"My House is a Wreck!"

Hi! I am Elizabeth. Things have been happening pretty fast in my life! I
just married Mr. Right, became a stepmother to two fabulous kiddos, and had a
new baby- all in the last year and a half! Add a couple of moves and my 36th
birthday in there and you will understand why I am feeling the need to record
this crazy stage of our lives! At least now I can come back and read about it
someday- I know I won't remember! Oh, and keep in mind that I while I am posting
the good memories and high points of our daily life- my house really is a wreck!


Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Around Here...


Well it only took from August 28th until last week for us (Don)  to put together the wagon that we bought for John Stephen for his first birthday!  We have perfected the Art of Procrastination around here!  Once we got her all put together we went for a spin around the yard!  I think he liked it!


And we also have been running around outside looking quite dapper in my brother Rafe's "heirloom" sailor coat!  Everyone knows that I love classic baby clothes, and they aren't easy to find these days!  We feel very blessed to enjoy such a beautiful coat!

And, we finally took pics for the Christmas Card!  It took an Act of Congress to get all three kids here and dressed at the same time.  Not to mention how hard it was to get all three looking happy-smiley-cute at the same time!  This is not the shot I chose for the card- that I will save for later!
And in other news...
-We took Pax to his FIRST Razorback game last weekend!  Hogs beat LSU!  It was fabulous and FUN! 
-Wondering if Hogs will go to our FAVORITE city (NOLA) for the Sugar Bowl??
-Great Birthday for me- #37!  The best part was that I had gotten confused and thought I was turning 38 until a few days before!  So, I feel young now!
-I have been scraping wallpaper for a few weeks!  The hall bath is looking pretty!  I'll post pics soon! 
-Put a tree up in Sydney's room and John Stephen thinks it is MAGICAL!  He loves it, and I love that!
-Went to mini storage this afternoon to get Christmas decorations, and lost my keys inside the very messy hoarder paradise! It started to get dark before I uncovered them and was able to drive home!  CRAZY!
-Going on a two day adventure to Little Rock/Hot Springs.  Hope to get to shop a little- haven't started Christmas shopping yet!! '
-Had my Traditional Pre-Christmas Emotional Break Down this morning while trying to get to a meeting, digging out from under four baskets of dirty laundry, surveying my disgustingly dirty house, and my cranky baby, and very cranky husband!  Whew!  Glad that's over!  Things are still a little nuts here, but I feel the LOVE! 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Wishin' and Hopin'

OK, I know this is selfish, but I have been thinking about a few items that I would love to see Santa bring down my chimney this year!  And, since my Mom and my Husband both like ideas...here are a few things I like for my two loyal readers!
These are Merrells, and I like them because they are easy to slip on!  I always find myself in yoga pants, a fleece and white socks when I need to run to the grocery or to drive carpool, and my little black slip on tennies look terrible!  All I can see is the black shoe/white sock thing, and I hate it!  OK, moving on...

The Kindle!  Now $139 on Amazon!  This is AWESOME!  I can read a book at home in my small, little town that has no bookstore whenever the mood hits!  I can see myself on lazy Sunday afternoons just downloading a great book when the boy is sleeping and being able to upload titles that my friends recommend to be in my lineup! So cool!
LL Bean Tote- I want a BIG one for taking sheets and towels to the lake!  It doesn't need to zip.  And I don't care what color!  A classic!


There are a few other items on my wish list, but I do not have photos...
-an address stamp with my new address
-a noise maker to drown out a certain someone's snoring!
-and a REALLY long gold necklace/pendant.
- an INA GARTEN cookbook- Isn't she awesome??

And that is all I have come up with so far- isn't it enough?  Hope you have started your wish list!  Just in case you were wondering, we are not really doing well on my HOLIDAY ORGANIZATION PLAN.  I'm not really shocked.  I am going to slam it into gear next week, and have my scheduled nervous breakdown in two weeks- right on track!  But I have been doing some home improvement projects that will be featured ASAP!  Have a good weekend!!


 

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Free Range Chicken

Things have been so crazy around here that I almost forgot to post pics of our Free Range Chicken!  I was calling him a Funky Chicken until we tried to wrangle him for a couple of pics before the Thursday night Halloween Party- that is when his true identity as a Free Range Chicken was revealed to me! 
There is a neat parade in our old neighborhood that we went to again this year!  John Stephen's buddy was there!
Lots of kids come and they have games and fun stuff for the kids all along a beautiful street.
We caught up with Sissy bobbing for apples!  The Raggedy Ann costume won "Best Costume" in John Stephen's age group!  It was soooooo cute!
Free Range!
Sydney the Vampire with John Stephen the Free Range Chicken! 

