I wanted to get these up here so you can see what Mark got for his B-day! He’s already received and unwrapped his present, so now I’m not spoiling the surprise… lol

We made life-sized posters of the girls for him, so he can see exactly how big they are! Caitlin colored most of herself in, and I colored in Jay. Aren’t they cool? 😀

Hey now! Check this out!!! Cowpainters Custom Painted Fiberglass Animals Page! See anything familiar? Neato frito!

Now I’m off to paint ALLLLLL DAYYYY!!! Hope you have a good one!

It’s complete!  Remember that nice photo I took from the anniversary bouquet that Mark sent?  Yep, the painting is done.  I love it, it turned out so beautiful I had to close my eyes and type out the listing!  Here it is, available on eBay. 

Thank you for the beauty-full flowers, Mark!   :)*

Good morning!  I have a few “progress photos” to share today.  I didn’t take pics of all of my band-aids, and I’ll just leave it at that.  😉  This view above here is for all of you who have never visited the Mississippi River before, yep, it’s the Mighty Mississippi.  You know how folks say “it’s only a hop-skip & a jump away”?  Well the MM is literally just a hop from here!  Skipping and jumping is optional upon arrival.  They have a beautiful parkway (when it isn’t submerged) with a bike path, I took the girls down there this week when I had a bug fogger going off in the house.  (iew, bugs.  bitey bugs.)  It was a gorgeous day, obviously a few other folks were enjoying it as well.  🙂

I finished drywalling the family room, taped most of it, need to mud it and get the cabinets in there.  I also put a floor down in that space, and will cut the carpet back further for a few more tiles in a fun half-circle design.  Here are a few shots of what it looked like the other day…

Drywall Completed

this is what’s going on that wall…except for one piece I found space for after I drew this out!

The Entertainment Wall

The old living room carpet is gone, bye-bye old yicky carpet!  Guess what was underneath?!  Yes, tile, but really old tile, and the kind that needs to be treated before you go walking on it barefoot or anything.  So I treated that on Thursday night and yesterday morning.  Blechy fooey on uncovering more problems with every project!  Dagnabbit!!  (I can whine just a little bit can’t I?  I mean it’s just me doing all of this, and I’ve been really good about not cussing like a regular construction guy would be..lol)

Now I do need to get the baseboards painted in the living room but I HAVE to take a day (or two) off from this.  It is making my mind warp in ways that just plain hurt.  I took it easy yesterday, believe it or not, and only painted the part of the baseboard around the entry way so I could get the new floor down in that area, well then I thought heck, I may as well paint the door too, so I did that.  (Someone smack me!)  Here’s a teenie little preview of what I did yesterday and what it’s going to look like with the new carpet:

I do believe I’ve caught you all up with the past few days at my house, sans the really pitiful me that sat and moped and got weepy over missing my hubby so much…not to do the work, but just for me to rest my head on after I finished.  He knows how much I dig these projects and what a tomboy kinda gal I am, the only thing I ever say “I can’t do that” about is getting up on a ladder – and now I’m doing that too.  I miss my man.  9 months to go.

BTW, I haven’t updated my weight loss progress in a while.  I’ve lost 42 pounds now.  I have 21 pounds to go to meet my goal, and 9 months to do it.   Hm…that’s about 2.5 pounds a month, and I’ve been averaging 8.4.  Not too shabby, I’m actually quite pleased with myself since I’m down 3 sizes (6 if you count by 1’s, lol), fitting into things I haven’t worn since 1997-98.  Even found my favorite jeans, Levi Silver Tabs that I loved so much and have been looking for for years – in a bag of my “don’t fit into these anymore” clothes – pulled them out and they fit really nice, and they’re a Junior’s size!  I love it when that happens.

Ok better get moving for the day.  I hope you all have a beautiful, calm, sunny weekend!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Grab your coffee, come outside with me I have to show you these!!

Just your average day here, I was working away on clearing out the mess I made, getting ready to clean carpets when all of the sudden,
someone stopped by! You can imagine my surprise, I mean it’s not often a celebrity like this just pops by and waits for you, you know? We were all so excited!! Squealing and being giddy, just your average girls here. 😉

Yes that was our excitement for the day!

Here’s a lovely I photographed yesterday morning after giving my babies a little misty drink. See my baby refreshed!

**I’m adding these from my morning coffee break. Enjoy!!**
Soaking up the morning sun 🙂
More lily blooms
Morning footsteps on my rooftops!

Oh alright, enough with the break already. Get back to WORK WORK WORK! Yes, the insulation is ALL DONE. Old stuff out, new stuff in. Area is taped off/sealed, carpets are so clean I hate to replace them, and now all I need is someone to pick up 6 sheets of drywall for me. Ooh yea I was going to call Lowe’s and see if they deliver for free. Yep, then I can drywall, install cabinets, a little floor, and bing-bang-boom, we’re ready to go (rip the rest of the room apart!)..hehe!

Ok have a great great Wednesday! I can actually kinda relax a little today before I move all of the furniture. Hip hip hooray! ;D

Hiya folks!

Hm I am absent far too much lately. I had some chaotic days Friday and Saturday, and after the chaos continued the home improvement projects.

First, it looked like this.

A little while ago, it looked like this!

Now, it looks like this!

Back to work!

Hope you are all having a GREAT weekend!!!!!

xoxoxo

p.s. Erikie dared me to post this pic for you to see! Ok, I have a fetish, and it is belly buttons. I know I know, wierd. But they are symbolic to me, very cool and cute. I look at my girls’ buttons and think about how much I love that they were connected to me for 9 months through that cute little “scar”. So mom, this one is for you, too! (Humming the tune “Memories” for you)

So anyhoo, it’s not obscene or anything, and I will probably paint it! Just as soon as I get this daggone room done! LOL!

