Thursday's THOUGHTS

This POST is for every woman out there who has ever felt

Frumpy, Lumpy, Dumpy, Bumpy, and Grumpy...

Lately every time I look at myself I'm wanting to say........Huh????

What are you wearing, and WHY?

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When I used to teach school I had to get up every day and

get dressed, fix my hair, and put on makeup.

HOWEVER.... the last 5 years I have worked from home,

and I'm kinda embarrassed to say that MOST days

I don't even do a single thing to myself other than

Brush My Teeth.
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Sometimes as I pass a mirror I stop and do a double -take

almost NOT recognizing myself anymore.

I know that we all deserve a "do nothing" day on occasion...

BUT I have mostly had one for 5 years now.

And I've got to say that it has had an effect on the way I feel about myself.

When you are 43 you can only look so good in warm-up/ pajamas,

with hair that's been in the same "up do" for days, and

the mascara bags under your eyes

from the one day you got ready this week.

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I must say that this REVELATION started with

"the Green shirt"

I continued my remodel on it by adding long sleeves.

I was so excited to try it on because I thought it looked so cute.

Then... after I could barely get it over my head

I remembered why that I had put it in the

"get out of here" pile.

My boobs looked like 2

Jolly Green Giant Peas with a ruffle.

That shirt was entirely too tight and where I'd put

the ruffles made my shoulders look like I played

linebacker for the RAIDERS on Sunday afternoon.
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Then... as I was watching Oprah

(we get her here on lots of different channels)

so it may have been an old show.. I don't know.

BUT... they were talking about Stay-at-HOME-Moms

who have stopped making the most of themselves.

The best quote I remember from the show was

"Look cute for YOU"

even if no one sees you but yourself ... YOU deserve IT!!
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So.. This weekend I am going to go through every single thing

that I own in my closet and TRY IT ON..

I literally have some clothes in there that I've had over 15 years

and sadly still wear some of them......

(therefor I am pretty sure they either aren't in style

or don't fit right anymore)
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I sincerely hope that I am not the only Stay-at-HOME-Mom

who has sorta thrown in the towel on getting ready...

But since Oprah did an entire show on it,

I'm pretty sure there are some other women out there

who also have more warm-up/p.j. pants

(that they wear 99% of the time)

than just me.
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I truly have the GREATEST closet in the entire world !

(and yes I'm am OCD and it is all COLOR Coded in Sections)

My husband and his family used to build houses

from the ground up....

So.... he can build absolutely anything.

When we moved into this house

I drew him the plans of what I wanted, and

WHAM... he built me the best closet ever!

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But... I am going to take Oprah's advice
and go through all the things in my closet
and keep only the items that I LOVE,
and the ones that I feel LOOK Good on me.
I think most women have things in their closet
that they don't even like at all,
or clothes that every single time they wear them
think "I look fat in this!"
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Sooooooooo... I am making a vow
that after this weekend I would rather
have only a hand full of items that I really like....
than a closet full of stuff I NEVER Wear...
because I can't remember if it fits right
since I haven't tried it on in 5 years.
EVEN my WARM-UPS (which I know I will not give up)
are going to be the ones that I feel good in.
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Any other mom's out there who work from HOME
and have it all figured out or have a quick plan to
get ready I'd LOVE to hear how you do it.....
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May we always realize that WE ourselves are worth getting ready for.
as Oprah says "Get CUTE for YOU"

First Haircut

Yesterday we reached a MILESTONE at our house.

Brady had his First Haircut...

Bless his little heart...

We didn't think he'd ever have enough hair to cut.

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What a sweet boy he was too.

He sat there the entire time and did not move one muscle.

I know I'm partial......

But man he is a GOOD BOY!!!
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As you can see from his FIRST BIRTHDAY photos.....

he was a TOTAL q-ball baby..

No wonder everyone thought his head was so big....

