freedecoranging, 1 hot deal, and 'art'

What is freedecoranging? It's using the junk you already have (free!), to decorate by simply rearranging it! I started small - very small - with the laundry room. Okay, I did spend a bit,but it was a real hot deal. This light fixture replaced the hideouso builder's standard flourescent bar. It was just $51 on clearance at Lowes, and I sweet-talked our painter into installing it for free!


Next, on the advice of Shelley, I went to etsy.com to steal some original art. (Sorry, etsy, my budget is already blown by $51). I simply did a cut/paste of an image i adored, printed it on velum paper, backed it with a piece of scrapbook paper, and framed it with a frame I had.

I am contemplating a window mistreatment, but I need to go digger a little further in the garage.

So...get freedecoranging. It's fun, and FREE!

spring has sprung

In the South, gatherings such as this would be called the "Jesus Has Risen Festival" or "Happy Easter, God Bless You Party". Here in SoCal, it's the "Spring Celebration". In any case, Our Del Sur Community had one, including treats, a jumpy, games, an egg hunt, the Easter Bunny, and of course, Alice in Wonderland. huh? Yep, she was there. Not sure what Alice has to do with Easter, the Resurrection, or Spring, but what do I know?

While I was nursing a headache (for real) Keith and Neil enjoyed the party. Okay, so Neil really enjoyed the party, and Keith took pictures of it.

Nothing like bubbles to get a party started...

Then some egg hunting with a buddy...

and hanging out with more buddies.

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

life on grace

I feel compelled to share this blog with all of you female readers. (I guess that's you, Karyn!)

Edie W. is a 39-year old mother of way-2-many kids in a "blended" family, which she adores and homeschools. She cooks, bakes, decorates, travels and socializes like there's no tomorrow. She adores her husband and kids, and always sees the glass not as half-empty, but quite full of pink, sparkly sweetness with a cherry on top!

Oh, and she's quite the Lutheran theologian, with a gift for writing, and just enough humor.
Did I mention that Edie is also a retired medical doctor?

This is one of my favorite posts:


Things you should know about southern women:

1. We love all things 'hair'---'fixin' our hair, dyin' our hair, teasin' our hair----you get my drift.
2. We have two commandments: ~ thou shalt not go out in public without lip gloss and mascara ~ thou shalt surely have cute hair. Don't mess with Texas. Or Tennessee.
3. We take pride in our warmth and friendliness---translated, we frequently invade your personal space. We're huggers, kissers, touchers of all kinds.
4. We make strong eye contact and teach our children to 'look in their eyes' and say yes ma'am. Our children will probably be eating iced sugar cookies when they say yes ma'am. But they'll say it. Amen.
5. We have been accused at times of being superficial.....call it what you like, but despite the fact that I'm reading "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis, my daughter (Caiti) and I will certainly do hitchkicks and spirit hands (we were both cheerleaders) when MAC comes out with a new lip gloss. Y'all think I'm kiddin' but I just pulled my psoas muscle tryin' to see if I could still do a hitchkick.
6. We love makeup and all things girly. We love bows and glitter and ribbon and animal print and cookies with icing on top. I have yet to meet a woman, from say, Connecticut, who would dare add trans-fat and high-fructose-corn-syrup infested butter cream icing on to an already suspect chocolate chip cookie. Our motto, "what's better than a cookie? a cookie with icing on top".
7. Our official anthem is 'Sweet Home Alabama' and watch out if this starts playing while we're chatting with you at a Christmas party about the current economic crisis.....or the latest new shade of lip gloss. We scan the room for any sign of a girl who looks like she has cheerleader in her past and head on to the dance floor as we sing, "singin' songs about the southland.....I miss Alabamy once again and I think it's a sin"
Economics can wait. And you can borrow the new lip gloss while I dance....'cause I've already got the new color.
8. Our daughters are the ones with the ribbons in their hair......from birth. It's just part of our morning routine. Did you have some breakfast? Brush your teeth? Put your ribbon in? We buy ribbon by the spool not the yard. In all manner of colors and patterns.
9. We monogram everything. We're like sorority sisters who never got over themselves. Only sweeter. We suck you in to our various and sundry habits too. Move here from New York and soon you'll be monogramming, eating iced sugar cookies, and teasin' your hair. And droppin' the 'g' from the endin' of every word. And sayin' y'all. And gettin' your nails done.

10. We are almost always smiling. Because our mothers and Phyllis Diller told us that ' a smile sets everything straight' . Which is why we're all now considering Botox. That could be the one downside I see of being southern. All those facial lines from all those years of smiles and laughter. Mark Twain even said "Wrinkles merely indicate where the smiles have been". Yeah, sadly we see that now. Thanks mom.
11. We love to have people in our home. We pay serious attention to how are homes 'look' from the outside.....is their plenty of lighting? Does it beg me to 'stop by'? That southern hospitality thing is serious business around here. There'll be place cards and token gifts and flowers and candles and lots of homeade desserts. Our guest rooms will have the latest issues of Southern Living and Cottage Living and we'll go the extra mile to make sure you're comfy. Granted, we'll talk your head off and make you watch football and Steel Magnolias and probably invite you along to attend someone's funeral with us.....but the experience will be memorable. And in case we forget to warn you, the casket will be open and various relatives will comment on how 'Hank never looked better'. I never even realized this wasn't standard practice until last year. I had already picked out my outfit and requested a hairstyle for my 'departing day'.
12. We all have dogs. We keep our dogs inside. The image of Paula Deen cooking with the dog shedding his hair under her feet comes to mind. We love our dogs. And name them things like Sceeter and Scooter. Hypothetically, of course.

