Slap a Buffalo

Last Weekend, after our garage sale, we headed to Chicken Town because we were going on vacation to Branson, MO with my parents. Between A-Town and Chicken Town is a Wildlife Refuge. When we aren't under a time crunch we like to drive through it because it is very beautiful and you just might see some wildlife. Imagine that.

About half way through we spotted this guy all by his lonesome. He was very friendly and didn't mind at all that I was taking his picture.

This photo gives you a better idea of how far he was from us. I would estimate about 20 feet or so.

As we drove on we came upon a herd. Now, this wasn't our first time to make friends with a herd of buffalo. And since we know their friends I figured they wouldn't mind us taking their picture either.

And, of course, they didn't. But while I was snapping pictures of friends of our friends, Husband started yelling at me.

I didn't like it.

So to shut him up I looked at what he was freaking out about and, lo and behold...

...I started freaking out to.

Yes, people, that's a buffalo headed straight for that suv.

Now, the people in the suv aren't stupid. They've started inching their way forward out of the path of the buffalo.

And then it all started to become clear. The buffalo has no desire to lick the people in the suv. (cause, you know, buffalos LOVE licking people in suvs.)

He just needed some help...

...from the speed limit sign...

...to reach that spot...

...right behind his shoulder...

...that wouldn't stop itching.

Ahhhh. That's the spot.

But now his friends in the suv are leaving.

Sad.

And he didn't even get to lick them. =(

When we told our friend, Tobias, about being super duper ridiculously close to a buffalo, he said...

Hehe. Should've slapped him.

Right.

Because that's what everyone does when they get close to a huge, wild animal.

SLAP!

Bridget

Flying on a Jet Plane (or something like that)

So, last weekend, Husband and I took a little vaca with some friends to go visit some more friends. It was fabulous and wonderful and glorious. (Husband with our friends. I was actually across the isle with a total stranger. Luckily, she was small and slept the whole way.)

I haven't been on a plane in 10 yrs.

I was a little nervous.

But all is well and I am now home with my crazies. (Bear is watching me type this. I first typed 'babies' instead of 'crazies' but he said that 'babies' embarrased him. 'Crazies' was much better.)

=)

Bridget

Striking Gold on Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's Day Husband and I got to have a little weekend getaway. Hubs had a company party in The City on Saturday night so we left the crazies with the rents in Chicken Town and booked a hotel.

We stayed at The Colcord in the heart of downtown and within walking distance to our party. But we didn't have a weekend of leisure in our sights. No sir-ee. We had plans. Lots of them.

And they started with getting to the hotel as close to check-in time as possible and taking a nap.

Not kidding. But that was because we knew that Sunday was gonna be busy and we needed to be rested up. And because I love naps.

And the whole loving naps thing isn't something I grew into upon becoming an adult or mother. Nope. The story goes that when I was little I would actually ask if I could take a nap. I was brilliant even then.

But back on point. I was on the hunt for some transition tops. You know, the kind that can work layered in winter and alone in spring. But I had a few guidelines they must pass. Like: not form fitting. They could skim the body but not hug it. Also: nicer than t-shirts. Must be able to dress down with jeans and up with slacks. And finally: must be cheap.

I started out at Banana Republic. Love that store. I always head for the sale rack first. Cute stuff, but none cheap enough or exactly what I was looking for.

Then I headed to Ann Taylor. When we lived in Montgomery, TX the mall had an Ann Taylor Loft which was much less expensive. But my only options on this day was good ole Ann Taylor. I was not expecting much.

But surprise-surprise! I hit the jackpot! Not only did they have a HUGE clearance rack (the only thing I even looked at) but EVERYTHING in the store was an extra 30% off! I didn't realize this till I was at checkout because I assumed that they surely wouldn't take an extra 30% off their clearance stuff. You know what assuming does, right? Well, nothing really in this instance other than delaying my sheer excitement when I realized I was going to be practically stealing these tops!

I tried on 13 different tops and settled on five. I'm only showing you the three that were the biggest steal because it takes a long time to put photos on the blog and I'm lazy.
This top is so cute. It's a creamy white with slightly pink undertones.

And I got 30% off the $29.88!!!

