Painting Pottery

What do you like to do to de-stress?  Watch t.v.?  Eat?  Cook?  Scream?  Clean?  Take a bath?  I like to do just about all of those things.  But one of my favorite things to do is paint pottery.  

While Hubby and I were window shopping one weekend, well, I was window shopping and he was looking at his watch, we found this cute little place called The Bare Bowl.  We walked inside and didn't leave until 5 hours later.  Yes, I have a husband who is creative and enjoys artistic things, so he didn't mind painting pottery with me.  

I was so excited about this place, I went home and told all my friends about it.  And so began the endless visits to The Bare Bowl.  Every couple of months, a few of us go spend the day being creative and de-stressing.  Today was one of those days.  I wanted to share some photos with you.  There are several, but keep looking, it's worth it.  

One of the things I love about The Bare Bowl is that their prices are all inclusive.  So if you see a $10 price tag, that includes the cost of the pottery, the paint, the firing, and you can stay as long as you want. A lot of places charge a separate fee for all of those things.  It's so affordable!

I love this place.  The staff is so friendly too.  They have great ideas and are willing to help you out, you know, if you're *ahem* not so creative.  

And no, I'm not getting paid for this advertisement.  It's just how I feel.  However, if someone wanted to pay me...

Some cute pottery on display.

Ok, look at what they do with baby hands and feet here.  Notice the lion up on the left?  That's a hand.  Here's another: 

That tractor is a foot!  Ah!  Isn't that so cute?!  

Here's what I painted.  It's not fired yet, so this is the before picture.  All of the smudging on the words will burn off and the end result will be a nice, shiny, piece of art.  Well, "art" as in amateur painted pottery.  That's as artsy as I get.  

So that's what I spent the day doing.  And did I mention that there is a delicious little coffee shop right next door?  Did I also mention that I love coffee?  It was a great day with coffee, friends, and pottery.  It doesn't get any better that that...

Thanks for stopping by, 

  

What's For Dinner?

Sometimes I really hate this question.  Particularly today.  Hubby and I spent the day in the yard again, pruning our apple trees.  We only have three, but they were SO neglected, it was like pruning 20.  I'm sore and tired.  Muscles I didn't even know I had are aching. 

See what I mean?  NEGLECTED!  

Back to dinner - I reheated some leftovers for the girls.  Hubby is having dinner with friends, so I'm standing in the kitchen, trying to decide what to eat.  

I had this big, elaborate plan to make something with onion, garlic, beans, diced chicken, olive oil, and sun-dried tomatoes.  I got all of the ingredients out, even taking a picture to post here, then got tired and put it all back.  

I grabbed a Greek Yogurt and opened it up.  I've tried Greek Yogurt before, but I can't get past the texture.  I thought a flavored one would be better, so I went with Pomegranate (I love Pomegranate).  It tasted okay, but still, the texture...blech.  Every time I look at it, I'm reminded of a facial clay mask.  I just wanted to slather the whole container of the stuff all over my face.  I was tempted.  I actually considered it.  Then I got tired and put it back.  

So now I'm sore, tired, AND hungry!  

But here's something that makes me happy: 

My oldest daughter.  She's so sweet.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Workin' in the Yard

Today was a gorgeous day!  I spent the day in the yard with Hubby while the kids were in school.  I know, no kids in the house and we spend the day in the yard?!  It had to be done.  At least for today.  *grin*  

Hubby has the week off, so we have a LONG list of things to do around the house.  We worked in the front yard for 6 hours.  See, here's a picture:

Poor Guy had to dig and lay so many bricks.  I felt kinda bad, but it was worth it!  Now we have to mulch and lay grass seed.  It's gonna look great.  You can tell that Hubby is getting on the blog band wagon because he said, "You should have taken a before picture for your blog."  He's cute. 

We also started our seeds for the garden today.  We're starting them indoors, in trays, under a light.  I think I've gone a bit crazy because we started A LOT of seeds.  Hubby just kept shaking his head, saying, "Are you sure you want this many seeds?"  Should I have taken that as a hint?  I say, go big or go home.  Right?  Um, right?  Sometimes I think I have no idea what I'm talking about.  

I do not have a big garden and this is only my second time doing a garden.  The rabbits and deer ate my first garden.  But I didn't really care.  This year I'm going to put some effort into it and really try to get these suckers to grow!  

Here's what we did: 

 After choosing our seeds, we lined up our little pots in the tray.  

Then we lined the pots with coffee filters.  Mmm...coffee.  We used coffee filters to keep the soil in the pots, but the filters still allow the water to be absorbed by the soil.  

I had my little Monkey fill the pots with Miracle-Grow-garden-mix-stuff.  

We added our seeds. 

Wrote on our plant labels, which is VERY important when you're doing as many seeds as we are.  

And last, but not least, we poured water in the tray.  Tomorrow we will put them under the grow light.  

I have a feeling that I'm Hubby is going to have to dig another spot for me when it comes time to plant the Little Suckers.  

Hubby and I are not really yard work people.  We enjoy having a yard, being in the yard, and looking at the pretty yard.  We just don't enjoy working in the yard.  But we had a good time today.  It was great to see the new green growth coming through.  And it's nice to see the results of our sweat!  

