Yard sale finds:)

Happy Friday! Happy Labor Day Weekend Friday!!:) Oh I'm so ready for a long weekend:) I've had several busy days in a row. I was so exhausted last night that I went to bed and was asleep by 9:30pm. No computer, no tv, sleeeeeepy. I woke up this morning and had to get the kids to school by 8am (however, Jamie budge from bed until 8am---getting to school at 8 after 8). Then I had to rush Arthur to the vet by 8:30am. On the way home, I paid bills and ran across some garage sales. *gasps* Paul hates me to go to garage sales: "We don't need other ppl's junk. We have enough of our own!". Well, I think I found a few cute things. I was really looking for linens and quilts. This is what I found...


These came from a lady who was having a garage sale of her 94 yr old mother's things. The top one is an apron. The lady who owned this must have had about an 18 inch waist. It's so tiny! I have no clue what to do with it but I love it. The next as you can see is a crocheted throw and then the bottom is a very old, very thin (but very lovely) chenille bedspread for a double bed. I can just see it on an iron bed in a room with hardwood floors and on the bedside table my sweet little milk glass lamp I found as well:


I also found this milk glass vase. I love milk glass and I have kind of a big collection. I don't have anything to do with them yet, but I am looking forward to being able to use it all one day. I'm not really sure if the vase is really milk glass. It feels a little different than my others... so I have my doubts, but for $1 you really can't go wrong:) I also picked up a couple of Corningware "Cornflower" casserole dishes. I'm a sucker for those. I guess they remind me of growing up. Momma had them and I just really love them. It seems like they are always at any garage sale so it's not like it's a hard find--just love them:) I had fun looking:) Afterwards I had a room-mom meeting and various other little things I had to do at school. It's been non-stop but my little shopping spree was fun:)

Also, I was tagged by Sophie Honeysuckle:) This is the first time I've been tagged I hope I'm doing this right:) This is how Sophie explains how the game works:

"This is a new tagging and I think it's great ....It's called the name game, and here are the rules for those that choose to follow them: Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog."

So here goes:)

A - Absolutely awful at keeping my house organized. I try. I try. I try. *sigh* One thing gets done then the rest of the house falls down around. Everyone says, "Oh it's having 3 kids". Well, my momma had 3 of us and Paul's mum had 4 and they seemed to do everything with the greatest of ease. I keep saying "One day". One day never seems to come.

N- Nice. I think sometimes I'm nice to a fault. Like this school year I'm finding that I'm having a very hard time of saying no. I don't want to make anyone mad. Also, if you're nice it's easier to get people to help out when you're in a jam. Well, most of the time. I'm now a room mom for Matthew (2nd grade), helper for Jamie (4th grade)'s room mom. I will be doing popcorn on the last Friday of the month because the lady who was doing it, took the 'recess lady' job that was offered to me, but I wanted to go to school. I am also team mom for Matthew's team and now our whole Traveling organization's head Team Parent. A friend of mine also asked me to help her out at the concession stands on some Saturdays during this season. Soooooo... yeah, sometimes i d not know how to say no.

N - Nerdy:) This one comes from my husband. Yes, my name is Kathryn and I *AM* a nerd:) I would probably say geek.. but nerd is good too:) I love Doctor Who with a passion. And as for Star Trek, Yes, I watch Star Trek. I know what a Ferengi is. I know that the Bajorans and the Cardasians are huge enemies because the Cardasians took over Bajor. The Klingons are great warriors. B'Elanna Torres is half human (father) and half Klingon (mother). I broke out in a sweat when Paul told me there was a convention with 4 of the captains (Picard, Janeway, Kirk, and Sisko). I'm also looking forward to visiting Vegas because there is a "Quarks" in the Hilton. I'm just hoping they use real latinum!
Ok there I've said it. I'm letting my NERD flag fly high! *sighs*:)

Now I'm supposed to tag 3 ppl who start with the letters in my name. Oh dear. I may have to think on that one:) I'm new to blogging and I don't know a whole lot of ppl. SOoooooo.... Could I maybe just go with my friend Melia (M is close to N right?) and my cousin Dana (A is close-ish to D:) Maybe further down the road I'll be able to pick more;) But this was fun! Thanks Sophie:)

Ok, my bbq supper is waiting for me to get it to the table:) Yall have a great evening:)

Je m'appelle Kathryn:)

Bonjour! Comment vas tu? Je vais bien. :)

Ok, and that's about the extent of my french so far:) Unless yall would like me to count to 59... and then I can only make it to about 16. Un, deaux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze, treize, quatrorze, quinze, seize *curtsies*:)
I'm really enjoying the class but I felt like I was in way over my head today. Urgh. And, not to mention, I'm the oldest in the class (Je suis trente-sept.) I guess I'll get it. I'm so glad Paul knows French. Well he's had many years of it but also many years since he's used it:) So he'll be relearning it and able to help me a bit.

