There Goes My Life...

Our Little Gardener.

 

Stewart has been asking for weeks to have his own garden. Each time I go to the greenhouse he comes home with a new flower to plant. He already has two container gardens where he is growing Indian Paintbrushes and a Gerber Daisy. When I stopped at the greenhouse yesterday for some Lantana, he started begging for a Hibiscus tree. I explained that there wasn’t enough room in our SUV with the groceries. He proceeded to look for something that would fit. He decided that he wanted tomato plants when I finally made him decide on something before our ice cream melted.

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I called Chris on the way home, and told him that Stewart had tomato plants that needed planting. Being the wonderful daddy he is, he came home early from work with the lumber to build Stewart a garden bed all his own.  He filled it with topsoil from our river bottom, and this morning I helped our little gardener transfer the plants to his bed and water them.

When we finished he said, “Daddy hasn’t brought home my tree yet.”

ETA:  Below is a little better photos of of the raised bed Chris built for Stewart.  Thinking it would also be nice for an herb garden.  Love my handy husband!

Outdoor oven.

It’s no secret that Chris is the better cook in our house.  Now, I’m not saying that I can’t cook.  I’m just saying that Chris is more creative and is the grill master. He has been wanting an outdoor oven/smoker for a while now, and this year he finally decided to build one.  He asked our friend, neighbor and BBQ master, Dan for suggestions, and Dan gave him a magazine with this plan.  It was exactly what Chris had in mind, and he went right to work on it.

Just a few weeks later and this is what it looks like.

This is not the totally complete oven, but it is very close.  He still has to add the hardware to the door, and he cleaned the mortar off.  He just couldn’t wait to use it though!

He made a area beside it for his coals that he adds to it while cooking.

I really should have taken a photo of the inside.  Maybe I will the next time he cooks or smokes something.  So far we have had smoked pork tenderloin, smoked chicken, and turkey poppers.  I will have to get him to share the recipe for those.  Yum-o!

I guess this fall’s project will be to replace the grass that we lost during the construction process.  Small price to pay for a summer full of good eats!

Easter marathon.

What a wonderful weekend! We spent time with family, friends and celebrated the resurrection of our Lord.

We started the weekend off with a trip to the movies.  We had all been wanting to see Hop.  We decided we had to see it before Easter, so Friday night we finally went to see it.  Cute movie! We would have enjoyed it a little more if not for the three junior high girls sitting behind us that came to the movies to chat.  Don’t really get that, but we made the most of it.  It did provide a teachable moment for our own kiddos.

Saturday morning was our church Easer egg hunt.  This was the first year that Elizabeth was too old to hunt. :-( She still went along with us.  Luckily, Molly and Stewart will keep up going for a few more years.  We had a beautiful day for it.  One of the best in recent years!

Notice the Easter Bunny who looks a whole lot like our dear friend, Mrs. Carla.  Yes, we know her nose is on upside down.  We got a lot of laughs about that! :-)

From the egg hunt we went to another celebration.  My father-in-laws birthday lunch. Notice where Stewart’s eyes are. ;-)

The kids played and hunted more eggs.

I went on a trail run with my friend, Ben, and Chris went home to work on his barbeque pit while the kiddos stayed to play with their cousins a little more.

After my run, I joined Chris at home and worked on our new flower bed.  As excited as I am about the new flower bed, I am also really excited about the barbeque pit.  It is going to be so neat, and I think we will use it a lot.  I am so looking forward to time spent outside with family and friends this summer! 

Sunday morning was the usual Easter morning chaos.  The kids were so excited and had a breakfast of chocolate eggs.  It was so funny that just as we came downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had left, I saw a flash go past the family room window.  We looked outside and three bunnies were at the edge of the yard.  Just as we left the window and  went back to the kids baskets, one of the bunnies flew back past the window and into the front yard.  It reminded us of the movie we had watched Friday night and certainly made us wonder!

