Queen's Cup 2008

Enjoying a great Southern tradition
or as the invitation read this year ~
 
"A grand lawn party~
where the horses are invited!"

13th Annual Queen's Cup Steeplechase

Me and my boys ~

We didn't plan this, but Ethan's best friend Kyle,
came wearing the exact same sweater ~ so cute! :)

Enjoying the Jack Russell terrier races!

Our tailgating neighbors were so cute~
all the husbands & wives matched!

I really went all out this year
because I wanted to enter the 'tailgating contest' ~
I polished my silver, made a table-runner, and even
printed out my menu but was too busy having fun 
and ended up not entering! lol

  Trying to make everything as 'picnic-friendly'
(no utensils) as possible, I made the desserts
in muffin tins and they worked out great!
(I did this a few years back when I hosted a toddler
play group in the Fall and made apple pies like this
and they were a big hit with the children and moms!:)

Kyle and Ethan enjoying a roof-top view!

The boys enjoying the Carolina Raptor display ~

This sweet owl had been hand-fed by some people
(thinking they were helping) which caused it to
  no longer be able to feed itself in the wild,
so it now has to be hand-fed!

This beautiful hawk was hit by a car
and now has a broken wing and can no longer fly.
(The boys were fascinated to hear these stories!)

The children parading around for the hat contest.

I enjoy all the fabulous hats ~
nothing is too grand or too colorful!!
One of these years, I am going to enter!! :)

This woman won 3rd prize!

  This cutie won 3rd with her gorgeous flowered hat!
(my favorite!)

And this handsome guy won 1st ~
his hat was adorable and I was so thrilled he won!

Gorgeous fashions everywhere ~
but nothing compared to the beautiful jockey silks!

$50,000.00 was raised for this year's charity,
Make-A-Wish!
They will be able to grant the wishes for eight
children with life-threatening medical conditions!

I happened to ask one of the 'staff' a question, we started
chatting ~ and she shared why she was volunteering
and about her daughter's wish of being able to
"go to the horse races"! I thought of all the people
I could have asked that question too,
I was able to hear this mom's story
and how this event was making a difference!

The hats and fashions and traditions are so much fun ~

but it's about so much more!

It rained the week prior and was forecast for Saturday ~
but it turned out to be absolutely beautiful!
It started sprinkling as we pulled out later in the day
and rained the rest of the weekend ~
we were so blessed with a beautiful day!

 xxx

 It has been almost a year since I started this journal~ part of me can't believe it's been a year already, another part feels like it's been years! Starting this was one of the best things I've ever done ~ I have learned so much more about adoption, family, friendship and just life.  I know so many say this and it's true ~ I never expected to meet such amazing people and make what I hope are lifelong friends! When we started our adoption journey over two years ago, I spent hours and hours searching the web and absorbing as much information as I could ~ of course that led me to an endless supply of wonderful family blogs! I didn't even know what a blog was or how one went about getting one, but I thought it would be fun to keep one for our daughter as we waited for her! After about two months and many late (very late) nights of blog experimenting and trying to figure everything out (I didn't even know what jpeg or html meant....I probably didn't even know how to 'copy & paste' yet!!) I finally started it in May. It was such a fun time and from there just led me even further into this wonderful world of blogging.

"It's been a long time since I've written~
there's really not much to write as we are in for a unbearably long wait.
I started am online journal! It's called "A Journey To Our Daughter"
and it's all about our family and the wait and anticipation of you!
I hope it's something you will treasure in the years to come."
~ Entry in my adoption journal June 8, 2007