If you don't trust me and want to see the tag for yourself you can click on the picture to make it bigger. What I'm trying to show you is that the top layer of this shirt is 100% silk. I love silk. Especially on my curtains, but also on my body. I'm loving all the ruffles this year. And the length of the sleeve is perfection. I have long limbs so this is something I have to be aware of.

Why in the world would a gray top that could possibly look like a sweatshirt with ruffles be $155? That Ann Taylor is either full of herself or... ...it's 100% cashmere!!!!!! If it wasn't dry clean only I would likely wear it everyday. No, this doesn't actually meet the guidelines I established earlier. But you should know that I am usually cold ALL. DAY. LONG. And therefore, tend to cover up with a lovely fleece pullover. I thought this beautiful creamy sweater would look much nicer than the pullover when I'm wearing all my cute tops. And I was right, btw. Don't you just love the rhinestone clasp? Another steal. I practically floated out of the store on a cloud.

I haven't struck gold like this in a couple of years. It felt good.

Bridget

Doing Double Duty

Have I mentioned that we live in a small house?

Remember - six people in 1200 sq. ft.

Things are tight.

However, the problem-solving and creative solutions thrill me.

Seriously.

Ask Husband. He knows that when I'm sitting in a room and it appears that I'm doing nothing, if you look really closely you can see the faint cloud of smoke coming out of my ears and know that the wheels are turning.

Things have been in a bit of an upheaval lately. As you know, Husband started a new job with the new year and now works from home. We set up his office in our bedroom because he needed a quite place to work and since the kids and I do school in the dining and living room that really was the best place.

Except:

It made me crazy.

Not kidding.

Along with our small house comes a small master bedroom. About 12x12. And since the small bedroom comes with a small closet we have to have a dresser in the bedroom. We already sleep on a full-sized bed to help everything fit and now we are adding a desk and chair. Ugh.

Basically, since Jan 1 the room has been arranged four different ways. I just could not get comfortable in there. And I know that some of you are probably thinking, "You rearrange your house all the time. What are you squawking about this for?" Folks, I don't rearrange the same room four times in 60 days. AND before we added the desk to the room it had been the same way for over a year. I was loving the setup.

And honestly it wasn't just the master bedroom. The whole house was feeling out of balance to me. Bobo's bedroom was just Bobo's bedroom.

Huh?

You see, every bedroom in our house does double duty except Bobo's. Princess' room is also the guest bedroom. Popeye and Bear's room is also the play room. Hub's and my bedroom is also his office. But Bobo's bedroom was just Bobo's bedroom. I needed it to do more.

So Husband and I started brainstorming possible solutions. Maybe we could move his office back into the 'batcave' and he and Bobo could just share the space. Husband doesn't bring clients into his office so it looking like an eleven year old's bedroom wasn't really an issue. Or maybe we could work our schedules out so we could put the desk back into the living room. Then the kids and I would do school in the morning and Husband could makes phone calls in the afternoon. Except, have you tried keeping four kids in one room of a house and quiet when it is cold and rainy for days on end?

Right.

Suffice it to say, none of our ideas where feeling quite right.

On Saturday we took a family trip to L-town for a little shopping. Bear needed some new jeans and Husband had a new suit to pick up. We decided to try to think outside the box while we were shopping and hopefully come up with a solution to our master bedroom/office problem.

It wasn't until we were almost home from our shopping trip that Husband had an idea. He wasn't really sure if I would like it and it did take me a few minutes of thinking it through before I loved the idea.

His idea was:

To move our schooling into Bobo's room.

Yes, really, that's it. But when I let it marinate in my mind it's brilliance was evident. You see, our school supplies are located in the hall closet. I have to get everything out and bring it to the table for school and then put it away when we are done. If I forget something I have to pause and leave the table to go get it. While I didn't realize this wasn't the most ideal situation, I guess I just figured it was my only option because of the size of our house.

Not any more.

Sunday afternoon Husband helped me rearrange everything for our new classroom. It works brilliantly. The desk is big enough for two of us to work at at a time and the shelves directly above it are big enough to keep everything within reach. We did school today and I NEVER HAD TO LEAVE THE DESK. Nor did I have to get everything out first and then pack it all away after.

I am loving this.