Today is busy busy so I shouldn't be sitting here. My dryer is snagging and ripping clothes and leaving brown slashes on them as well. So I need to find someone to fix it. In the meanwhile, I need to go wash clothes, get them hung up (my house has been looking like a department store with clothes hanging everywhere). I just don't have the time to go to the laundromat to dry them. We have ballet this afternoon and then soccer pictures. So I'm off:)

A' Bientot!
Salut:)

And the kittens new names areeee.......

Ford and Arthur
(think HGTG)

It's the little things

I'm so excited this morning! It's the little things that thrill me:) Crocs has some new shoes out and I'm dying to order them:) I know the kids will be excited. Sarah and I are getting these for the winter. I shall be ordering them soon! Don't they look so warm and cozy? We are a Crocs family. Paul isn't but the kids and I are. The problem is though, with the boys, they wear their's out so fast. It's usually the toes that go because instead of using their normal bicycle breaks, they feel dragging their toes is a much better way to do it:( Boys *sighs*. There are several other new ones there as well that look really cool and will be looking more into like these and these. Another one of my finds this week that I'm pleased with (again it's the little things), is a new Tide scent. They have come out with a line called Tide Pure Essentials and the one I got was with Baking Soda. It smells so nice and fresh. The one with lemon smells really nice too.

Well don't I sound like a big old advertisement this morning?? Moving on... it stormed all yesterday afternoon and last night. It was the oddest looking thing when the storm around 7pm moved in. It looked like black smoke coming across the sky. If ever I was worried about what was coming THAT right there scared me. It was coming from the east it looked like and Momma always says, "Storms from the east; not fit for man nor beast". *shudder* Paul had to drive in it. He said he could only go about 10 mph and he saw a lightning strike hit somewhere in town and all of the sudden all the lights went out. Our's just flickered thankfully but there are lots and lots of ppl without power again this weekend. More storms on the way today it looks like as well:(

On a happier note:) Paul and I decided maybe it was a GOOD thing that we haven't found our perfect living room sofas and chair:) These kittens (especially the baby) are just all over the place (and the curtains!) Paul went and bought them a tower with scratching posts and they love it, but they also seem to really love my couch. Last night, I started looking for slipcovers. Ideally, I'd love to have a pink one. Not loud pink but you know... nice pretty pink and then be able to put pretty pillows on. Just something til we get out of the "let me scratch everything up" stage. If anyone knows where I can find one, please let me know:)

I found these pics of Sarah on Aunt Kathy's camera so I thought I'd post them:) I'm off to put some laundry on with my new detergent:) Clean smelling products make me happy:) Have a great day!!:)

Our new babies;)

We now have 2 new members in our family:) Little furry ones:) Paul's birthday is on Monday so Jamie and I have been thinking for a while that we should get Daddy a kitten. I told Jamie that we should probably get 2 kittens for company (plus hopefully saving "Cat" our 9 yr old from the abuse:) So, day before yesterday, Jamie and I went out to the shelter and picked out 2 kittens tentatively named "Flip" and "Falco" (very "Rock Me Amadeus"). They are adorable! We put the application in and they said they'd contact us within 3-4 business days to let us know. Yesterday morning around 9, they called to tell us that we could pick them up:) Jamie and I hadn't told Matthew and Sarah because we knew for sure that Sarah would probably let it slip. Matthew is a pretty good secret keeper but Sarah... not so great:) At 10:20am (recess) I went up to the school to let Jamie know that they called and we'd be picking them up after school. Afterwards, I went to Tuesday Morning to find a big pretty box to put them in and then Target for a couple of essentials (litter box and food dish) and then finally to the grocery store to get a chicken and potatoes for roast chicken and potatoes for supper:) It was so exciting. Paul arrived home at 7pm to find this on the front door step:)


And inside were the kittens:) Here is a picture I took of them last night at bedtime. Flip is the grey and white (8wks) and Falco is the buff/yellow and he is 4 months.


They have the best time together:) Even though there is a couple of months between them (the Humane Society told me that Falco was 11 wks..not 16wks that I found out this morning--which is another whole story. Anyway, it's like big brother/little brother:) They love each other. They romp and cut up. So cute:) Paul was very pleased:)

This is "Cat" our 9 yr old.


