i'm dreaming of a new summer project.

 over 100 years ago a little chicken shed was created by one of the first families to live in kent. they also left behind a beautiful barn that was built at the turn of the century and now is nothing more than a glimpse into the past. 

during the last 10 years the barn has deteriorated to the point that it can not be restored. however, the chicken shed was so well made that it can be brought back to its original glory. the problem--its not on our property.

but yesterday, by chance, the owner showed up and on a whimsy, my husband offered him a small amount of cash and he said yes. 

the result--our summer project.

~tiff

a party, a papasan and a purchase!

a party:

we had my daughter's very belated birthday party this past weekend.  i had been stressing for days getting everything ready and in the end i only have about 10 pictures to show for all my hard work!  i didn't even get pictures of the mini treats i made!  i guess if i was a "true" blogger, i would have had my camera swinging around my neck the whole time taking 300 pictures!  

 

we had gooey caramel brownies with ice cream and whipped cream.  ohh, they were good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a papasan:

last summer my husband bought a brown papasan chair at a garage sale.  i wasn't too thrilled with the purchase at the time, but it did get used a lot out on our covered porch.  my husband and kids would snuggle up and read out there.  

well, the other day i got to thinking about it sitting outside and brought it into my living room.  there were only 2 problems:

1.  the wood was brown

and

2.  the cushion was brown

since my slipcover turned out so fabulously, i thought i could just sew up a new cover for the thing, but then i remembered papasan cushions were on sale at pier 1.   i went poking through the website and found one i absolutely fell in love with!

i ended up getting the cushion before my daughter's party, but hadn't gotten around to painting it yet.  

here's a shot with the new cushion.  

{i never did get a proper "before" picture of the brown cushion--oops!}

i had to use 3 cans of spray paint, but i still need another can.  the base still needs some touch up, but it looks good for now!

everyone likes it.  the kids fight over who gets to sit in it, and the dog has taken to sleeping in it at night. 

even though my husband wasn't thrilled with what i had done; he found me spraying away when he pulled into the driveway coming home from work and gave me a thumbs down.  but, ironically enough, my spray painting solved a problem we had.  the new cushion was so soft, it was slipping out of the "bowl" because the wood was so smooth.  now, that i painted it, it's not as slippery, and the cushion stays put!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a purchase:

i love myself a good thrift store. our local value village used to be great, but it's prices are slowing climbing to a point where i could just as easily shop the clearance section of target to get a better deal...

except, my son reads incessantly, and we'd be in the poorhouse if i didn't supply his book reading habit from the thrift store. 

it was monday and as soon as we walked into the store and i noticed just how many people were there i realized my mistake.  let me tell you that monday's the worst day to go because it's a tag day.  everything of a certain tag is 99 cents.  all the crazies come out to "get a good deal" and i avoid going on tag days at all costs.  the potential savings isn't enough to sucker me in. but, we were already there and so my son went to look for some books.  i hiked back to the pillow area and much to my surprise, i found 5 pillow forms for 99 cents each!  

score!

now i just have to decide what kind of pillows i want on my couch!

any ideas?

oh, and thanks for reading the longest post ever!

~tiff

if i were more organized

{this picture has nothing to do with this post other than it's cute}

 i would have all of the blogs i read and follow put into my bloglovin account.  but, i don't.  and so, that means that i have some blogs on my sidebar {that i may or may not follow}, blogs i do follow in my google reader, and then the blogs i read in bloglovin. even more confusing is i have some of the same blogs in all 3 places!

this may not sound like much of a problem, but really, it would just be so much easier if they were all in one place.  that means, however, that i would have to get all of the blog addresses for the blogs i want to read and add them manually into bloglovin if they aren't listed.  mine wasn't so i had to add it myself.  i felt like such a dork adding my own blog to bloglovin.  oh well, i guess we all have to start somewhere!

i've been busy though and so when i have a few minutes to peruse my favorite blogs, i'd like to be able to click through quick!  i'm pretty sure i'm not alone here.  

does anyone have a system that's quick and easy?  

better than google reader, because i hate that!  after reading a good post, i have to click onto the blog and go there to comment.  bloglovin is so much easier.

i also suppose that if i wasn't so lazy, i'd just sit here for 15 minutes and get it all squared away. 

but i'm tired. i just finished shoveling out the grass growing over my sidewalk and now i feel like i'm going to puke.  i guess i really am out of shape.  and, that's depressing.  

in other news, have you all heard of very jane?  it's like groupon or living social but for indie business folks.  i get an email every morning with a great deal and have been super tempted to order a load of times.  just the other day they had electic whatnot ruffled camera strap covers at 50% off!  my husband and i share "his" dslr and i'm pretty sure he doesn't want a turquoise ruffled strap around his neck.

it's a great site, so you should go and sign up!  

enjoying the little things

i'm gearing up for my daughter's birthday party this weekend.  i have tons to do, and i haven't even started shopping for all the little items i need...

i helped my kids clean their rooms and then i moved onto the rest of the house when i stumbled across a lost can of diet coke.  don't even ask me where i found it, because i'm not telling! and, this may seem completely insane, but i actually squealed in delight!!  

the sun is shining, and i figured i should put my feet up.  i took my can of diet coke, the latest issue of country living {featuring this lovely gal and her goodies} and relaxed on my covered porch.  it was a little chilly so i didn't stay out for long.  and after my extremely unproductive day yesterday, i don't have time to waste!  

i thought this picture would look better if i cropped out my super white legs.  but what fun would that be?  i didn't get my fair share of pigment. that's life i guess, we all have our quirks.