Tuesday Night Lights?

Well, the seventh grade football season is over.  The team was 2-2-2!   Every Tuesday night we went to watch the games, and we usually had quite a crew!  Don's mom went to almost every game- that is commitment for someone who just turned 81 years old!  Tons of family members turned out to support the team and to cheer Pax on!  Let me tell you, this family takes their sports seriously!  

Paxton played Tight End and Defensive End.  And he occasionally played Quarterback.  We were all very proud of him, and the last couple of games showed that things were really starting to "click" for our boy! 
You can see in the huddle that Pax is quite a bit taller than the other seventh graders- They come in all shapes and sizes! 
Getting a drink after playing both offense and defense!  It was a good season.  Pax had an interception, and a fumble recovery that were highlights for us!  Now we are taking a break from athletics for a little while.  I think he is going to play on the church league basketball team which is sort of low key.  Now we can focus on school and fun! 

Monday, October 25, 2010

It's gonna be a BIG week!

Happy Monday!  It is going to be a BIG week around here!  We have Mother's Day Out, 7th Grade Football, Parent/Teacher Conferences, Kids out of school for Parent/Teacher Conferences, Halloween Party at the Country Club, Halloween Parties at school, a BIG high school football game Friday night, a birthday party, and Halloween Parade! Shew! I'm tired just thinking about it!   John Stephen is going as a Chicken!  It will be cute!  I just worry that he will be hot- the costume is furry and the high on Sunday is 79*!

John Stephen doesn't have Parent/Teacher Conferences, but if he did I feel like they would suggest we work on his table manners! 

Do you watch Pawn Stars on the History Channel?  Don loves it!  Anyway, I keep forgetting to mention that Don has borrowed a nickname from that show for John Stephen- BIG HOSS!  It makes me laugh so hard!  He is big, but he is soooo sweet and cute- not at all BIG HOSS material!  His wild streaks are showing though, and this week I have found great comfort in ELMO!  He has saved me a couple of times!  The funny thing about John Stephen watching Elmo is that he will STAND on the sofa and watch like he is mesmerized!!
I will be back soon with some pics from Halloween! 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Sometimes...

Sometimes John Stephen has to RUMBLE!  He gets antsy, and he NEEDS to GET OUT!  The signs are always there- sweeping items off of the coffee table, ripping pages from his books, turning the tv on and off, getting in the trash can and pulling out trash...You get the picture! 
 And, when those times come upon us, we are glad that we live very close to a little park!
 Daddy joined us on a little outing recently- good to have another "swinger"!
 Too little for the teeter totter!
Have a good day!!

Dirty Little Secret

Last night Don took the big kids to the high school football game.  I wanted to take John Stephen, but he is hard to control these days!  Without a stroller I wouldn't have a prayer!  And, sadly, the stadium is not stroller friendly!  So, after I pouted about being left behind for a few minutes, it occurred to me...John Stephen goes to bed at 7:30...Then I would be ALL ALONE...with NOBODY to clean up after, cook for, or supervise...HMMMM. What would I DO WITH ALL OF THAT FREE TIME? 

OK, this is a TOTAL REDNECK recipe!  It is not really something you want to serve at an elegant dinner or take to a party.  If you have ever made this Apple Dumpling Recipe then...YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK!  So I prefer to shroud my preparation of this little dish in secrecy!  It's not good for my image! 
Ok, so it's easy!  Just peel and core 2 Granny Smith Apples,and cut into 8 pieces each. Then roll them up into crescent rolls, and place in a greased casserole dish. Melt 1 cup of butter, and add 1and 1/2 cups sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour over the dumplings along with 12 oz of Mountain Dew! (I know, yuk! And, sadly if you buy a 2 liter bottle you will have some rowdy kids for the remainder of the weekend-it is like crack for an 8 year old!)




Then you put it in a 350* oven for 35-45 minutes. I got the recipe off of All Recipes, but it is on a million websites. After putting it in the oven you will want to look around to see if your baby is ok with that bowl on his head!



