the old man is snoring

You know the old nursery rhyme right? It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. . . well that's what it's doing here this morning too - pouring with rain. But no one is snoring cos we were awake at 5am listening to loud thunder! Kristen came straight in to our room and crawled in to bed. I thought I might get another hour of sleep before getting up at the usual time, but for some reason she didn't go back off to sleep and kept wiggling around, so in the end I got up at 5.30am and she got up with me.

When we went out to school at 7.10am it was raining heavily and very dark out there. . . definitely feels like Fall now, and this weekend is gonna be much cooler, I'd even say cold, as the lows will be in the 50's :-) It's still raining now, so I'm home for the day and not going anywhere til I have to pick up Kristen.

Thankfully tomorrow is forecast to be dry and sunny and only 73, because I'm going to a craft fair with my neighbor Cheryl. She will be selling her beads and I said I'd go along to keep her company. Then she dropped the bombshell and said we'd have to leave at 6am and probably wouldn't get home til 6pm!!! WHAT? Urghhhhh, not looking forward to the early start to the day but I hope we have a fun time together, and I hope she does well selling her wares ;-)

Remember I showed you some of her pretty stuff HERE, well she finally got her Etsy shop up and running so if you want to hop on over and take a look here is a LINK. You can also visit her website Red Phoenix Jewelry HERE.

Off to do laundry now and some Christmas knitting ;-) Have a fun Friday!

Outdoor Thursday!

I wanted to join in with Outdoor Wednesday yesterday and show you some fun pictures of our front porch but I just never got the chance. So, I thought I would post them today anyway, (without linking up) and anyone stopping by could still see them....

Kristen loves Halloween, the dressing up, the candy... you know, all that fun stuff. I must admit I don't like Halloween decor though, not the yucky looking ghosts and ghouls you see hanging in some peoples yards, and I don't decorate for Halloween inside. But last year (and this year) I added a little 'spookiness' to the front door ready for the little 'trick or treaters' later this month.

It's not much, but Kristen is thrilled with it - and that's all that matters really!

I tried to take a picture as it got darker to show the orange lights around the door, but I didn't take the tripod out there, so most of the shots were very blurry.... here's one, that is half decent!

Halloween is on a Saturday this year - should be a fun night :-)

Fall Decor

I'm still finding it hard to believe that it's already October! What happened to September? And will October go just as fast? Oh, you know it will! I was eager to decorate for Fall back at the beginning of September but I just realized I didn't really share any photos with you all. So, here's a few pictures from around the home, that I took a few weeks ago. . . . .

You can tell it was a few weeks ago, because the dresser isn't painted black in this picture! I will have to take some updated pics. Those are new candle sconces on the wall, that I bought in Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, at 50% off. I added fall colored candles beads and ribbon and at Christmas time I'll change these out to green with red ribbon. Here's a close up. . . .

Here's one side of the mantel, with a little Boyd's Bear


and the other side - Kristen painted the little terracotta pot in preschool and I've had fall flowers in it ever since (it gets packed away each year with the fall decor)


This is the window sill/seat in the kitchen....

and two of my other 'fall' Boyd's Bears. I used to collect Boyd's Bears but most of them are packed away. They don't really go with the decor of the house, but I have thought about getting them out and sitting them on the shelves in my bedroom closet.



I decorated the front porch this weekend with some fun Halloween stuff for Kristen (I don't decorate with it in the house) but I'll share pictures of that tomorrow ;-)

Met Monday

I thought I'd share something from my knitting blog that I posted a couple of weeks ago and link up to Susan's 'Met Monday' :-)

I transformed this. . . . . .


in to this. . . . . .

and it only took me two weeks! Unlike this. . . .

that I transformed in to this. . . . . .

which took me 18 months! And I still have to put buttons on it! If you didn't already know, I love knitting. Hop on over to my 'Knitting Den' if you want to see other stuff that's come off my needles recently ;-) And hop on over to Susan's blog to see lots of great 'befores and afters'.

The weekend sure did fly by. I went out yard-saling on Saturday morning but was very disappointed. I only spent $5, bought a Jenga game for Kristen, a two-tiered wall basket that I've already spray painted black, but forgot to take a before picture of, a Christmasy mug for me and a necklace! When I got home Jason was already in the garage (9.30am) clearing up. We're trying to do a little each week, especially when it's not too hot. This weekend was the perfect weather for it. While Jason was cleaning I got the mower out and did the front lawn, then edged it then got the blower out and cleared the paths of grass. By the time I was finished my arm was aching! The muscle in it is still sore today.

Kristen slept over at Emily's house on Saturday night so Jason and I watched a couple of movies together, Wolverine and He's Just Not That In To You (which wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, but I enjoyed Wolverine).

My inlaws came over yesterday and we had a nice visit together. I made chili and corn bread and had bread and oil, queso and chips and hummus and veggies for snacks.

So, today, need to get on with laundry and housework and start making lists of things to do for the upcoming holiday season :-) I feel like I'm behind on things already - it's October already!!!

