The time that I painted curtains.

I hope your Memorial Day weekend was filled with fun, friends, family, food & any other good words you can come up with.  Preferably ones that start with F, I guess.  Mine was filled with all of those things.  I also declared it Carter Project Weekend.  We got several things done around the house and man does it feel GOOD.  It doesn't get much better than crossing things off your to-do list.  Ok....there are a lot of things better.  Like not having a to-do list to begin with.  Ahhh - a girl can dream.

The Carter Project Weekend consisted of installing under cabinet lighting, planting an herb garden, baking cookies for us co-workers & putting up curtains.

Curtains sound easy enough.  Except for I couldn't find any that fit the "vision."  You know, the ones you know will look SO good in your (insert room here).  I could have had them custom made, but I ain't got time for that!  This baby could come tomorrow & I just know they will be looking at the curtains first.  Ha.

So, I remembered that one of my close friends at school had painted her curtains & they looked major FAB.  While Devin was with his buddies at the race all day, I set out to do some project-ing.  If you are in the market for painting curtains, you will need...

You will also need an entire day to do this biznazz, which was not in the plan. 

Set everything up in the garage, tape your stripes (if that is what you want) & paint away!  I did two coats, & probably could have done three but my painting patience was gone.  Dry thouroughly & then beg your husband as soon as he walks in the door to hang them.  And, he did.  

Here is the finished product.  Pretty nice from a distance...just don't get too close.  Kind of like most things we know & love - they are better from a distance!  ;)

Photobomb by Libby.  

Already Wednesday.  2 more days to fill up until the WEEKEND.  I am filling one night up by delivering double chocolate chip cookie dough brownies to a new neighbor.  I sure hope the encounter doesn't end up like this one.

DC tested & approved.

I hope you are filling up the rest of your week with something good!

Coffee Date Friday

YAY, Friday!

If we were having coffee today, I would tell you these 5 things...

I just heard that John Grisham is doing a sequel to A Time To Kill called Sycamore Row.  SO excited for this.  I can't wait to see what Carl Lee Hailey & Jake Brigance have been up to.  Free Carl Lee!

Kindergarten Graduation was this week.  Which meant speaking in front of hundreds of people.  Which meant major anxiety.  The stage, the lights, the microphone, the judging staring...I need a paper bag just thinking about it.  But, I made it through & my little graduates were precious!

I am in the market for a new coffee pot.  We got 9 of them for our wedding.  I guess that's what happens when you invite 517 people to watch you get married. We took back 8 & now I am regretting that.  I'm not regretting returning the kissing dolphins picture frame, though.

On Tuesday, I took an aerobics class.  On a trampoline.  Instant fun & I can't wait to do it again!

I am REALLY trying to drink more water.  But, Water Date Friday just doesn't sound as good.

Not it's your turn...what fun things would you tell me if we had coffee?

 

hello monday.

Hello, Monday.



Hello to the last Monday of school.
Hello to the last Monday of school.  That deserves two hellos.

Hello to a goal of making my bed everyday this week.  Starting tomorrow.  Sorry, today.

Hello to bike rides with the hubs.

Hello to talking & reading & dreaming outside on the porch until 10 pm. 

Hello to a nursery full of diapers & wipes, & even more full of love. 

Hello to colorful salad making.  With avocados. 

Hello to ice cream with a former student.  Who says she wants to be like me when she grows up.  #fullheart

Hello to a newly renovated closet.  Goodbye to one thing on my to-do list. 

Hello to a sweet card from a friend.  I love friends.

What are you saying hello to, today? 

She gets it from her mama

I am surrounded by beautiful mamas.

Girlfriends who traded in their wine glasses & tube tops for sippy cups & burp cloths.
Kindergarten mamas who sneak in lunch box notes & hold hands at bus stops.
A step-mom who never had children of her own, but doesn't think of us as anything but.
A mother in-law who brought my love into this world.

And, my mama.

Beautiful on the inside, & out.  I usually hear one, two or all three of these things when people meet her.  "She looks so young."  "She has to be your sister."  "She must have had you when she was 14."  She grants her youthfulness on good genes & staying out of the sun.  Shoot.  Already lost that battle.

It's the small moments with her that I remember most from my childhood: Christmas baking, heart shaped sandwiches, warm blankets after playing in the snow, bedtime stories, beach walks.

Did she make mistakes?  Sure.  Like when she bought me windsuit outfits & took me for perms.  Evidence of these activities has been burned.