Then, I suggest you put the baby to bed, and take a bite of this wonderful, redneck, concoction!  YUM!
So there it is, True Confessions on the blog!  A Dirty, Little secret that is really a good fall dessert!  And kids love it! 

Friday, October 8, 2010

A Little Birthday Dinner

This is a short little post, but I wanted to post a pic of my "Tablescape" for Don's Birthday Dinner.  Now, if you are related to me and you are wondering why you didn't get invited to this Birthday Dinner, it is because I planned it two hours before we ate it!  And, really, it was just supposed to be white chicken chili chased by a little Chocolate Praline Torte!  Since Don was celebrating his 45th in Canada, we had to just celebrate upon his return.  And, since I was pretty sure that he would not want 45 candles on his cake, I decided to make this little cake bunting!  You may have seen them on the Internet lately.  Several blogs I read have shown cakes with these little cuties, and I thought- "I can do that!"  The pottery is sort of a local obsession in these parts- made by Mississippi and Arkansas Delta Potters- I mixed McCarty's, Peter's, and Miller's Mud Pottery.  It works for almost any casual occasion, and I love it.  The leaves are from Williams Sonoma.  The bunting is scrapbook paper taped onto some gold ric-rac and tied to a couple of bamboo skewers!  It was fun setting the dining room table on a whim!!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Two Years Ago...

...I Got Married!  YEA!  It was a LONG TIME COMIN"- at age 34!  I was really glad to have finally found my "Mr. Right".  Since we were a little on the older side, and a big local wedding seemed a bit much, we headed down to the Big Easy with about 100 of our nearest and dearest and tied the knot!  It was a really fun weekend and a perfect way to begin our lives together!  Happy Anniversary, Dear.  I love you!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Thinking about Christmas

Well, every year I plan to do my Christmas shopping early.  I dream of having everything wrapped and under the tree by the first week in December and then spending the rest of the season baking cookies and singing carols!  I imagine a season with no stress and  peaceful candlelight church services!  In my perfect world, not only is my shopping done early, but I also have thought ahead about my "party clothes", and each event we attend is easy and stress free with outfit, shoes and accessories ready to go!  Ha!  Dream On!  My typical routine is to still be shopping the week before Christmas, still be wrapping the gifts on Christmas Eve, and to be running around trying to find something to wear while my husband sits in the car waiting for me to hurry up for each event!  WHY?  Why do I do this to myself?  And my family?

So, this year I need to change my ways.  I have a Christmas Party at my house the second week of December, and a trip out of town the first weekend of December.  I have to be bringing my "A" game in order to not embarrass the family!!  And, let's face it, I have John Stephen to think about- I cannot continue this craziness!  So I am going to really try to to do better this year! 

1.  Make a list of all gift recipients and their gift ideas.
2.  Buy all of the men something and quit agonizing about the perfect gifts for them.
3.  Plan to buy some clothes in November for the Holiday season
4.  Order personalized/monogrammed gifts early for a personal touch
5.  Make a hair appointment for the week before Thanksgiving
6.  Christmas Cards/ AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! 
7.  Plan with family and get our family stuff on the calendar before things get crazy!
8.  Do a little cooking and freezing early!!

A note on the Christmas Cards:  John Stephen is growing so fast that I feel like I need to take the Christmas Card photo in November or early December so it will be current. But I really could get it over with and ready to mail if I would take the pic early. Oh, what to do?  I really wanted the Christmas tree in the background!  Also, since we have moved for the millionth time I should put our new address on the card and get them out early so that we can get some cards here!!   

Welcome to the mind of a crazy person.  I realize that these types of thoughts in September are not rational or normal, but if I don't get it together now then we will be right back in the same routine!  I always feel like the perfect gift is going to come along at the last minute! I just can't pull the trigger!  Oh well, that is how I was when shopping for houses, and husbands too!  Better late than never!  I'll keep you posted!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is my husband Don's Birthday!  He is 45!  He is celebrating his big day on a goose hunting trip in Canada!  Don is not one of those fanatics who lives to hunt and who spends all of his free time in the woods, but he does like to hunt a few times a year.  And he likes to spend the rest of his time with me!  He called me from the lodge tonight and we got to visit for a few minutes. I sang "Happy Birthday to You" in my best Marilyn Monroe impersonation!  Just Kidding, but I would have if I had thought of it.  He is on this trip with my Dad and my Dad's dog, Horton.  They are having fun and got 117 geese just today!! 

