we're losing it around here

a couple of weeks ago it happened.  

whitney finally lost her first tooth.

she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment.

her toothless grin in all its gloriousness.

it's perfect

then over the next couple of days max and nikki each lost a tooth,

and all three of them have another loose tooth.

we've had a dry spell of falling-out teeth,

now it's like a flood.

we're going to bankrupt our tooth fairy.

harsh accusations

at cost plus today, after checking out and preparing myself for the grand ol' haul-em-out-of-the-store act,

i cheerfully encouraged my girls out of the shopping cart with a 

"let's go, boogers!"

to which my little devan replied, after a very tween-ish jaw drop, gasp and head snap,

"mom!  why would you call us FOOD?  it's because you don't love us anymore and want to eat us!"

first of all, i consider "boogers" to be a term of endearment.

period.

second of all, the fact that my daughter classifies boogers as belonging to some sort of food group is just wrong and disgusting.

i guess we know how she spends her spare time.

and how in the world did the situation escalate from a playful nudge out of the store to me being a bad mother who cares so little for her children that she would rather eat them (if i were in the habit of eating boogers) than take care of them?

such drama.

and then after a cute old man carried on a sweet "conversation" with gwen, for his own entertainment, whitney looked at me with a big question mark.

"mom, what village is he from?"

i thought that was really funny, for some reason.

craigslist and cookie dough

my garage is full of things that should have been sold on craigslist months ago.  while i tell my neighbor how "easy it is" to sell stuff on the sight, i secretly need to bite the bullet myself and create listings for i don't know how many things in total.  enough that my garage would feel instantly less congested, and my wallet more so, after making these sure-fire sales.

hmmmmm.

maybe i could pay my sister-in-law to list everything for me.  she's good at that kind of stuff.

and when i say "pay"  maybe that could be in the form of under-salted cookies, since, because it's fund-raising season, i now find myself with two giant tubs of dough that i was guilted into buying (by my husband, not my neighborhood kids) exactly two days after i threw last year's tub away because it produced very lardy, under-salted cookies.

  

if i know anything, i know how cookies should taste.

and their primary flavor should not be under-salted lard.

i'd much rather a salted lard taste.

at least i might imagine them to be chunks of bacon instead of a poor excuse for chocolate chunk peanut butter.

come on!

when you tell my i'm about to eat peanut butter and chocolate in combination i get excited.

so, obviously, when i threw the 3/4-full tub  in the trash, i had very good cause.

maybe the oatmeal raisin and cranberry shortbread versions will be more acceptable.  i doubt it.

tubs of cookie dough are for people who don't like to bake cookies,

not for people whose life mission it is to find the ultimate best version of each of the major cookie groups.

you've got food groups, i've got cookie groups.

and since i've only checked off one of my cookie groups as having found the ultimate best, and since i'm not getting any younger,

clearly i don't have time, or freezer space, to waste on this mass produced frozen crap.

oh well, i'll just count it as my good turn for the day,

even though every time i see them in my freezer, wasting precious space, i'll be reminded that $15 (times two tubs)  could have gotten me something much more satisfying.

why couldn't they have been selling wrapping paper? 

does that still count as a good deed, though?

i didn't think so.

but you know what would count?

if my sister-in-law sold all the crap in my garage for me.

i wouldn't even make her eat the cookies. 

a little change-up and an adventure in thrifting : gilded mirror

so i have this bench.  it's fine. nothing special,

but it's the perfect size for this weird nook by the stairs, and it's really well constructed.

and comfortable.

but it's all too much ho-hum,

if you ask me.

plus, a solid, light velvet shows all those 

curiously-placed sings of children,

like boogers and drool and snot and ear wax and jellied-fingers,

that a print hides so much better.

plus, it's a lot more boring.

and then there's this mirror.

scored at the g-dub.

i tried to talk them down, but they wouldn't budge on this one.

i think they could see it in my eyes, how i was going to buy it either way.

still, it's doesn't hurt to ask.  

only gives you more practice for when something really 

haggle-worthy comes along. 

but it was too much shimmer what with the gaudy gilded frame and the shiny mirror.  

i wanted to tone it down, and i didn't need another mirror.

so i turned it into a chalkboard.

why do i need a chalkboard?

i don't.  i just needed that frame on center stage, but not the mirror.

i brushed on about 4 coats of magnetic paint (right on top of the mirror.  not really the best, but i was too impatient to cut a piece of wood) and then a couple coats of chalkboard paint.

i wanted a really textured finish, so i used a brush, but use a roller if you want a smooth one.

exactly two seconds after i hung the mirror chalkboard,

a little devil thought it'd be great fun to scratch off the paint.

who was that?

i'll let you guess.

it's an easy one.

SHA-ZAM!!!

how you like me now?!

that's much, MUCH better, if i do say so myself.

i unscrewed the seat and did a quick re-cover.

i didn't remove the velvet, just stapled the ikat right over it.

that way it'll be easy to change when i get tired of it again.

and i will some day, i'm sure.

but right now i love it.

