Spring Cleaning, Decor & More!

It's hard to tell that it's Springtime today because it's SNOWING here! Here's what it looked like at 9:oo this morning:
It looks weird having snow on top of green grass!

At least the snow has not eliminated the urge to dust away the winter blahs with some Spring Cleaning! I've gotten some much needed cleaning done today and we've made some progress around the house over the last few weeks. Here's what we've been up to:

The day we returned from Tulsa was nice & warm & Mason got his very first ice cream from the ice cream truck! It's been driving around our neighborhood for a few weeks now (already!) and we finally caved. Of course Mason picked out a huge Spongebob with bubblegum eyeballs. He loved it but wasn't able to finish the whole thing. I tried to get a good picture of him holding up the ice cream, since it was a "first," but of course he wouldn't hold it up right and finally just made this silly face. I have no idea where he came up with this face, but that's the face he always makes when being silly.

A few weeks ago, after getting the new shelf in our office to match the new desk from my parents, I started rearranging all sorts of things & I ended up moving Mason's books from his bedroom into the office bookcase. They are so much easier to get at & I like having his books with ours. It also freed up a lot of space in his room for toys to be reorganized.

This is our Bradford pear tree (what's left of it after the ice storm-It's not too bad though) Early this week we had a tree service come out & top & trim a different large tree in our backyard (one that's right next to this pear tree) and it looks much better. Now we aren't scared of it falling on our fence, storage building or into the precious neighbor's pool. (that's a whole other story! LOL)

I even made (slice & bake) sugar cookies last weekend! In spring colors of course.

Now you won't believe this one. Drumroll please.....
I cleaned out The Junk Drawer! Don't act like you don't have one.
Ours was beyond unruly and embarrassing. I was sick of digging around through batteries, twist ties, tools, broken pieces off toys, etc. So I bought a huge drawer organizer at Walmart, sat down with the drawer and went to town. Here are the beautiful results:

Last weekend I also put away the St Patrick's Day decorations (what few I have) and brought out the Easter/Spring stuff. I was inspired by my friend Sherri and her post about decorating, the blog Southern Hospitality & one of my fave blogs to check out, Bless Our Nest.
I usually keep most of the decorations in the living room area, but Spring pastels don't exactly lend themselves to the RED in my living room, so I mostly decorated the kitchen this time.

The kitchen table centerpiece~I pulled a watering can vase from my baker's rack, a little fern/snail plaque, threw my coaster set on there just because they matched the SLAH tray, and finished it off with 2 little ceramic bunnies that I've had since I was little. (Well, one was mine & one was my sister's. They're now both mine!) Bwah ha ha :)

In the corner~Lots of SLAH (Southern Living at Home)stuff.

It looked a little plain, so I added this ivy & purple flower...

Another corner~a hydrangea arrangement I made years ago (with the tips chewed off from my cat. At the time I was so mad, but now that she's gone, I like it. Weird, I know.) And a little Dept 56 bunny pot.

More SLAH, a (fake) chocolate bunny and the green votive candle is a new one from Yankee~Vanilla Lime (YUM)

Onto the Living Room~ A huge egg candle (There's a blue one just like it on the opposite table)

Bunnies on the the mantle with another flower arrangement (I did not make this one)

A plaque I love with tulip candle holders (have them in green & orange too)

I made this ceramic egg in Kindergarten...

That's it for this extra-long post! Next Spring Project: Getting ready for a Huge Yard Sale! (wish me luck on that one!)
Happy Spring!

Billy Joel & Elton John Concert in Tulsa

We got back from Tulsa this afternoon and we're pretty tired. It was a quick trip, but a nice get-away nonetheless. The concert was A-MAZ-ING!!! It was a huge check off my list of things to do in my life! I was pretty star-struck~I couldn't believe I was in the same room (a huge arena) with those 2 amazing legends!

Headed into downtown Tulsa:



We flew by the seat of our pants and (which is VERY unlike us) and landed at a nice hotel downtown, only 5 minutes from the BOK Center where the concert was. We planned to stay at a cheap shanti since we'd only be there one quick night, but we decided to splurge at the last minute. It was nice to stay within walking distance of the arena and have a nice restaurant and even a Starbucks inside our hotel.


For dinner, we ate at a casual, fun restaurant in Utica Square that was serving (Very) green margaritas for St. Patrick's Day. I had a few of those-I couldn't resist, they were only 99 cents! Then we went back to the hotel and since we had some time to waste before heading to the concert, we stopped in the hotel bar and may have had another margi...Then I started snapping pictures of us in the mirror:


We were really impressed with the BOK Center. It was a huge, beautiful facility.

The 2 pianos floated up from under the stage...

