RoadKill Rescue PAR-TAY-coffee table makeover

I was very excited to re-read the rules for Roadkill Rescue, that I COULD use an old post! Yippee, because, I got on the bandwagon for this gig...friday. Not enough time to find a suitable project, but this was roadkill fantastic last spring! (to see all the funsie projects people came up with go HERE to Beckie's blog.

So, I'm driving home one day from my favorite scrapbooking supply store, and lo and behold...some kids on the side of the road with a coffee table and a "free" sign. Well, now, I just happen to be in the market for a coffee table, and I have a small budget. Free, however, fits right into my budget! So, I loaded it into my van. It was ugly...real ugly. (edit-I had to scrub the stanky film off it!) Husband, thought it may be hopelessly ugly. But, I had hope! I had seen on HGTV a while back some design on a budget show, where they turned an ugly table into a cute ottoman. So, I set out to the store to buy a few supplies.

Before:



And After!




for some reason the pics make the paint job look a little blue, but it's "black ink". Aren't you glad there is hope for ugly coffee tables? I am.

I'm on a posting ROLL! Summer Photo shoots...

Here's a quickie glance at some of my summer photo shoots:

Some family fun...my aunt, uncle, cousins and their familiesOne of my best friends has the two most DARRRRRLING boys. I'm especially fond of the chunky redheaded one...I want to eat him UP.
And you saw a sneek peak of this one before, my pal her sweet boy!And, blogger is not my friend today....it just takes the crisp color out of my pics! They look so much better on our website!

In other news, my big boy is without his training wheels as of yesterday! I don't know why, but I've been especially weepy this weekend about how grown up my babies are...then my hubby goes and pops of the training wheels without warning the MOMMY. He just hopped on and rode away giggling. No tears. No blood. No help. The only bloodshed was from when he ran up to give me a proud hug and he ripped back my toenail with his big boy foot.Ouch.

Never trust a 2 year old with your fresh berries

In July, my and my went to pick some raspberries. It was one of the H-O-T days here in the PNW. It was so fun. Hayden for sure ate more than he put in the bucket. Matt reminded me of these photos, and tonight when I went back to look, I got all teary. My boys. They are so fun, my heart wants to burst. Love them to bits. (Usually-berry day was definitely a love them to bits day).

My big boy
We picked berries (or I picked, they raced up and down the rows. H picked some, Jack would cry when we stopped "racing").
So, the TWO year old wanted to hold my full bucket of beautiful, delicious, raspberries. I let him.
My beautiful berries.
Then, I turned to pick some more (to fill the boys empty buckets). Then, I hear the soft plumpley rolling sound of this:
Berries hitting the soft dusty dirt. "JACK! WHY did you dump the berries??" The sweet darling two year old says to me, "Mommy...the berries were TOO hot in there." He was setting the poor berries free. All 6 lbs of them. You better believe I dusted them off and put the poor hot berries back in the bucket. :)
Berry Face.
This is kind of a crummy shot, but I can't resist those green eyes. They tell me "thanks, Mom. I looove you"when he looks at me like that. My favorite Hayden expression. (sigh. more tears)

Thanks my babies, for loving me. I am the luckiest mom in the world. (most days :)

I'm on the look out!

My friend and creative extraordinaire, Ms. Beckie Farrant is having a blog party! I love this one. Roadkill Rescue, my kind of party!


I only have the weekend really to find something good!

Do you remember THIS post? I found a free junk coffee table roadside and made an ottoman out of it. I still like it!
BEFORE:
AFTER:


I truly am my fathers daughter! He once made my brother sit in the back of our family suburban and roll up "perfectly good twine" for TWO MILES across the Glenn Jackson I-205 bridge. He used that twine for years out of black trash bag! Love You, Dad!

YIKES. Bad Blogger!

It has been nearly a month since I made a real post. This has been a crazy past month for us. For some reason, since Matt is a teacher and has summers off, we say "yes" to everything we are invited to. It looks like so much fun on paper, to have a summer full of campouts and beach trips. It IS fun. But...honestly, I'm getting weary. Of Laundry. Sand in my minivan. smelling like a campfire. We've been out of town nearly every weekend since mid july. 2 more weekends, and we're home for the routine of a new school year. I think we're all ready for it!

This is proving to be a season of evaluation, reprioritizing, and simplifying my life. I am realizing alot of things about myself. Some, not so pretty. I'm tired. I run myself ragged, and drag my kids along with me. I stay up too late. I am a people pleaser to the core. I NEVER want anyone to be dissappointed in me or think I am flaky or don't do enough. I say "yes" to everything, and regret it later. I don't know where along the timeline of my life I learned that I like the feeling of other people knowing the can count on me. That I would always be there, I could always be counted on to serve. I really enjoy those things too. But, somewhere I talked myself into believing that those were the reasons people like me. Because I don't miss anything, I am always involved, always responsible.

I am realizing that my family has been getting the leftovers after I serve everyone else. (Um, that is not much). Between leading the MOM's ministry at our church (which I love) AND homestudies, dossiers, dr.'s appts, applications, blah blah blah, my poor family is not getting much of me. What they do get is a tired, short tempered exhausted, no fun mom. In the past few weeks as I've decided to step away from MOM's ministry and just savor these months with my boys as we wait for Lucy, we have had so much fun. I took my boys to the beach, just me and them for 3 days, and truthfully, it was life changing for me. The Lord met me there on the sand. He reminded me of my longing to be present in my kids lives. To love them. To enjoy them. To teach them about who God is. Honestly, I had forgotten. These past weeks as I've given my kids most of my attention, they have changed. They are more loving. They are happier. They are peaceful (mostly). I am realizing it REALLY impacts them, what I do with my time. Truly, it's a picture of God's relationship with us. I mean, when we spend time with the Lord, letting him fill me up, I am different. I am peaceful, loving, patient. I am convinced God gave us our children to show us a sliver of how much he loves us.

I am so excited to spend these next 6 or so months totally focused on my 3 men. I think God has so much in store for us.

ps, behind my back at Target today, I hear my kids making gun/shooting noises. I have resigned myself to be ok with this, since their dad and grandpa are avid hunters. HOWEVER, I am NOT OKAY with them making guns out of tampons they find in my purse. Unwrapped. Launching the cottony part at each other out of the "shooter". They thought it was the coolest thing that I had guns in my purse, just for them. :)

New Blog in Town

I'm a contributor over at a new blog...www.prayingastheygrow.blogspot.com

It's all about committing our kids to the Lord through prayer. Praying over them together, giving them back to the One who made them ours in the first place. Check it out!