Pilling Summer Fun 2011

wade made this video and insisted that i put it on the blog.

so, here's our summer wrap-up.

if santa wanted to know...

this is what i'd put on my list this year.

this lovely trio of stacked gold rings.

size 7, thank you.

i really do love nars' blushes.  

and this sampler looks to be the bomb!

this is probably good for getting in the christmas mood...

but santa would have to make an early delivery on this one.

these look perfect for the snow.

oh yes, i did just put this all-clad set on the list.  

it's just time for a grown-up set.

what?  you don't think it'll fit in my stocking?

since we're throwing out suggestions that won't quite squeeze into my stocking, how about this here beauty? 

not sure which fabric, santa.  i'll have to get back to you on that.

also, our thanksgiving was superb.  we hosted this year and my mother-in-law and i spent the whole day cooking and chatting.  i love cooking with people i really like.  it's just really fun to me.

i tried my hand at dying my table linens.  i was going for more of a deep navy, but i really liked the purpley-blue i ended up with.

also, i got to use my thrifted goblets and share the spoils of my glorious ebay victory - my flatware.

my poor family.  they were forced to celebrate the perfect shape of each spoon bowl, and fork tine all weekend long.

i suspect they were actually making a bit of fun of me.

look, i get excited about these things.

oh, and the food was awesome.  

and relaxing all weekend long with some of my favorite people...

good stuff. 

another hi-light of the weekend: 

wade's brother, brad, got a bunch of old pictures off a dinosaur of a computer that's been sitting in my closet for six years, AND he hooked up my vcr so my kids could watch our old-school vhs tapes.  we have some good ones.

it took him about 5 minutes to do what i've been "trying" to do for six months.  thanks brad!

i do feel very blessed.

let's talk kitchens...

because i think about them a lot.

let's just dream up the perfect kitchen.

actually, let's just dream about kitchen windows.

i get specific on my wish lists.

 face it.  unless you're weird, you don't like doing dishes. that's why you need a great view from the kitchen sink.  standing at the stove without a window isn't a problem.  the entertainment is in the pan, but dishes = drudgery, so i need me some windows while i scrub.

preferably a whole wall of them.

without any cabinets at all.

just straight up glass.  

atlanta homes

they could have left that little cabinet out and gone for one more window.  but it's still nice.

birmingham home and garden

this is kind of a cool idea.  takes the open shelving to a whole new level.  and that mutha' of a slab of marble countertop is amazaballz.

and i really love the parson style island.

and the windows.

?

i prefer the windows to come closer to the counter, but this is still really pleasant, and those walls are $TUNNING.

look at all that marble!

plus, i've always been a fan of stairs coming down to the kitchen.

like in the family sitcoms from back in the day. 

frank randolph

i love the windows wrapping around the corner here.

actually the whole package is pretty sweet.  maybe a little more counter to the left of the stove.

am i picky?

katie ridder

yes!

hello bridge faucet.  i love you.

lonny

bijou home

steel cased window vs. wood cased windows.

i can't decide who wins.

it's an ongoing battle for me.

atlanta homes

greige design

hello again, bridge faucet.  you're my friend.

elizabeth dinkel

southern accents

jill sharp

southern accents

the windows at the end of the room make up for there being just one at the sink.

susan marinello

this is kitchen perfection to me (except there needs to be some counter  space on either side of the stove.  that's a major oversight) but i guess i'd live with it if someone gave it to me for free :)

pinterest

velvet and linen

john howard

?

tobi fairly

take those little cabinets down.  you don't really need them anyway.  you've got a few others.

maybe we'll do this again.  i love dreaming about kitchens.

next time : kitchen hoods?

what's your dream kitchen?

election day baby

this little lady is now officially six years old.  for some reason this is the strangest and most unbelievable birthday yet.  maybe it's because some of her antics are more fitting for a four year old rather than a six year old (like the nice piece of "art work" she scribbled onto the wall the other day.  excuse me!  not okay)     

 

maybe it's that i have the hardest time figuring her out and knowing how to deal with her... intricacies? it's really true, though, that the same things you find irritating and infuriating and difficult about someone are often the same things that draw and endear you to them.  that's how it is with whitney.  she is one. BIG. adventure.  and that's what's so great, and sometimes exhausting,  about her.  but i'll take it.  every single bit of it because whitney is truly an amazing, and exceptional little person. 

she is as take charge and a go-get-what-you-want kind of girl as they come.  that's the nice way of saying that's she's bossy.  but in her defense, it's probably because she gets bossed around by me so much.  

but in my defense...have you met whitney?

she definitely has her element.  can you guess what that is?  she's never happier than when she's outside, in the water, or chasing some poor critter up a tree or down a hole.

without her scrapes and bruises she would almost be unrecognizable.

this morning whitney descended in all her birthday majesty.  nikki made a banner for her room and waited patiently outside her bedroom door until she woke up and then helped her dress in her royal robes.  it was really really sweet.

and by some birthday/election day miracle, i was able to braid whitney's hair this morning.  

i'm bad at hair.

but not this morning.

this morning i ROCKED!

another birthday/election day miracle : whitney was permitted to put sprinkles on her sandwich for lunch.

i love this little girl. a lot.

happy birthday, my little animal.

now go out and vote.