Prayers and Love

... and my heart so filled with mixed emotion. Go to my photography blog to read about 

Addyson Grace, an Angel Going Home.

Distressed Painted Wall Shelf

Domestically Speaking is hosting the weekly Power of Paint Party today. I decided I better jump on the ban wagon for once since I do have a little painty project that I did recently and thought it was utterly fun and turned out cute, in my own humble opinion which has never claimed to be professional.

Let the record show that I am a vintage/antique/chic-y sort of freakazoid, which is entirely convenient due to the fact that it can be a very budget-friendly sort of decor style. I am also the type of person who cuts every corner she can find and uses what happens to be on hand, and sometimes that is a good thing while other times it is a bad thing. That's my disclaimer about why the following project is not created the way a professional would recommend and you may not want to do it the way I did it if you so happen to decide you're going to do such a project.

ALL THAT TO SAY:

BEHOLD THE BEFORE!

I am actually not exactly sure where I acquired this wall shelf. Probably for mere pennies on the dollar at Goodwill. My memory also fails as to what purpose I had in mind for this. My husband found it in my decor stash when he came home from Iraq and used it as a sort of make shift pistol display in his man cave. He dismantled it (he thought the metal piece with the stars was too cute-sie), pounded nails in various places for added support. When he no longer had a purpose for it, I nearly tossed it since it had seen its use and definitely showed it.

But then, I decided to hang on to it since Jimmy's room was taking on a sort of stars theme when I made him a crib set and incorporated some of Andy's old ACU's in it.

So, I went down to the basement, removed the hardware, found me a can of semi gloss wall paint, and a stiff, ratty paint brush and set to work.... (that sentence right there proves that I can't even try to claim to be a professional even if I wanted to!)

It took several coats (which is why it technically should have been primed), but that was ok. I had a work space set up in the basement so I could leave my project and take my time with it. The final finish was not necessarily something one would call smooth and sleek. It may have even been a little streaky. But that was all a part of my plan... 

After that final coat was dry, I pulled out my nifty little fine-grain sand paper and applied some elbow grease to get this result:

My heart has a tendency to go pitter patter over distressed wood.

Once I achieved the look I was going for, I reassembled the hardware and hung it up on the wall in Jimmy's room. 

Voila!

(Interesting tid bit: the "1" candle was the candle we used for Jimmy's birthday cake. It was also his daddy's first birthday cake candle. We will keep it for Jimmy's first child's first birthday... And that's what you call thinking waaaaay ahead.)

(train--$0.75 at a garage sale last summer. My heart skips a beat over wooden toys!)

So there you have it! My painting project for the year. My New Year's resolution is something along the lines of being a creative junkie / painting guru / crafty super mom / or something. 

Linking this to my homemaker heroes and virtual mentors :: 

Is It Really Odd?

Is it really odd that I absolutely adore the little evidences-of-himself my son leaves all over the house, even when I have just cleaned it? 

Is it really odd that I totally don't care that any drawer or cupboard within Jimmy's reach is not nor ever will be in perfect organized condition (not that the cupboards out of his reach are... ahem. I never claimed to be a perfect housekeeper!) and I kind of actually think it's cute?

Is it really odd that I--the one who used to think childrens' toys belong only in playrooms or nurseries--think his little car wash is absolutely adorable and goes quite nicely in the family/living/man cave room??

 Is it really odd that I purposefully leave his footwear on the rug just because it looks so stinking CUTE??

I do know that it is NOT really odd that I adore being his mommy....... Who wouldn't??

November Remembered

Migrating Geese

Puppy Love

Jimmy's Constant Companion

Thanksgiving Portraiture. (I didn't quite make it into the self-timed picture.) Epic.

Baby Sign Language

Today I am over at my photography blog talking about baby sign language.
I do not claim to be an expert, I just wanted to share my experience so far with Jimmy and encourage other parents to utilize this great avenue of communicating with their small children.
It is so fool proof, so easy, so fun to watch them learn, and waaaay tooooo cute.

.....Promise.
..........Cross my heart.
...............Pinky swear.

Go over and have a look and please tell me what you think!

Let's Talk Baby Talk!

Deer Hunting

So there we were... Gun season. Jimmy, who normally sleeps until about 9 am had everyone up and at 'em by 5. The hunters got ready, had coffee, gave Jimmy kisses and left. Jimmy went back to bed. Me? I had coffee, and more coffee and some more coffee. 

Two monster bucks down before 9am. It was profitable for the hunters. 

Jimmy and me? Well, we just snuggled and were lazy and stuff.