September Acres

Times are tough out there but that doesn't mean we don't like a new look in our homes every now and then. I like to think that I am pretty good at re-purposing things around the house. A coat of paint can change everything. Sometimes you don't even need that. When I bought this barn star @ my favorite store it was cream. I painted it blue (Sea Breath by Valspar @ Lowes) and hung it on the brown wall in my kitchen. I then moved it about 6 feet to the white wall between the kitchen & dining area (pictured below). Yesterday morning I got the urge to move it to the hallway/entryway on a beige wall. I quite like it. A lot. I pondered painting it black and putting it in the newly painted, light blue hallway (I have yet to show you that but promise to once I get things put back on the wall) & still may do that. So forget Target, Michaels, even a garage sale. Shop at home... I am linking up to Wendy's Frugal Friday again. It doesn't get much more frugal than free!

It's that time of year when all parents ask 'What do we do with all that candy?' We don't want to let the kids eat it all (or eat it all ourselves) & I feel horribly guilty tossing it out too soon. I have heard of people who let their kids eat all the candy they want for a couple of days and then pitch everything else. I haven't done that one yet. I heard of a great idea this year. It's called Halloween Candy Buyback. Dentists buy back the candy from kids (I have heard some are giving $1 for each pound of candy but the amount may be different for some dentists) and donate the candy to Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude then sends the candy to US Military serving in harm's way. Go to the Halloween Candy Buyback website , put in your zip code and a list of dentists close to you will pop up. Drop off the candy there and they take care of the rest. What a great way to get rid of the sugar and do a good thing at the same time. It sets a great example...

Yes, it's that time of year when Starbucks has their fabulous Pumpkin Spice Latte's. I had my first one last year and fell in love. The calorie count is insane, like a meal. But totally worth it on some days. I don't do whipped cream so that helps and if I remember to ask for non-fat milk that lops off a few more calories. If you want to see the calorie counts you can go to the Starbucks website. But is that really necessary? Maybe we should just enjoy it!

I am totally in love with Nate Berkus. We go way back. I was beyond thrilled when his new show started this season. I have to confess that it was not quite what I expected and I wasn't sure if I would love the show as much as I love him. Well, after being on the air for a month or so I have decided that, yes, I do like it but it's just not what I thought it would be. If the producers had only called me for advice... One day last week Jenny McCarthy was on. I have a love/hate relationship with her. She is a little (a lot) crass for me which is the hate part. However, I love what she has done as a mom for her son, who has autism. She has been a champion for him and other kids with autism. I was totally impressed with her dedication to making his life better. You have to respect a woman who will risk everything for her child. I'd like to think all moms would do that - I know I would. I just didn't know she had it in her. ( disclaimer: I don't agree with ...

So, I say to my husband the other day, 'what is the possibility of you taking down the fan in the dining room this winter and putting up a chandelier, then putting the fan back up next summer?' I wasn't expecting much, I thought he would look at me like I was crazy and that would be the end of it. 'That shouldn't be a problem,' he says. 'I would want to change it out each season,' I say. 'Sure, it would be fine.' Okay then, I want a chandelier. I would like it to be up all year long but it is so blazin' hot in the summer it's just not possible. Our 'dining room' is not a separate room at all but really part of the kitchen so it's hot when I cook. And in the summer we need a fan or we will pass out while we're eating. I found this chandelier pictured above while I was perusing the Pottery Barn catalog. It's what prompted the conversation. And it's on sale until the end of the month. But it gets better, my mom asked ...

I had to run to the store on Friday to pick up a couple of potatoes for the corn chowder I was making. Easy enough, right? Two potatoes was all I needed. I entered the produce department and head to the potatoes. Lots of sweet potatoes but someone beat me to the last two russet potatoes. The last two potatoes. I started to wonder if we were having a potato festival this weekend and I just didn't get the message. Luckily, I found a bag of russets on sale so I could still make the chowder. I wasn't at my usual store. I stopped at this one to also get this beautiful $7 fairy tale pumpkin. I still can't believe it was only $7. I just love it. (Please excuse the half dead plant below!) This wasn't the prettiest pumpkin there but it did have the BEST stem. I really think a pumpkin is all about the stem. So, the whole potato famine was worth it to get this pretty pumpkin...