Of course, now I must paint the room. Right now three walls are a dusty dark blue. I'm thinking a light, bright green. And we are considering changing Bobo's twin bed for a full sized futon. That way we can use it as a couch during the day and Bobo will have a bigger bed at night. We've already found the one we want. =)

We have our master bedroom finally set up in an arrangement that I can live with. We solved that problem by removing the slipper chair we had in there (it's in the living room now) and putting the desk in it's place. Now the room is practically the same way it was before it inherited an office just with a desk instead of a big chair.

And now the house feels much more balanced to me. Every one's bedroom is doing double duty.

Just as it should be.

Bridget

It's February!

People!

It's February!

And it's been over a week since I last blogged!

And there's really no need for me to keep writing individual sentences and using exclamation points!

But I can't seem to stop!

Kidding! =)

Seriously now. After Ice Age 2010 blew in we were without power from the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 28th till the early morning of Wednesday, Feb. 3rd. Thankfully my parents in chicken Town had power and cable and a willingness to let us crash with them. We ended up staying with them until Friday the 5th because Hubs had work in the area and there was really no reason to do all that driving back and forth.

And unfortunately some people in our area are still without power.

However, we are really glad to be home now and getting back into our routine.

I have some posts scheduled for the rest of this week so come back often. And Princess' room is still under construction but I have hopes to have it mostly done by this weekend and fully done by the end of next week.

It's pretty awesome!

Bridget

Ice, Ice, Baby

Last Thursday we were visited by a winter storm. A big one.

Wednesday evening we drove to Chicken Town because Hubs had some appointments in the area over the next few days. He didn't get to have any of those appointments. Thursday morning it hit.

However, we are so glad we came up here because we only went without power for about 2/3 of a day. A-town is still without power.

It's day four without power for the whole town.

And it doesn't look like it's gonna be back on for another day or two.

Yuck!

Friends and family are staying warm with wood burning fireplaces and gas heaters and stoves.

And it looks like we'll be in Chicken Town for a few more days.

Bridget

The Princess Room Pt. 3

After sleeping in on Sunday I asked Hubs to help with my plan.

I had borrowed The Home Book by House Beautiful from the library. It is fabulous! And in it I found an inspiration room. It is actually the front foyer of the house, but the wallpaper instantly spoke to me. I decided to copy the look, while tweaking it for Princess' room. (it's on page 198, fyi)

First, I measured the wall and found the center. After marking the center at the top and middle trim of the wall I then marked 1 foot marks till I got to the corners. Luckily, the two walls I was painting in Princess' room were 10 ft long so it worked perfectly with no left over wall space or hard math. =)

Then I used some ribbon and a straightedge to draw lines from one mark on top to it's coordinating mark on the bottom. (the mark that was four over from it) and did this till I had a diamond pattern on the wall.

I will say that this is much easier when two people do it together. Thank you, Hubs!
After all my lines were drawn I then used a foam roller cover with a rounded end to stamp pink dots at all the intersections. After they were dry I used a very small artist brush to paint over the lines with brown. It took 1 1/2 hours to do one wall but I love it! And Princess is totally worth it!

I also painted the ceiling pink. It is amazing the effect a painted ceiling has on a room. A real "finisher".

I must say that Princess wasn't real excited about the changes till the pink was put on the walls. She's been sleeping in with her brothers and is really ready for things to be done. However, I couldn't finish it all in a weekend and our new mattress still hadn't arrived yet so I wasn't in a huge hurry.

Bridget

The Princess Room Pt. 2

So after the prep work on Friday, I got up Saturday morning ready to go. I first got the trim painted. It went from red to chocolate brown. Yummy.

After the second coat, I peeled off the tape and tackled the top part of the wall. The golden beige wasn't gonna work so it became 'cashmere white'. Then the lower part of the walls became 'rice paddy'. It is a very yellow green. The pictures bring out more of the yellow, but not much.
I also painted the inside of the closet 'rice paddy'. I plan on hanging curtains for doors but a girl needs a great closet, no?!

We have standing plans with friends every Saturday night so I had to stop here. I didn't mind really because I was crazy tired. But things are still a long way from done....

Bridget

The Princess Room Pt. 1

We bought a new mattress.

Finally.

You see, for the past two years we have been sleeping on a mattress purchased by my MIL at a second hand furniture store. We have a memory foam topper with a feather topper on that, but it's still not great. More often than not, Hubs and I wake up achy.

