The Supreme Painter of the Universe has struck again! ha! In the past week I have completed the game room (fyi - dried fava is sort of a sage green color), Luke's room (sort of tan), and Kyla's room (an aqua Polynesian paradise). Summer's room is in progress - and not too soon for her either. The other day she came to me VERY concerned that hers was to be the LAST room to be done. I informed her that I was the painter and MY room doesn't even have paint purchased for it yet. She then revised her complaint to being the LAST one of the KIDS done. OK - I'll give her that...but she DOES get the biggest room...she needs to CHILL! ha! Once I get all of the accessories hung on the walls - I'll take some pics of the kid's rooms and post them. Slowly, but surely, the house is coming together.

In order to offer me a GREAT break from painting. We had my mom over for a spend the night visit. Grace, my sister, is off at camp this week and Adam, my brother, is in Mexico on a mission trip so after her visit to MD Anderson/Houston on Monday she planned to come for a visit. We wondered if she was going to get to come because they held her over one night due to a blood clot "scare." Fortunately, she didn't have a deep blood clot in her leg that could cause a major problem but she does have some peripheral ones - a side effect of the chemo drug she takes. Even after having a bone marrow biopsy - she slept in Summer's bed (queen size) w/both girls. The girls LOVED it! Mom says she did too - she said that each time a leg draped over her she thanked God that she had lived so long to enjoy a moment like this. I marvel that 8 years ago she was told she only had about 2 1/2 years to live. God's plans never have time constraints and I am SOOO thankful for that! All 3 kids had a tea party with their Mime - yes, all 3. Luke wouldn't be left out of that! He stood underneath Mime with his arms raised to her - what grandmother could resist!?! I thought I would post these pictures of the happy time!

Today the girls had quality time with their other grandmother - Granny Gerry - and their Great-Aunt Sylvia. They had an i.o.u. from Granny for a visit to Libby Lu for their birthdays. They went with the Hannah Montana makeovers because they are probably 2 of Hannah's GREATEST fans! You can see them here in their Hannah wigs - too FUNNY! Plus, the Build-A-Bear workshop was strategically placed near Libby Lu....so the girls managed to spend the "spending money" they took with them on two adorable Build-A-Bear pink kittens! Talk about a power packed girls day out! This was one of those weeks when it was sooo nice to be near family. It certainly takes the edge off of being so far away from those we miss!

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I MUST sign off - I could write and write and write....y'all know that I ALWAYS have ALOT to say! Sometimes, I need help knowing when to quit...right now that is Luke fussing at me from below the computer chair. More later.....

Cooling off this summer.....

What is WRONG with this picture???

It's July in Texas - Have we LOST our minds?

The heat must have finally got to them!

Is that what y'all are thinking?

If so, you don't know the WHOLE story.

And guess what - you've come to just the right place to find out! Well, yesterday was another Thrilling Thursday outing - this time we went ice skating. See - we haven't lost our minds - well, at least not from the heat. As Supreme Painter of the Universe I might be a few brain cells short from all of the paint fumes, but it has been too mild here this summer to be experiencing ANY heat related dementia. Perhaps God provided this summer just for us - to acclimate us gently to the Texas heat....because I think we may have had MANY days where we have been cooler than all of y'all in Alabama - VERY RARE. Even RARER (is that a word?) we have had VERY FEW days in the 90s. This time of year, the temps are usually close to or at 100. I am certainly NOT complaining....however, I am afraid that we may have to pay for it in August! But by then NO ONE will be use to the heat and the 5 of us won't stick out like sore thumbs! ha!

Ok - so back to the iceskating. This picture tells it all. Kyla got out there...started on the wall (as seen here) and before the end of the day was teaching a 20 year old Christian Day Camp counselor how to skate. SERIOUSLY! Summer (can be seen in the bottom right hand side of the photo) spent ALL of her time on the wall or on the ice (prostrate)...alternating between the two...OFTEN! It was just as good for me to get out - I could give my brain cells a rest from the fumes and stimulate them with some adult conversation. I miss my friends the most when we go out on these outings. It is something that I would have done with you and that just makes me miss all of y'all terribly! The first time it hit me was the trip to Natural Bridge Caverns - it just came from out of nowhere and really took me by surprise. I was driving to the caverns and just got all teary eyed...fortunately only my kids were with me - anyone else would have thought I had LOST it. This trip was a little easier because the adults sat out in the snack shop and we were able to visit with each other. There are many nice women at the church - some of them even SCRAPBOOK...so hey, they can't be BAD! ha! I just have to remind myself that my friendships with y'all didn't happen over night....it took many years to develop. I guess God is working on that patience "thing" again - too bad he won't just HURRY UP! :-)

I thought I would leave you with a humorous parting shot. Remember when I told you about our Elvis sighting? Where here his is.....caught on film....perhaps I will send it in to the Inquirer or Star mag. ha!