If you know me, you know that I want to take my camera outside and smash it into a million little pieces. This is why:
Elton is on the left, Billy on the right. (Our concert pics suck!)




I cannot put into words how awesome this concert was! Hit after hit-I was singing and screaming for about 3.5 hours, so I was hoarse by the time it ended. Worth the trip!

Bye-Bye!

Leaving for Tulsa to see Elton John & Billy Joel tonight!!!!! Yipppee!!!!!! I hope to share pics when we get back!
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

I spent Friday with 2 boys...

...2 little cute boys!

Mason and I had so much fun watching Tori's (my BFF) little baby James on Friday. He's such a good baby and so snuggly. We each had a few outfit changes after feedings, which reminded me how it is to have a baby in the house, but it was no problem. Mason was such a big helper. Of course I had to put James down long enough to snap a few pictures of him~he's already grown since the last time I watched him a few weeks ago!

Look at his "bear" butt!

Aaaaawwwwwww....

My mom & niece, Chloe' stopped by so I snapped a quick pic of them, too! Chloe' just got bangs and got her braces off! Congrats!

Exciting News!

No, I'm not pregnant. (It's ok~I know that's the first thing you thought)

The Exciting News is....

I'm starting a new business!
I have either gone crazy or have found my calling, I can't decide which. If you personally know me, you probably know that I am a crafty scrapbooker. I also love to paint and since last May, I have wondered if I could/should/would start up a little business (that's almost a year of incubation time!) So I started painting gifts for friends here and there and have prayed over what it is I should do. Well, I'm getting the go-ahead, so here it is...

http://www.fiddlesticksart.blogspot.com/

It's strictly an online business and since I'm just starting out, I will keep it local~serving Northwest Arkansas. I create original and custom artwork on canvas, funky frames, cute door hangers, personalized letters of the alphabet, and some other fun accessories.
So PLEASE visit my site http://www.fiddlesticksart.blogspot.com/ and check back frequently for updates. I will post new items as I complete them, but I will be posting some of my past work there very soon. Let me know if you have questions, suggestions or just a comment. This is both very exciting and scary for me, so anything you'd like to add, I would appreciate!

I Heart Target

First of all...Please pray for little 5 year old Jaxson who is at ACH with kidney failure right now!

My Mom, Mason & I visited our new Target on Friday. It was filled with a lot of great things that I want! I think it's better than the Fayetteville store, personally. It has almost the same layout, more refrigerator cases, and just seemed to have a lot more selection to me. (Probably because it's new)
Anyway, I've been on a quest looking for new bedding for Mason. I can't seem to find what I originally had in mind, but I found a good 2nd runner-up at Target. I don't want to divulge the theme just yet. We are planning to convert Mason's bed from the toddler daybed to a twin bed. He's just so stinkin' big and with his stuffed animals, he gets a little cramped. Plus, since I want to redo the theme of his room, what better time to convert?
I have also been keeping my eye out for a new bathroom accessory set (such as trashcan, soap dispenser, etc.) because I'm planning to paint & redo my front bathroom. Guess where I finally found the perfect set? Target...although I haven't bought it yet.
We were in Target for over an hour and Mason slept the whole time! Naps are rare for him these days so I was grateful.

We are also grateful for the shelving unit that my parents gave us today! They decided we needed it more than they did and it matches the desk they gave us recently. We went & picked it up today and got it installed with the tv on it. I'm trying to figure out exactly what else to put on it. Books? Move some Razorback stuff around? A home for some of my scrapbooks? I'm not sure yet.
(oops, should've turned the tv off!)

Mason found a little spot to crawl in and lay down just long enough for a picture...

And since I haven't posted any pics of Mason's obsession with vacuums in a long time, here's a few of him (one with my grandma in it) from a few weeks ago:

Look at the knee bends-he really gets into it!

God was watching over this little girl...

Did anyone catch this story on the news tonight? Amanda in the video is my Sister-In-Law. She just moved into the house that the girl went to and was thankfully able to help her. It's too bad about her dad & sister. I was so saddened when I heard about this, but thankful to God that Wayne's sister & family were there so close to be able to help her. Please pray for the Harp family.

What we did this weekend...

We pretty much did NOTHING on Saturday & Sunday. I, thankfully, have only had a few mild pains here and there, so I don't know whether I already passed the kidney stones or if they are still to come. (yikes) I did pick up my pain meds on Friday just in case I needed them over the weekend.

On Friday, Mason & I rode around town doing errands with my Mom. I had a terrible banging headache most of the day, so that really sucked. We stopped in at the Promenade Food Court so that Mason could ride the New Orleans Carousel! I hadn't heard anything about it (because I live under a rock) but my Mom told me that it was saved from Hurricane Katrina and refurbished. I wonder how it came to live here...? I'll have to google it & get back to you! Anyway, It was the highlight of the day! It was really beautiful and the antique cash register they used was amazing as well. They had it recovered in copper, brass, and nickel and it has more buttons than you can imagine. If you're at the Promenade, go check out the cash register and of course the Carousel!






