A Dream House, Decorating & Garage Sales

It has been a couple days since we got home from the beach and I must say that I am already missing it. I love the fact that we could go to the beach whenever we wanted to, didn't have a care in the world and well there is nothing better then listening to the waves crash up against the shore. I had noticed that since the last time we had been there which was about 5 years ago that they built this beautiful beach house right on the oceanfront. It was huge and I must say that I could totally be happy in it. Oh, to sit here and think about all the prim pretties that you could decorate each room with is just so exciting to think about. Yep, I think I could be happy in that HUGE beach house. What about you?

We decided to stay in a condo that wasn't on the oceanfront due to the balconies. I didn't want to have to worry about Cameron and the balcony so we stayed back in the resort a little bit. Well, let me just tell you that the people that owned the condo had NO IDEA how to decorate. I walked in and noticed beautiful hardwood floors throughout the condo. I almost killed myself on them because they had them cleaned so perfectly, but they were so slippery. I was certain that this condo was going to be BEAUTIFUL. Well, I then noticed this NOT SO LOVELY hanging over the entertainment center. I was sitting on the couch trying my best to figure out WHAT IN THE WORLD these people were thinking when they hung this lovely decor up on the wall. That is when I figured out that they weren't thinking (lol). We like elephants and we love going to the zoo, but seriously this thing was hideous!! Oh and look at those oh so lovely candle holders!! Uh yeah, the owners definitely needed a lesson or two on how to decorate a "beach side condo".
Oh yes, I think they need to sell that bad boy in a garage sale. Speaking of garage sales - we are planning on having one soon. I plan on going through all of my plastic totes and seeing what prim cuties I can sell so if you are interested then please keep an eye out on my selling blog. I will be posting items out there at real good prices and who knows....... you might just find something you are looking for. Stay Tuned and keep an eye out on Londonberry Primitives for some items that might just catch your eye!!

A vacation to ALWAYS remember

We are back from the beach and had a WONDERFUL time!! I never thought that I would have an opportunity to take my child to the beach because quite frankly, I never thought I would be a Mom. After years of struggling with infertility and over coming it, we finally conceived Cameron through IVF. Well, my dream FINALLY came true this past weekend. We took Cameron to Myrtle Beach for a weeks vacation and had a blast! He loved the ocean although he scrapped up his knee the first night. I think that if he wouldn't have scrapped it up the first night then he would have enjoyed the ocean a bit more, but that kinda kept him out of the ocean for a couple days. After Dr. Mommy took care of his knee and doctored it up, he returned to the water full speed ahead. He had so much fun!! He wasn't afraid of running into the ocean at all, but he wasn't real fond of the water heading back out and then the sand covering his feet. I just don't think he liked the feel of it, but he eventually got use to it. Here he is experiencing the ocean water coming over his feet for the very 1st time. As you can see with that smile....... he LOVED it!

He was so anxious to hit the beach every morning and so were we. We just had so much fun!
TADA - We are FINALLY here!!

Resting on a rock outside of Cagney's. A restaurant that we had dinner at one night.

The prime rib was DELICIOUS!!
A picture taken at Cagney's. Gotta love Cameron's smile!!

One of the many pictures that were taken.

Nothing better then a bond between a son and his Mommy!

He ran constantly. He never would give up!!

He didn't want to miss a single thing

He wanted to feed the ducks and especially loved the white duck.

We had so much fun. Definitely a GREAT memory!

My 2 favorite boys!

Dancing as the sun set for the evening!

Looking for the perfect seashell and LOOK - we found one!

A great family picture taken by a passerby

Gotta love Cameron's eyes!!

Playing with some twigs on the beach

Gotta love seeing the sand rolling down his arms

He loved squeezing the wet sand and indeed was a mess afterwards!

An evening wagon ride on the beach

Cameron was washing off his hands here after playing in the sand and WHOOSH, a wave came and bumped him on the rear and he fell down. I was lucky to have been there to get his expression after falling for the first time!

