{ Vacation }

photo from livingetc.com

Heading out on vacation at last!

{ Inspiration: Headboards }

I have been surfing the web & blogs lately for decorating ideas for Ms. Sassypants room. I found some fun headboard ideas on the BHG website. Check it out...






Someday I will show you pictures of her finished room. I hope the work is worth it & it's not just buried under a pile of clothes!

{ Getting Ready for the Fourth }

{ White Detail }

My last for photo white/cream week is a detail from my grandpa's hutch. I know I've mentioned it before, but it is my favorite piece of furniture.

{ More White }

I'm not doing very well with Shades of Inspiration this week. With the craziness of the last week of school, I just haven't been able get creative with my photos. This one was another photo taken at Roger's Gardens when my sister was in town. {Have I mentioned how much I love that place?}

Also, Laurie Anne from Tinker's Piggies left a comment on my last post asking about the beadboard backsplash so I thought I'd include a closeup. The board across the bottom is just a 1x4 that is routed on the top & side edges {my contractor's idea}. Pretty simple!

Happy Summer!

{ White/Cream Week }

It's a double post day! I wanted to post my photo for Shades of Inspiration. Again, if you would like to participate, click the button on the sidebar for more info. As you can tell from the title the color for this week is white/cream.
This is my kitchen. I love my cream kitchen! This is a horrible picture of it. The light bouncing off the counter is terrible. I took this picture because my sister's friend was redoing her kitchen & she wanted to see the beadboard backsplash. I hurried & cleared all the dishes/junk off the counters & took a quick picture to send her. Plus, I have the hardest time getting good pictures inside my house. Not sure if it's the lighting, my camera, me...probably all of the above. If anyone has suggestions for this, please let me know. Sara at Sadie Olive took some great pictures of her kitchen. They are absolutely beautiful! Actually, I was pleased to find that the "bones" of her kitchen are similar to mine but,of course, she has accessorized hers perfectly! **sigh** All those beautiful touches. For some reason I have such a hard time accessorizing. I wish Sadie Olive would come do it for me. Oh well. Still love it, accessorized or not.

{ Imperfectly Beautiful }

Have you been over to the Nester's blog, Nesting Place? Love her blog, love her sense of humor, love her style, love her. Anyway, she has this saying, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" & her posts convey just that. Her home is so beautful. She has many pictures of the beautiful rooms & the fabulous decorating in her home. And then you scroll down to see a picture of her son playing on their dining room table & in another picture it looks like the curtains are falling down. She is a real mom, with real kids and a real home...like me.

Anywho, she is hosting a blog party this week so that we can share our imperfectly beautiful homes & I couldn't resist the invitation.

This is my bedroom. What?, you say, that looks like an office. But, alas, I have no such available room in my house for an office.
I needed a place for all of my crafting, computer, office type stuff so I set up a folding table & wah lah...a desk...in my bedroom. Oh well. The day I took this picture my desk was cleaner than usual. Don't you just love the big old copier/printer on top of my beautiful basket to the left of the desk? Lovely.

See the yellow chair next to mine? That is Boo's chair. She's my adorable little two year old girl who loves to be wherever I am...especially when her three siblings are all at school. She pulls her little yellow chair up to my desk & plays with her toys. Can you see them?

One day I needed to work on the computer for a while so I brought in Boo's little dollhouse to play with so she could be with me & have something to do.
8 months later and it's still there. I think it's a permanant ficture in my room now. But, I love it when I'm working at my desk & I hear her playing...making her little people talk to each other. Imperfect room...Beautiful moments.

So, since there are so many imperfect places in my home, I will post another room later this week. I would love it if you would join the party. You can click on the Nesting Place button in this post or the one on my sidebar to join the fun. Come on, you know you want to.

{ Happy Father's Day }

This is me & my dad! Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially the dad to my kids. Love you, babe!

{ Green Field }

I guess there is a lot of green associated with sports. This is a picture of Angel Stadium, taken from our seats way at the top. Seriously, we were the very last row at the tippy top. We took all four kids & even though the Angels lost...boo...it was worth it to see the fireworks show at the end. We had a great time!

{ Green Mr. Frog }

Today's photo for Shades of Inspiration is a paperweight that my almost 13 year old son made for me when he was in First Grade. {Time really does go by too fast!} It sits on my desk so, I see it every day. Mr. Frog makes me smile with all his goofiness. But those nostrils are sure hard to dust out!

{ Apron Giveaway }

Good morning everyone! This adorable apron is the prize for a giveaway that I just entered on the Calamity Jane Cottage blog! I never win anything but, I loved this apron & thought I would give it a shot! Go to her blog & check it out!

{ Green Thumb }

My sister is in town this week & she, my other sis & I have been having so much fun! This morning we went to Roger's Gardens! It is the most amazing nursery! So amazing that every time my sister comes into town we have to go. The green photo of today is a picture I took at Roger's Gardens last year at Halloween time. Wow! You should see this place during the holidays! If you are ever in Southern California, it's worth a visit.

{ Green Court }

Well, the new color of the week has been announced... Green! I had a really hard time trying to find green in my house. Okay, it wasn't too hard since our carpet is green (don't picture 70's shag, yucky green color...picture a nice low pile, sagey, foresty green) but, who wants to see a picture of that? So, I went outside & took a picture of the big green thing in our backyard...the basketball court. Was this the first thing I wanted in my back yard? Not really, but it has been so much fun for the kids (& us). We spend a lot of time out there & it is balanced out by a big, beautiful stone fireplace so I can't complain. Hopefully, I will be able to come up with some fun pictures that will be more exciting than green concrete! By the way, if your interested in joining the fun, click on the Shades of Inspiration button on my sidebar for details!

{ Red Grape Tomatoes }

Here is my last red picture. This is my Little Boo holding grape tomatoes from our garden. She was quite the helper that day. I love seeing her little feet in the background. And if you look really close you can see that her flip flop is in between the wrong toes. I had so much fun participating in I Saw Red week. It was an opportunity to get a little creative & I loved it!

{ Red Fairy Wafflemaker }

Okay, I know it's silly but, I had to include my Fairy Wafflemaker! My sister gave me this little ornament a while ago. She knows how much I love breakfast... especially my waffles! While I was cooking dinner last night, I Saw Red on her skirt & decided she had to be included. Don't you love her fairy waffle wings?

{ Red Strawberries }

I know this is not the greatest photo but, I had to include it because they are the first strawberries picked from our garden. They were delicious! The birds also think they are delicious which means they're getting to them faster then we are! Better hit Lowe's for some netting!

{ Red Mini-Mannequin }

Today's picture idea came from my daughter, Ms. Sassypants. She loves art & was excited with the red challenge & gathered all sorts of red things last night. She set this up & I took the picture.

{ Red Ribbon }

Here is my first picture for I Saw Red week. I will try to post a new one every day. My daughter, Ms. Sassypants, thought it sounded fun so, I may post some of her photos as well. I'm starting to see red everywhere!