I have to be nuts!

First I have to show you this, This is the closest you’ve probably ever thought you’d see a bug like this. hehe, I had to do it. Don’t be scared, we think they’re really cool, and I bet Mark will give it a big old “cooooool” too!

I started out the morning with the intention of painting this, prepped the canvas and everything (12×16 in case you’re wondering). Somehow things changed though, when I returned the call to Carpetland and they said they’d be here on the 15th to tear out my old carpet in the living room. Installation then is scheduled for the 19th. Well I got to thinkin’, umm… I have to move all the furniture out of the room, and keep it out of the room for 4 days. Ummmmm….. ok.

I sat down with Caitlin and asked her what she thought the best plan would be for us for the day. Me to paint in the studio all day, or both of us clearing out their playroom (wall to wall TOYS, TOYS and more TOYS!). She opted for clearing out the room! Eek!

Next step, call the cable company and get another cable outlet hooked up on the back wall where the TV will go. I planned on turning the playroom back into the family room/toy storage/play area anyway, this just pushed things along, as usual! The cable guy will be out tomorrow between 2-5. Ummm…..ok. He couldn’t even REACH where I wanted the new cable to go, so then it was really one of those “I have no choice” programs. Now this wall of closet space will become a wall of base cabinets with countertop, and the TV will sit on the counter there. My brother-in-law is going to come out to tell me if the interior closet walls can be torn down ok (don’t want that ceiling caving in on me while I stand there with a sledgehammer saying “oops”!), meanwhile we have nearly the entire contents of the playroom in the garage.

I did start the wall treatment today too, and will finish that up tomorrow. No rush, right? LOL!

And I have to show you this, my beloved piano, because Erikie asked to see it. Yes I can play! I’m no expert pianist though! I will have to show you my viola some day too.

So who wants to help me move my piano tomorrow?

Oh yes, a shameless self-promoting plug if there ever was one… I am FULLY STOCKED WITH CANVAS! Many many assorted sizes, down to itty bitty totally cute 4×4’s!! I am going to be painting up a storm, so if you ever wanted one of my paintings, I’ll have a great assortment of sizes, which means a great assortment of prices. If there’s something in particular you wanted to have please please please now (right here, click the little linkie that says to ‘leave feedback’ or ‘chat with me’, or you can just e-mail me), ’cause once I get going you might not see your request for a couple of months.

YAHOO! Got all that out. Now OFF TO WORK I GO! Again! I love being busy!

😀

many xoxoxoxoxoxo’s to you all!

p.s. danke’ Erikie for the cool “me”! :)*

Hey there!

Our fireworks were incredible. I am in the middle of cleaning my studio right now, rearranging things so that I can work more efficiently and stuff, but wanted to pop in and drop this off for you all….

Grab a half hour, some popcorn, a sodee pop and a speedy connection!

Watch my fireworks with me & the girls! The grand finale brought tears to my eyes. It’s the highest quality video I could muster up, great sound too!

I will be back later to share pics of what we did yesterday.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July, remembering what the day really stands for while you ate some funnel cakes and/or hot dogs!

xoxoxo

I’m alive!!

What a week! After finishing Toronto Swampy, my father-in-law came over and helped me pack the giant frog. The rest of the day Monday was just keeping busy stripping wallpaper in my living room until the trucking company arrived. I sent him on his way in the middle of the afternoon….in a giant truck! (Thanks, Roadway!!)

My niece came over Monday morning with my father-in-law, she’s been staying with us all week and it’s been a lot of fun! The girls helped strip the wallpaper, and once that whole thing got going it just catapulted me into redecorating mode. We used to have this nice nautically themed living room, but now, ooh-la-la, it is very nice! In fact, Here’s a glimpse, Mark’s portrait now hanging on the wall, and this is a sample of our new carpet that will be installed on the 15th of this month!

See, when I start a project, I can’t stop until it’s done!!

I picked up a couple of bargains, a new navy swag for the front window, a couple of new end tables that were a total steal and matched my mission style couch table thing.

Between stripping wallpaper, removing wallpaper adhesive, cleaning the walls, painting them, and keeping the girls entertained in the pool etc… it has been a crazy week! I think I’ve been on my computer less this week than ..um…I ever have been!

I did finish up the two kitty portraits, I was waiting for final approval to sign them so they are still a little tacky and I’ll ship them on Monday…er…Tuesday since the Post office will probably be closed Monday! Dagnabbit, I forgot about that. Dom will also be shipped with them, so I have some paperwork to do to get them ready.

I’m working on another website design too, which has been keeping my brain active and spinning. I ordered a bunch of canvas to go with my 42 new tubes of oil paints, and I am going to be painting new pieces like crazy! I am on a mission, I have a goal, so be prepared to come back often to see what I’m doing! I am going to launch with adding a couple of prints to what is currently available, and listing them on ebay – a couple of them will be limited edition.

To end the week, I lounged in the pool for 10 minutes! Woohoo for sitting still! ;D

Then I got out of the pool and took some fabulous pics I wanted to share with you! Ready? Here we go! I’m going to leave these full size for you, it’s just not the same shrunk down to nothin’.

Full Moon
Yellow Rose
Remember Me Rose
Jayden
White gerber daisy
Bug on my truck
The girls
Empty nest
Squirrely Eating

One more addition…the girls (Caitlin & Stacie) performed for you all…
this is a long movie, please keep that in mind on dial-up connections 🙂
Caitlin & Stacie as The Chin Twins

Aah it feels good to get all of those off my chest! I hope you enjoy them, I am having so much fun with my new camera!

I hope you all have a fun fun 4th of July fireworky type of day! Don’t forget to put your pups where they can’t hurt themselves, those fireworks really make them freak out!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

xoxoxo