Shopping the House

For a while now, I've been looking for a sideboard, buffet or cabinet to place next to the dining room table in our kitchen eating area/dining room.  When we built our house three years ago, I told the builder that I didn't want a formal dining room because when I had one before we never used it.  It just sat there looking pretty.  I considered it a total waste of space. 

Last week in a small little furniture store in the next town, I found a cabinet I liked but it was close to $800.  I couldn't figure out a way to justify that purchase, especially since I'm not bringing in any income currently.  When I was working, I would have just saved up the money and bought it but remember, I'm married to an accountant, it's hard to rationalize a random large purchase with him. HA!  I still love his little frugal ways though. 

This is the cabinet I really liked.

The cabinet has the same detailing as my table.  It would have been the perfect match.

Instead, I thought about the old antique armoire that I had in our office.  Mr. H has always wanted it out of the office because our office furniture is black and it didn't match but I had no where else to store it.  It was getting flimsy because it was so old and I had moved it a total of eight times after I got divorced and tried to get settled in a house.   I had bought it for $80 at an antique store here in town from a sweet elderly man that owned Forbes Antiques.  He told me that an old woman had owned it from the time she was two years old and when she sold it to him, she was 92.  It is numbered on each wooden piece and put together with wooden pegs.  As much as my tastes have changed over the years, that antique wardrobe has been a mainstay.  It has always matched my dining room table and been in the same room until this move. 

I decided we would try it in the eating area and surprisingly I still love it with the table. 

Don't laugh, I still need to put the door on it

It provides a ton of storage for the big things in the kitchen; wok, dog bowls, big serving pieces, my table runners and placemats.

Besides redoing my dining area, we've been pretty busy this past week. 

The boys started soccer practice on Tuesday. 

Our team stayed together and we picked up some competitive soccer players in town.  Our team moved up to 14 and under, which should be interesting since Tater Tot and his teammates are anywhere from 11 years old to 13 years old.  They're a great team and I think they'll like the challenge. 

Our coach, Jeff, turned his sideyard into a soccer field. So cool!

There are cows behind that white fence.  I posted on Twitter, "You know you live in a small town when you hear cows mooing while watching soccer practice."

I also figured out how to change the look of my Twitter page.  I know....I'm soooo late to the party. 

Soggy Saturday

This morning we woke up to pouring rain and two scheduled soccer games, both out of town.  I hoped and prayed for the text messages saying that they'd been cancelled but no such luck.  Mr. H and I split up the duties and I took Tater Tot to his game, which was about thirty minutes away.  I grabbed my standard baseball cap and threw my hair in a ponytail so I could avoid the inevitable mess of crazy, curly hair that results on rainy days.  T-man was super excited to play in the rain and mud because it means more sliding and falling in the muck the entire game.  Boys love the dirt...especially 11 year old boys that play very rough!

T-man did a great job in the game, as did all of his teammates.  We ended up the game with a win - 9-6.  His team is really starting to work together and pull off some great passing plays.  It makes me so proud to see them do such a great job!  My sweetie scored two of the goals too!

After the game was over, it started raining really hard so we decided to go into town and look around the mall.  T-man wanted a new pair of running shoes since his foot seems to be growing a size a month. HA!  He now wears a 7, which is close to my size.  He's already 5' tall at 11 years old.  He's going to be bigger than me before I know it!  The big decision today was whether to get him slip-on Vans or more running type shoes.  I personally don't really like Vans so I was pushing hard for the running shoes.  Anything resembling the skater boy look scares me to death.  That's a total stereotype but I figure that's my Mom perogative.  I let T-man look for himself though.  After he looked at the Vans, he decided the Under Armor running shoes were his favorite and I was super happy because they were actually cheaper.  You have to love that!

We went into one of the kids shoe shops and I was stunned to see a ton of Ralph Lauren Polo tennis shoes.  Just...like...the...80's!!! Please, please, please let preppy come back!!!  I had to have a pair of white canvas with navy and I bought a cute pair of plaid canvas shoes for Small Fry. I wanted to surprise him!

We also had to stop into Abercrombie because they have the cutest t-shirts!  T-man got one with an Indian Chief on the front-he loves that because Mr. H is Indian and T thinks he acts like an Indian Chief sometimes. Tee-hee!

He also had to have this Bulldog shirt since that's the schools mascot.

The cutest thing about the entire shopping trip was when we bought T some Aviator sunglasses in one of the kids shoe shops.  They were Vans sunglasses and he thought he was so cool that he'd check himself out in every mirror in every store we walked into.  That's right-he wore his new sunglasses inside....he's cool like that!  Maybe that self-esteem that I always try to instill in my boys has backfired on me! HA!