This was a LARGE sandcastle built by someone else and as the high tide was coming up, Cameron decided he wanted to play in the deep hole. It was pretty neat and he really enjoyed it!

Hope you all enjoyed some of the many pictures I took. It was hard trying to decide what pictures to post out of the 703 pictures that I took. Yep, I guess you could say that I was a little camera happy or maybe it was CAMERON happy!!

~ VACATION BREAK ~

Hi Ladies. Well, I thought I would give you a sneak peek at where we are staying. This is just a small area of the resort, but that is the beach that we will be playing on, soaking up the sun on, and catching some much needed relaxation. I am so excited to say the least, but wanted to stop by and say "Good-Bye" for now and that I will see you all in about a week. Can't wait to share pictures when I get back!!! Keep crafting and TS shopping because I wanna see all the goodies when I get back. I might not comment on everything, but I will try my best. Oh - did you all hear that I won another giveaway!?! Yep, I was so excited to see that this morning. I won Beth's 100th Giveaway from Olde Thyme Marketplace - I can hardly wait to get home and see what came in the mail for me. Janene already tried to get her hands on it. She said that since I was going on vacation that she would take my goodies from me........NOT!! Nice try Missy : )

Well, you all take care. I will talk to you all in about a week. Time to head south!! Myrtle Beach here we come........

More Decorating Before Vacation

It has actually been a great day today. My hubby is out umpiring girls softball which he loves to do and I have been taking care of Cameron, cleaning and decorating. Yep, I was finally able to put my black shelf up that I re-finished after buying it at a local thrift store for $5.33 - I was thrilled when I went on a Tuesday and it was half off Tuesday (WOOHOO). Gotta love great finds and great deals!! It was hard trying to find smaller items to decorate the shelf, but after going through so many totes....... I was finally able to complete the look I was wanting. My gameboard is from my good pal Cindy @ Cynthia Lee Designs, my little bear (a Dru Ann McCarty original) is the same bear that I had out on my Amish made cupboard, but I thought he would look cute out there in the entry way. I won the bowl in a giveaway from Anne's blog @ Season's of the Past and my Believe candle is an item that I received from Carrie @ UnMatched Socks. The flag is an item that I had in a tote, along with my little saltbox house that I purchased at Craft 2000 a little while back and the black basket is from Carrie's giveaway as well. Lots of cute goodies - huh? I thought the sweet annie looked great hanging from one of the pegs. So, do you all think it looks ok?

So, do you all notice anything about this picture below?
Here is where I ended up putting my little prim pillow from Cindy. Don't you love the little sheep on it with the crow on his head? So prim and I too like Cindy..... love sheep!

Ok, back to this picture...... so do you recognize anything about this picture? Look closely! Well, if you guessed that my thermostat cover is missing from the previous post then you are correct. Yep, it didn't even last a day. My husband knocked it off the wall yesterday morning as he was rushing through the house and NOT being careful. Uh yeah, I have told him many a times to slow down and BE MORE CAREFUL, but I am beginning to think that it just isn't in him to be careful. Yep, it broke and I am sure it is fixable, but I am also POSITIVE that he would probably knock it off again sometime VERY soon if I put it back up. So, it is back in one of my prim totes for right now. So, after the start to the bad, not so good day yesterday, I was ready to clean and decorate after he left this morning. We are all packed and ready to go for the beach and I am quite excited. I am a firm believer that you can sometimes live too close to in-laws and after this week....... I am ready for a break! Myrtle Beach can't come fast enough!!!! Anyway, I decided to hang this little saying that my Mom gave to me right above the thermostat. I am praying that good ole hubby doesn't knock that off the wall too. Do you all have clumsy husband's or am I just the lucky one? Anyway, I thought the little saying looked cute there. My Mom had her friend make it and she especially had Clara Mae put on the bottom. That was her Mom's name. I received my middle name from my Grandma. Ah Ha, something new that you didn't know about me - huh? I guess you all know my middle name now. Yep, no more secrets (lol).

