It's Getting Hot In Here...

I won't continue with the rest of the lyrics, but really, leaving the air conditioned house is just a terribly silly thing to do here in the Midwest this week.  Instead I've been putting to use all the things I've learned from her in this class. 

And here's a sneak peek at the inside:

Jealous? You can make one for yourself that looks like this:

And you can fill it full of pages that look like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Believe me, it will become an obsession and you will have to make your sister a baby book that looks like this:

Check it out for yourself, but you'll see that Full Tilt Boogie is a great class and Miss Moss, well, she's just an inspiration!

Songs That Make Us Sing Saturday

We went to the Bahamas for our 2oth Anniversary...we shouldn't have waited for so long...now we go to the Lake of the Ozarks...water is water right? not!!! Still, knee deep or chest deep the water is where its at!

8:34 AM, 83 Degrees

It's no secret the Midwest is bracing for a blistering heat wave just as LA braces for "Carmageddon."  These two events probably have no connection, just as the scene in my laundry room this morning has absolutely NO connection to the two aforementioned events.  I'm sorry, but my conscience just won't allow me to show you a picture.  Suffice it to say that SRS may get wind of the mess and come for my children, even though they are the ultimate cause of my shock and horror as I groggily padded into the laundry room this morning to start my daily grind routine.  You see, last night just before curling up in bed to read for a few minutes before my exhaustion won over, I requested that my two middle children (ages 13 and 16) bring their dirty laundry to the laundry room.  I could hear from the bickering back and forth that they were complying with my request.  There is no way I could have prepared for this morning's laundry room scene.   We are in the middle of a heat wave here people.  The bins should have held t-shirts, shorts, swimsuits and cover-ups all neatly sorted by color value.  No, apparently all the SWEATSHIRTS and SWEATPANTS my children own had been breeding quietly in their rooms!  WHAT??!!  Those items should have been neatly stowed months ago.  I tell you, you just don't need them in Kansas in July!  To calm myself, I watched the following and imagined myself there; alone with a bottle of red wine...

It's Not Saturday

I'm really going to try to keep up with "Songs That Make Us Sing Saturdays" which I learned about over at Because I'm The Mommy.  I'm acutely aware that it is Wednesday, but I just came across it so I'm gonna post it today...rules schmules.  Wanna play along?  Click on the button in the left sidebar to get all the info.

In Over My Head

I've been wanting to change the look of my blog for quite some time, but just didn't have the knowledge, time, or energy!  I have been blogging for awhile but mostly in fits and starts.  In an effort to improve, I had been searching the great wide interweb for some friendly Blogger advice.  That's when I stumbled across this awesome e-book while checking out fellow Full Tilt Boogie classmate, Nancy Lynn's blog.  Now I know that's a lot of links in one sentence, but I promise you, taking the time to click each one will be well worth your time!  In the name of expediency, I used a free template, but Karen's easy to follow directions were oh so helpful (and you feel like you've gotten a mini html lesson too)!  Now I feel a little more confident and not so far in over my head.  My blog feels a lot more like me now which might just get me posting a little more often (insert crossed fingers here).


Completely off the subject, but enjoy the picture below of my daughter Julia, taken my oldest budding photographer daughter Ali

Boogie Down!

I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for this class to start. 

I've strapped on my dancing shoes

and gathered my supplies.

Now believe me when I say I'm ready to boogie with Mary Ann.  Rumor has it that her sister Carol is even working on a Full Tilt Boogie Martini recipe. Crank up the tunes and let's dance!

So You Think You Can Sew?

I've taken on a room renovation project that could quite possibly be my undoing.  Julia's bedroom in our new home was just a little too beige and I had this great idea in my head of the perfect vintage girls bedroom.  I started by painting the walls a beautiful light blue.  On a tromp around town I found this sweet sewing cabinet and painted it red, and then rescued the chandelier that originally was purchased for Ali's bedroom from one of our TWO storage units. Julia's closet now stores clothes and toys!

This great mirror was hiding in the corner of a flea market in a tiny Kansas town and just had to come home with me!

No little girl's room is complete without a chalkboard for playing school.

Now before you go thinking I spent a eleventy hundred dollars on a vintage schoolhouse chalkboard (believe me, I looked and salivated over a few!) I didn't.  This is simply a coat of magnetic paint, followed by a couple coats of green chalkboard paint and then framed with trim that I painted glossy red.  The great schoolhouse desk you see in the corner is the most amazing color of blue and was rescued from a friend's basement.  

At this point the next project on the list was getting rid of the crib and finding the perfect bed and bedding.  I looked and looked and just wasn't satisfied with what I was finding out there on the great wide web.  That's when I stumbled upon this.  Let me tell you I wanted to call miss Anna Maria up and beg her to whip one of these babies out just for me because of course I wanted it yesterday!  I refrained and just ordered the pattern.  Next, I took a little shopping trip to Sarah's to find just the right fabric.  I didn't get started sewing right away because of course I needed the perfect bed for the finished product.  My mind said I needed a Jenny Lind just like the pattern cover showed, but then I found this beauty at a flea market.  Steven was none too happy to help me pick it up as he doesn't generally support my love of "dumpster diving," but he softened up a bit, took it to the shop and painted it with red automotive paint for me.

You can see it is still awaiting its crown of glory, and this is why.  To make a full size quilt you need 10 blocks like this

And 10 blocks like this

Now I've been sewing for quite some time (25 years at least) and I tell you I'm not sure if I've ever made anything quite so time consuming.  So, I will try not to lose interest, and I will try not to lose heart because I know it will all be worth it when the blocks all come together in the end!

Let's just hope Julia isn't in junior high by the time that happens!