Don's nickname since elementary school has been "Big Daddy"! Tons of our friends call him "Big Daddy"!! And since he is 6'4- it just works!  I NEVER call him Big Daddy unless I am joking around!  But in my best Marilyn Monroe singing voice I just want to say..."Happy Birthday, Mr."' Big Daddy", Happy Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiirthday toooooooooo YOU!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Greetings from the Land of Cotton

Well, it is cotton picking time here in Arkansas!  And since I come from a "Farm Family" I thought I would share some pics of my cottontop in the cotton!
 We had lunch with my brother Rafe today and then we went out to the farm for a quick look at the cotton.  Something about a field of cotton makes me feel connected to all of the generations of my family that are now long gone.  And it also makes me feel like Scarlett O'Hara after the War of Northern Aggression-  "Cotton oughta go sky high next year!"


I meant to get some cotton to put in a big bunch on my breakfast table, but I forgot my clippers!  Shoot!  I made a wreath of cotton one year and it was really pretty- maybe I need to do that again this year! 

There are a lot of things in my area of the country that aren't really pretty to look at.  We have a lot of poverty, trailer parks, bad perms, architectural blunders, BUT we have miles and miles of breath taking cotton fields and bean fields and rice fields.  And they are so pretty that they make up for the other stuff! I'll be back soon with some pics of our favorite 7th grade football player! 

Monday, September 6, 2010

So Long Seersucker...

Bye Bye white shoes!  Summer is officially over, at least in the world of fashion.  Too bad it will feel like summer here in the South until at least October!  Hope you had a nice Labor Day Weekend!  We had a great time at the lake.  Maybe one of our best weekends yet!  We ushered in football season with a win for the Razorbacks!  Pig Soooie!


As you can see, we had things set up in "high tech redneck" fashion for the big game!  Since we were expecting a big crowd, and everyone wanted to be outside with the grill and the PERFECT weather, we put the TV outside under a tent!!  There were kids playing everywhere, people throwing the football around, and tons of yummy food coming off of the grill!  The outside TV was a perfect setup!

Pax and Syd had time on Sunday morning to play a little wiffle ball! 
And, John Stephen had some fun swingin' and watching the wiffle ball game!  Good weekend, great friends! 

I hate to say goodbye to summer, but the busy fall has arrived!  Time to shift into overdrive!!  And I guess I need to buy John Stephen some clothes since I made the mistake of buying tons of seersucker for the summer, and now I have to pack it away (like any good Southern mother)!  Toodle Loo!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's Been Too Long!



Hello Blog, I have missed you so!  The technical difficulties have sent me OVER THE EDGE!  I bet you could hear my cussing tirades at your house!   It has taken way too long to figure out what was wrong with my photo uploader, and I am still not sure if I have figured this thing out!  But, I have missed blogging lately!  And there is so much to catch you up on!! 
As you can see, John Stephen had a big birthday!!  Yes, he is ONE YEAR OLD!  I didn't do a "party" because my Mom told me it would be OK not to.  And because this house isn't ready for the debut that it deserves.  So I got a cake from Wal-Mart, 15 blue and white balloons, and we had a little Sunday afternoon celebration with the Grandparents and some of our siblings.  Perfect!!  John Stephen got way too many toys, but he had lots of fun!  I'd also like to say that I found myself remembering the 23 hours of labor and the C Section on the big day, and I have concluded that I didn't get nearly enough attention for the whole ordeal!  I know, I know, you are thinking that I am not the first person to ever give birth.  I will probably be one of those mothers who tries to make their child feel guilty for their difficult delivery-OH No! Did I mention he weighed 9 lbs and 2 oz?  Well, he did.  And he is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me!  Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

The small cake in front of the birthday boy is called a "smash cake"!  This is a new concept to me, but it did make serving the real cake easier, and I thought the petite cake looked cute with the giant ONE candle!  Oh, and I made the birthday hat!  Isn't it funny?  Just put fabric on a cheap paper hat and attached the ruffle and pom pom!  Honestly, I could have done a really cute hat if I had thought about it before an hour before the big candle blowout moment!