 
I filled it with family pictures and many wonderful memories. I've shared recipes, crafts, vacations, struggles, and joys. I was planning on it being a year, maybe a year and a half-long journal ~ at least until we brought our daughter home. Although it has been a joy thus far, it is still somewhat of a reminder that we are waiting ~ waiting for something that is yet to be ~ when all I have now is what is meant to be. I decided that I am going to stop this blog for now and go live my life ~ I don't want to have what is sometimes to me, a daily reminder that I am waiting. I don't want to look back in 2 or 3 years and wonder what I did with that time, or to feel like I sat around and waited while life passed me by! I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else, and I certainly am not saying this about blogging in general, or even waiting for that matter, this is just my own experience and feelings and it makes sense to me right now and is what I think is best for me and for my family. Yes, I will continue to wait and that wait is just a part of our family right now and that's okay. I know that by not blogging, the wait won't go away but I do know that I don't want any regrets. There is so much I want to do with this time ~ projects, vacations, family, dreams more projects, two little boys to climb trees and laugh with, and a home and family that need endless attention and care. As I was shopping one day recently for clothes for the upcoming school year, holding a little pair of pants for Elliot, it hit me that my baby is going to school in September!! This is the last summer before both boys go to school~ and I want to enjoy every minute of what I'm sure will fly by!
I don't know how much I will post and when ~ I do want to keep this updated somewhat ~ with special memories, maybe vacations and such. I will definitely post anything regarding our daughter and the adoption ~ I will post when our agency gets their accreditation! I will post when her quilt is finished! I will post my monthly Secret Buddy gift! Of course I will post again as we get closer to referral! I don't know how much I will read and what time I will spend in blogland, but I do want to keep in touch as I've come to care about so many of you and your families. If we email, I don't want to stop ~ I enjoy chatting with all of you! Thank you to each and everyone of you that has visited, commented, emailed, encouraged, prayed, supported and cheered on our little family blog. Thank you.


 
"Happiness is to be found along the way,
not at the end of the road ~
for then the journey is over and it is too late.
Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour,
the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good ~
with all of its trials and troubles,
and perhaps more interesting because of them."
~ Robert R. Updegraff

Fresh Look

I mentioned awhile back about making some changes around the house ~ remember my whole "bloom where you're planted" post? It really was a great decision for me and much good has come from it. When I was just getting started, I would sit around and try to figure out what I was going to do to "freshen" things up a bit without spending money. I kept thinking of great ideas~ but they all involved money and lots of it! :) 
It was good for me to really push my creativity and come up with ideas and ways to use what I already had.

I started on the foyer. I think it was about the third day of just sitting and not coming up with anything when I remembered some old chairs I had in the attic that were waiting for a someday makeover. Well I brought the chairs down and set one on each side of the chest in the foyer and ideas just started flowing ~ it was all starting to come together!
I actually had hope for a "fresh look"!

From there, I just went from room to room and did what I could to make it cozier and give it more of a permanent, 'we're here to stay' feel. I moved a huge armoire from our formal room to our keeping room which I like so much better because the bigger room can hold that darker piece better and it just fits the look of the room more. I never noticed how pretty the paneling in the formal room looks because it was always covered by the big armoire.
I still have a few things to do ~ a slipcover to make, a few pillows to sew
and I also have to hang the boys play canopy!


I think one of the biggest lessons for me in all of this was that I was so convinced that everything was where it worked best and there wasn't much room for change.
I love decorating and never tire of reading my favorite home and decorating magazines. I love seeing a gorgeous room or idea and trying to recreate it or make it mine. For this house, I spent hours and hours planning each room and how I wanted everything to look. I would draw out floor plans and write where every piece of furniture would go, even down to where I would hang each picture.
So of course it was very hard to imagine things any any other way than what I had spent months and months planning and how they had been since the day we moved it! I know it's a bit silly and it's just furniture, but I really think this was a good lesson for me that I had to really push outside of what I thought was the best plan and find that there actually was more than one way.

It helped that most of my favorite magazines had some

great makeover and Spring freshening-up ideas ~

especially in the colors I love!

This is probably my favorite and the one

that gives me the most inspiration ~

~ because of photos like this one!

Love this months cover of Charleston!!

We ended up doing a bit more than we originally planned ~ we replaced the plantation shutters for blinds so all the window treatments are consistent and also hung drapes that are better suited for our style home and that made a huge difference!

I'm not gonna show a ton of pictures of all over our house, but I will show some of the changes I made and also the foyer since several of you asked and I told you I would!
 (Sorry for the bad pictures!)

I added the chairs on either side of the chest, the plates and frames beside the mirror, and changed the things on the chest a bit. Before these things, it felt pretty empty.

I also replaced a heavier, darker rug with a lighter Aubusson rug (that was sitting unused in a storage closet) which helped lighten up the space. I'm now using the darker one by the garage door entrance and put two extra layers of padding under both rugs to give them a more plush feel.

I wanted something maintenance free in this planter

so I took a Styrofoam ball and covered it with moss that I already had.

I did find some prints I thought would look nice

but I was trying to be as frugal as possible,

so I just framed some pretty scrapbook paper for now.

This wall was completely empty so I hung this little decorative
shelf that I found in the attic and put a plate on top ~
it looks so much better just having something there!

