Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg Mini Vacation

First off, we had a BLAST!!!! From the cabin in the woods to the aquarium to the NASCAR Speedpark. LOL

Here are a few pictures. I actually took over 300….. LOL

 

 

Our view from the cabin.

 

 

 

Having fun in the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

 

 

 

 

 

 

At NASCAR Speedpark

 

 

 

These are the only pictures I took at the NASCAR Speedway. I was riding the other rides with the kids! LOL Well, with Deanna and Colin. Joshua wasn’t feeling well after the aquarium so he didn’t ride anything. Cailey gets motion sickness sometimes and only rode the tamer stuff. She did love the roller coaster, though. 😉

 

We had soooooo much fun!!!! I want to do it all over again! 😉

 

Will You Sew Along??

 

It’s almost time for Skirting the Issue!!!  I can’t wait!!! I do believe that this was the very first sew along where I was a participant.

It is always such a blessing to me to be able to serve others through sewing. It brings me such joy to know that I can touch a child’s life. With Skirting the Issue, the skirts (or shorts) will go to children in foster care of all ages. There will also be other ideas of where you can donate your sewn items.

I also have some news of my own…… JACOB IS HOME!!!! He moved back in this week. I can’t tell you how THRILLED I am to have him home. It has been like a knife in my heart since last November.

We have also been having TONS of company and having TONS of fun!!!

This past week we went to the Smokies to enjoy some time with my dad and stepmother. We stayed at a cabin in the woods and went to the Ripley’s Aquarium and NASCAR Speedway (a small amusement park). We all had a BLAST!!! I will be posting pictures from our trip very soon. I think I took around 300! LOL It takes a lot of time to go through them all….. 😉

Next week we have company coming for the 4th! YIPPPEEE!!!

 

ANYWAY, I really hope that you will all consider sewing along with Skirting the Issue.

Before I get started, I will be making Colin a few items AND redoing our chest of drawers to match the headboard. 😉

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!

The Headboard Is Up!!!

 

It’s UP!! It’s UP!!! YIPPPEEE!!!!!! And now seeing this I realize how badly we need more decorative pillows! LOL Another thing to add to my make list!

I am thrilled with it, though! THRILLED!!! I can’t wait to get started on the chest of drawers, nightstand and blinds! LOL

BUT I am going to have to wait. We are headed to the woods this afternoon!!! We will be staying in a cabin for a few days and doing some fun stuff around Pigeon Forge with my dad and step-mother. YAY!!!!! The kids are very excited!!! I think the first thing we will do is hit the pool! 😉

I will be away for a few days but when I come back I should have some great pictures to share!

If you want to see the steps I took to make the headboard click HERE!!

 

 

DIY Door to Headboard Upcycle

 

We recently gave the girls our old bed set and changed out our bed clothes. Now we needed something to match!

I have been seeing a lot of DIY headboards on Pinterest and knew that I wanted to give it a try.

The simplest way seemed to be the door to headboard upcycle. I knew we had an old door in the garage so that was PERFECT! All I needed was the paint! 😉

 

We had some plain white paint sitting around in the cupboard under the stairs, so I grabbed that! Then I got some Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch in Colonial Red. It has Primer built in! Then I grabbed a sample of Glidden Rich Navy for the stencils.

The stencil I picked up at Home Depot. It had 3 different designs but I was partial to the fleur de lis.

 

 

First I sprayed 2 coats of the Colonial Red. No sanding, no priming. Just painting! 😉

 

 

 

After the red was good and dry,  I taped around the middle sections and added 2 coats of the white.

I had a bit of an issue with the tape. I used Scotch brand and expected good results. Instead, the white bled through the edges and the tape left a sticky residue on the red paint. GRRR!!!!!!!

 

 

I did a little bit of touch ups.

 

 

 

Next I added the stencil.

That was a bit harder than I imagined it would be. SIGH… I still have some touching up to do but I am pleased with the way it turned out over all.