I was surprised to pull back the curtain on Sat morning to find this:

So we just spent the weekend at home. Not that the weather would've kept us from doing anything if we had wanted to, we were just kinda lazy and too cold.
Mason played with his road mat and we watched the movies Cars & Finding Nemo about 3 times each! We just joined the Disney Movie Club and got 4 movies for $1! He is loving them! (and so am I)

It was a crazy day today...

It all began when I started having lower abdominal pain about 3 days ago...

Day One: Why am I cramping? It's NOT that time right now. How uncomfortable.

Day Two: Hmmm, maybe I have an ovarian cyst. I got an ultrasound (perk of working at a women's clinic!) and yes, I indeed have a small cyst but nothing to get worked up about.

Night Two: My lower back on the left side only is Really hurting. My lower front side is Really hurting. I am now in severe pain that radiates around my left flank. I'm poppin' ibuprofen like candy, pain lets up, I'm good for the night.

Day Three (Today): Pain while getting ready for work and has become severe by the time I drop Mason off at my parents'. Drive to work in SEVERE pain and am in tears by the time I arrive and state to anyone that will listen that I need to see a Doctor!
Pee in a cup. Have Exam. Discuss with Dr. what might be going on...

Diagnosis: Kidney Stone!

Sent to Regional for an IVP (contrast injected thru IV to show up on x-rays)
Wayne picks me up, we fill out paperwork, get bloodwork done.
Wait for THREE HOURS!
Then I have x-rays for about an hour & a half.
They will call my Dr. the results and he will call me.
Eat lunch at 3:00pm.
Forget to swing into the pharmacy to pick up pain meds. (good one)
Pick up Mason.
Get call from nurse saying that the x-rays showed nothing!
Ugg.
The nurse assures me that my symptoms are "classic" for kidney stones and that maybe I had already passed it/them. OR...they may have been too tiny to see on the x-ray and I will still have to pass them sometime soon.
Will get pain meds in the AM!!!
Wish me luck!

Ready for Church!

I took a leap of faith (pun intended!) last Sunday and took Mason to church with me!
I used to take him with me all the time when he was a baby & I could hold him and he'd take a little nap during the sermon (those were the days!)
Well, I tried to take him about a year ago and he had separation anxiety at that age, so I'd drop him off at the nursery and I'd get a page about 10 minutes later that he was screaming & crying. So after trying it a few Sundays in a row, I gave up & started leaving him at home with Wayne.
Well, I started thinking the other day that he is bigger & understands so much now that I could & should try to take him again.
He did awesome! I was so releived when I got through the first part of church with no page.
Then the sermon was over and still, no page.
Then we were taking communion, and still NO PAGE! I was thanking the Lord for everything!
When I went to pick him up, he was sitting at a little short table just his size with 2 little girls, eating goldfish crackers with his own dixie cup of water. It was so cute and it seemed like he was in school or something! The teacher said he did great and looked forward to seeing him again. I will be taking him again next Sunday and I might even try to send him up front in "big church" to the Children's Sharing Time before sending him on to the 2 year old class.
What a big boy we have! It's bittersweet...

Catch-Up Post

You may have noticed I haven't been feeling very bloggy lately, so now I'm going to play catch-up! Here are a few things I wanted to share...

Mason had a check-up at the Pediatrician last week. He's healthy and on track with most everything. He is still in the 95th percentile for his age group in height and weight (no surprise to us!) He weighs 37 lbs and is 40 inches tall!!! He is so big & heavy to carry, but I still do it because he's my baby!
Dr. A told us we needed to stop giving him milk at bedtime (oops-I knew that!) so that he wouldn't get cavities and to start a routine of teeth brushing before bed. (I just let him brush his teeth kind of hit & miss before) So we have started that and Mason is really into it. I bought him a new toothbrush and some toddler training toothpaste (safe to swallow) and he thinks he's big stuff! Here he is tonight before bed...


On another note:
The other day, Wayne's Mom, Clova stopped by to see us and brought Mason this huge red dog! His name is Floppy and Mason just loves him and his Grandma Clova!

Lastly,
My parents got new (BeEEEaUtiFuL!) office furniture, so you know what that means~ New desk for us! (we got their hand-me-down desk) Yippee! Our office has looked pretty pre-marriage your-stuff-and-my-stuff-crammed-in-a-room-together for a while now, so the new desk is a real upgrade. I'm really enjoying all the workspace. (see below) There's talk that we might also inherit a nice bookcase that will shelve our tv...:)

More to come, but that's for another post!