Not quite what we thought it would be...

Well, we received our new couch on Thursday evening. Kyle, his father, and his mother all traveled to New Bruanfels to pick it up from the Ashley furniture warehouse. They got it home w/o any incident and it seemed perfect. It was just the right color, it was comfortable, we could foresee many naps on it in the near and distant future. And then today it happened....I heard a loud popping sound...much like a balloon popping, but not quite as hollow. I didn't put much thought into it...I was upstairs painting (you have heard about my new life as a painter right? ha!) and I figured the girls had dropped something - or had actually popped a balloon. But then in about 20 minutes I heard the same sound again. At this point I am about to get mad - Luke is asleep, I'm up to my elbows in "dried fava" paint, and I assume Kyle is sleeping - I also assume the girls have done something to make the noise, but I hear nothing else. I decide that it probably isn't them and continue with the painting. However, in about 5 minutes my husband appears upstairs with the troublesome news - the couch has BROKEN! We have had this piece of furniture for LESS than 48 hours and 2 of the main support beams of the frame are broken in two! Can you say DESIGN FLAW? The store suggested sending out a technician to "fix" it, but we returned it tonight - who wants a BRAND new couch that has to be "fixed" w/in 2 days of it's purchase? NOT ME! So now the great couch hunt is on again. Anyone with any great ides let me know!?! I am definitely gun shy on the Ashley Furniture store...although I know many of you have used them and love them! The right couch must still be out there just waiting for us to purchase it and bring it into our couch loving home. :0)

The past two days haven't seen too much excitement - I settled on the color "dried fava" for the gameroom - after staring at my denim shirt with the paint chips taped to it I decided that it would be the prettiest wall color and I support my decision 100%. Maybe - 99.5% because a part of me will always wonder what sea green would have looked like....probably way too obnoxious...right!?! Once I finish in here I will attack the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom - I have all of the paint so I can just tackle room....after room...after room. The big decision now is whose room will be next. You can imagine that Summer has a LARGE opinion on whose room should be painted next. However, it is my decision as Supreme Painter of the Universe that the person whose room will be painted next is the person who proceeds to talk about it LEAST! At this rate it looks like Luke. ha! I have a before pic of the gameroom that I will post as soon as I am finished enough to take an after pic of it as well. I think I will enjoy this room more than my formal living room. It is just an easier space to work in - plus, all of my craft stuff is up here and one day - when girls are in school, boxes are unpacked, walls are painted, and baby is sleeping - I WILL scrapbook and various other crafty stuff AGAIN! Amen! Hallelujah! Sorry - I just can't control myself at the thought! hee! hee!

I know I wrote that we might attend Journey Fellowship tomorrow...to see Max Lucado and all...but I think we are going to wait and try them on another day that isn't so CRAZY! I think it is a good sign that I don't really want to miss what is going on at CrossPoint tomorrow either. I haven't felt that connected to the church - I think mostly because we were SO connected to Friendship - but slowly/surely I am feeling a connection to them and their mission to "reach seekers and build believers." Don't think for one second that I am forgetting any of y'all....Friendship's shoes are way too BIG to fill....but I am glad we are seeing churches that can at least meet our needs as we look forward to worshipping and serving the Lord here in Texas.

Well, it is almost midnight and I will have 3 sleepyheads (4 counting Kyle ha!) to get ready for church in the morning - I better turn in. God Bless!

Has it really been a week!

Has it really been a week since I last wrote to all of you? WOW! Where do I begin? I guess I will begin with the real shocker, although then it will all be downhill from here. You may find this shocking....but we sighted Elvis last night. Really! OK - maybe he wasn't the REAL Elvis...but just tell my kids that! We celebrated Kyle's brother's (Dustin's) birthday at Texas Pride bbq "joint" and "Elvis" was there providing live entertainment. Kyla loved it so much that she has since insisted that she have her birthday on a Wednesday night at Texas Pride...."because Elvis is there EVERY Wednesday for classic car night....really, MOM, that is what the sign says." Can't you just hear her. I think her favorite thing was that "Elvis" walked out into the crowd and sang to the members of the audience. She kept positioning herself in places where it would be easy for him to get to her. While most people were shying away...or changing their seats...she would seek him out so that he could sing to her. It is a wonder she didn't take over the microphone. She might have had she known the songs! ha!