Advice – Tape the stencil very securely and start with just a small amount of paint. 😉

 

I wish I could show you how the headboard looks actually on the bed, but we can’t  seem to find our screws!! ARGH!!! I will be getting it up in a day or two and will be sure to take some pictures then! 🙂

 

I hope this all made sense! I am up at 2 am writing it all out! LOL

 

 

June Fly on the Wall

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 14 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

 

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado

Just a Little Nutty                              

Follow Me Home                       

Stacy Sews and Schools                  

The Sadder but Wiser Girl                      

Menopausal Mother                 

Moore Organized Mayhem                 

Hypnotic Bard                       

The Momisodes                                

Spatulas on Parade   

Dates 2 Diapers 2             

Not Everyone Can Be a Mermaid

The Rowdy Baker

Evil Joy Speaks

There’s the line-up!! Be sure to check them all out. They are some seriously funny ladies. 😉

Oh, boy! Do I have some good ones for you!!! LOL

Here lately anytime someone does something funny or silly, the rest of the gang will yell, “Well, THAT’S going on the Fly on the Wall!” Even The Hubby has gotten in on the act. 😉

Apparently Deanna wants to go to Poohru. Like Peru only I bet it doesn’t smell very nice…..

I would like to introduce you to Donny Jepp. Yep, that one was me….

This one should be titled, “The Night I Almost Died!”

I have VERY short legs. My PJ pants tend to go over my feet. Now, add in the fact that I tried to step over a laundry basket and I bet you can guess what happened. I went flying through the air while carrying my laptop. I landed on one of Colin’s toys and rolled! The laptop was fine. My shin was NOT. I still have a knot there.

SIGH…. I could trip over nothing…..

The Hubby was impressed, though.

SIGH…. I may never live it down.

Colin – I can see sooooo great!! I have the eyes of a tiger!

So, I went to pay our rent online. Apparently they want to charge $56!!!!! TO PAY THE RENT ONLINE!! WHAT??? I don’t think so…. I drove it out to the management company. Yeah. That’s CRAZY!!! I almost had a heart attack!!

Pudding was the source of a great debate in our house over the past few weeks. Yes, pudding…. The Hubby thought that ALL pudding was sugar free. He just wouldn’t hear otherwise. Well, we all know what happened next, don’t we. I just HAD to prove him wrong. I bought a few packs of sugar free and NOT sugar free. LOL

Cailey – It must be sooooo cool to have your own site!

We were all sitting out on the porch one evening when we heard Deanna scream bloody murder. Loki had just peed on her leg! ROFLOL!! She was completely mortified. We thought it was hilarious! 😉

I LOOOOOOOVE Yankee Candles. I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE them!!!! BUT what is up with the pushy sales ladies??? OH MY GOSH!!! Joshua and I were at the mall when I decided to just stop in. Now, I have been in candle withdrawal. 2 moves in 6 months doesn’t leave a lot of extra for candles, y’know. But I wanted SOMETHING. They were having a sale on tarts and I figured I could justify that. 😉 But the lady just would NOT leave me alone. Joshua called her a candle pusher! ROFLOL!! It’s enough to make you want to order them online and never set foot in one of the stores. Do they work on commission????

This is very close to what the 2nd floor and stairs looked like one morning. Apparently the girls’ room was just as bad judging by Deanna’s screams.  There was also yarn involved. I say, dog = TP, cats = yarn. It just makes sense. 😉

We were all sitting watching TV when I noticed that Deanna was petting one of my black socks…. I asked her why. She freaks out. Apparently she thought it was the kitten. No, she wasn’t wearing her glasses. It reminded of a movie where a lady thinks she’s petting a cat only it’s a rat instead.

Hmmm, would that be terrible?? Noooo….. I think it would be great. Hee hee hee hee!! 😉

The kids and I were talking about a bunch of crazy stuff that’s happened in the past. They encouraged me to share some of it with you.

See, Hubby! It’s THEIR fault.

