TOO FUNNY

Anyone who knows my husband knows that the man is pretty "old school".  ThIS man NEVER goes shopping and now I remember why I never let him go with me!  I had asked him to help me come up with ideas for gifts for our children.  Instead of looking around the mall and, actually, being of some help...he is too interested/irritated with all the various display mannequins throughout Macy's department store...

 




Martin "look at the fake hair on that mannequin..they don't even have wigs on them anymore"











                                                                 
                               



 "this one has no hair at all!"

 

           "OMG...this one doesn't even have a face!"

                         "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!"

TINY LITTLE TREASURES

I can remember, like it was yesterday, when Andrew brought this home to me after making it in his first grade class.  He told me it was "stupid" but that Mrs. Kerr had told him he had to give it to me.  I always put this ornament in the center of my tree each year.

My mother has always told me that she possesses no artistic talent but these ornaments turned out pretty cute.  I can't help but laugh every year as I put them on my tree.

This came from my sister Mandi.  She made all of us homemade cross stitched  ornaments one year.  I cannot even imagine how long it took her to do this but they turned out beautifully.

Jessica made these for me last year and I think they are so adorable!  She has a lot of artistic talent!

My youngest sister, Jeannie, painted these ornaments for us a few years ago.  She has always been quite an artist.  (she did not get this from Mother...shhhh)










Each year everyone in our family is supposed to make home made ornaments to share.  It is always so fun to me to see what everyone comes up with.  I have only shared a few of these treasures from my tree out of several dozen that I have.

Say hello to Chloe

       


                           


                      C H L O E

I was so sad when my precious Lucy got sick recently and had to be put to sleep.  She developed a respiratory infection that went into pneumonia.  We tried every antibiotic they make for pets but she did not respond to anything and after a week in the hospital we had to let her go.  There was so much sadness in our house that even Barney ( my cockatiel) quit whistling and actually stopped making any sounds for a week and a half.  I know that is hard to believe- but that bird (who normally whistles at everyone who enters my house) did not make a sound for over ten days.  I was so afraid that he had gotten sick too-but to our surprise he started whistling again once Chloe came into the picture.  Coincidence?  I don't think so! 

To my surprise, Martin said that he wanted to get another dog right away because it was just too sad without a dog in the house.  Lucy had been with us for over four years and there was such a void once she was gone!  I was even more surprised when Martin said that he wanted to be the one to pick out our new pet.  I think he did a really great job-she is adorable!

Almost done

 So here is my second guest bedroom (Ryan's old room) just about completed.  I was so excited to be able to use Jessica's bed that we bought when she outgrew her crib.  I have lots of memories reading her bedtime stories and cuddling with her during thunderstorms in this little bed. It has a pull out trundle so I can sleep two people in this room now.

The rug is an old braided rug from Fredricksburg that I snatched at a consignment store.  I was able to talk the sales lady into giving it to me for half price so I only paid $75.00!  It is in perfect condition and exactly the color I wanted!

I found this old shelf at an antique store in Mineola.  I had a small space that was perfect to hang it.

I came across this little night stand at the same consignment shop here in town and got it for only 20.00.  I need to decide on window treatments and get Martin to put my base boards back on then it will be done.  I have some wooden valances that Jess is going to help me decorate and I will post pics of those later.

Kinda Funny

The other day, after Jess and I had lunch, we decided to check out a fairly new consignment shop here in Tyler.  From the outside it looked like a small little shop but once we got inside we were amazed at how much stuff was in this store.  There were tons of nice furniture, accessories, high end purses and shoes  etc.  As we were strolling around, Jess grabs my arm and says "Mom, there is my old chaise lounge".   Now this chaise she is talking about was one that I had bought her about 9 years ago at an estate sale and I think we paid about $75.00.  It was white with big pink roses on it so very recognizable and besides that it was missing a button.  When Jess did one of her many apartment remodels quite a few years ago we sold that chaise at a garage sale for $50.00.  

So imagine how surprised we were to see that it was now for sale at this consignment shop for $250.00!!  

Kinda funny!

My sweet babies!

 


This is Barney.  He is my cockatiel that Martin and the kids gave me for Christmas 2010.  He is such a cool little animal!  I have taught him to whistle the cat call.  He is just like a watchdog in that he starts whistling loudly when anyone comes into the front door! Just recently Michael (Jessica's husband who is a police officer) taught him to whistle like a police siren-so much fun!  After he whistles and he knows someone is listening to him-he chuckles.

This is Barney's cage.  I keep him in the living room so he can guard the front door for us!