Now to the thing that has consumed my daily life - home decorating. I completed the painting in my living room/kitchen area - mangrove yellow is definitely sunny and YELLOW...but I do LOVE it! We got the burgundy (technically chianti...what kind of color description is that? sort of like all of those Creative Memories album color names) couch today and it looks great with the yellow walls...at least I think it does. I am trying to settle on a color for the game room. I picked out a denim sofa, loveseat, and striped accent chair last weekend, however, they won't be in until early August. I decided I should go ahead and paint and get the room ready for the furniture's arrival. I grabbed several green paint chips from the store and headed across town to the furniture store to compare them to the accent chair and I have narrowed it down a little...but I am still undecided. I currently have 4 green paint chips, in various shades and hues, tapped to one of my denim shirts that is a close match to the sofa. I know....I'm derranged! There should be help for people like me - but hopefully, you all love me anyway.


I watch the videos of Friendship's services each week. I find myself singing along - and crying! Maybe one day it won't be so hard - maybe! We may try out Journey Fellowship church this weekend...if we can sell the kids on skipping CrossPoint this weekend. I want to just see it for myself. It is maybe 5 minutes down the road and meets in an old dance hall, the Blue Bonnet Palace. They are a plant of Oak Hills which is Max Lucado's church here in San Antonio. Max is going to be there this Sunday so it would be a special treat to hear him. I'll have to let y'all know if we do go...how it was. The people that I have met who go there....love it!


I took some time for MYSELF on Monday of this week. My mother-in-law came over and watched the kids while I went to a Stampin' Up demonstration. I found this demonstrator on the internet and contacted her because there was a stamp set going out with the old catalog and I NEEDED it. :-D She has many classes throughout the month and is sooo creative - I had a BALL. Plus, she is a believer and is one of the people that I know who goes to Journey Fellowship and who can't say enough good things about it! Back to that second sentence in this paragraph - can I tell you how nice it was to be able to go somewhere and have a family member watch the kids!?! It was awesome - I am very thankful to Granny Gerry for making that possible!

Well, I can tell from the length of this post that it really has been a week since I posted last. I will have to be more timely so that it won't take so long to write....and READ! However, as long as there is painting to do...and boy is there painting to do...you can bet that most of my spare time will be spent with a paint roller in my hand! ha!

Last I left you - I was faced with the riviting decisions of which couch to buy for the living room and what color to paint the walls. I guess you can tell from the before and after pics that I did settle on yellow - Mangrove yellow to be exact. Yellow is such a strange color because it changes depending on which wall it is on and what time of day it is. I had yellow in my kitchen back in AL, so I figured I would like it, but to go from beige to yellow was a REAL shock at first. It isn't quite as bright as the picture suggests, but it is BRIGHT and sunny! I love how it brings out the colors in the painting on the mantle (yet to be hung). No telling how old that painting/print is - it came from my great-grandmother's home in South Carolina. We also bought the burgundy couch at Ashley Furn. and will pick it up on Thursday....things are really starting to take shape. Now if we can just get the last piece of our wall unit for this room we will be set (faux wood blinds to come ???)!

The 4th of July wasn't quite the same without the Sportsman's Park fireworks/people watching, but we made due. We had burgers and hotdogs with Kyle's family at his brother Dustin's house and then stood out on his back deck and enjoyed the view of 3 or 4 different fireworks shows across the south San Antonio area. Summer was a little disappionted that we didn't go in-person to one of the displays, but it RAINED, and RAINED, and RAINED until late in the afternoon and we figured most places would be MUDDY! However, she and Kyla did brave the rain cooled pool at Dustin's and swam once the rain stopped - so she wasn't THAT disappointed. :-D

Thursday, the kids and I traveled with a group from church to the Natural Bridge Cavern. Travled is sort of a funny word to use because it is only about 20 minutes from our house. It was beautiful - I took several pics w/my 35mm, but none with my digital. I need to get into the habit of taking pictures w/both, but I tend to forget and only use one or the other. Most of the time I am just happy that I remember taking a camera - let alone 2! The nicest thing about the cavern is that it is still "alive" - the formations are still growing, but at a very slow pace. I think the tour guide said that it only grows 1 cubic inch every 100 years! SLOW!! It was very wet and they couldn't even take us down to the bottom because of all of the water that had seeped in due to the rains. Oh well, that will just give us an excuse to go back sometime. It hit me while we were down there under the ground that God even made the earth under ground beautiful - places we may or may not ever see - It just goes to show that it isn't about us, it ALL really is just to glorify Him.