The poor little guy didn't have a lick of hair...
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He was a little shy at first...
But it didn't take him long to turn on his BRADY CHARM...
and yes.... you can tell I'm in the over 40 yr. old mother category
since I was there with my camera capturing it all...
and telling everyone to LOOK at how cute he was.
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You may think I'm kidding....
but I'm serious when I say we were getting a little worried
about whether or not he'd ever have enough hair to cut..
This was him at the beach in Galveston this summer
at 1 yr. 8 months and he looked like a receding little old man. haha
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Even Brad came with me to the
"official" First and ONLY haircut he's had..
We could hardly stand there and act "NORMAL"
for wanting to clap and blow up balloons...
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I know we got a little carried away...
But that is the TRUE JOY of raising children in 2 generations...
We get to TREASURE all the "little moments"
that last time we completely took for granted.
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I can not tell you when or even where Brent (who is now 20)
had his first haircut, much less did I get a picture.
And..... I've gotta say it makes me
a little sad that I didn't make a big deal out of it too..
I'm sure I was in a RUSH to get it done,
and forgot to let that precious moment LINGER in my memories.

BUT... I can guarantee you that

I didn't make that same mistake twice...
This time IT was certainly a big deal....
one in which mom, dad, and now the whole world gets to remember...
Because this memory is one that is worth lingering !
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May we NEVER underestimate the "little Moments"
because those are the ones we may desperately want to remember.

Finished Project

Where has my time gone these days ?

Seems like everyday I am missing a few hours

and I can't seem to get caught up..

ANYWAY... I finished our second major project

in my upholstery class tonight..

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I got the cushion to my chair finished..

However, we aren't going to learn how to do the chair

until next semester...( job security) haha

BUT... until then I have a great cushion..

In fact... I'm trying to find another chair in this house it will fit on.
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This poor ole' chair started off it's life

as a lovely shade of LEMON ????

Life had taken a toll on it I must say..... and

several spills to it's lemony exterior later

I bought it at a garage sale for 10$.
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It has been sitting in my garage patiently awaiting it's NEW life.

So when we were instructed to bring a cushion from home

I KNEW JUST THE ONE !!!!
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I took every single piece of it apart (NOT my favorite part)

to make the pattern for the NEW cushion.

I found some fun fabric and I was ready to start.
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It took me 2 whole class periods to get my pattern done,

and 2 more to get it made....

BUT... 2 weeks, many curse words (most in my head),

countless seams ripped out, LEARNING how to put in a zipper,

and resewing many stitches later.......

I am FINISHED....

and I gotta say I'm pretty proud of myself.
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I have learned to do something I have always wanted to do.

I have also made some lovely new friends,

meet a precious woman who teaches our class,

learned how to follow directions (still NOT loving that),

learned how to make a pattern, and FOR SURE

learned the importance of a sharp seam ripper...
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May we NEVER stop trying the things that

we've always wanted to do....

You just might end up DARN proud of yourself.

Dirty DESK

My studio has been a TOTAL WRECK since Christmas.

I just kept bringing stuff up here and

NEVER stopped to put it up..

Hence... my DESKS were ALL

piled beyond any ability to work.

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I've gotten so many new book lately, and

have been about to go CRAZY wanting to try

some of the ideas in them...

BUT as you can see... NO PLACE TO WORK !
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YES... this is my sewing TABLE...

All I can say is "My Goodness"

I'm not sure how it got so TERRIBLE...
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It took me several hours and a whole lot

of figuring out where to put stuff...

BUT.... I got it done!!

My sewing table is CLEAN..

and I wasted no time getting started making "STUFF"
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I've had these 2 t-shirts in the

"cut up to do something else with"

pile for many months..
So.... if I totally screwed them up.... NO HARM done.

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I cut one of them up to use the TOP part,

and the other to use the BOTTOM part..

In hindsight I would have cut the TOP part a few inches lower,

but.... it was my first practice run...
so I just made due with what I'd already cut.
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The BOTTOM shirt was bigger,

so I sewed one big stitch along the top of it and

pulled the thread to make a few gathers so it would be evened up.
Then I sewed the 2 shirts together.
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I used pieces from the BOTTOM shirt to make

the gathering that would go along the collar.
First I cut the pieces into long strips.

Then I sewed a big stitch

right down the middle of the piece.
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I pulled the stitches fairly tight to make fluffy gathers.

I cut 2 strips so I would have 2 rows of gathers.
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Then I sewed the gathers to the collar of the T-shirt.
It's not exactly like the one in Anthropologie...
BUT.. it was pretty fun and WAY easy...
AND after all...... it was my first try.
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Here is my finished shirt
in my CLEAN STUDIO...
Tomorrow I'm making FLOWERS and
maybe even try another shirt...
Until then....
I might just wear this one tomorrow...

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May we never underestimate the CREATIVE power

of a CLEAN room...

Valentine's Victory

Valentine's Day is my ALL TIME FAVORITE holiday..