I loved these chalkboard rocks I saw in the Pottery Barn catalog. I didn't love the price - $16.00 for four. But I have chalkboard paint and the desert is full of rocks so I thought I'd make my own. I washed the rocks and let them dry. I painted them and let them dry. The paint dries pretty quickly. Above is the completed product. They're not as smooth and polished as the PB ones but I like the rugged look. And the rugged price! Here they are on the mantle. I am thinking about making more... I'm joining Wendy today at the Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday.

We spent last weekend in Phoenix so my husband could play in an ice hockey tournament at the Jobing .com arena, home of the Phoenix Coyotes. Kind of a dream come true for a hockey player who didn't quite make it to the big leagues. It was fun as a spectator, too. There weren't too many of us so we had front row seats. We also got a tour of the Coyotes locker room area. This is their workout room. They have inspirational quotes painted all over the room. I love the one below. 'The price of greatness is hard work.' So true. Here is LM in front of the doors that lead to the locker room, workout room, trophy case and hot/cold tub area. They had to radio up to have the doors unlocked. I think it looks so sophisticated. I kind of expected some non- descript door. Here's the hubby in action. He's the one in the red jersey with the orange leg warmers. Apparently, players call them socks although there is no foot in them. Sounds like a leg warmer to me! ...

Last week I joined Monica's Make your home a haven week. It should have been more like make your car a haven week here. I was running around all week from one end of town to the other. Not quite what I planned. But I do think I got a few things accomplished: ~organized the playroom - the garage is full of stuff to take to the goodwill (good bye little people!) We got a new flat screen TV for in there so it looks like there's alot more space and with the big purge there really is. Next 'room' to clear out obviously is the garage! ~I love, love, love my new planner and it is easy to use (a biggie for me) and everyone can see what is going on all week. Since school is back in session this week it will be the true test since everything is much busier this week.... ~Had a good week with my morning routine. Again, a school week is the true test. It's a conscious effort to keep it going but when it works life is good and... ~laundry is under control. It's been a wh...

Monica is hosting 'Make your home a haven' week this week. I love the weeks she does this and it's perfect timing for me this week. LM has fall break this week so I am home more than I have been lately and can concentrate more on home when I am here (obvious, I know). One thing Monica talks about and I love the idea of is a morning routine. We have a routine all right but it's not quite as serene as I would like. Or quite frankly, as serene as it was before LM started school. I often doubt our decision to put her into our local public school and not home school her but I know for her it was the right decision. Maybe not for me, but for her definitely. Part of the problem really enjoying my morning routine is getting up earlier. I get up between 5:30 and 6. Pretty early, right? The problem is that my husband goes to work between 6:15 and 6:30 and I need to make his breakfast for him to take and then LM usually is up when he leaves. For some reason, she will sleep in...

I mentioned the trip we took to Scottsdale over the weekend. Well, it's about a 3 hour trek. Here's what we listened there and back. Radio Disney overload is what I have. I never realized they play the same songs over and over and over and over - you get the idea. I am well acquainted with Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Taio Cruz and MDot and Meaghan Martin to name a few. Could it be this is how our parents felt about Donny Osmond and David Cassidy?

There has been some talk around these parts about skipping winter. Not because we want to, but because it just didn't look like it was coming. They even mentioned it more than once on the nightly news. On Thursday it was a record breaking 107. Friday, 104 - close to a record but not quite. Saturday it looked like Mother Nature had a little change of heart and we got some rain and cooler weather. Today I don't think the thermometer even hit 100. Yippee! Yesterday we headed out to Scottsdale to get some new ice skates for my husband for the ice hockey tournament he is in next weekend at the Jobbing.com arena - where the Phoenix Coyotes play. We had also planned on doing some ice skating while we were there but we got a late start and it took longer than expected to get the skates. Thinking we were skating we got 'all bundled up' in jeans and long sleeve shirts but ended up roasting in the 100+ temps. Last weekend we also went ice skating (which is how we knew hu...