I must sign off - there is kitchen painting yet to do and I want to be finished/cleaned up in plenty of time to watch the BIG race tonight. Yes, we still watch the NASCAR. :-D We are planning on fajitas for dinner - too bad we aren't close enough to get together w/Brian and Kim...however, if we were planning on it, one of our kids would surely be getting sick right now. ha!

More later as the home decorating saga continues!

Amazing yard sale!

Well...last I left you I was concerned with all of the rain that might ruin our yard sale. God is good and always in the details because NO rain fell. As a matter of fact, it was even sunny at times. My mother-in-law and her sister worked two days straight and sold over $200 of my "stuff" or more appropriately called "junk!" I still have enough "junk" around my house to sell, so I am planning on having a sale in the fall. It has been a hard task to whittle down what was in our home in Alabama and fit it in our "smaller" house here.

I have yet to put out many knick-knacks and very few things are hung on the wall. I have been waiting until I could find the time to paint the walls and have just now come to that point. For those of you who were in my home in AL, you know how much color I had on the walls - for those that weren't...well, it was A LOT! The beige walls and beige carpet here are pretty, but are on the boring side. I have decided on a deep yellow for my kitchen and living room...or so I think. :-) At this point I have a couple of paint chips that I keep moving around to the different walls so that I can stare at them and decide if that is REALLY what I want to do. Face it, with 3 kids I don't have time to redo it...so I better be SURE!

Along with picking out paint colors, I have dedicated myself to the finding of a new couch. We still don't have one and frankly...I hadn't been ready to get one. Our living room downstairs is an odd shape - it has a very pretty limestone fireplace at an angle in one of the corners and although it looks nice, it doesn't make it so easy to place furniture. I spent Saturday am, mapping out my living room on grid paper and placing furniture all around just trying to figure out where in the world I was going to put the couch and how big/little it needed to be. I even went over to the model home - it is EXACTLY the same floor plan as ours - just to see how they placed the furniture in it! I'm telling you - it shouldn't be this hard! I think I have settled on one at Ashley furniture that is a very pretty burgundy color - it should look great w/the recliners that we already had and the deep yellow paint chip on the wall. I will probably go and get it tomorrow - there is a BIG 4th of July sale. I'll be sure to keep you posted because this is such riveting subject matter - you may not be able to sleep w/o knowing. (yes, that was sarcasm - ha!)

We made a trip to my parent's last Sunday - Kyle did some work for them on the wood on their home and storage shed - AND we did a little shopping at IKEA. They have one of those GREAT BIG stores in Round Rock, TX...just about 15-20 minutes from my parent's house. I had already made a trip there a few weeks ago and kinda scoped it out - got the lay of the land so that I could go back and conquer exactly what I needed. Because you know, shopping w/a man and 3 kids, you have to be ready just to go in and conquer. Well, 2 hours (ugh!) and about 15 boxes later, we came out with a new computer/craft area desk and MOST of the components of a new entertainment/wall unit (of course one piece was out of stock so I will pick it up at another time). That was the easy part - for those of you familiar w/IKEA - everything comes unassembled - so Kyle will be working as a carpenter on furniture assembly in his spare time. At least there is a payoff for that in the price of the merchandise!

In the tradition of years past, we will spend the 4th with my in laws - this time in TEXAS instead of Alabama. We will have to find another location for fireworks which is sad. Kyle looked over at me tonight and said, "I'll have to get up early in the morning and go park my truck at Sportsman's Park."...just reminiscing about all the years he DID do that so that we would have good seats. He would really get up early and go park his truck down there on the morning of the 4th! Sportman's Park may be small, but they put on a terrific fireworks show! Plus, you can't beat the 'holler' for some unique people watching! :-)

I hope all of you have a terrific 4th of July. God bless America and God bless you as well!