Some of my lilies are finally in bloom out my garage. I don't think I have shared this with all of you before, but here is the side of our garage. My FIL made the stars for me, I purchased the little window from an Antique Mall years ago, added a few birdhouses o my church pew and nailed my cute little black crow to the back of it. Had my hubby put my black cat in the flower bed and then I also added my watering can. I still have yet to plant flowers in the window box, but perhaps I will get around to that soon. Anyway, I thought I would share this picture with you today. Alot of you gals are aching to see my flower beds, but they are truly a mess right now. I still have not been able to get out and mulch my beds, but hopefully I can soon after our vacation. I have all sorts of flowers in bloom right now....... my shasta daisies are growing like crazy weeds, my hollyhocks are blooming and beautiful, my plumbago, my gay feathers, my cone flowers and well the list goes on. I have slowly been adding pics to my Ohio Flowers website so if you are interested then be sure to check it out frequently for updated pics!!

Tweaking, Thinking & Thoughts

Do you all remember this tall ladder? Well, I had my FIL cut off the bottom rung so I could just get it into my house and I was happy that I did that because quite frankly...... it was just WAY to tall to fit into my family room. Anyway, I knew that I wanted to display my old quilts that were my great grandma's and I thought that they looked great on here. The only thing about this picture is that I feel like something is missing. It needs something, but I am just not sure what. I have a whole bunch of "S" hooks so I can always put an "S" hook on the top rung and perhaps hang a basket or something from it, but I just wasn't sure and wanted your opinion. So, what do you all think? Do you think the quilts look ok? Can you tell that there are 3 different quilts by the way that I have them hanging or should I change it? Hmmm, I just can't think anymore!!

Here is my lovely bread box that I bought at the Goodwill Store for $2.99. I re-finished it to give it a more prim look and I think it looks great. I took all my hubby's stuff that he just throws around every where and stuck it in there. That way we can hide it all instead of having it all out in the open. I also put a few things on top to add a little color. The "Simplify" sign is an item that I won in a giveaway. Don't you love how it looks on top of my hide-all box?
TA-DA - See, look at all his stuff that he just had laying around. Well, it is all hiding away nicely in this cute little prim bread box. Yep, I think that is quite a great idea. Now you all better run out and find on yourselves because I am CERTAIN that not a single man puts things away where they are SUPPOSE to go. Do they? If you have a man like that then I gotta meet him and shake his hand for a job well done (lol).
Do you all remember this beauty? Well, it is one of my hide-n-seek spots. I had to cut something off the back in order to use it, but after some great thinking....... I was able to use it. I loved it and knew I wanted to use it, but I just had to do a little thinking and become more familiar with the saw. Do you all have a guess as to what is behind this little beauty?
Well, if you guessed that my thermostat was behind it then you are CORRECT!! Ding Ding Ding..... you win a prize : ) Just kidding!! You don't win a prize, but you can have bragging rights..... does that work for you? It looks like it is on the wall crooked, but trust me - it isn't. The thing that was causing me problems is that they had a board on the left side of the back of the box. Not the side, but the back. Not sure why or what it was used for because you can still see through the one side and actually see the thermostat so I cut that board off and it allowed me to use it. It is still pretty close to the side of the wall, but at least it isn't hanging over the edge. You wonder why the maker of this box didn't enclose the other side of it. Does a thermostat really need room to breath? Just another thing to think about. Do you have any thoughts about that ladies?
Well, I was able to make a paper towel holder out of something I already had. Do you remember that old box that I bought at the antique mall a long while back that I put my old jars in that had the cute prim labels? Well, I decided to hide my paper towels in that box. I drilled holes on the side of the box and used the ladder rung that my FIL cut off from the ladder that I have my quilts on. I sanded the run a little bit to make it more smooth, slipped it into the holes along with the paper towels and VOILA....... here is my paper towel holder. I also put my salt and pepper shakers in the box as well since the red holder doesn't quite match the red on my walls. Don't you love how it turned out? The neat thing is that I can also close up that door and hide the paper towels. Gotta love hide-n-seek spots!!
Well, only 3 more days til we leave for the beach. I have been doing laundry, cleaning and switching things around in the kitchen and getting ready for us to leave. Granted we don't leave til Sunday, but we are excited - can't ya tell? I just want to make sure I don't have to rush around to do things. I am one of those gals that hates to rush around. I like to take my time and hopefully if I do that then I won't forget anything!

