it all. I had baby sat, taken child development courses and had younger siblings. I knew every thing there was to know. I knew the schedules, how I wanted them to behave, what I would teach them...They would be "mini me's" HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!




The first one Savannah is easy going, very proper, responsible, smart, pretty and always wants to do the right thing. I think to my self "One down one to go" Perfect all according to plan.


Then came Holly. She is full of life, determined, self driven, nonconformist, visionary, master of self and manipulation. She is artistic,creative, thinks out side the box and never I mean never does she do anything the traditional way. Not even writing her letters. Me being some what of a perfectionist and a lot like Savannah I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to reinvent the wheel everyday. Never taking the easy was as I see it. She is brilliant at finding an even easier way. Stubborn to the core and never gives up on what she believes. Case in point she will not say she is "sorry" because she believes it is a lie and that she meant to do what she did...Brutal Honesty I tell you. She will take the consequence but will not compromise self. I wonder some times where will this lead her? What can I do as a mother? It can be very frustrating but at the same time I do not want to break this incredible spirit. Most of us only dream of having the confidence and strength to live in self truth. There countless books written on the importance of this. And yet when faced with a child with a in born nature so strong to live this way our reaction is to change it.......


Last night Savannah had to make Irish Tea cookies for an international heritage presantation she is doing at school. She researched the recipe, made the dough, rolled it out, placed sweet green sprinkles on all of them and when she was thru she cleaned the kitchen...I know remarkable for a 12 year old. Love it.

Now Holly, she tries to be involved in what her sister is doing. I give her dough to work with. She begins to roll it out, cuts a few shapes and decides that it is terribly boring. She finds inspiration and when I come back into the room this is what she has created.





You have got to love creativity..And I remember to let her be her and embrace the differences between the girls for Night is as beautiful as Day.
Heather

Silly Girls

Well, I had several ideas for my blog today but first I took a tour of Blogland this morning. I found....

The Nester is calling for Rosie the Robot.......





Rue is singing like Mr Rodgers......




I thought who am I today? Then it hit me Pippi Longstocking..




I want to go on an adventure..No housework but if I must I want a funny little Monkey named Mr. Bojangles to help me..cap and all. I want to dress funny with striped socks and put my hair in braids. Sail away to a foreign sea and wait for the pirates...I want to play practical jokes and laugh so hard that I grab my belly.
I want to travel down a dirt road singing completely out of tune and believing in my beauty. I want to be free from all responsibilities today and see life again as a "Silly little girl"

Holly's Dot to Dot

As some of you may recall I am in the process of redoing Holly's room. I am happy to say that her new bed will be arriving over the weekend. Finally, I can get to the fun part. The room has been painted (touches still needed). I decided to work on her chandelier in her room. It's an antique and both my girls have them. It needed some whimsy with her new decor. The following is the process. So simple.

Boring Chandelier




Plain Lamps Shades 6 @ $.80 each



Glue gun, glue sticks, scissors and trim




Simply glue together and TaDa a little whimsy



I am starting to get excited to put it all together. Wish me luck.
Heather

The Penny

Rue over at Rue's Peanutbutter and Jelly Life tagged me so I am to add my favorite saying. I have thought long and hard about a quote that I live by. There are so many that play a part in my everyday life. However, The one that has stood the test of time is "A penny saved is a penny earned". Now I am terrible at this. I tend to spend to much, not budget and not think about the financial future. Yes, young and stupid.

Well here is my story.When I was 16 my family and grandparents visited Yosemite National Park. My parents were fairly well off at the time and money was not an issue. My gramps and I were taking a walk and I passed by a penny on the ground. My grandpa said "Heather pick up that penny" I replied "It's just a penny gramps." Frustrated at me he again said "Heather never leave a penny on the ground. Someday it may be your last and a Penny saved is a Penny earned." I rolled my eyes and picked it up just to make him happy. Not at all realizing the impact this would have on my life.

.