We rushed to get dressed for church.  We knew we needed to get there early to get a seat (we still ended up sitting in the balcony).  Thankfully, I had ironed everyone’s new clothes the night before.  I should have looked for Stewart’s belt the night before because it was no where to be found Sunday morning.  I was determined to get a photo of the kids before we left for church so we hurried out to the irises.  After separating Elizabeth and Stewart, this was the best one I got. Ugh.

Definitely NOT the Easter picture I had planned.  Stewart with no belt, Molly’s oh-so-fake-and-almost-painful smile. Stewart’s hair. Really.  In all honestly, it is probably about as true to life as it get though!

It got better from there.  Wonderful service at church.  Lunch at my sister’s house followed by a long nap and more yard work.  A very good Easter in deed!

One super room.

I’ve been meaning to share Stewart’s new room for the longest.  It’s not actually a new room.  It is the same room just with his new bunk beds that Chris and I built him for his birthday.

When it was time to upgrade him from a nursery to a big boy room we painted the walls brown and added the red and blue stripe.  I found a nice toddler bed at my consignment sale, but we knew he wouldn’t be in it for too long.  That’s why we didn’t go all out.  I thought the red and blue would let us go in any direction depending on what his interest (sports, racecars, super heroes…) were when he was ready for a bigger bed.  He outgrew his toddler bed and had been bunking with Molly for a good while. That’s when we decided rather than buying a bunch of junk for his birthday we would surprise him with bunk beds.

We had been working on them for a week or two when he and his sisters went on an overnight trip to Kentucky with their grandparents.  Chris and I decided to surprise him by having his new room all put together when he got home. It reminded me of one of those TV shows where some family members goes out of town for the weekend and a crew comes in a re-decorates a room for them.  It would have been nice to have had a crew come in to help us, but it was a lot of fun.  It reminded me of the days when Chris and I did lots of home projects together.

Enough talk.  Let’s get to the photos.  We had planned to put the beds against the wall, but when we got them in the room we realized they were bigger than we thought.  We had to move them around, and I think I like them even better this way. It makes it easier to change the sheets.  Since there wasn’t a wall on one side of it, we did have to add a second rail.

I had looked and looked for quilts.  I was really looking for something that wouldn’t cost a fortune since I was having to buy bedding for two beds.  I looked and looked online.  I decided to go to wal-mart to get some sheets and maybe just wait on the comforters.  I went at just the right time.  They had an entire section in the front of the store with everything for dorm rooms.  I bought the last two of the these blue stripe comforters they had for only $16 each! I also got the red sheets in the same section for $7.  I hardly ever go to Wal-mart, and I just couldn’t believe my luck that day.  I don’t usually like character themed rooms.  I had been looking at some Spiderman sheets on Pottery Barn, but when I saw these for half the price, I decided to get them.  I knew my little super hero would love them.

I cleared out all the extra “stuff” from his room.  His room is pretty small, but it feels bigger now.

I didn’t have to look far for the perfect accessories.  His costume is within reach when he needs it.

And his friends guard him while he sleeps.

Chris and I did make one more trip to Wal-mart for a few more things.  While we were there we picked up a poster and frame to replace some of his old wall art.

My favorite wall art is the freebies from the post office that I framed in simple black frames.

If you like the bunk beds make sure to check out ana-white.com  She has all kinds of amazing plans.  If you’ve seen it in a catalog chances are she has the plan for it.  I have a list of other furniture I want us to build!

Bedroom retreat.

I’ve been meaning to take photos of our bedroom redo for the longest.  I am still working on picking our some favorite beach photos to frame for the walls, but I need to go ahead and share it or I never will!  Our room had been the same since we moved into our house in 2000.  I am so terrible about not taking before photos.  I really need to take to the time to do that, but I am just so ready to jump in when we start a project! Our bedroom before had navy blue walls and was very formal looking.  I wanted something new that reminded me of the beach.  We love the beach, and I wanted to be reminded of it all year long.  So I tried to go with what I call a sophisticated beach theme. :-)  I wanted a resort/spa feel to the room.