BLACK - A Prim Gal's Favorite Color!

I took advantage of nap time today that is for sure. My DH was home so while the kids were down for naps he listened for them and I snuck out to the garage to do some painting, sanding and staining. I was able to get things finished up tonight and it feels great that I was able to do so. If you remember on my previous post...... I had that breadbox/hide-all box that I bought at the Goodwill store for $2.99. Well, I painted it black and then gave it a sanding job to make it look more prim. Here is what it looks like now. So, what do you think? It ended up looking pretty good - don't ya think?

Here is the inside of it. Big enough for my DH's cell phone, wallet, watch, sunglasses, car keys and whatever else he digs out of his pockets. Don't ya think? That should hopefully do the trick with hiding all his stuff that I am tired of seeing - right? I am just hoping it takes the wear and tear off my good Amish built cupboard.
I guess I was in the mood for some black today because I ended up painting this little shelf the same color as everything else........ BLACK! I thought that it would look best black especially since I have an old spice rack turned bowl rack on the other side of the door that is black too. Hopefully I like it when I get it hung up (lol). I will post pics of everything once it is up and decorated. Stay Tuned!!
Do you all remember this little peg rack that I bought months and months ago? Well, I painted it and never put stain on it, but found it today in under a whole bunch of other TS goodies that I bought awhile back. So, after I got it out, dusted it off then I decided to apply my stain. Here is what it looks like now and I will soon be decorating it as well.
Here is where I spent most of the afternoon and evening. Nothing fancy and just a cheap old way of setting up a make-do craft area, but it works for my needs. I have my grandpa's old saw horses in the garage and an old piece of plywood set across to give me a craft table. Definitely not as fancy as my dear friend Cindy's, but it will do for now. I am going to try my hand at making a paper towel holder tomorrow. I currently have my paper towels on my countertop on a black wrought iron holder, but I kinda wanted to hang them up so wish my luck in creating something myself. Hmmm, could be quite interesting without a tutorial from someone (lol). I guess I just have to try to be creative and if it doesn't work then I just chuck it up to me needing a tutorial from someone creative. I will keep you posted on my paper towel holder.
Well, I better run for now and see if I am able to hang anything and start decorating or perhaps I will just wait til tomorrow. Let's see how much energy I have which I am sure isn't much at 9:30 at night. Hope you all are having a wonderful week!!

Where have I been?

With vacation fast approaching...... I have been one busy gal. We finally got our whole fence painted which was a chore. I told DH that I wanted it all painted before we left for Myrtle Beach so I definitely had to stay on top of him to get it done. Ok, I wasn't really on top of him, but you all know what I mean - right? My DH and I are totally different from one another. Once I start a project, I normally tackle it like crazy until it is finished, but my DH likes to do some today, maybe a little tomorrow, some next week and then a month later it is completed. Oh, it drives me crazy when he does that, but I knew I wasn't about to do it when I just got done finishing the kitchen. I also wanted to tell you all that once we get back from the beach....... I am going to put down new kitchen countertops. I have been looking and looking for the perfect countertop to match, but I have decided to go with wood countertops. I prepare all my stuff on a cutting board so that won't be anything I have to worry about and after a stain put over them to match my knobs on my cabinet doors and a coat of lacquer then I think they should look perfectly prim. What do you all think? My in-laws just made some wood countertops themselves and it turned out quite nice plus I saw it done at one of my favorite prim stores (North Shore Primitives). I can't wait to get them finished, a new sink put in and my new faucet. Yep, I am pretty excited to get it all completed.