I heard from a co-worker yesterday that Hobby Lobby was having some great sales so we headed there next.  I scored some great stuff!

A glass beverage server that I'd been eyeing forever-50% off!

A new outdoor rug for the back porch

A few things to hang on T-man's wall collage that I can never seem to finish-ugh

We finally made it home after a great afternoon of spending some nice mother-son time together and Mr. H and Small Fry had spotted the ice cream man in our neighborhood.  They had saved us both an ice cream sandwich in the freezer.  You can't find a better end to a relaxing afternoon than that!

The best week!

Guess who went to see the Black-Eyed Peas in concert?

That would be yours truly, Hautemama! 

It was the best concert I've ever seen.  And...that's coming from a girl who was an 80's concert-going fool.  I've seen lots of great concerts, but never a concert that didn't have one boring moment. Not one.

BEP must have spent 10 million dollars on their clothing and sets. 

And....I so want to be Fergie when I grow up!  That woman is phenomenal looking.  She has the best body.  She even inspired me to get on the treadmill two nights in a row.  She looked that good.

Will.i.am does a solo in the middle of the concert and he does a club DJ set.  It was awesome! It reminded me of the reason I originally wanted to be a radio DJ.  I adore dance mixes.  Music has always been so important to me!

           

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jmPGpfBbnA

Here's Fergie and I together in a pic-HA!

Completely random, but really cute pics below:

This is one special puppy!  How bad is it that we put out comfy blankets for her to sleep on.  Hey-it's better than dog hair on my chair.

My friend Nancy gave this adorable frame to Mr. Hautemama.  She knows how he feels about his puppy!

Thought I would share the rock that Small Fry gave me to carry in my purse all the time.  It's just a reminder that he loves me.....that kid just melts my heart!

Spent one evening with good ol' Modge Podge and some cute black and white toile paper

Popped into Dollar General by my office looking for cheap flowerpots and came out with this cute $8 purse...I've gotten compliments everyday so far

Remembered I bought a lazy susan serving thingie at IKEA and never used it. 

Then remembered I had cute striped scrapbook paper and leftover Modge Podge

Now I have a cuter lazy susan serving thingie with stripes! And...I know it's not perfect but I didn't have a ton of time...it looks good in person.

Had a Pier One Imports frame that was a wedding gift and wanted to hang it up but didn't have the right sized pictures, so I framed cute scrapbook paper...voila!

So far....this has been one productive week!  I love weeks like this because I feel like I'm on the ball.  These weeks are pretty rare so I'm enjoying them when they happen!

We even had everyone in the family over for Easter and it was a ton of fun....I'm posting pics tomorrow.

Things I Love

I'm following Diedre's lead from the blog For Such A Time As This and posting a list of things I love in honor of the month of "Love".

 - hearing my boys yell "Momma" when I walk in the house
 - laying in the middle of my boys watching TV in bed
 - getting a big hug from my handsome Hubby
 - the sunshine (we haven't seen it much lately and I miss it!)

 - snuggling in bed with my white Boxer Allie-her fur feels like a rabbits fur
 - calling my Mom on the phone and she's having a good day
 - seeing pictures of my Daddy (he's been gone 5 years now)
 - working in an office where everyone gets along and has fun
 - the color of my boys beautiful hair
 - flannel pajamas

 - Sonic Diet Coke with strawberries, lime and vanilla

 - White Tea Ginger body lotion from Bath & Body Works

 - my husbands smile (he's on the left-he's with his brother)
 - jersey knit sheets
 - my Chi hair straightener
 - jeans that feel just a little bit loose in the morning when I get dressed
 - Barry Manilow - don't judge - I love, love, love him!
 - the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama
 - The Real Housewives of any city - but especially New Jersey!!!!!

 - my warm and comfy home
 - finding a perfect decoration for the house

I had to share my favorite decorating find so far.  One Saturday, while shopping, I went into a store called Windsor Market.  It's an adorable collection of designers booths with a ton of decor and handmade items.  The first booth I came to had the picture below.  I looked up and about passed out because the little boys in this painting look exactly like mine.  We even had a cat that looked like the one in the painting.  Luckily, the painting wasn't too terribly expensive because I was taking it home.  The most amazing fact about this little find is that I was looking for a picture that had blue in it to put above our bed.  SCORE!  I love it and smile everytime I see it because it reminds me of my little sweeties!