I bought the bedding at Stein Mart back last winter. I bought it first so that I could match the wall color to it. It is Benjamin Moore Hemlock.  Let me just recommend buying "good paint.”  We have always spent a little more to get quality paint, and it is so worth it.  This paint went over dark blue walls without a primer, and it took less than one gallon to cover it. So worth the investment and probably cost less in the end.

We finally got around to hanging to gallery wrap that has been propped on the mantel for weeks. I scored the lantern from Pottery Barn last week.  I had been trying to decide on one to order. I almost ordered one, but never got around to it that day.  The next morning I got an email from Pottery Barn that lanterns were 20% off that day only with free shipping. Score!

 

All the shells are ones that we have brought home from our trips to the beach (we still have tons of shells throughout the house and even more in pails in the cabinet).

I searched and searched for a nightstand. When we painted the room, we totally rearranged it for the first time since moving in 10 years ago.  We never had room for a nightstand beside the bed before. I searched the internet and went in every furniture store and antique store in town looking for one.  I finally found the perfect one in the most surprising place. Who would have thought to look at kids’ furniture?! I’m glad I did because it is perfect! Oh, and I have to add that Molly and I assembled it ourselves. Who says girls can’t use tools?!

Photo is from our trip to St. Thomas a couple years ago.  I found the starfish at Steinmart.

Another view. The trunk holds extra blankets and was belonged to Chris’ great grandmother. Such a treasure.

I found the coral pillow and throw at Steinmart, also.

The painting will be replaced with a favorite beach photo. It’s a remnant of the old room and is serving as a placeholder. I’ve been trying to find frames.  It’s harder than you would think! I found the rods and sheers at Wal-mart.

Our antique dresser that Chris gave me for our anniversary one year. More favorite beach photos and my grandmother’s antique lamp.  A different lamp might work better, but I love having it in our room.

That’s it for now.  Hopefully, I will add the rest of the photos soon and share those.

Family Matters.

This is an ongoing project.  One that I am trying to finish up.  I just need to order a few more black & white photos to complete my photo display in the stairwell leading to our basement.  Right now the basement is made up of the kids’ playroom and my studio, but my plans are for our basement to be a family gathering place.  For Christmas Chris and I bought a large flat screen tv that will eventually be moved to the basement.  the plan is to move the furniture we now have in our family room upstairs to the basement and I want to re-decorate the family room.  Long term plans are for it to be converted into a dining room since our current dining room is so small.  That is our plans for when we have sons and daughters-in-laws and hopefully a grandchild or two. Think a big table like on Brothers & Sisters.  Of course Pottery Barn is tempting me to do it now.

Now how did I get onto the dining room….. Oh yes, my photo display! 

So I framed these three of the kids last night and Chris hung it over our “Family Matters” sign.  It makes me happy to see it when I come down to my studio to work.  You can see part of my display on the left hand wall. I will be even more happy when all the frames are filled with some of my favorite black and whites of our family.  I will share it when it’s complete!

If you give a man a chainsaw…

What is it they say? Well, you give my man a chainsaw..

and a stack of pressure treated lumber…

and just a little bit of time.  He will come up with something like this…

Chris decided we needed a plank fence along the entrance to our “farm” and yard. New Year’s Day I got to help him work on it.  Of course that meant I had to take some photos of the process!

If you know us, you know we are Do-it-yourselfers. Surprisingly, I didn’t have anything to do with getting this project started.  I am usually the nagger instigator of our home projects. We ran out of lumber before we finished, but he and his dad made a trip to Lowe’s and finished it up the next day.

(Don’t you love Chris old toboggan I borrowed?)

Now just a few months until it can be painted black.  It may not have been my idea, but it sure is going to be a nice prop for some photo shoots this summer!

Spring projects.

It's spring so that means spring projects at the Barnes house!

