The Thorn in My Side

A few days ago, I was writing a description of myself for a feature on my shop at another blog and I said I was a lover of all things with a history. That, I thought was true--until I was reminded once again of The Beast.

You see, for years now, I've always had to compete with The Beast. And most of the time, I've won out over her.  But there have been several times when I've lost, as well. She is my husband's first love... and when I call her The Beast, I'm not being mean. No. Rather, I'm using the same term that Jesse uses when referring to her- his 1977 Jeep Cherokee.

This thing is the one and only thing he still owns from his bleak era of bachelor living over a decade ago. About 5 and a half years ago, The Beast was Jesse's main form of transportation... until her transmission went out. At the time, Jesse was working at Youth for Christ, we had a child on the way, were living at my parent's home, were about to buy our first house, and were beyond poor. There was no way we could shell out the $1000 that she needed to be repaired.

I'd been trying to get Jesse to sell her already, but with her out of commission, he felt that no one would pay what she was truly worth without repair. And there she's sat. In our backyard. For years. Being neglected. Being used for storage since we don't have a garage. Being a ugly pile of junk to keep the kids away from as they play in the yard. My thorn in my side.

Jesse quit working for YFC, but we had another baby and he went back to school. We had yet another baby and he's still in school. And when the tax rebate rolled in this year, she finally got some attention... well, sort of. Her transmission got some attention, but Jesse still had to install the new refurbished one, work on some of the exhaust, etc. Well, she finally started up yesterday. And he's off getting her tagged and ready for the road once again.

And me, am I lamenting that his first love is back in our lives on a more day-to-day basis? Well, I'm working at it. After all, I am a lover of all things vintage. So maybe her title needs to be The Vintage Beast... so I remember what she is. And maybe some of these things, will help me remember to love her more, too.

My chair still waiting to be upholstered.

My couch waiting to be upholstered.

My rocking chair... wait for it... waiting to be upholstered.

These things keep my attitude in check about The Beast.

Happy day, Jesse! I'm happy to do a jig and rejoice with you that she's up and running again. And I'm sure you'll help me with my upholstery projects next. Right?

Pumpkin Spice Latte Weather

I'm craving it. It's not here yet, but he'd better be here by the time I return from Florida, or you're in big trouble, Mister! Do you hear me?

Have you heard of the color of yet? You type in a word or words and it layers photos from flickr to create a custom color for the text you entered. You must give it a try. Must! Go waste 3 minutes of your life right now and then come back and finish this post!

Alright, now that you're back half an hour later, go take a look at these pretties I found on etsy! I'm certain I need something from here to get ready for autumn!

What's on your to-buy list for this season?

Have a Terrific Tuesday!

The Butterfly House

We finally made it over to the Butterfly House at Botanica today. Yes, we have a membership. And yes, it's been open most of the summer. But I don't do hot well. I get migraines easily enough that I pretty much avoid all triple digit weather. So, I don't know why I thought today was a good day to go other than we had no plans and the kids have been begging to go.

I was told that there was a volunteer working at the Butterfly House. But I also noticed there were signs posted all over the place notifying us that because of the heat advisory, they were giving most of their volunteers time off. Let's be real honest here, we've had heat advisories most of the summer without letting volunteers off. It's because school is in session and there's no longer big crowds of kids all over the place. One more reason to go today. We can deal with not having volunteers around to help.

The kids had a great time looking at butterflies. Cruz was mesmerized with all the flitting creatures above his head. The kids liked looking at all the Chrysalises and lamented the poor dead ones pinned inside the case. They worried that perhaps a few of the dead ones might be theirs they let go there over the spring.

 They colored pictures and when Diego was done with that, I taught him how to get a butterfly to climb on his finger.

 He loved it and Cruz was very happy to get a closer look.

Then Eliana ran up and scared it away.

She's every bit as wild as her brothers. (At least when she's with us... don't let her shy demeanor around strangers deceive you!)

A Better Momma

That's what this girl makes me want to be.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I'd found a book that I'd forgotten I'd purchased. This is it:

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic

A completely wonderful and challenging read. And super fast! It was written by a stay-at-home-mom of 5 kids five and under so... you know it wasn't going to be lengthy! Cause she has about as much time to write as I have to read. Perfect match.

Rachel writes for a blog, too. Here's the most recent one I read. Go, and be challenged!

Have a blessed week!

For my little jumper

This boy loves to jump.