TGIF!

Yay, it's Friday :-) Who doesn't like Friday? Even though I am a stay-at-home-mom and don't have to go out to work every morning, I still have to get up at 6am every day and get Kristen up at 6.30am for school. The weekends to me are still just as appealing as when I did work. It's a time when I know my family are all home and safe (I don't worry when Jason is at work or Kristen is at school, but I do pray for their safety each day). Our weekends are usually full of fun, family and friends :-)

This weekend I think my inlaws will come over. We haven't seen them for a couple of weeks again, and I like to have them over, usually on Sunday and make lunch for us all. I'm lucky - I love my inlaws and I love visiting with them. I need to surf around today and see if I can find something yummy to make for Sunday lunch.

Not much else going on here. We got another big storm and heavy rains last night and this weekend is forecast for more rain - we still desperately need it. I plan on staying home and staying cozy ;-)

Do yourself a favor!

It's been a while since I posted a reminder about a monthly BSE but today is the perfect day to get back on track with it. October 1st marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I was watching Ellen this morning (don't laugh but I've only actually started watching her show this week!! I never usually have the tv on in the morning, but now I'm tivo'ing it and I must admit, she is one funny gal!) and she had Melissa and Ade (from So You Think You Can Dance) perform their beautiful dance that was in honor of all breast cancer patients. That piece is so moving - did you see it?

Anyway, I just wanted to take time out this evening to remind you ladies how important self-exams are and how little time they take. Seriously, we're talking not even a minute here. And early detection CAN save your life. So, take just one minute now..... right now and go in to your bedroom and do a BSE. Here is a link if you don't know how to perform a BSE. There are also videos on Youtube that you may find helpful.

As for me, I had my yearly check up last month at the Dr and she did a breast exam for me. I have my referral and will be going for my yearly mammogram this month :-)

It's a 'shoe' thing!

I hope I won't disappoint you when I say there is no 'tablescape' this week :-( It's not that I've run out of ideas, but more the fact I've run out of plates and napkins, and I really don't want to start going to the store to buy more just to post on my blog once a week. That was never the intention, it was just to have fun with it while I could. And I'm sure I'll have more in the future (I did buy some Christmas plates at Goodwill that I have to use), but just not today.

Today I thought I would talk about shoes! Now I know a few of you out there might just cringe when I say "I've never really loved shoes"!!! I LIKE them, I really really like them, but most of the time I can't find shoes that are really comfortable on my feet. Don't laugh, I know some of you are laughing because you probably cripple yourselves wearing shoes that are not comfortable but they look too gorgeous not to wear :-) Well anyway, I bought some new shoes yesterday which is why I thought I'd talk about them.... I'm like a kid when I finally do get some new shoes and I want everyone to look at them ;-) I actually bought 3 pairs today, well 2 pair of shoes and a pair of sneakers, which I didn't take a pic of because, well, sneakers are just sneakers! Here's the first pair I got.... (everything was from Kohl's by the way, and I got to use my 30% off coupon)


When summer ends and the days turn cooler, (but it's not cold enough for boots) I always wonder what I should wear on my feet! It's usually just sneakers as I run to and from school and to the grocery store. If I do go out in the evening, I have to admit it's usually just jeans and either my boots or summer open toed heels, and my feet get cold!. When I saw these and tried them on I was 1. happy that they were so comfortable, and 2. glad they were closed in at the front and felt and looked more like a 'fall' shoe.


Then I bought a pretty plain looking pair again just to transition from summer shoes to winter boots....

These will look nice with my jeans on when I rush out to pick up Kristen, and I'll feel a little more dressy, than just having sneakers on my feet.

So, those are my new shoes..... but before you go, I thought I'd show you the 'prettiest pair' I have in my closet. I bought these when my sister was here back in June when we went to San Antonio....

Now I do LOVE these shoes! The only problem is, I had to get a half size bigger than I usually wear because they didn't have my size in, but I loved them so much I couldn't not buy them... and at the time I thought I could walk in these pretty well. Of course that was until I got home. I can tell they are a little big and it's hard to keep them on my fee with that little thing at the end that just sits between your toes. My m-i-l suggested I get some 'moleskin' to line the underneath with and that might help it fit better. I still haven't bought any so I haven't even worn these out yet!

Look at the embroidery on the bottom! So, although I just said "I've never really LOVED shoes" I think in time that might actually change.

I've even cleared the shelves in my closet so I can start 'displaying' them all. I have some old ones that I never wear that can go to Goodwill, and I'm already wondering what other kind of shoe I need next! I think I've been bitten by the 'shoe-bug'!

Hmmm, here's a thought..... what's your favorite shoe? Why not take a picture and share it on your blog. It doesn't have to be nice and fancy, it could be your comfy old boots, or your sneakers or even your slippers! Or it could be your most fanciest pair that kill your feet after wearing them for only 5 minutes, but you LOVE them anyway.

Let me know if you post a picture, I'd love to come by and take a look ;-)