Oh, who am I kidding, he doesn’t even read the blog. 😉

About 10 years ago The Hubby and I went on a trip. He was going to check out jobs in New Jersey and Virginia. We stopped one night in a small town in Virginia to eat and get a room.

We decided to go to Shoney’s. Yummy!!!

The Hubby loads up his plate and sits down, ready to dig in. He takes a heaping spoonful, “Hmmm. Banana pudding!”

The next thing I know he is spitting it out all over the place. “Iss nah puddin!! Iss nah puddin!!!”

Nope! Not banana pudding! It’s BUTTER!!!

I am DYING!!!! I can’t breathe!! I look over and our server is dying. The lady at the buffet is dying.

It was a very long time before I could get him to step into a Shoney’s again.

Last year the girls and I were at a church picnic. The Hubby calls and is freaking out. He went to smell the bottle of CHLORINE and nearly passed out!!! OH MY GOSH!!! I freaked out!

He completely missed the warning on the side of bottle in GINORMOUS letters.

Why would he smell it you ask??? He loves the smell of chlorine. EWWW!!!!

Good grief.

Years ago Jacob was reading something for school.

Jacob – Momma, what’s a dork knob?

Me – A what?? Let me see that.

Jacob, that say DOORKNOB!!!!

Jacob (about 12 years old and playing a video game) – I’m moving so fast only your eyes can see me!

– I’m so good! I have acid reflexes!!!

Ok. I think I will save the rest for latter.  😉

 

Upcoming Projects

 

 

 

I have quite a few things in the works! I am soooo excited!!!

One – I will be making something very special for a very special friend of mine. That’s all I’m saying right now. 😉

Two – I will be attempting to make a headboard out of a door. I know you all have seen them on Pinterest! We gave the girls our old bed frame and no we are on nothing but rails!!!

Three – I will be repainting the chest of drawers that I painted less than a year ago! LOL It no longer matches.

Four – I will be painting and updating an old cedar chest that was given to Colin for a toy box.

I LOVE painting and it’s been entirely too long since I’ve done any!!!

OH!! And I have been SUCH a slacker lately!! I still have to finish the last set of sewing for Sewing to Rebuild! I want to mail all of them out at the end of the week!

AND I still need to sew a couple of things for Colin. He’s been feeling a little left out. Poor fella.

 

I will be doing tutorials for the all the painting projects. Well, if they turn out…. LOL No matter what, I will still show you all the results! LOL I just hope they are GOOD! 😉

 

We will also be having TONS of company in the next few weeks!! BUSY BUSY BUSY!! My goodness! 🙂

 

Top 10 Homeschool Posts

 

 

 

Since we are now done for the year I thought I would post my top ten viewed homeschooling posts! As I plan for next year I will be adding more. That should be coming up sooner than I want to think about! LOL

My homeschool posts don’t have nearly as many views as my tutorials. That’s OK. I don’t mind… MUCH! LOL At least I will always know where all the info is located. Much easier for me to find if when we revisit certain topics. 😉

Speaking of view numbers, I’m not sure why but my views have done down DRASTICALLY!! I used to get 10 times the views I get these days. I guess the 2 moves took a toll. I need to pick up on my tutorials, I think might be the biggest difference. LOL But no matter. Even if I only got 1 view a day, I would still blog. 😉

 

 

 

Number 10 – Electricity Study Theme – February 7, 2013 – 182 Views

 

 

 

 

Number 9 – Coral Reef Unit Study – January 16, 2013 – 192 Views

 

 

 

 

Number 8 – Marco Polo Unit Study – February 13, 2013 – 201 Views 

 

 

 

 

Number 7 – Russia, Foxes and Matter Units – January 7, 2013 – 206 Views

 

 

 

 

Number 6 – Rocks and Minerals Unit Study – February 16, 2013 – 223 Views

 

 

 

 

 

Number 5 – Weather Unit Study – February 28, 2013 – 226 Views

 

 

 

 

Number 4 – Owls Animal Study – February 12, 2013 – 251 Views

 

 

 

 

Number 3 – Ireland and St Patrick’s Day Unit Study – February 24, 2013 – 264 Views