Like I had mentioned in an earlier post, it was all feeling
a bit formal to me, so I thought instead of using a fancier
fabric for a tablecloth, I'd use burlap!
It has a great texture, which is needed when you have a lot
of lighter colors and it's also less than $2 a yard!


So what if my foyer smelled like a barn for a few days:) ~

I think the birds nest also helps.

You can't really see it in the earlier picture, but I also have

a little motion-activated life-like bird that "chirps"

when someone walks by which is a lot of fun! :)

I need to sew a throw pillow for each chair

and I can't decide between three fabrics~

(I want something a little whimsical)

this toile from Ballard Designs, a lime green & white check,

or this one in the photo below~

I just love the fabric in the photo but I'm not sure I want

to use it for pillows or save it for something more special.

I also love the green & white check,

but so much that I want to sew a dress for myself ~

I don't know about having a dress match my pillows?!

(maybe if I don't walk through the foyer wearing the dress?)

I love the Ballard's fabric so much I could eat it ~

but again not sure if this is the space I want to use it in.

The mirror and collage frame were already there,

but I added the boys birth announcements

and thought it looked more complete.

Helpful tip ~ if you put a piece of Velcro behind each
bottom corner of a picture or mirror, it keeps them from moving ~
these frames are by a door and were crooked all the time!

I scooted this armoire all by myself (since hubby was out of town:) 

inch by little inch from the front formal room to the back keeping room ~

but it was worth it, it looks much better!

This room was another big change ~ I felt like because the boys would hang out in here and watch tv while I'm in the kitchen, I was always cleaning, straightening and fluffing.  So I decided to use the empty in-law suite behind the family room as a tv room ~ 
the boys can hang out in there and any messes made are hidden until I get to it later.

This is the room that is now our little tv room, and although the use of space is working ~ it's not the best looking room.  I was trying to make it look like a daybed/sofa to sit and watch tv from, but it just looks like a bed turned sideways in the middle of a small room.  I took down the mirror and a memo board  and still have to hang drapes.

I took the red & white toile off of our bed and put my new pink and green paisley comforter on and it's a clean, fresh change!  I think a white throw pillow with a pink or green monogram would look great and bring out the colors more!

I found this beautiful settee at HomeGoods on clearance ~
the fabric is a gorgeous silk and is my new favorite reading spot!  
The pillows are from HomeGoods, also on clearance!

I just happened to throw the red & white toile onto a guest room bed and it caught my eye ~ I thought it looked so nice against the dark wood ~ so that is where it stayed!  I had already packed most of the bed linens in our 'almost move' and they are still packed away, but these were left and I thought they looked beautiful with the toile. I made the front pillow shams years ago with this fabric that I just love.

I finally lowered my dining room mirror to eye level and freshened up the top of the buffet.  Faux plant is from HomeGoods, little bird is from here.

Another big change was in our powder room downstairs ~ 

I've always wanted to wallpaper it but felt like I should leave it

as neutral as possible because of trying to sell our home,

and although I still wasn't ready to wallpaper, 

I added some pictures and rugs and a storage shelf similar to the one below

to make it more welcoming!  It was so incredibly plain and blah and although 

it still isn't quite how I want it, the things I added made a big difference!

I did this years ago and use it in the powder room ~
I took a very inexpensive plastic tissue cover box
and covered it with fabric just using glue.

This stool was in my 'tag sale' pile in the garage and I thought
it would work well in the bathroom ~ 
I still want to make a pretty slipcover for it!

I ended up putting the crib in this smaller bedroom that originally was meant for the nursery ~ it was just easier to put back together than take all apart.  It's just minimally decorated, but at least it's not an empty room like it's been all these years.  I'm in search of fabric for drapes ~ in the softest shade of pink.

I love this pillow against the toile!

Simply Shabby Chic pillow from Target.

I have several more things to do ~ work on the boys room, finish the play area, clean and organize my pantries, and many other little things ~ but I've gotten so much done and it's made such a difference in our home!  That's it for now ~

Oh, I don't know if you all remember me sharing about the couple that almost put an offer on our house but decided at the last minute to go with another house "where more children were playing outside"? Well, we found out a couple of days later (this was last fall) that it wasn't in another neighborhood, but in ours, and it was in a house right behind us! Well, I was chatting with a mom at the playground last week and it was her!  She told me at the time she was having a hard time deciding between our house, especially because of my sewing room, and building new.  Then she asked me to teach her to sew ~ it was awkward. 

I later found out, the truth is that she kept coming to our house for ideas, and not to buy. :(