September Acres

We recently got new bedding for LM's room.  We actually took her to  Pottery Barn Teen  while we were in St Louis.  Big mistake.  I'm warning you now, don't do it.  I should have gone by myself.  I would have saved a ton of money.  My husband went also and the two of them are like drunken sailors when they go shopping.  I will say that the sales staff was very helpful and we picked out some really nice things. LM wanted her new bedding to be blues and whites.  No argument from me there.  The last time we 're-did' her room she wanted pink and brown as her 'colors'.  We painted the walls awhile back a tannish color called 'Pony Express' (by Olympic @ Lowe's).  I think that will still work with her new blue and white color scheme so there will be no painting in there.  For now. You can see the pink lamp in the picture above.  Not sure if I can salvage that or not but to be honest it's not the greatest s...

I finally got around to repainting this little table that sits by the door going out to the pool.  Affectionately called the 'pool table' due to the fact that it houses sunscreen and towels for the pool, the table sits within reach of the doorway so we can pick up our towels on the way out. Or reach in without making a mess if we forget them. My dad made this table many years ago when 'country' was a big design style.  I've had it in many rooms through the years but most recently in the garage because it didn't really have a 'spot' due to the style.  I knew I had to either use it or give it to someone that would so I decided to spruce it up a bit and bring it into the 21st century.  The biggest obstacle to an update was the heart cut out.  Cute in the 80's; not as much in 2012.  And while I'd like to say that I came up with the brilliant idea to cover the heart with the medallion, it really came from Wendy over at The Shabby Nest when she h...

I have a confession:  I loathe 'dollar stores'.  As luck would have it, I believe we live in the town with the most dollar stores per capita.  We have a Dollar Tree, Dollar General, TWO Family Dollar's and a 99 cents only (where everything is really $1) in a town of about 50,000.  That's 1 dollar store for every 10,000 residents if you're into statistics. Dollar stores are big business.  In 2011 Family Dollar stores reported net sales of $8.55 billion.  Dollar General's 2011 FY sales were $14.81 billion.  That's a lot of stuff! Dollar General positions itself in rural areas, some of which are too small for a Walmart, which makes it the go-to store for all things bargain-y. Dollar stores have even made it into the blogosphere.  Blogs like  Dollar Store Crafts , & Dollar Store Mom  feature really neat crafts using supplies from dollar stores.  Many are kid friendly which I know I like.  Many of the crafts are so ama...

We spent a day at the City Museum while we were in St. Louis.  If you are ever in the area it is well worth a trip to the museum.  Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time.  We were there for over 5 hours and really could have stayed longer.  The museum is downtown, not too far from the arch, in an old shoe factory. As you walk in you see this neat clock.  To the right is the stairwell that takes you to the roof.  There was a line at the elevator and one of us said 'Let's take the stairs. How high could it be ?' Famous last words, right?  About 12 flights later we made it to the roof.  My thighs felt like they each weighed 200 pounds!  The roof top area had lots of tunnels and slides & a bus hanging over the edge of the roof.  Just like in the movies.  I didn't get on but LM did and loved it.  She's quite the daredevil. 'St. Louis Title' is to the left of the clock and where we bought our tickets. Wh...

Well, I'm ready to get painting around here.  First stop, the hall bath.  A while back I wrote a post about my decision to paint this room grey.  Just like every color under the rainbow, there are a zillion shades of grey so while I made the grey decision I still needed to decide on which grey.  Light, dark or somewhere in between? I headed to Lowe's and narrowed it down to these four shades: I think I know which shade I am leaning toward but I'd love to hear your ideas.  If you haven't seen the room in it's current state you can see it here .   So, what do you think? 1,2,3 or 4?  Let me know!  Thanks!

We found out we had to make a quickie trip to St Louis a couple of weeks ago. My mother-in-law had to go into the hospital for open heart surgery and my husband was on a plane a week later while LM and I followed the day after him.  The timing couldn't have been better since LM was out of school the Thursday before we left (we left on Sunday). The surgery was on May 31 so we had some time to see my mother-in-law at home before she went into the hospital.  She was tired when we saw her but I think it was good for everyone to see her at home and not just after the surgery.  The surgery went well and the doctors were pleased with her recovery.  She is now out of ICU, no IV, walking a bit each day and eating solid food.  We felt comfortable coming home yesterday since she was doing so well.  That and the fact that there are 12 other siblings there to keep an eye on her! We were able to squeeze in a few fun things while we were there since, as you might...

Kids' schoolwork.  It can over take your house if you let it. But there are always a few things that are 'keepers'.   And a lot  of things that are not keepers.  How do you decide?  Here's what I do: What I keep:   Certificates (honor roll, straight A's, star student, science fair participation, etc) Art projects - not necessarily every single drawing but any different media (watercolors, chalk, etc) & ceramics. Things that are handwritten - again, not everything but poems, short stories, etc. Small projects that involve writing & coloring.  I love being able to see the progress from year to year. Test results involving reading levels. Again, I like to see the change from year to year. Report cards. What I toss: Fill in the bubble type tests.  We have TONS of those in our school so we get to toss a lot. Multiple choice worksheets/tests. Flyers from teacher, PTA, etc. Lunch menus (this seems obvious but I thought ...