This is my precious little girl named Lucille.  She is the schnauzer that I stole away from Jessica in 2007 when she was a puppy.  She is the sweetest little thing and I love her to death.  She follows me around the house all day so I am never lonely.

At least one guest room is done!

This room was originally shared by the boys when they were little.  I decided that I wanted a guest room that was calm and inviting.  The bed is an old iron bed that I found hung out in the barn at the farm Martin's parents used to own.  The etigerre was the very first piece of furniture Martin and I bought as a married couple back in 1980.  We bought it at Sanger Harris (for anyone old enough to remember that store) for about $250.00 which was a lot of money back then!  I have just never been able to part with it because I can still remember how excited we were to bring it home!  
                        

Out with the old / In with the new

When this was Jessica's room it had the most beautiful antique floral wall paper that I loved!  When she moved out and Ryan moved in it was painted a smoky gray color---then--- Ryan moved out I decided I wanted it painted yellow.  Well, this seemed a bit drab so now I am deciding which of the above colors I am going with.  Certainly will not be drab now...I will update on the progress as I turn Ryan's old bedroom into my new second guest room/craft room.

This horrible carpet has been covered with a rug for years--now I remember why!  I think it has been in this room since the fifties.

And then there was Martin

This is a picture of Martin and his only sister, Ann.  There is eight years difference in their ages.  Do not let Martin's little angelic face fool you--I have heard from several family stories about what a crazy little kid he was (one in particular that involved a butcher knife-although it was never used!)

Here is a recent picture of Martin with his sister and their Mother.  They, apparently, weathered the storms of their childhood to become very close.  Martin's sister Ann is married to Larry Stevener.  Martin and Ann's mother, Matamary, just passed away this last month.  When Martin and I were first married I can remember us both dreaming that if we could have a family like Ann and Larry we would be so happy.  Well, they had three children-a girl then two boys.  And guess what...we had three children-a girl then two boys.  Pretty good huh?

The Stevener kiddos
*Amy-who is now married to Rodger Cope.  They have two gorgeous little boys Matthew and Joshua
*Scott-who is now married to Kara.  They have a beautiful little boy named Preston.
*Robert- who is now married to Heidi.  They have an adorable little girl named Mariella and they are expecting their second child at the end of the year.
 All of them have grown up to become such kind and wonderful people.

All in All- I married into a very Terrific family!

Where are they now?

I look at how fast time has flown by since my children were little.  I am sure my mother feels the same way.  This is a picture I found of myself, my brother and two sisters.

*FROM YOUNGEST TO OLDEST
*Jeannie is married to Jim Stone. They have one daughter, Julia who has just started junior high school.  Jeannie was recently named Assistant Superintendent of Wylie ISD.
*Michael is a married  to Denise and they have three sons Michael, Daniel and Larry.  They have two daughters in law Kimberly and Tasha and a brand new grandbaby boy named Dirk. Michael is a sargaent in the Dallas Police Department.
*Mandi currently lives in Indiana.  She went back to school as an adult and earned her nursing degree.  Mandi has two sons Christopher and Bradley.  Chris just graduated from Ball State with a business degree and Bradley has recently joined the military.
*Barbara is married to Martin.  They have three children Jessica, Andrew and Ryan.  They have a son in law Michael and a daughter in law Mitzi.  Barbara also went back to school as an adult and earned her nursing degree.

Trash to Treasure

One day I was driving around town and I saw a new antique consignment store here in Tyler.  Out in front of the store, lying on its side, was this rusty old  wrought iron bakers rack.  I loved the shape but it sure was a mess.  I went inside and the owner told me I could have it for $35.00.  I was excited but to make a long story short...I paid $25.00 and took it home.









Martin took one look at it and immediately said the line he is famous for "more garage sale fodder".  I knew I had to prove him wrong.  I got online and found a company in town that would sand blast and powder coat it for me for $50.00 and here is the finished product.  I love it!

It's the thought that counts!

 You know, you gotta love the fact that your husband will even buy you flowers but honestly...the first is a "before" when Martin tried to arrange my flowers and used the only container he could find (a small milk jug).

The second  pic is "after" I snuck the same flowers into the kitchen and rearranged them and put them into an actual vase!

The funniest part of all was that he didn't know I had changed them and later said "see, I can pick out nice flowers for you"

"it's the thought that counts"

Crawfish Parties!!

Our family has had some really fun parties with my favorite being our crawfish parties!  Martin and Uncle Mike sure do know how to boil up some mean crawfish and a good time is always had by all!!