I'm sure it's because at heart I am just "in love" with LOVE.

I have always, and will always believe in FAIRYTALES..

Yes.. there have been times where my fairytale involved

a wicked witch or two, a couple of dragons,

and even a stint in a tall tower...

BUT.. I will never give up the idea that

each day....We Have the Opportunity to

Build Our Own Fairytale!

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Ever since my "big" kids were little

Mr. Cupid has been coming to our house each Feb. 14th.

He brings presents just like Santa but...

more importantly... he leaves a house full of LOVE dust

and a trail of hearts to Last You A WHOLE Year.
So when I got home from Church yesterday...

I got all the presents out on the bed,

and our adventure was underway!

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I remember so well when Brent was in the 5th grade,

his teacher asked me if I could please explain to him

that I was really Mr. Cupid because he was telling his entire class

all about him, and they were all in an uproar wondering why

he never came to their houses. One little girl even cried

and asked to go to the office and call her Mother.

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To tell you the truth..

I don't even remember what I said to him..

But I do know this.. last year he called me from College

to see if Mr. Cupid still comes,

or if it's only until you get out of High school..

Mr. Cupid is such a tradition now that I couldn't wait

for Brady to have his 1st real experience..

He and Brook went upstairs to wait for Mr. Cupid to fly by.

"He is so quick that you don't even realize he's been there,

until after he leaves."
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As soon as they hear the door shut, then they know he's gone.

They came down the stairs and the adventure was on.

Mr. Cupid always leaves a TREASURE HUNT with clues

where to find the gifts he's brought for them.
Brook had to read the clues (since Brady is only 2)
and try to figure out where to find the LOVE..
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Brady wasn't quite sure what Brook was doing,

but he was quick on her heels so he didn't miss out

on anything GOOD..
He did however, get sidetracked several times picking up

the hearts (LOVE dust) on the floor

and Brook would have get him back in the game.

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At each new LOVE gift there is a new clue to follow

so they'll know where to look for the next prize..
Brady continued to forget about the NEXT piece of LOVE.

He was so excited about playing with the LOVE he had. haha

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Brook however, is a 16 year Veteran at this game,

and she kept "Baby Dot" on the Hunt for Cupid Dust.

Each year I would try to do something special with the clues.

One year when Brent was in Spanish I wrote some of the

key clue words in Spanish to make the game more interesting.

This year I made the clues really hard since I knew

my MISS Clever was the only one who could read.

Some of their LOVE was even hiding in the refrigerator..

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She even gave me "that face" a few times

as she tried to figure out where to LOOK !
She is my "logical" child... and I knew she'd get even the hard ones

when she thought about the clues for a second..

I must say she has always been the best "seeker" of them all..
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Part of their adventures even took them into

"the garage"... That my friends is scary in its self.

One may get sucked into that place and never be seen again.
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Our day's adventure ended with SMILING faces

and hearts filled with laughter and LOVE..

And in my book... Not much else matters after that.
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We all had a wonderful Valentine's Day together.

Hand colored cards, perfectly fixed coffee, a new sewing machine, a date to the movies, and a Family full of LOVE.. What more could a girl ask for in a FAIRYTALE.

May we never stop believing in Fairytales.

Because they just might come true!

Snowed IN

I am NOT a fan of cold weather.

If it was up to me I'd live somewhere that never got below 80.

I'm always cold... even most days of the summer.

I've had blood work done a zillion times, and nothing ever shows up.

So... unless they later find out I am a reptile..

I'll just wrap up and wait for SUMMER..

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Since this was Brady's first real adventure with the SNOW..
I decided I'd wrap up & bare this weather

So that I could WATCH my "Baby Dot" play in the snow.

All I can say is.... IT WAS WORTH IT !!!!
He had the best time helping his daddy make

HIS FIRST SNOWMAN !!!

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The head fell off a couple of times

(and Brad had to rebuild it)

as Brady shoved in the carrot...

BUT the laughs I got out of that

made me forget about the cold
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In this part of Texas we don't get much snow.

Many years we get NONE ...

SO.. As with all things in life...

We should seize the moment

(and have your camera near by to catch it)
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I'm sure that as tomorrow gets closer

our snow will be gone..

But I know a little fellow that had

a whopping good time with a friendly SNOWMAN...

even if he only came to visit for a day.
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May we always take advantage of our "moments"..

Because when they're gone ... it is FOREVER !