If I Was Made Out of Money....

,,,,I would buy tons of Playmobil sets.....for the grandkids of course.

Like this cool school.

And the gym.

 And I couldn't forget the lunchroom.

Or maybe I would get this neat Hotel....

Look, there is even a Bell Hop!

Cool Beans!  I love this stuff!

The children were...

....nestled all snug in their beds...

He Sees

If you are being naughty or nice....

He's Making His List,,,,,

All Boys Love Bathroom Humor...

Can you tell me why?

Happy Thanksgivng

Whatever traditions you celebrate, whatever food you eat, whatever the holiday means to you, I hope you will take some time to reflect on the blessings in your life. Tell someone else how blessed you are; share the love and wonder. 

And don't forget the give thanks to the One who provided all those things. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you from me!

This is what happens when someone brings their colored pencils to work and leaves them on my desk....

I started out just doodling, 

but then decided to try a quick sketch of myself via a tiny hand mirror. 

I look old. 

: )

Happy Halloween!

Finished!

I finished this sweet little Charlotte Lyons sampler today!

Let's Paint!

Lots of things are getting painted around here. 

You might remember that I recently painted my white mantel expresso.  I am now trying to decide what color to paint the living room. I really want coral.  But, I'm afraid since it is such a bold color that it will be overwhelming because the room is rather large.  I might go with a rich latte color instead although the thought of latte makes me feel like I am just playing it safe. 

I've got a blue front door....which I don't really love.  I think the color needs tweaking. Maybe something darker teal. Or maybe coral!

And then there are the faces I painted this weekend with my new set of paints. I love bank holidays and long weekends!

Sunday Random

Why does the skin on my arm look so old?  I'm beginning to remind myself of my grandmother.  Yikes!  What a realization.

Why can't I get more done?  Why does it take me so long to begin and end a project?

Why can't I be a free spirit?  Life would be so pleasing.

Why can't I find an apple green sweater in my size?

What's for breakfast?

These are the things I'm currently pondering.....




Here are a few of my current life rules:

 When bored at work mug for camera.

Get around to painting your mantel according to plan....even if it is 6 or 7 years later.

 Watch adorable 3 and 4 year olds play soccer as often as possible.

Whoop with delight upon finding Little Golden Books for your collection that you have never run across before. Jump up and down when you see their price tags....$3.

Buy a vintage postcard just because you like the colors.

Worry about the house falling down....

Celebrate because now maybe it won't.  (the wood work around the door is yet to be painted...I picked out aqua for the door color....I'll let you know how that color scheme works for me once it's done)

Start  a fun new project to do on dark chilly fall nights while watching the network's fall line up of shows.  Anyone found a new favorite yet?   The Blacklist seems pretty good.

Summer Supper

Some feta cheese and yogurt ranch dressing and I think this is ready to eat!

How about you? Enjoying fresh veggies and fruit this summer?  I'm sticking with my clean eating diet and it is paying off.  I feel so much better than I did at this time last year.  

I look better too!  : ) 

Pint-sized Vignette

I'm loving my kitchen window these days. How about you?  Do you have any special spots in your home that make you happy when you look at them? 

Color By Mother Nature

This photo was taken at a local park, but I'm excited because I bought a pot of these to plant in my flowerbed today. 

Summer Sun

I stopped on the side of the road in Texas yesterday to get this photo. I just couldn't resist.  There is something about a field of flowers that calls my name.

Texas has the best roadside wildflower displays (while these sunflowers were growing in a field near the road, there were smaller roadside sunflowers and purple flowers everywhere we went). Thanks Lady Bird Johnson for your fantastic idea all those years ago.

What about your state? What sorts of wildflowers grow besides your highways and interstates? 

iHanna 2013 Postcard Swap

I can't resist a good postcard swap. Here are the 10 that I will be mailing. 

Go here to see more postcards. 

FaceTime

I'm still here. I'm still drawing faces. Just not as often. 

This was done with Paint and a mouse. Not easy, but fun. Not perfect, but good practice.

Same goes for this one.

I Love to Cut and Paste

I've been working on my cut and paste journal lately. 

How about you?  Do you have a place where you keep images of stuff you like? 

Brrrrrrrrrr!

We had some wet snow in Alabama today!

January Random

Thanks for the Christmas wishes everyone!

BTW, I haven't taken down my Christmas decorations yet.  How about you? Are yours all packed away until next year? If so, please call and come on over....I need help. Family was here until last weekend and darn it....I am just not inspired to do it yet!  At this rate it might just be February before I am ashamed enough to tackle the mess.

Speaking of family, since we aren't often all together I made sure we took photos of ourselves the Sunday after Christmas.  That is my mother and father in the middle. Three of the kids belong to my oldest son, seven belong to my next son and two belong to my daughter. My youngest son's girlfriend joined us this year.

I just started shopping for a new sofa last weekend. I want something like this in a soft gray.

I'm so in the mood to re-do everything. 

Do you Pinterest yet?   I love browsing though everyone's boards. I get so much inspiration from all the photos, recipes and projects pinned.  If you would like to see what I'm pinning you can find me here http://pinterest.com/steviewren/ .

I found this sweet outdoor space on Pinterest yesterday. I'll probably never have the opportunity to build something like this in my backyard....but a girl can dream can't she?

Have you seen this movie?  If you haven't do yourself a favor and go. I love Victor Hugo's story of mercy and redemption. I admit it. I sniffled through the last 15 minutes.

Tomorrow night Rachel (daughter) and I are going to see the Hobbit. Can't wait!

Last summer, I found a new doctor who uses diet as well as traditional medicine to heal. After some tests, it was determined that I had a number of markers pointing towards a Candida Yeast overgrowth.  The reason I made the appointment with this doctor was because I felt so bad....so, so bad. I'd been getting continually worse for a couple of years. Fibromyalgia, pain in my legs, arthritis, lethargy, not able to think as clearly as I had a few years earlier....I typed up a whole page of symptoms I had.

I started the diet which is the only real way to get the overgrowth in check. For those of you who have never done it, the diet is brutal until you get used to it. And getting used to it took about 2 1/2 months for me. It is a very low carbohydrate diet. You are allowed to eat meat, fish, some nuts, eggs, some variaties of beans, anything green, any low carb veggies, lemons, unsweetened cranberries, cold pressed oils and coconut. Drinks are restricted to water and herbal tea. No condiments, no sugar, no grains, no potatoes corn or rice, no coffee, no cokes, no dairy except plain yogurt are allowed.

Here is a link to a site that lists the symptoms. http://www.candidamd.com/candida/symptoms.html You can find many other online sites that might help you understand it, if you think you might have it.

So here I am 5 months later and 60 lbs. smaller. This is the upside of the diet....besides feeling SO much better. The recommendation for the diet is to adhere to it strictly for 3 months. I'm trying to stay on it until the summer. I still have a ways to go on the weight loss. I want to lose at least 40 more lbs., maybe more.

I would show off a photo of the newer and improved me...but the best one I have is the family photo at the beginning of this post.

Creative wise I'm not doing so good, the exception being the granny square afghan I work on while watching television. Between work and having to cook all my meals, thanks to the diet,  I can't find enough time to accomplish much.  That is another reason I love Pinterest. I browse and dream about all the projects I'd like to be working on.

Since this has been a long and random post anyway, I think I'll add a few more random images that I like from Pinterest before I close.

I think this sums up why I'm on a diet. 

No explanation needed. 

You know how I love a face!

Happy New Year from A Little Birdie!