Relaxing weekend in Punta Gorda

I love that my kids still play with beach toys!
Morgan fishing in Boca Grande...a beautiful, beautiful beach!
Look what Mr. David caught! A baby hammerhead shark!
David & Anna Callin...such a sweet and special couple! They invited us to spend the weekend with them at their home in Punta Gorda. They said that we should come and be ready to relax...and that is what they meant! They truly spoiled us and the kids. We even had a movie night in the home theatre while snacking on chocolate fondue!

A family picture at Boca Grande...T.J. is sitting in the hole he dug :o)

~ A Tray Makeover ~

So yet another idea from Joy at Joys of Home :o) I found this tray at Ross for $3.49. It originally was just plain black...so in need of a makeover!!
Ihave also broadened my spray paint color collection...I now own Heirloom white and am a HUGE fan!
Now the plain old black tray is a beautiful creamy whiteI bought these wooden circle knob things and little wooden pot things at Michaels's and did pull out the black spray paint for these! Then I hot glued them to the bottom...I thought I would show a picture of my summer kitchen turned craft work area!The last thing I did was use some black scrolly rub-ons on the front of the tray and VOILA! I absolutely LOVE the finished product...soooo much cuter!
And this is the home of my new~ updated beautiful shabby chic ~ tray!!

~ I'll take the last train to Clarkesville ~

Tomorrow the kids, Courtney and I are heading to Clarkesville, GA (not on a train...but the song works!) to spend the weekend with my parents, sisters and all the cousins. We are so very excited...almost giddy just thinking about how much fun we are going to have. Dad called and gave us the weather report and the high is in the low 70's!! Whoo~hoo...real fall weather!
The other little detail is that my internet is down at the house...boo! So, that is why I haven't posted anything in the past week. Hopefully next week we will be up and running again...just didn't want you to wonder if I had fallen off the face of the blogging world!

It's out with the old and in with the new...

I'm the kind of person who likes things to change up a bit. Some families do that by moving to different places or some get new cars frequently but for me...well we aren't going anywhere (already got us a plot in the Oviedo cemetary!! j.k.!!) and we are driving the cars we have now into the ground, so making changes in the house is what I can do~
So, here is a picture of the "old" fabric that was on my kitchen chairs...can you see the greasy fingerprints? I swear, my kids thought they were sitting on a napkin at the dinner table with how many times they wiped their dirty little fingers on it!!
O.K. enough whining on that subject! My sweet friend Tara is helping me make some drapes...the tricky thing in my house is it is very open, so colors really need to play on each other and flow well. I finally found a beautiful brown,green,blue, and black striped fabric for the drapes but notice below...hot pink and green polka dots (although very cute!!) would not go!

Now take a look at the new and improved fabric below! I ABSOLUTELY love it...it puts a smile on my face when I see it:o) The colors are all there but in a WHIMSICAL paisley pattern. I know it is sort of summery, but HEY we live in Florida and it is basically summer all the time anyway right?! When we get the drapes done and all hung up "Nester" style, I will certainly post pictures for all to see~

And...a new rule in our house...Don't wipe your greasy fingers on my new cute chair covers!!

Get your own signature on your blog

Some of you have wondered about how I put my own signature on my blog and I thought I would just post you the link where I started. Go to the link below and she gives great directions on how to do it! When you get to the actual signature page, I did not use my mouse to create my own...because it looked like a preschooler signed my name!! I just picked a font I liked for my signature...just a little info in case you thought I actually signed my name with a computer mouse that cute!!


http://stampinwhenican.blogspot.com/2008/03/want-to-add-your-signature.html

the weather is HOT but it is fall around here...

I am definetely ready for some cooler weather...amen?! So, I thought if I started putting out my fall decorations, it might encourage some cooler weather! I love love living in Florida, but one thing I wish we had were four seasons, leaves changing & crisp air. Anyway...here are some pictures of what I have done around here to make it fall-like at our house. These frames had old pictures in them that I didn't like anymore, so I took the glass and picture out and painted the frames with some leftover acrylic paint I had laying around. The big one is a brown/bronze color and the middle one took about 5 colors to get it right!
This idea I absolutely LOVE but cannot take ownership for at all! I got the idea from The Joys of Home blog. The black berries wreaths are from the dollar store and started out as Christmas wreaths until I gave them a few sprays of black spray paint to give them a spooky look for Halloween.
The frame is from the dollar store as well...that's right...$1.00!!! I was supposed to print out the "BOO" letters but my printer ran out of black ink today and you know me...I couldn't wait. So, I just got out my paint pens and printed the letters myself.

the big second grader...

I know I am behind on this post, but better is late than never! T.J. has had an awesome start to second grade...phew! Last year this time was rough! He has a great teacher who knew T.J. last year in first grade as she was right next door to his class...Mrs. Robins0n. So far, the only time he has been on "yellow" was he was finishing his work before the rest of the class. T.J. has a very competive spirit and likes to be the best at everything he does and apparently, finishing first is the best to him...we are working on that but do love his enthusiasm~