So, since we are getting a new mattress (and new bed rails for it to sit on) we decided to give our full size bed to Princess. This way, when guests come to visit (mainly my sisters) they can sleep in with Princess and Princess won't have to sleep on the floor or in with Popeye in a twin sized bed.

It's brilliant, really.

I've really been wanting to redecorate Princess' bedroom and decided that moving things around for her 'new' bed would be the perfect time. (Some of you avid B6 readers are thinking "Haven't you already decorated Princess' bedroom?" the answer to that question is: yes I decorated her bedroom, but then we played musical bedrooms and now she is in what used to be her brother's bedroom and Popeye and Bear are in what used to be hers.)

Remember: this used to be a bedroom for boys. Hence the color choices.
First before. I actually remembered to take pictures before I started taking everything apart. =)

I took pics from every corner of the room so you could get a very detailed view of the hideousness that my daughter has been living in.

It is so bad that I have absolutely no motivation for cleaning it up. This was how it was looking most of the time. And, no, I don't let my daughter play with power tools. Those were for me.

Last corner pic. The red leather chair came out of the batcave. When we moved Bobo in there we didn't have room for it so Princess got it. It made finding fabric interesting because her favorite color is pink and so I had to find something with both pink and red in it.

But don't worry! I found something perfect! But you're gonna have to wait for it.

So, Friday night (actually a week ago from last Friday) I got everything off the walls, everything moved into the middle of the room, and the trim taped and prepped for painting. Then I went to bed.

Bridget

Snow Tubing

Sunday afternoon we got together with my Mom's side of the family for Christmas. We spent the afternoon snow tubing in Bricktown. Here's the gang getting our 'ticket/bacelets' on. Princess checking hers out.

This is my cousin Whit snuggling her 3 week old Maggie Beth.
Here's my cousin Bryce (Nana's only grandson) helping Bobo get his bracelet on. Bobo also rode to Bricktown with Bryce.

Dad and Kara waiting in line. I have other pics of the gang in line but I feel weird about posting pics of people I don't know when you can see their faces so I'm not posting any of those pics cause you can see the faces of people I don't know and I don't know if they want their picture posted. =)

Oh, how I love my mom. She rocks!

The three amigos. Popeye, Princess, and Brown Eyes. He belongs to Whit and is six months older than Princess. They are best friends.

Brown Eyes with his tube.

Popeye with his tube.

Princess with her tube.

Almost there!

Aunt Rita (Brown Eyes' Grandma aka YaYa, my mother's older sister) went first so she could be at the bottom when the kids slid down.

Then it was Popeye's turn.

Then Princess.

Then Brown Eyes.

Then Hubs went.

Then John, Brown Eyes' dad, went but I accidentally deleted the picture I took of him bc I had only opened my new camera that very morning and still wasn't at all sure of what I was doing. Sorry John!

Then I went but no one was left to take my pic and there was no way I was gonna hand my new camera to some stranger. No way.

After we slid down I went to the bottom of the big slide to try to get some pics of the other members of our group while everyone else got back in line.

This is Mom on the far right and Aunt Abby (mom's oldest sister) in the middle lane. The big slide line went much faster bc there were four lanes to slide down. So the taller folk got to slide many times while the little guys only got to slide twice bc that slide only goes one at a time and the tickets are only good for one hour and things moved much much much slower. But the little ones didn't seem to notice or mind. They were having a blast.

But back to Mom and Abby:

This is the best pic I have of Bear. He is celebrating bc he won the race. I forget who he was racing.Mom and Kara after their slide down the big slide. Mom is in focus and Kara isn't. I'm still learning, but Hubs said he liked it this way. I decided to camp out at the bottom of the little slide to get pics of the little ones sliding down. Hubs decided to camp out with me and then after a bit, Bear joined us. What else are they gonna do to pass the time? Here's Bryce again. Yes, girls, he's single. Popeye came down first. Then Princess. Then Brown Eyes. Then AJ. Then Bobo. Then Aunt Rita. And just a reminder: All these pics were taken with my new camera while the subjects were in motion! I love it!

And what do you do after a busy afternoon of snow tubing? Well, you eat ice cream of course... While the adults sit a spell... And the bigger kids admire fountains... And try to pose for mom's picture while poking and pushing each other. It was a wonderful afternoon!

Bridget