Controlled Flexibility - The New Black

 

Reality of the Week:

 

I am the first to admit I am NOT a spontaneous person when it comes to envisioning things or planning things and a whole bunch of other things....I tend to be more focused on achieving the vision of how I want things to look or how I think they should turn out.....Remember this vintage frame I got in Arizona during my January visit?  I envisioned it with rose trim and painted all white with a touch of shabby distressing.....ordered the trim and got all the paint....

 However after it's sanding I thought it looked so good that it did not need another thing!  Reality had exceed the vision....what a nice surprise!

 I must remember that more and be more open and flexible.....I love the way it looks in the Guest Room.....they boys are puzzled why I have empty frames hanging....little do they know what my plans are.....

 Steve actually went thrifting with me this week....he really had no choice, we stopped after his Dr. appointment to donate some things :)  For under $5.00 I got this adorable hand painted birdhouse and vintage bowling bag with ball included - more on the bag later....

 I think the little bird house looks so cute by the front entryway!

 The boys were over this week....full of energy!  We played Olympics...Brody was the Captain of the team and in charge of flag ceremony which we had after every event - go USA!  Since there was no snow in San Diego we played Soccer (Dylan won) and then LaCross ( I picked up some incredible La Crosse sticks at a recent thrifting) (Dylan won) and then tetherball, which I rocked at and won!  Dylan, ever the competitor said I won because I was taller....he's right too!

I was exhausted after  Brody's closing ceremonies in which we sang, saluted, marched behind the flag and cheered for USA.  Out of energy, I distracted them to the garden to prep it for spring planting!  Nothing like digging in dirt and watering to preoccupy them so GiGi can catch her breath!

 Brody disappeared for a minute and when I came in to check on him he decided to build a bob sled on my stairs and was coming down head first....that boy!

 Then we turned on 'Tree House Masters'....we all love that show.  Brody sat at his little desk and drew out big plans for our tree house  he just knows Gramps will build him....complete with rooms for Rocky and Callie!

 The next morning Dylan went turbo loom and made the longest loom to date.  He really enjoys that and it is so good for him.  Taller than me GiGi!

 Brody worked on the new banner for his baseball team ' The Storm'!

 Mommy came to pick them up and did her design magic...we need to finish up this week!

Another lesson in being open to other visions and ideas and being delightfully surprised!

A Fun Week of Love....

My Inspiration for the Week:

 

 

I hope I am an encourager....I try to be.  One of my resolves this year is to focus on the best of the situation and not the worst....easy?...no, my nature is to react to what's negative and usually do that emotionally....I am learning when I change my perspective to find the best in all things I see the good in life most of the time outweighs the bad and the situation is not the end all, it is only a snapshot of the unfolding of the big picture.  

 

 I have always had a love/hate relationship with my dining room table.....I love the way it matched the French doors and the French door cabinet....but hated the way the chairs sunk a bit when you sit down; and it used to have 6 chairs; I gave 2 away and had the glass cut down and still was not happy with it.....

 Then a lovely neighbor of Kristen's had an Estate Sale and she had this incredible vintage French Country table (with leaves that pulled out from the ends) great details and pedestal base....(love)

 And these vintage Windsor-esque chairs that went with the original set....it belonged to her husbands Grandmother....I had to bring it home!

 With our weather being in the high 80's it was a great project for this week....Steve helped me with the sanding and I painted the bottom side first.  I wanted to go with a dry brush technique....put the wood was so old it just didn't perform the way I wanted to....so I decided on full paint and partial distress....

The chairs were the most time consuming......they soaked up the paint and the rungs were difficult to paint without runs or streaks.....it was one of those projects that when you started painting the chair you had to stay with the whole chair, front and back....I had forgotten that chairs were so challenging.....



 It took every single drop of paint I bought and I finished it in less than 2 days....the paint almost dried after I brushed it because it has been so hot and dry. 

 I really love the way it looks in the dining room and works with the Beach Cottage feel of the Dining Room/Living Room Combo. 

 This room is all white and light and Beach/French Country.....

 The family room is all warm fall colors and Mission Style Furniture....you would never know this is the same house.....certainly reflects my polar opposite moods. 

I was lucky enough to have the boys on Wednesday afternoon!  We played outside, played games and then did some Valentine crafts for Mommy.....