She is not amused by the new additions in the least. The kittens don't even have to be in the same room as her when we walk by or even look at her, she growls at us. She took a swipe at the babies last night. Paul was trying to introduce them. Needless to say, it didn't work quite the way he had hoped. She'll adjust... hopefully:)

As for names, Paul has thrown some around. Some of them are: Noddy and Big Ears:); Rom and Quark (we're Star Trek geeks can you tell?); Merry and Pippen (LOTR) and Flip and Flop. I'm kinda liking the Noddy and Big Ears the best... but I like the others as well. Paul's mum suggested Bill and Ben :) I think Paul was leaning more towards Quark and Rom this morning. Stay tuned:)

*Yay!*:)

Hi hi!:)

Good news! Our floors are do-able and not for an arm, leg or kidney:) Paul and I were so surprised by the price the guy gave us. I HONESTLY thought we were looking around $4000 or more. The guy kinda looked at me funny when he told me what it was and I gushed, "OMG THAT'S AWESOME!":) He also gave us a price for the kitchen, however, I think we are going to hold off on that until we do a kitchen re-do. Probably not a great idea to put so much money into it and then later on have to rework it as well. I think we'll just go and put something cheaper down (get that carpet out--no, we didn't put carpet in the kitchen. Someone who didn't have children must have done that) until we do the re-do:) *dances*dances*dances* The man said they'd take it down to the boards then stain it whatever color we choose and then put 2 coats of polyurethane on it. Plus they are going to put new baseboards down for us. He said he has some really nice "colonial" baseboards in his shop. What we have now are basic ranch and they look yucky to me. Paul and I had been talking about it anyway so he said he would put those down and the 'base shoe' (little finishing off piece at the bottom). So Paul and I were like, "coooool":) We have to give the man 5 wks notice though because he has so much going on. Another thing the flooring man brought up was that he does custom inlays and such. He looked so excited telling me about how he loves to get out in his shop and work with different woods and create things. I told him he sounded like my younger brother:) Justin does wood work and he is always talking about wood. He's my 'go-to' guy when I need to know something about that:) Anyway, I found a pattern that he did in another house called 'basket weave'. It is lovely. I told Paul that I'd love to maybe do something like that in the kitchen once we start on it. I'm so excited:) Now the decision is for the color. That's going to be a tough one. I just hope it doesn't take us as long to pick that out as it has to find or settle on a living room set.

Paul got home from California last night *yay!*:) He said he has to go back out in 3 wks. I don't mind him going out there (really wouldn't matter if I did seeing as it's for work) but I just don't like the fact he has to fly. I hate flying. So it's really the coming and going that I have a problem with. Hopefully it won't be for much longer. I told him this morning that if he speaks to me very nice today, I'll make him roast chicken, roast potatoes and gravy for supper. I haven't made that in a few weeks. In the winter, it seems to be a staple with us. Sometimes a couple times a week. He loves it. It's harder to make it in the fall and spring because the boys are always having soccer practices or games every day but Wednesdays. So seeing as it's Wednesday, I think I could probably do that for him:) The only thing we really have going today is Sarah has ballet for a couple of hours but I can drop her off and run back home. Nutcracker auditions are on Sunday. Someone told her she'd probably be either a toy soldier, snow baby or bonbon. If I remember right, toy soldiers didn't dance. I don't send her to ballet and to extra classes so she gets a non-dancing part. I could be wrong about not dancing... I guess as long as she's happy that should be all that matters.

I feel like baking today. I don't do a lot of baking normally but I there is a recipe on my recipe site that I came across and it sounds so good. Maybe I'll make that and take it out to Matthew's soccer practice tomorrow for the grown-ups. It's a Bundt Coffee Cake. Maybe take that and some coffee-- providing it's not raining. We'll see how far I get:)

Well yall have a great day today. We are supposed to be getting 48 hours more of rain. I cacn't image we can have much more rain before we all float away.