I discovered it while we were hanging out in the pool this summer. Once he discovered the buoyancy of the water, he spent the next hour jumping. So, a couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to hang out at my cousin Jennifer's home. Jennifer runs a home daycare... she's pretty awesome with kids. Anyway, Jennifer had a jumperoo and we stuck Cruz in there and he had a ball... for over an hour! He love it and I decided we needed one of our own.

Now, when I had Diego, we'd picked up one of the jumpers that hang in the doorway, but soon discovered that all of the woodwork in our home was too wide to accommodate it and so, the bigger kids have never really had a chance to use one.

So, I knew I was going to need a free standing jumper... my awesome cousin, helped me look for one online and we found this thing for super cheap. Ew! Stored in a garage for I don't know how long and um, yep. That's a cat in the picture, too. Not that I have anything against cats but it doesn't scream "Look how clean this awesome jumper is!" to me.

Anyway, this week I dissected the seat with the kangaroo fabric. Scrubbed long and hard with disinfectant.

I got rid of the nasty kangaroo teethers and replace them with some wooden beads because I think it gives a vintage feel.

 Reconstructed the seat using vintage fabric. Recovered the springs. And whala! We now have a jumperoo  that I feel okay having in my house!

And a little guy who will finally be happy when I make him stationary while I cook. Which is a big bonus! Now, off to make zucchini bread!

Hooking up with Gingerbread's Sweet Saturday-- go check it out!

It's Almost Here {and Friday Favorites}

And I'm just now realizing it. All my school curriculum has arrived in the mail. Yes, we have another couple weeks until we official start our home school year off, but since we'll be on vacation for one of those weeks, that means that I've got about a week to get myself together so we're good to go when the day comes.

Fortunately, I found this weekly family planner printout from Emily Anderson this morning! Thank you, Emily, you've saved my unorganized hide! We will pull together and get things written down now. I put a different graphic in the corner that doesn't require my printer to have color ink because it rarely does and even when it does, it doesn't work well.

I've decided I need to do this to one of my school room walls so that paperwork can easily go up and down depending on the day.

(source)

The kids have really been interested in maps recently. 3 year old Eliana can pick out Florida, Kansas, and Oklahoma on a map already. I've lost count of everything Diego's able to find. This thrills my heart because I taught more than a few 5th graders who came to me still not knowing the difference between a city and a state. I love these ones and think I'm going to get them.

In the meantime, I've stuck up some things that were free... stuff I had when I was still teaching 6 years ago. They were from World Market. The alphabet one's a bit torn, but I thought it added to it's vintage look, so I didn't fix it.

I do realize that most of the world around us has already started the 2011-2012 educational journey. But what can I say? I love summer break! But I love school too, and am looking forward to this year. Here's a few things that come to mind for me when I start thinking about school.

I get very nostalgic when thinking about school. Do you, too? What are your favorite things or memories from your school days? Any particular things you love that screams school time to you?

Have a Fabulous Friday!

Silly Picture Rewards

Diego and Eliana have been so good about letting me take pictures of them for the Etsy shoots we've been doing in order to get the shop up and running. But honestly, with my point-n-shoot camera, they get tired. It's slow. They move before it's actually snapped the photo and I have to take another one. Eliana likes to be paid for her time if goes on for very long. I give her a few pennies and she's pleased. Sometimes, when she's really in the mood for some money she'll suggest taking pics. Ha! The girl loves money--what can I say? (Actually, she doesn't really "get" what money's for because I usually use my debit card... so maybe she just loves putting stuff in her piggy bank.)

Diego, he's got a different idea of a reward. He loves to take silly pictures. His idea is let me take a few serious shots and then follow it up with some silly ones that he decides he wants to take. Today he wanted one of his new toy- Hiro. We went to Barnes & Nobel today because he had a gift certificate burning a hole in his pocket and of course, a train is one of the first things he thought about getting. He also was able to buy a book and some pastels (some serious messy art fun is in store for us). Thank you, Andrea and Bill!

Introducing Hiro (I think he's Asian-- can trains be different ethnicities?)

And then when he was done with that, he wanted one of us sticking our tongues out. Oh boy! I love this boy and his ideas for fun pictures. He makes me step in front of the camera with him... and although I'm terribly self-conscious about it, he makes me have fun with him. He brings such life and joy to the family and he makes my heart swell!

Hmmm, didn't notice the white spot on my shirt until after this photo... smells like toothpaste, which means I went  to the book store like that. Awesome.

Joining up with Embrace the Camera today-- go look at all the others and then go out in embrace the camera, too!





Hey, in case you haven't heard yet, it's the last day of the re-opening sale at my Etsy shop... visit my facebook page to find out more info about it.

