Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was in May of 2003. My in-laws lived close to Sanibel Island Florida at the time, so we had a photo session there. The pics turned out to be some of my all time favorite photos.

Here is me telling Chuck to "suck it up" for a few more minutes after he tells me things are biting him. In my zeal to get some good photos I didn't bother to look at his legs until we were done. They were in a black cloud of biting flies. He really is a trooper. I would have been pitching a fit.
Notice my father in-law in the back packing up, everyone was concerned but me. I can be such a Queen Bee sometimes. And why is it there always a photo to prove it?!

Oh how I love these two brown eyed cuties.

I can't have a Mother's Day post without my Charlie or my wonderful mother. Here they are together in Navarre Beach Florida last weekend. Happy Mother's Day!

The Perfect Housewife Day 1/The Only Day

Last week I challenged myself to be a better stay at home mom. I have become a bit lazy when it comes to cooking and cleaning. A year ago I made a chore chart but I might have followed it a handful of weeks since. Here's how Day 1 of being the perfect housewife went down:

Thursday-clean master bathroom, 1 load of laundry, and load/unload dishwasher.

I got my cleaning caddy and a roll of paper towels and went to work on the bathroom. Things were going pretty smoothly until I called for Charlie who'd been quiet for a moment. He obediently came to me with my missing bottle of Clorox Green Works hanging out of his mouth. He obviously had been drinking it. Chuck called the Clorox company and found out the product does not contain bleach and we just needed to watch him for any ill effects for the next hour.

I was quite shaken with almost poisoning our child so I used my nervous energy to vacuum. Vacuuming was not on the chore chart for Thursday but it should have been done the day before. Charlie loves it when I vacuum. He usually follows me around and touches the vacuum lovingly. But that day he discovered how to yank the cord out of the wall and make it stop. The second time he did this I had had enough! I screamed at him so loudly, Chuck came running out of the office yet again, to see what all the fuss was about. He blessedly took the baby and entertained him until I was finished and had cooled off with some angry tears.

Here's Mr. Mischievous:

I learned a good lesson, I'm not the perfect housewife and I'm glad. Upon reflection if I was, my friends would hate me. And it appears that trying to be perfect just makes things more complicated so I will continue with the chore chart and cooking healthier meals but some days are just going to be eventful!

One Small Victory

This past Saturday was rainy and stormy, the perfect time to stay home and take care of a project. A couple of months ago I shared a photo of underneath our kitchen sink. Lately, it's a hazard because Charlie can reach between the cracks of the child lock and get anything within his reach. Well, I put an end to that today. I pulled everything out from under there and discovered items I don't recall ever seeing before. I also found duplicates of items. Arrrgghhhh, I hate that.

I pulled up the ancient contact paper and replaced it with black non-skid matting. After putting back only the items that belong under there, it looks nice! It's a pleasure to get something out from under there now. I am pleased. But the linen closet awaits.

Thrift Find Makeover

I've been hunting for some type of table to go onto the front porch. Something that would hold a plant and a nick-knack or two and weather nicely. Within 2 hours of voicing this to my friend Ginger, she finds this typewriter table for $5 at Salvation Army!

I did not like the brown painted legs so I painted them. I was tempted to go with a red or yellow but I already had black.


I found this colorful Swedish cookie tin for a nickel. .05! My fat little bird was .99 and the bird cage was 3.99.

I painted the bird and the cage and added some ivy plants to the tin. I thought they turned out pretty cute. However, my little bird did not survive her first week. She was blown off the table by the leaf blower.

I've been wanting a forsythia wreath for a couple of years now and finally bought one for $15 at Michael's. It was 50% off and the very last one. Since painting the front door black I've discovered that it's difficult to find a wreath that doesn't just blend in.

I feel like something is still missing. The brick above the table looks naked. It needs a sign or some house numbers.

I priced house number signs and decided to go with a homemade version. I like it! I added just another plant and a watering can. Wallah! I am pleased.

Purchasing a Swimsuit?

I haven't purchased a swimsuit in several years. My current fave no longer fits due to my weight loss and the suit I wore before that "fits" but is no longer flattering. We're going to the beach in less than two weeks and this chore cannot be put off any longer.

Mom and I were off to Ross and TJMaxx in search for "the one". I took the camera along to document this in the hopes that some designer will see the agony a regular woman goes through and do something about it. And I wanted to entertain you and myself.

Here is suit #1. It's not horrible but the legs are not cut high enough for someone with large thighs.

Suit #2. This is better with the extra fabric around the middle and the top was more supportive but again the legs are not cut high enough. And it's black. I do not want to bear another smothering summer absorbing extra heat in a black suit. Why do people think that anyone who wears a size 14+ must want to wear black?! It doesn't slim anything, NO ONE IS FOOLED.

Suit #3. I don't think this one requires any explanation. Moving on.

Suit #4. The pattern here is S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D in unflattering areas. And who came up with those flimsy strings to keep the top up? Absurd.

Suit #5. The Miracle Suit underperformed. The bust area ended well below my chest. As you can see I'm starting to lose my patience with this.

Suit #6. This skirted two piece get up was just silly. It made me feel like what the English refer to as a "tart".

Suit #7. I really liked this one and I could have overlooked the fact that it was black. I cannot overlook the price tag, $142.00. I'm not kidding.

We left empty handed today.

X-nay on the Mop-A for Mother's Day

I was asked what I wanted for Mother's Day and I answered, "a steam mop". Luckily, my mother straightened me out on that idea. Her exact words, "You do not want to hear your children say they bought you a mop. Go out tomorrow and buy yourself one. Some things are just essential!"

I do own a mop but I hate it. I've been using a Swiffer but it's a terrible product. I think they've updated it by now but I'm done with Swiffer. The handle is too short and feeble and I always end up on the floor using my hands to get up tough spots. I used my last Swiffer "wet wipe"thingy out of the box tonight and I'm not buying ANYMORE. Here's where the mop is now.

Thank you Mom, you always know best. I'm off to peruse QVC's Diamonique for a more appropriate gift.

She's Been Digging in PooPoo

This is how my daughter described what I did all afternoon. Yes, it is true. This weekend my husband purchased some topsoil for my front flower beds. We had no idea it would smell so horrible. Is it horse or cow poo? Katherine thought it might be cat.

It's been a few days and it's still "whiffy" but that wasn't going to keep me from finishing this project. All my flowers and plants have been planted but they are not ready for a reveal yet. They need a few weeks to grow into their new space.

Above is a photo I found on-line using one of my favorite plants, a sweet potato vine. I think I'll try to imitate this tomorrow!