Speaking of cooking, we love bacon fat....and every southern women I have ever met has a jar of bacon fat somewhere in her cupboards. Be careful when you pull out a cup to get some coffee.

13. We overutilize the words honey, darlin', sugar, sweetie pie......and that's when we're talking to the UPS man. We like our tea sweet and our cookies iced. We like our nails pretty and our jeans comfortably tight. We wear boots in the winter and flip flops in the summer and have very large purses which contain more makeup than the average female from Wisconsin has in her possession altogether. We realize that some of these qualities are short comings and make all manner of resolutions to learn and do better.

Y'all have any questions? 'Cause there's a lot of myths going around about Southerners and I could set the record straight.

* A brief update- due to the enormous amount of will power it takes to 'do' school near Christmas time, I promised my girls a series of hitchkicks if they finished their math quickly. They came through.......and I did not disappoint.*

hailey sue comes to visit

It just doesn't get any cuter than this! Our niece/cousin, Hailey Sue, came to visit us, all the way from Franklin, TN. Hailey is 14 months old, and a real "triple threat" (cute, smart & sweet)! She brought her parents, Andy (my brother) and Karyn, as well.



Neil has been wanting a pet, for quite sometime. After eliminating anything that sheds, barks, purrs, hops, tweets, bites, or flies, we happily helped him choose FISH! Keith and Neil got the aquarium all set up and ready, then Uncle Andy (who loves aquariums), helped him choose the fish. For now, there are two, Swimmy and Finn. Ahhh, fish. The perfect pets.


Keeping in the fish theme, Andy and Karyn took Neil and Hailey to the Sea Life Aquarium in Carlsbad. It's sorta kinda part of Legoland, and the aquariums are full of cool Lego statues. Oh, and fish, of course, too.





When they got back, Hailey sat on my lap, snuggled, and told me all about it.


Next day, La Jolla Cove was calling, so we answered.

Hailey posed with her Dad & Mom.

And she talked to the seals.

Then she ran away from them.


Keith and Neil explored the tidelands.


And then it was time for Jose's Court Room for dinner! We have been going there since we first moved to CA in 1979. Andy and Karyn did a romantic dance out front, while Keith and Neil walked ahead, pretending not to know them.


On their last night here in San Diego, we took an evening trip down to the beach.
Until it was so cold that Hailey's lips matched her dress.

This morning, they left, and Del Schner just isn't the same. It will be awhile before their next visit, as Hailey will be getting a little sister in July. That will make her travels a bit more complicated, so next time we'll go see her! And her mom and dad!

visits, visitors, and uninvited guests

Neil's best buddy, Casey, spent a day with us here at Del Schner.



My BFF, DeAnne, did too!




And then HE came to visit -Eeeekkk! I was organizing the pantry last night, and noticed some signs that we had an uninvited guest. By the looks of things, he ate alot more than Casey or DeAnne. Cardboard, spice labels, Ritz Bitz, Target bags, and hot cocoa for dessert, to be exact.
I emptied the entire pantry, but he was no where to found - just his urine and fecal matter - ICK! Keith stopped at Home Depot, and brought back every imaginable non-poisonous device available to kill a mouse, rat, lizard, or small cat. We set the traps, which in no way resemble the photo above. The new traps are high-tech gizmos - fun for the whole family. The best is the Victor Electronic Rat Trap. That puppy uses electronic shock to kill! Who knew? An electric chair for furry pests. You gotta love that. Anyway, we set the traps at about 8:00, and by 9:15 - fried mouse!!! Best $39.99 spent. Ever.

del schner

home sweet home

...and sweet it is! On Friday the 13th, (good thing we're not superstitious), we moved into our new house!

This is the third house that Keith and I have had, since we married in 1997. The first house was our "happy house", as it was bright, colorful, and cartoon-like. Our next house was the "big boy" house, as it was bigger and newer. Now we have our "cozy house"! It is the smallest, but cutest. Seeing it grow from a dirt lot into our home has been such a bonding thing. (And I mean with the house and with Keith)!

Neil started at his new school on Monday, and he said it rated 8 or 9 on a10-scale. His teacher is young and attractive, thank God, because Neil was pretty sure he would not like her if she were over 50 and/or ugly. Nice. Anyway, his class has only 23 kids - bonus! He was immediately invited to participate in a one-day "field trip" to Sacramento. Only $385. Something tells me we're not in El Cajon anymore. And yes, we gladly sent a check.

I am working on posting pictures. A recent computer virus had me using an expert to restore the system, and now I can't do anything without a 3-hour round of reading manuals. I will figure this out, and pictures are coming!

more floor!

floors

All of the flooring is done, and it looks pretty darn good! Downstairs is mostly cardboard, accented by wood (the budget, you know). Upstairs is the mocha-colored carpet, with tile in the baths and laundry.
Neil is really excited about his room being done! He almost has an ocean view!

happy campers

While camping (living in a depressing apartment while waiting for our house to be complete), we have met some neat neighbors here. I call them the GIRLZ, and sometimes we clear out the dining room to showcase their talents. Click on the boxes to the right to see what we've done.