 

 

 

 

Number 2 – Aztecs, Incas and Mayans Unit Study –  January 21, 2013 – 575 Views

 

 

 

 

NUMBER 1 – Plant Unit Study – March 11, 2013 – 1,030 Views 

 

 

 

 

All Time Faves

So I was looking through my blog stats the other day (bloggers just LOVE their stats) and I noticed that there were a few that were obvious favorites. I thought that it might be nice to do a little countdown of my top 10 posts. Not surprising in the least, they are all tutorials! LOL

One view = one different person

 

10 – Fat Quarter Skirt – August 18, 2012 – 1,418 views

I love this little skirt. I ended up making 3, one for Cailey and one each for two of her friends. 🙂

 

 

9 – The Marvelous Romper – July 16, 2012 – 1,482 views

Yeah, I know… That collar is NOT very marvelous but I do really like the rest of it! 😉

 

 

8 – Fast and Easy Fab Mod Dress – June 23, 2012 – 1,726 views

Now, this one is a definite favorite of mine. That reminds me, I think it is sitting in my mend box waiting to have a button replaced… OOPS!! I think we all know that we would rather be creating something new than mending something old…. 😉

 

 

7 – Tee to Short-all Refashion – January 23, 2013 – 1,787 views

This was made for my cousin’s little guy, Liam. You can see her blog at Rivas & Co.

 

 

6 – Easy Peasy Apron Tutorial – July 11, 2012 – 1,859 views

I love that little apron. Cailey was wearing the Red, White and Blue dress just the other day. I love that she can wear something different every single day that was made by me.

 

 

5 – Cool Cotton Caftan – August 10, 2012 – 2,698 views

 

 

4 – High Low, High Low! It’s Off to Play I Go! – August 9, 2012 – 3,423 views

This is one of Cailey’s favorites. She wears it at least once a week! LOL

 

 

3 – Mountaineer Girl Purse – July 2, 2012 – 3,951 views

 

 

2 – Eyelet Tank – June 2, 2012 – 4,535 views

I LOOOOVE this tank!! It goes with SOOOO many different things.

 

 

NUMBER ONE!!!!! – Fleur de Lis Maxi Skirt – July 3, 2012 4,992 views

 

I still wear this skirt ALL the time. It is so comfy. It’s starting to show a little wear, though… I keep stepping on the hem while going up and down stairs! LOL

 

 

I think maybe I should do one about MY favorite projects! LOL   OOOH!!! Or maybe a  list of my LEAST viewed posts…. LOL

 

Have fun sewing!!! 😀

 

 

Monkey Business

 

 

My latest set for Sewing to Rebuild has been taken over by monkeys!! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up (and last for the Sewing to Rebuild) will be another boy’s set.

 

 

After that I will be getting busy sewing for MY kids. LOL Colin has been complaining that it has been too long since I made him something. It will be a part of Hopeful Threads June sewing project.

I have some really cute knit that I have been thinking about making into PJs for Colin and a nightgown for Cailey. Colin also needs some new shorts! Then I think I will break out some patterns that I have been meaning to get to.

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!! 😀

 

 

SHARK ATTACK!! More Sewing to Rebuild

 

 

I have finished my 4th set to send to Oklahoma!! YAY!!! 2 girl sets and 2 boy sets, one more each and I will be done. 😀

Here are the pieces that go with yesterday’s shark toy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was going to stay away from making the sets matchy-matchy but I just had to with this fabric theme! LOL And the fabric is so soft. I think it’s interlock knit.

I have been having so much fun SEWING!!!

Colin says to me today, “Mommy you never sew for ME anymore.” Well, it looks like I will have to follow Kristy’s lead from Hopeful Threads. This month’s theme is Summer Sewing for the Family!! I need to get some projects together for my Cs. 😉

 

OH! Cailey wanted me to show you her nature finds! LOL

 

The Hubby is identifying them for her as I type. LOL Not too bad for living in the city with a TINY yard.