We barely had time to straighten up the house before the party since we had spent the weekend in the TRAILERHOOD!  Don was dying to get up to the FEMA Dreama since we have stayed here working on the house for the last several weekends.  John Stephen is very advanced and has now decided that he is old enough to drive the boat himself!  It is hard work keeping him occupied for several hours on a Party Barge without falling overboard! 
But, we did have the kiddos contained for a few short meals on the deck!  This is John Stephen and his cousin who is 8 months old!  I swear I would feed John Stephen anything he wanted to get him to sit still for 5 minutes!  We are enjoying milder weather, and it is back to reality here.  We had our first day of Mother's Day Out today.  What a milestone!  I thought about crying after I dropped John Stephen off and then I decided to go shopping instead (ALL BY MYSELF)!!  Woohoo!  Hope you are having a good day, too!  Be back soon!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Technical Difficulties!

I have been having problems with Flickr's new photo uploading setup, and the stuff I spent weeks trying to learn is all different now! BOO! So while Don has been flipping channels between two of the worst movies I have ever seen, I have been trying to figure this thing out! SO here goes- hopefully this will post as a nice large pic of John Stephen dining topless in his highchair!

Fraternity House Project!


Lambda Chi 002, originally uploaded by mrsmills1.

Maybe this will be a larger pic?!

Just Hanging at the Fraternity House!


Lambda Chi 001
Originally uploaded by mrsmills1
Well, I had a very busy week! There is a Fraternity in Fayetteville ( I won't mention their name, but I like to call them the "Lamb Chops" behind their backs) that I have helped in the past with some of their interior design delimas! Basically, I work for cheap and they go through furniture really fast! I have a long relationship with the "Lamb Chops" and they are a really neat bunch of guys! So when they called this summer and asked if I could do a spruce up of their living room I was thrilled! We were working with an extremely limited budget since the fraternity had quite a bit of maintenence to do this summer. And, I knew it would be hard to pull this off with all of the moving and crazieness here. But, I went up to my old stompin grounds on Thursday and whipped this Formal Living Room into shape. I think it looks great- kind of clubby and "Ralph" as in "Lauren" (hopefully, the spot on the wall has been aimed at the shelf by now) I had a great time working on this unusual project and am feeling inspired.
Sorry the posts are slow coming, just as I am getting back in the swing around here, I am having technical difficulties! I am not good at computers and everytime they decide to switch something around it throws me for a loop! I have tried to load these pics for three days! And I am not sure how they will look when they post!!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Hello! From the Trenches!

We are still unpacking! And all of these boxes are SUCH a PAIN! John Stephen has taken to biting them! We took a HUGE load to the dumpster over the weekend, but we still have so much to unpack! If I hadn't moved so much in the past few years, I could have been featured on HOARDERS! I am resolved to take a carload of clothes to Goodwill tomorrow!


Pax and Syd have been here this past week! They have gotten along famously! Really! We didn't have cable the first two days of their visit, and it nearly killed them. And Don. I guess they could have gone outside to play, but it has been 103 degrees! None of us have wanted to go outside at all!!
And, in other news, WE HAVE A WALKER ON OUR HANDS!! He is motoring everywhere!
The new house is all on one level so it is easier to keep an eye on John Stephen now even though he is walking- I never knew how hard stairs were with a baby!! You can see some background of the new house in these pics! Sorry, but I am not ready to do "the big reveal"!! My blue/grey cabinets have not turned out to be the color that I dreamed of. Of course, I only decided this after the painters had been here for two days! So now I am stuck! I may do a glaze over them...We will see!

We had a few surprises after we moved in the new house. First, our refrigerator wouldn't fit in "the hole"! Not only that, but most refrigerators in the world would not fit into "the hole"! After one weekend of going to the garage each time I needed a refrigerated item, I was ready for any fridge! Heck, I'd take a DORM FRIDGE! SO, I marched down to the local Sears and bought the only fridge that they had that would fit! Now we have a lovely mixture of Black, White, and Almond appliances- I know you can't wait to see:)!! But, I am a patient girl, and I will wait patiently on the kitchen of my dreams! Here is Sydney doing the Happy Dance after our fridge got here! As an eight year old, you can imagine how many times Sydney got sent to the garage to fetch the milk, cheese, etc....


The second big surprise we had upon moving in our new digs was that one of the two AC units was KAPUT! I know you are wondering how an interior designer/realtor could mess up her paint color AND buy a house with a bad AC! But, we bought the house "AS IS" and gambled! The AC worked when we were looking at the house, and well, the blue paint is still a mystery! I loved the swatch on the wall! My skills are a little rusty, but we are very happy in our new house! Hopefully I can reveal a room soon for your entertainment!!