So, with packing and cleaning the house, I have been one busy gal. I don't know about all of your, but when I leave for a trip, I like to have my home nice and clean so I don't have to clean when I get home. I also wanted to get a few other projects done before I left for the beach. Have I ever shared with you all the picture of my Garden Guy? Well, here he is and I am showing it for a dear bloggy friend (Kathy B.) that does not have a blog, but visits frequently. She is also a dear friend of Linda's from Behind my Red Door. She too has a Garden Guy and I promised that I would share a picture on my blog for her. So, there you have it Kathy. I normally have birdseed in his little box, but there are also times that I line the box with coffee filters and plant some flowers too. They both look great! Speaking of coffee filters....... have you ever used them for your flower pots? I do every single year and they are GREAT!! It is a wonderful way to line the bottom of a pot, still allow water to escape, but it also helps keep all the dirt in your flower pot - right where it belongs. Neat idea - huh?
Do you all remember this bread box? Well, I bought it at the Goodwill Store when I went out with Cindy from Cynthia Lee Designs. I bought it for $2.99 which I thought was a great deal. It was in great shape, but it didn't quite match my decor so I am in the process of painting it black. The process is slow because of the type of wood, but hopefully it will look ok when I am done with it. I am going to use it for a "HIDE ALL" for my husband. Uh yeah, I am hoping that when he comes home from being out that he will throw his keys, wallet, cell phone, watch, sunglasses and whatever else he has in there instead of on my good Amish Made cupboard that is in my kitchen. He can sometimes get a little careless, throw stuff on there and scratch up the top of my cupboard (URGHHH). Sometimes he just doesn't think! So, stay tuned for the make-over on the bread box/hide-all box.
Oh - I am sure you all remember this beauty - right? What is there not to remember?!? It is primtastic and has so much potential, but I still have yet to paint it. I love it, but I am afraid to paint it and pick the wrong color (lol). Yep, believe it or not, but I am just hesitant to paint it and then not like it. So, what color do you all think I should paint it? I am going to put it in my entry way and decorate it with some of my prim cuties that I have received from several gals here in blog land. I have some cute little checkerboards from Cindy to place up there, a cute little basket from Carrie to hang from a peg and a few other prim pretties. So, what color ladies? What color are you imagining that I should paint it? I was thinking black, then I was thinking a light yellow ochre or a buttermilk, but I just can't decide. Do you all remember what else is in my entry way? I have a long shelf that is kinda like a buttermilk color, I just recently re-did the floor in the entry way and then I have that cute little bench and that prim chair that I bought at the antique mall awhile back. So, with all that being said....... let me know your thoughts! I will post again in a couple days with the results on my bread box/hide-all box.

You Are My Sunshine

I was so excited when I heard the news back on May 10, 2006 that I was pregnant and expecting! Oh after years of infertility treatments, I knew that I wanted nothing more then to be involved in my son's life from the moment he was conceived until I take my last breath. Well, I myself have always enjoyed the song "You Are My Sunshine" and I sang it to Cameron when he was growing in my belly. After Cameron was born.... I would sing that same song and it would ALWAYS help calm him down. He was never really a fussy baby, but when he would start to fuss, all I would have to do is sing "You Are My Sunshine" and he would just stare into my eyes and instantly calm down. Well, I still sing this song to him however...... I now have a singing partner. Yep, I can always be guaranteed that if I sing this song then Cameron will now sing along with me. Ah, there is nothing more precious then this. So, take a look at this video and enjoy "My Little Sunshine" and my little singer. Wow - I love this little boy!!

**You will need to pause my music player before listening**