 Painting and cutting and gluing....

 Every heart needs a happy face!

 Valentine Hugs for Mommy!

 On Valentines Day I went to a little meeting at Kristen's....loved how her house looked for the day....so festive!

 My Valentine gave me these beautiful white roses....I love white roses on my green granite countertop....

 And the boys came for the night....I had these warm fuzzy valentine horses out for them with M&M's attached....

 Brody loved his.....

 My little Dylan is growing up and not so into having his picture taken with a stuffed animal ;)

 And my little nature boy is fascinated by the humming birds in the fountain in the mornings....he quietly gets up close and personal.....they checked each other out for quite awhile...

 I was craving some Thrifting and Inspiration....was able to get out to a few fun places....

 It was a great week for my vintage block collection....my apple basket is almost full of them...is this for me and the boys?.....don't answer that please!

 And a major score....this vintage sleepy eye Valentine Candy Box doll in mint condition!....what a buy....I could easily sell it for 5x what I paid for it....well maybe in a few years....

It was a fun love week!

Patience is a Virtue....just not my virtue....

My Inspiration for this week:

 

Life doesn't always go the way you want or plan that it will go. It moves at its own pace, which is usually faster or slower than you would like it to. It moves in its own direction. That's life! You can try to make life move, or you can move in the flow of life.

 

 

Some things in life come right on schedule.....I like that.  I am really into planning and structure, organization and resolve.....I am constantly trying to understand and appreciate things that are not true to that form.....I am a work in progress.....There are so so so many things in my life that seem to be dragging on forever with no (or painfully slow) resolve....I just want to get in there and make things happen.....my control freak tendencies are being put to the test!

 

February....the month of love and Valentines Day is ALWAYS on the 14th!

 

It was fun decorating with the happy hearts.....

 

 Making and delivering some special love treats.....

 Loving on my furry Valentine....

 Enjoying my Vintage Valentines and little collectibles I have had thru the years.....

 And sometimes taking a lump of left over project fabrics not knowing what it will be....

 Pushing my limited sewing skills and lack of making anything straight.....I think my eyes are crooked

 Slowing down and taking a little extra time to piece together the wrong way Chevrons....

 Can even surprise the non visionary me.....

 Another thing I can ALWAYS count on is my precious boys and our fun playtime.....outside...

 ...or inside.....separate....

 ...or together......

 ....and talk about waiting forever for some things....we have had these orchids for 5 years and this is the first year they have bloomed......

The flow of life may be too slow for me sometimes.... but it is teaching me as well

xoxoxoxo  peeps

Super Short Post for Super Bowl Sunday......

My inspiration quote of the week, and quite fitting:

 

When you get the urge to stay home, be alone, pull back, or shut down, it is probably your spirit urging you to take a rest. Do not ignore it! Honor yourself by taking some time out. Take a day away. There may be something very important going on within you that you need to know about. You must get quiet in order to hear it.

 

 

It truly has been a quiet week....but a quiet week does not mean a boring or dull week....I needed to replenish my stock of 'Pocket of Sunshine's' that I give to charities, so made a few of these....

 

 They are easy and fun and no brainers....just go to the Dollar Store, load up on yellow fun things, put them in a zip lock with some yellow shred, tape it closed with yellow wasabi tape and good to go to cheer up someone that needs it.....

 A fun afternoon with the boys.....they have been doing great at school lately so we celebrated with Golden Spoon yogurt.....with gummy bears of course!

 Then a stop at the Dollar store for those Sunshine supplies and they asked for and got these fun pirate swords.....except GiGi got in trouble when mommy and daddy picked them up because they are not allowed to have swords at home....bad GiGi....but they can play with them at my house!

 Friday night we decided to eat al fresco, meaning cooking hot dogs over our fire pit.....we are classy like that!

 I met a friend for Dim Sum to catch up and talk...however, to our surprise it was Chinese New Year and the drums were banging....the cymbals were cymballing and the Dragons were dancing.....

 So much for talking and getting caught up....hard to talk with one of these staring you down.....

 And then there is this.....didn't we just do taxes?.....Ugh, no wonder I want to stay home and hibernate...could that something important mean paying up with Uncle Sam.....is it quiet because I have to write them another huge check this year?????

So how about those Seahawks?