Months later my life as I knew it fell apart. My father's business took an awful turn for the worse and my parents lost everything. I mean everything. My dad moved to California to find work. My mom and us kids stayed behind to wrap thing up and we lived off of "PENNIES". Saved pennies purchased groceries to feed us. Oh, the irony.





The lesson stuck hard in my young mind but it gets deeper. Years later as I became a mommy my wonderful Gramps passed away. He was a mentor in my life and I can not even begin to describe the sheer since of loss I felt. From that horrible moment on when ever I have need of advice a "Penny from Heaven" is always on the ground at my feet along with a a gut feeling of what to do. I know that he is with me and it adds great comfort.




This weekend my beautiful and smart 12 year old Savannah competed in a State tournament for Odyssey of the Minds. It is problem solving creative thinking program for gifted kids. After her completion and before the awards we went to lunch, the movies and of course Starbucks. As we stood in line she and I looked down on the counter and there was a shiny new penny. I said "Pick it up Honey that is for you. Gramps is with you today. Hold on tight." She placed it in her pocket and we returned to the awards.
Now there are many schools at his competition ranging from Elementary, Middle School and High School. She is in 6th grade. Her division came up and we listened with all ears. Only the top 2 teams go to the World finals. 4th no, 3rd no, 2nd no, maybe 1st no. Oh I was so upset for her and her team. They had worked so hard. She turned to them and said, "It's alright. What an honor that we made it to State". What a kid. At the end of the awards they give the biggest award of the night, The Renatra Fusca award. This team has captured the true essence of Odyssey of the Minds and had done a above and beyond performance..."Benchmark 6th grade Elementary" !!!!!! Holy cow!!!!! That's her team. They had soared above all teams. All schools, all grades, everyone. They were the Top Dog and going to Worlds with incredible Honor. I cannot even express the joy and pride I felt seeing the look on my angels face. This sense of accomplishment will be with her for the rest of her life.
"Thanks Gramps"

Mailda's Gypsy Show

My mom is part of a wonderful 1880's barn called Matilda's Mouse. Named after the owner's dog Matilda. She is the star of the show. It is located in Valley Center, Ca. Once a month they put on a magical antique show unlike anything I have ever seen. The whole barn is transformed into a theme based on the time of year. This month they decided to do a gypsy show. I have included some pictures. Please stop by her website to find out more.







Matilda the dog









>All photos are from Matilda's Mouse

Go Large

A few of you have asked me to show you a closer picture of the table nexted to my new chairs. Some may think it to be overscaled but I love the way this 5ft mirror looks on top of the shabby table. It helps to balance the large ceilings and the fire place. The mirror is leaning which adds a casual look. Tell me what you think.
Heather

Spring Cleaning..LOL

My daughter has decided that pink and green are for babies. She wants a complete overhaul in her room. The first step was to clean out all unused toys for donation. She agreed. Once that was done I would get her new bedding and paint. Which I have since done. I will post her new room once it is complete. I wanted to post this picture of Holly amongst the mess because for all of us that have children this is real life "clean out". It also gives me inspiration as I clean out the rest of the house knowing that it gets messy before it gets better. Happy Spring cleaning.
Heather

Hello Chancellor

My daughter has been ill so I have been house bound for a few days. Not all that bad but by this afternoon I was plum bored out of my mind. Holly was feeling better so we went to wash the SUV. Well, Goodwill is in the same parking lot and I convinced her to run in "real quick". My fix was needed. I am so glad we did. I found a few treasures that I thought I would share.

1st I picked up this topiary. Some of the leaves are missing, No biggy. $3.99




Holly needed a small lamp for her room. This is perfect. $5.99




The Nester has inspired me to add a round table with fabric..This tablecloth was the under cloth I was looking for. $4.99



Last but not least. On the "women's cart", that's what I call the cart they wheel out full of junk to put on the shelves, there he lay. A beautiful Chancellor rooster. I am a sucker for them. He quickly went in my cart. $19.99





The best part was the lamp had a shade on it that Holly was not fond of so I donated it and they gave me an additional 20% off. What a steal. You never know. It was a good day.

Heather