*Kat heads off to find her pirogue and umberellas*

Well it's yet another dreary morning here in the midwest. I'm waiting on a man to come and look at our hardwood floors to tell us if they can be redone/restored. I'm guessing at one time, the floor boards creeked so they put these large silver nails into each of them. That along with all the staple holes and such that come with carpeting. It really gets cold in the winter and hardwood may not be the most sensible thing, but I think when it comes to selling our house in the future, that hopefully, it will add more value. I think it'll look beautiful if we can do it. We still would put carpet in the bedrooms but the dining, hall and living room would be hardwood. I also asked him if he would give me an estimate on what it would take to do the kitchen as well. I heard that you can put wood floors in and then when they refinish the other floors, they will just do that at the same time and it'll all blend and look like it goes together. Cross your fingers it wont cost an arm, leg and kidney.
I still have not found that perfect living room set for the living room. I've found several things I like for the family room, but atm, we are on a mission for the Living Room. Next month, I'm hoping we'll get the gas line run for our new fireplace:) I say it's new, but we've had it sitting here in our living room since January. I wanted to find out what we were going to do with the floors before we had the line run and got the insert. It's going to be so soooo pretty once we get it all done. Here... let me go take a picture of my fireplace;) ... brb:)

Ok here it is. We have picked out a firebox for it and logs. We'll get those once the gas line is run from outside.


The top is black marble. Here is a closer look at the scrolling at the top.



And while I was taking pictures, wanted to show you what I meant by the nails in the floor. Of course I've pulled the carpet back -- so please excuse the mess:)


I'm really hoping for good news because I really think a hardwood floor with our fireplace would be so perfect. If not... well I guess we'll have to start looking at carpeting:(

Ok, well I'm off. I need to go fold some laundry and wait for this man to get here. Yall take care;)

I love toast, soccer and vacations:)

I do. I love love love toast. It's simple. It's quick and it's one of my very favorite things in the whole world. Toast and coffee. It's what I have every single morning. I don't even have to have jelly/jam on it. Just a little butter (the real deal not fake) and I'm as happy as a pig in mud. And my coffee. I'm almost at the end of my enormous can of Maxwell House. In a couple more mornings, I'll be able to open up a wonderful fresh pack of Community:) Ahhhhh. I love Community Coffee. If you don't know what Community Coffee is, you probably aren't from Louisiana. You can't find it up here in Chicagoland... or at least I haven't. I have to stock up on it when I go to Momma's. That and Bama Jelly. Plum jelly. Mmmmm..There are other odds and ends I have to pick up at Momma's as well like Oak Grove Jambalaya Mix. I am ashamed to say, I can not make a good jambalaya and so I use a mix. But it's a very good mix. I'm not a fan of Zataran's. To me, it takes like wet leather smells. Yuck.
It's been raining for 3 days now and it's not supposed to stop until tomorrow or Wednesday. Jamie had his first game yesterday (soccer/football)and it was miserable. It wasn't cold but it was cooler (upper 60's) and he was soaked to the bone by the end of the game. It seemed like the longer they played, the harder it rained. It did stop for a few moments right before they started the game but then as soon as they started, here it came again and harder. Then at half time, it stopped but as soon as they started the second half... yep, more rain. One mom on our team is new and she was horrified that the kids play in the rain. She said her husband was most upset that they were playing in such nasty conditions. I'm sure it's like any other sport, unless it's a flood or thunder and lightning it's 'play on'. Jamie is so cold natured. So as soon as the game was over we rushed home and got him dried off. He ended up in warm-ups. He played hard yesterday though. I was really proud of him:) He seems happier this year so far. Fingers crossed it stays this way:)
Pictures. Here are some of my favorites I've taken on vacations:) I love vacations:) Hope you enjoy them:)

I was looking through my pictures from last summer and came across this one. I took it at Mackinaw Island. We had such a fun vacation:) I'd love to go back there:) There were so many beautiful houses on the island.


This is another shot I took. I can't remember the name of the spot, but it was in their forest preserve. They said that this probably wouldn't be there in another 50 years due to erosion. That's sad to know.

This is my favorite of the kids from our vacation at Mackinaw. Paul drove us out (on the St Ignus side) to an empty beach. It was just the kids and us for hours:) It was lovely:) Here, you can see the sun is going down:) It was perfect!

I'm sure I've rambled enough:) I'll post pictures from our trip to Destin, Florida another day. It was so beautiful there as well:) I think the sun is trying to peak out of the clouds but I can still hear the rain. I'm off to do something constructive---maybe:)

Autumn in August:)