Well, we started our projects after Elizabeth and I went for a run Saturday morning. Molly had spent the night with my in-laws, so this was the perfect time for Elizabeth and me to get in a run together. She ran a 12:03 mile! I told Chris when we finished that she could have run a lot faster if she hadn't talked the entire time! LOL!

I picked Molly up from my in-laws and dropped her off at a friends' house for a play date. Elizabeth and I then when to the garden center for some new ferns and a few flowers.

So I planted flowers while Chris worked on our new fire pit.

We started working on it last week, and he worked on it a few afternoons during the week. So glad to have it finished and can't wait to use it!

The stones are from an old stone fence from down the road. We are having some road construction and the fence was going to be taken out. Our neighbor is letting everyone take all the stones they want. The fence is probably 200 years old and was most likely built by slaves. There are a lot of these fences still in Tennessee. They are so beautiful, and it is sad to see them torn down.  I am glad we were able to reuse the stones. Chris did a wonderful job laying the stacked stone for the pit. It perfectly matches our wall we had professionally done!  Last weekend we had to cut a tree in the yard, and cut stumps from it to use as seats. I'm looking forward to lots of nights around the fire! Next up - a stone grill for the patio we are about to finish.

All of my Facebook friends have already heard about the excitement we also had on Saturday afternoon at our house. If you haven't heard I will just say that it involved a snake and my kitchen.  Ugh - I am still freaked out about it, but trying to put it out my mind. Chris thinks he found how it got in and is going to fix it this afternoon. I just hope none of his friends come in before then!!!!

A room fit for a...

If Elizabeth's old room was fit for a princess, her new room is fit for an Island Girl! Her room had been the same since she first moved from the nursery into her big girl room, and now that she is almost eight (that's a whole 'nother post altogether!) it was time for a change. I guess officially she's a tween, right? My, where has the time gone?!

Anyone who knows my girl knows how much she loves the beach.  I fully expect her to one day live on the coast.  She has loved it since her first trip when she was just 15 months old. Chris started painting her room before he left for Kansas last week, and I finished it up while he was gone. The color is Cool Blue, but I would describe it more as Caribbean Blue. I LOVE this color!

The room started with the quilt. I ordered it and then let Elizabeth choose the color she liked the most on the quilt.  Then I took the quilt to the paint store and found the perfect match. (Note: I need to order the sham now that it's on sale!)

The grass skirt was my idea. The last few summers we have had luaus at the house. I used this skirting around our deck, and it was just the right length for her bed skirt. I just sewed it to her existing bed skirt. Easy-Peasy!

I saw this idea in the latest catalog, and just happened to find this one on clearance for $4.00 one day when Stewart and I were out shopping.

I used my leftover table skirting for the bottom of the aquarium stand as well as for Elizabeth's desk her daddy built her a few years ago.

Here's another view of Elizabeth's gallery wrap. This is one of my all-time favorite photos of my girls. I knew I wanted to go big with it and ordered a 24x30 gallery wrap. I LOVE these. Perfect for her room!

I was planning to sew curtains for her room, but I found these hot pink silk panels at a local liquidation store for the french doors in her room. I added a lei garland (another luau leftover). I even bought a bright green roman shade for the window in her room. The color was perfect and I think it looks so cool not to match with this fun theme. I failed to take a photo of it when I was in there snapping. Funny how I thought I had it all covered!

I feel like I could have been filming a show for HGTV.  Seriously, almost everything in her room was stuff I already had that I got creative with! Love that! Saved a bunch of money!

A couple of detail shots from of her bookcase. With the exception of the starfish (purchased at Wal-mart for $2), all of the shells are from our trips to the beach. We literally have buckets of shells.

I lined up these in her window largest to smallest.

I have to order a few more prints to frame (hence the empty frame leaned against the wall in one of the photos), but here is one of my favorites.  It is on her dollhouse book shelf over her desk. My beach girl! :-)

After I tucked her in the first night in her new room she told me she had tears in her eyes she loved it so much. That makes all the work worthwhile!