Keeping Busy

I decided to make freezer jam because of this post (and because I was out of the kind of jam the kids will eat... it was serendipitous). Strawberry Mango, to be exact. Yummo!

And Bierocks (Runzas for all you NE people) because I had cabbage I wanted to use up. Does everyone know what those are? I don't think most people in San Antonio knew when we lived down there. This is not the recipe I use, but it'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about if you're not familiar with them.

And because I was already making bread dough for Bierocks and the Strawberry Mango Jam was begging for it. I made a couple of loaves of bread, too.

And I've been getting a few new pieces ready for the Little Vintage Me Shop.

Including this Kansas Centennial Tablecloth and Green Pearl Necklace. 

I didn't list them the first go around because I had to convince myself that I should sell instead of keep them.

(Buying vintage for my shop can be a dangerous and slippery slope for me.)

And now, I need to clean up all the mess from the aforementioned things. It is no small mess. And I still need to put a weeks worth of clothing away, too. But after that, I hope Jesse will come home when I'm done with everything and we will have time to take this thing for a drive. (At least around the block-- I'm tired of being inside.) No, it's not ours. Yeah, I wish. It's a rental while our car is getting fixed... so I'm gonna have some fun with it while I can!

What have you been up to recently? I'd love to hear! Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

The Little Plaid Dress

For a long while I had quite an aversion to plaid. I attribute it directly to my momma's love for plaid and being made to wear plaid as a child. But by the time I entered my twenties, I had found a new appreciation for it. My wardrobe, however, shows little of this love... I'm determined that won't be the case for long. With fall weather upon us (I hope, please?), it's the perfect time to start thinking about all the fun fall friendly plaids that are waiting to be worn. Who knows, I may find a few plaid dresses for Eliana so I can begin her path to loathing plaid before she can love it again. (Or maybe she'll have more sense than I and always love it.)

Go take a look at these pretty finds. What do you think? Do you love or loath plaid?

Linking up with Life Made Lovely:

Open for Business!

Little Vintage Me Shop is open! Yeah, and thanks! I'd love for you to take a gander around and tell me what you love. And just for you Wichita, KS area folks... if you'd like to pick up an item instead of paying for shipping, convo me, and we'll work something out!

Don't forget to check out LVM's facebook page for a 15% off coupon code for the store! Have a Fabulous Friday!

Date Night {and a Sale-abration Winner}

After a long day of sick kids, Jesse and I are cuddled up on the couch watching a chick flick for an impromptu date. Just what he wanted to watch, I'm sure. But he's a good sport. We finally ate dinner at 9, too! I am praying for health here soon, it has made getting things ready for the Etsy shop re-opening challenging... but it's coming along!

 

 Here's the winner of the $20 shop credit as per random.org :

Congrats, Michelle! E-mail me and I'll give you the details. For everyone else, Little Vintage Me Etsy Shop will open at 6pm central time tomorrow! If you don't yet follow me through facebook, do it now so you can get the coupon code for the Sale-abration.

Hooking up with The Anderson Crew-- go take a look at others who are choosing step Embrace the Camera this week:

Hello, Once Again

Thank you all for the support you've shown the past couple of days! You guys are awesome and make a girl sure feel great!

The past couple of days, all of my babies have decided to get sick... well, Cruz got it first and he's pretty much on the mend.

You can tell that he's been on an antibiotic for 24 hours in this pic... much happier baby. Yes, this is his 4th ear infection in 9 months. Yuck! I sure hope he doesn't have to get tubes, but I suppose it's better than constant ear infections. We'll see.

Diego has spent more time on the couch than anyone...watching movies. "People who are sick get to watch as many movies as they want." Okay, fine. Whatever makes you happy. However, it does not make him happy  that people who are sick have to take daily naps. It's a give and take.

And Eliana's fever reached 104.1 today... at which point I flipped a bit and called the Dr.'s office and was told that it may be a wrong reading but try to bring it down with a bath. We also now have an appointment at 9 in the morning tomorrow. (This will be our 4th visit in a month between well check-ups and illness... we like our pediatrician, but sheesh!)

I've been getting things ready to list in my etsy shop. Here's a picture from a few weeks ago that I took of Eliana while she was helping me display wares. I love that silly girl! Speaking of my etsy shop, have you signed up for the $20 credit give away, yet? It closes tomorrow evening, so get yourself over there to sign up now!

One last thing, I have a friend whose little boy is fighting for his life right now. Would you please pray for Jude and his family with me? Thanks to my prayer warrior friends, I know you will! And I know that God is able to do something beautiful through Jude's life to glorify Himself, which I know his mama and daddy want desperately. Lord, let Your name be lifted high!