Good morning! It's pretty overcast, but I'm loving these temps:) I went out to get Matthew from his soccer sleepover and I thought about going back in and getting my sweater! Such a great break from all of this horrible heat and humidity we've had lately. Paul has gone off for a bike ride(mountain biking). I told him he'd better do it before it rains this afternoon. He leaves for California tomorrow. Jamie has his first game tomorrow afternoon. I'm so glad Matthew doesn't have his first game for another week. That would be a nightmare if his was this weekend. Next Sunday though, Sarah has Nutcracker auditions and then the boys both have games. I think they are both at home though. Sarah received a letter in the mail from another dance company that listed the auditions they have coming up and one of them (in the spring) is Cinderella. I know she'd love to do try out for that one but that is also around the same time that Peter Pan will be (the same company she did it with this spring and that Nutcracker will be with).
I'm trying to figure out how to take those really pretty pictures that you see on blogs like Sophie Honeysuckle and FreckledFarm (among others). I think I read on one of them something about the macro setting. So I'm going to be practicing on that. Speaking of Sophie Honeysuckle, I got a comment from her on here:) Made me very happy. My first comment:)
Let's seeeeee... what else.... Yeah, I walk around the house thinking of things that I can put here and then I sit down at the computer and it's like *pppbbtt!* it's all gone. I will probably sit here at my computer today and try to figure out how to make my blog all purdy. And then after several hours of sitting here in this very hard kitchen chair, I will resign myself to the fact that this is one of the reasons I married Paul. For his coding skills. I mean, there are other reasons I married him too.. he likes to vaccum. I can secretly, and safely, enjoy watching Star Trek under the cover that it's HIM that wants to watch it.. I'm just in the room;) He is a great travel planner. He can throw a vacation (that I've been planning for months) together with lots of fun things in under 3 hours. What else... oh he's still got his cute British accent, most of the time:) And, he's a master packer. He can make anything fit into any space. No matter how small that space is. A great example is our SUV at Christmas time going down to Momma's. Somehow, he makes it allllll fit with us still having some space to sit and see out of the windows:) Oh and on occasion he has been known to bake bread:) What a guy huh?:) Yeah, I guess we'll keep him around for a little while longer:)
Boy, this has sure turned into a rambling post hasn't it? My Matthew is sitting here having his bag of popcorn and milk. He's telling me all about raccoons:) So I'm off to help him look up more about them:) Yall have a great day:)

Hello:)

I'm sitting here at my dining room table having coffee. It's so quiet. Our 3 children are now in all day school and I have to say, it's just odd. I don't know what to do with myself. It's so quiet and still. I feel like I'm doing something wrong by not having them at home... well at least Sarah. We made the decision to put her in all day kindergarten and I'm not sure that was the right thing to do... for me at least. That sounds so selfish I'm sure. She is loving it. She's not loving getting up early in the morning but she's loving it all - going to school for breakfast; taking her lunch and everything else that goes with it. I'm glad she's not one of the kids that is all clingy and has separation anxiety. I can imagine that has to be rough on any parent. Trying to leave and having your child beg and plead you to stay and don't leave them.
So now it's just me. Not knowing what to do with all this time or where to start. I mean there is PLENTY for me to do around the house but there are other things that seem like it'd be nice to figure out while I have all this time on my hands. One thing I am going to do starting week after next is take a French class. I've always wanted to know how to speak French and in the last couple of years, Italian. I have never learned to speak any foreign language so I thought, now, was as a good of time as any:) Everyone says, "oh you should really learn Spanish first". Yes, I think at some point I should but I want to give French a go first. I always think, it would be so cool to be multi-lingual but then I panic and worry what if I can't even learn 1 other language. That's my current worry - that I am to old to learn something complicated. I want to finish my degree. I've been working on it off and on for 19 yrs now and have yet to obtain one. I'm wondering if it's to late now though. I'm also looking into ASL (American Sign Language) classes. That's another thing I've always wanted to learn since I was really young. There was a girl at church camp one year that was deaf and from then on, I've wanted to learn. Then there is embroidery:) I want to learn the old fashioned stitches of embroidery. I would love to show Sarah how to do it one day and have her make a sampler:) I knoooow that sounds way to old fashioned but maybe that's me:)
On top of all of these 'I want/would like to's' Paul and I have slowly (very slowly) but surely been trying to buy some new things for the house. Which brings me to trying to find my style. I'm pretty sure I've found it somewhere between the English Country and Pottery Barn:) I'm from the south and of course I love anything southern. Big old magnolias. Jasmine bushes. Gardenias. Unfortunately, as far as flowers, trees and bushes go, those are not to be found up here.
So welcome to my blog. Hopefully this will be where I can figure out what I am other than a mommy and a wife (which btw, I ADORE being) It's just that I'd like to be able to put something underneath "hobbies" or "interests" when I am asked. Of course my interests are my husband and 3 gorgeous kids but there has to be more to me .... right?