Big Decisions

Hello.  Anybody still out there?

It’s me.  As in Miss Priss and Me, and this ol’ blog of mine has been sitting on the back burner of this crazy life of mine.

Truth be told, life has been rough lately.  And the stinky thing is that I can’t yet explain why.  But we’ve been having to make big decisions around here.  Decisions that affect the next three months, the next three years, the next three decades.

And take me to the toothpaste aisle and I’ll show you how indecisive I can be.

Crest Complete?  Sure, that sounds good.  Oh wait, what about Total Care?  And do I want fluoride?  Or how about that stuff in the fancy box?  Or will I just be fine with the generic?  No, not the generic.  And do I want to get two boxes?  They’re having a sale… maybe I should get three.  But what if I don’t like it?  Then I’ll have three boxes of toothpaste I can’t use.  Do they take back half-used toothpaste? 

You get the picture.

So you see, decisions make me one big ol' hot mess.  I literally stop eating, stop sleeping, stop doing all the fun things I should be doing with my kids and sit there and analyze my problem.  And as soon as I get to a solution, I instantly get that pit in my stomach that tells me it’s the wrong answer.  So I start over again.  And again.  And again.

I’ll be going in and back-blogging for the next few days.  What that means is that I’ll be writing the stories and posting the pictures that I’ve had sitting on my to-do list for the last few weeks.  And I’ll post them on the dates they should have originally been posted.  So even though they’ll be newer than this post, you’ll have to scroll backwards to read them. 

And when the time comes that our decision is made and I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel… I’ll be back to explain.  Promise.

My Dancing Girls

When I found out that my girl's were going to miss their dance studio's picture day while we were out of town, the mamarazi in me got a little flared up.

Miss once-in-a-lifetime?  Not my girls.

And so the next day I called up my mom and sent her on a wild goose chase searching through all the historic building's that circled my hometown's downtown square.

A couple days later I got the phone call I was hoping for...

I found it.  I found the perfect place.  Wood floors, big windows, tons of room to let them twirl.  You're going to love it.

And after a little elbow grease to clean the place up... what happened that afternoon was absolute magic.

See for yourself.

Mother's Day {via Instagram}

Here's my absolutely wonderful, amazing, spectacular Mother's Day... all in an Instagram nutshell.

Little Goose loves anything girly... especially Grammie's makeup!

Cooking in the kitchen for mama.

French Toast by my cute little chef.

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mama!!!

My absolutely positively perfect Mother's Day gift.

Gifts for mama.

I love how excited she gets when she gives me things.

My favorite thing in the world is being the mama of these two beautiful girls!

First stop today... by special request... the ZOO!

Eating dinner at mom's fave restaurant... the Melting Pot!

Wow! What a Mother's Day surprise... a new phone!!!

Remodeling

To everyone that's remodeled their home.  Or custom built their home.  Or even just did more than slap a coat of paint on their home.

I commend you.

Because it ain't easy.

But we did it.  And I'm over the moon on how our kitchen turned out...

Before:

After:

The decorating bug must have really bitten me, because half-way through our kitchen remodel (and day three of potty-training-boot-camp) I decided our guest/girls bathroom needed a makeover as well.

A fresh coat of paint, a brand new shower curtain, an updated light fixture, and a beautiful mirror made by me and I might just think we have the most perfect little girl's bathroom ever now.

 Shower curtain from www.garnethill.com.

The mirror is my most favorite.  Originally, I'd purchased a huge black faux-painted mirror from Hobby Lobby and had taken it home for my dad to paint.  He worked over our entire Spring Break trip painting it a dainty delicate white with a pearlesct glaze over the top.

And then I got home, held it up and realized that it didn't match at all.

So off to the craft store I went, purchased a pad of 12x12 scrapbook paper and a bottle of mod-podge.  Once home, I cut out each sheet to the right dimensions (I measured around the edge of the mirror to figure what increments would make them all even).  Then I mixed equal parts of water and mod-podge (the glossy kind) in a cake pan.  Slowly I dipped each piece of paper into the mixture and then gently laid them along the frame of the mirror.  Carefully, I smoothed the paper over the ridges and around to the backside of the frame.  Once I'd done all the sheets, I let dry over night.
The next day I coated the entire frame with two coats of glossy mod-podge and let dry for another twenty-four hours.  The final day, I put three coats of acryllic sealer on it (letting dry a few hours between each coat) and then taped the edges down along the backside of the frame so the bathroom moisture wouldn't cause it to start peeling.

Really, it sounds like a lot, but was so easy.  In fact, I promised two of my friends to help make mirrors for their home!

As much fun as all this remodeling has been, I think we're done for a bit.  HOTY has warned that if I don't lie low for awhile with my decorating ideas he's going to move out for the summer.

Considering he's our cook, I guess I'd better stop while I'm ahead.