~tiff

how bob harper and homeschooling fit into one post...

i've found the best ever math program for my kids!  since i'm so excited about it, i just had to share.  for those of you who don't homeschool, you'll have to just bear with me here for a bit.

the math curriculum my kids had a year ago was great!  my youngest two kids wanted to take their math books to bed!!  that's how much they liked it, but then our online program created their own program which i hated.  i tried to stick with it, but just recently decided that it wasn't going to work.  we needed something fun and fresh...

and teaching textbooks has come to my rescue!! 

it's amazing!!!!!

we started yesterday and my daughter has done 11 lessons so far!  she was begging me to let her do just one more before she went to bed!  if a company can create something that my kids are that excited about, then they've hit the jackpot!  my son also has done 10 lessons so it's a big hit around here so far.

each lesson starts with a lecture on the computer (which is great) then they have practice problems.  if they get one wrong, they have the option to see the solution explained and then move on.  it also grades automatically.  as a parent, i can see how many questions they got wrong, how many times they tried a specific question and if they viewed the solution.  

so, if you are looking for a math curriculum for your kids, or even if they just need a little more help in math that they might not be getting at school, this is a great program!  

i'm officially in love!

oh, and i'm also in love with this too:

 

i did this workout yesterday and let me tell you it was hard.  sweat was seeping out of every pore, my shirt was stuck to my body and i felt all stinky and gross.  so, i guess it was a really good workout.  and c'mon folks, who doesn't like bob harper?  ;-)

i was talking to my sister in law yesterday and jokingly said that it might not be hard enough...yeah, i take that back.  it's good.  i haven't done that many push ups all year.  serious.  

 

have you guys found anything great lately?  let me know!

~tiff

17 years ago

...my mother died. 

17 years seems like a long time.  

in some way it feels like she's been gone my whole life. because i've done so much since she's been gone.

i got my first job

had my heart broken

went to prom

graduated high school

lived in my first apartment

had a son

got married (just celebrated 10 years!)

had a daughter

had another son

started this crazy adventure of homeschooling

and i'm raising a family

those are just the biggies and through it all (the big and the small) she hasn't been here.  i felt like i was on my own for a long time.  i'm lucky though, because i have a great family that loves me!  so, i'm going to love on my family today.   

i'll try to pretend mother's day is about me and not about the mother i don't have.  

because mother's day is about me now.  i am a mother to 3 of the most awesomest best kids ever!  i should try to remember how much she loved me and how i truly felt loved by her. and really, my kids deserve to have a mom who enjoys "her" day.  

i'm going to do my best, wish me luck!

i miss you mom, happy mother's day.

and a big happy mother's day to you all! 

~tiff

did i really just make a slipcover???

i'm beyond thrilled with myself for finally finishing such a big project. 

it really wasn't as hard as i had imagined and turned out better than i ever hoped for!!

i will say that it isn't 100% complete....i still have to attach the cushion fasteners.  

drumroll please....

isn't the ruffle fabulous?  i am in love with that part of it!!

this arm turned out better than the other arm...

see?  it's a little loose and not quite as tight as the other side.  :-(

this is the view from the entry to the living room, which comes from the kitchen, where you enter my house.  it's a bad layout!

and here is a shot with the table too.  it's in desperate need for a repaint, so that's on my list right after i finish slipcovering the loveseat!!!  oh, you didn't know i still had a loveseat to do did you?  yeah, well, i have two cushions done, so i'm on my way.  i'll post a whole living room shoot after i finish that. 

i'm just on the lookout for a really cute throw and some pillows.  i can't decide whether or not i want colorful pillows or burlap and lace....such hard decisions.  for now she sits bare...

have a great mother's day weekend!!  

~tiff

keeping busy

blogging around here has been a bit slow the last week or so, and i guess i feel like i have to give an excuse or something.  know the feeling?

here's the rundown of what i've been up to lately:

1.  i finally saw water for elephants.  it was more than i even thought it was going to be.  r-pats was super adorably hunky.  there were a few shots where his lips were red, his teeth were white and his eyes sparkled like blue diamonds.   it was ah-ma-zing.  go see it.  i promise you will like it!

2.  my honey took me for some shnoo yougurt.  it's my fave.  yogurt, fruit on top, it's soo much better than ice cream!

3.  grandma and grandpa babysat so we could go play pickleball.  two solid hours of non stop action.  i was stinky as all get out when i left.  love that.  

4.  i finally got restocked on the staple of my diet; zoi greek yogurt in honey.  i could really live on the stuff!  a few blackberries on top and i'm in heaven.

5.  i finished my slipcover!  *squealing with excitement*  pictures to come soon!

6.  i woke up one morning last week and my hips hurt like heck.  still do. and since google has replaced solid medical advice, i think i have endometriosis and that it's spreading to my hip ligaments making them  hurt.  really, no joke.

7.  even though i felt like a rockstar making my own slipcover, my sister in law went out, bought all the supplies, and made one in like a day.  such a show off!  ;-)

8.  all i want to do right now is watch survivor, but for some reason my husband values our children's  physical health more than our tv time and he's got them doing the nightly workout.

anyone still reading this?

~tiff