And while I hope that I inherited her "good genes" & might too be questioned as if I am an older sister one day, I hope I get her love the most.  Because it's fierce.

A special kindergarten mama passed this poem onto me this week & I have thought about it all weekend.  I want to make copies, throw them from the top staircase of a tall building, & plaster it all over my house.  As a wishing/waiting/hoping Mama, I think this is a perfect take on motherhood & just a great life mantra as well.

If I had my child to raise over again ~ Diane Loomans
If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I'd do less correcting, and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less, and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging, and less tugging.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.
I'd teach less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you beautiful mamas out there.  You are doing a great job.

highlite81

Dinner with friends this weekend sparked a fun conversation on college, cell phones, and social media. Two of which were not around much in my life between 2000-2004.  Which is a very good thing.  I can't imagine how my college experience would have been different if I had my iphone, facebook, twitter & whatever else is out there.  I would have done a lot less studying and way more stalking.  No...we just had good 'ol American AOL instant messenger "back then."  My screen name was abs402 & dev's highlite81.  Something to do with high school football, I think.  

Speaking of highlights...here are some from my weekend! 

1// my mini-marathon runner

2// cinco de mayo-ing

3// an Indiana county lesson.  Still couldn't tell you where we live.

4// wine & dine with my mama.

5// downtown brunch

6// encouragement from a friend.  I need to use the postal system more often.

7// libby sandwich 

8// renting a movie.  last people on earth to do this, I believe.

#8 ellaboration.  Devin wants to see the new Star Trek coming out this month.  We never saw the first one a few years ago so we thought we would Red Box it.  Except for there is not a Red Box in the galaxy in Indiana that had the flippin' movie.  Enter Family Video.  And a cute Captain Kirk.  

Beats William Shatner any day!  

What are some of your weekend highlights?

Granola Footballs

In the Fall, I am a football widow.  It really is nice stinks to be by myself every Friday night while Dev is at varsity games.  I wish I could be there to sit in the cold metal bleachers, judge stare at the snobby high school cheerleaders (that I used to be, #sorrynotsorry), & stuff my face with sodium-ladden popcorn.  Buuuuut....because I drive almost an hour to work + contain 26 5-year olds all day, I have a good excuse not to go to the games.  Now, when we have a baby I will be in the front row cheering them on in whatever they choose to do.  I just hope it involved tutus, glitter & dance routines to Thriller.   

Last spring, DC & his football-coaching buddies decided to compete in a Tough Mudder competition.  This involved diving into ice cold water, scaling walls & getting electrocuted while crawling through mud.  This also involved not inviting their wives.  But, you can better believe I quizzed him on who complained about their wife on the way down & that it better not have been him.  I don't think it was though, because I asked the guys when they got back & they said he never talks bad about me.  Reason #34,567 why he is awesome.

Back to this post's theme: food.  When the boys (I love calling grown men boys...I think it's cute) left for their trip to Ohio, I made lots of snacks for them to take.  I'm not good at a lot of things: shooting a free throw, working a remote, or driving the speed limit, but I am this: a good treat-giver.  I packed iced sugar cookies, sunflower seeds, double-fudge brownies, chips, you name it.  Then I thought I would be clever and try to *sneak* in something somewhat healthy...these protein energy bites.  

About half way through the drive, I get a text from Devin saying, "Everyone loved your balls.  They're gone."  Iced sugar cookies?  Still there.  Brownies?  Barely touched.  My "Balls" as so lovingly described...GONE.  These babies are addicting.  Super easy.  And you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry.   Since the Tough Mudder, I have made them at least 5 different times for the coaches & they are devoured.  Therefore, I renamed Granola Foot-"balls"....the most original I could come up with.

Go make them now.  You won't be disappointed.
And I promise the football coach in your life will love you for it.

Granola Football Bites
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1/4-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (could also use raisins, cranberries or any kind of nut)
1/3 cup honey & 1/3 cup light maple syrup (or you can do 2/3 cup of either)
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
2 T vanilla protein powder (can omit if you don't have it & they will still be fine)

Mix all ingredients very well & chill for 30 minutes.  Roll into balls & devour, or pass them on to a friend who has had a tough week!

Now, if you are going to the store to buy the ingredients and have to stop for gas....please don't pre-pay, walk off, & accidentally leave your full gas pump.  Not that I did that this week or anything.

Happy weekend, friends.