We sat on the porch, drinking a big glass of ice water, and looked out at all that we had done.  Let's hope that contentment gets us through the rest of the week as we continue to work in the backyard, garage, and basement.  We may have to re-think our list.  

Thanks for stopping by,

A Bathing Suit?!

Well, it’s that time of the year again.  The dreaded time, for most of us, where we find ourselves in a dressing room, sweating and sighing as we try to squueeezzzzee ourselves into this season’s trendy bathing suit. 

I went shopping yesterday.  I was looking for some capri pants and t-shirts.  I tried to avoid it, but I walked by the bathing suit section.  My heart immediately started pumping and my palms got sweaty.  I started calculating how many days I had until I had to put a bathing suit on…. “It’s April 2nd.  I have…one…two…ugh.  Two months!”

If you’re anything like me, at the end of last summer, you vowed not to be overweight another summer. “This winter I’m going to work hard so I’ll be ready for summer.”  And here I am, once again, in the last two months of jeans and long sleeves.

I have been struggling with my weight since the birth of my last child, almost 7 years ago.  I never had a weight issue growing up.  I was active and maintained a healthy weight.  It’s true what they say, having a baby changes your body.  After I had my second child, my body was never the same.  I was depressed, so I ate.  I developed a thyroid issue, which went undiagnosed for about 4 years.  (Gaining 25 pounds in a month and a half woke me up to the fact that something wasn’t right.  I got checked out and sure enough, I had a thyroid condition).  But by the time I got my thyroid under control and came out of my depression, the damage was done.  I was addicted to sugar, overweight, and insecure.  Actually, I still am all three of those things (but working on it).

As I stood in the dressing room the other day, it was hard not to be frustrated.  I started getting angry with myself for still being in the same boat as last year, and the year before.  But I stopped myself.  What good would being angry at myself do?  Instead, I decided it was time for a change. 

I am not in denial.  I know I will never be the size 10/12 girl I was before children.  My hips aren’t as narrow as they used to be!  I  just want to be the size that is healthy for me now.  The me that has birthed two children and enjoys chocolate and real butter.  I want to know that I am taking care of my body the best I can and if that means a size 12/14 or 14/16, that’s fine with me.  I gotta be honest, my husband likes a little curves, and I am happy to oblige. 

If you’re ready for a change, ready to take control of your health, join me and take part in my 30-Day Fitness Challenge.  We’ll start with exercise.  Nothing else, just exercise. 

I’d love to hear what you have to say.  Are you taking the challenge with me?  Leave me a note to let me know.  Let’s do this together! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Say “Yes” Once In A While

Right now I am sitting at my kitchen table.  Hubby just took our girls out for ice cream.  That means I have the house to myself!  It’s quiet (except for the sound of the happy dance I’m doing right now).  I have a candle lit, it’s beautiful outside, and I’m eating chocolate.  Granted, it’s chocolate we probably paid way too much for, but my husband has a hard time saying no to a child selling candy or cookies.  We usually have about 7 boxes of Girl Scout cookies each year.  I think his inability to say no stems from the fact that he was a boy scout for a long time…he’s got a soft spot.  What can I say, I’m a sucker for a guy who has a soft spot for kids. 

About an hour ago, I was making dinner in the kitchen with my 7-year old daughter, who I fondly refer to as “Emma Bug”.  (I can’t call her that in front of her friends, but I can at home). We were making a simple dinner, good ‘ole Mac ’n’ Cheese.  As the water was boiling, Bug asked if she could wash the dishes and if I could do it with her.  My first instinct was to say no.  Who wants to wash dishes by hand when you could shove them in the dishwasher?!  Imagine.  But as I took a minute to think about it, I realized I had a real opportunity here.  First of all, my daughter asked me to spend time doing something with her!  As much as I’d love to live in the dream that she’ll always want me around and want to spend time together, I know the day will come when she grows up and has a life outside of her Mama.  I want to take advantage of the time we have now…live in every moment. 

Second, it’s in the day-to-day moments that the opportunity for communication arises.  The unplanned time together sometimes lends itself to great conversations. I want my kids to talk to me, now and when they’re older.  If I can’t spare 5 minutes in the kitchen while we’re waiting for the water to boil, why would I take time out of something important to talk with her?  I know I would, but she may not know that. Our children see our actions, no matter how loud we’re talking.  It’s what they see that’s going to stick in their noggins. 

Third, there are so many other things that I have to say no to, why not say yes once in a while?  I used to say no because what they were asking for was something that required some effort on my part.  Even without the whole communication aspect, how hard is it to let your child do dishes?  So there’s some water to clean up afterwards, and probably some towels that will need to be washed, but I bet our kids will remember getting to wash the dishes.  And in some cases, it really boosts their self-esteem to know that we trust them enough to wash the dishes.  (If you don’t trust them enough, do it with them and show them how to do it properly.  Or if you don’t want to do that, wash them again when they go to bed).  The joy it brings them is worth the wet towels and semi-clean dishes.  And those times when you have to say no to things, they’ll know it’s because it’s important and not because you just don’t feel like doing something. 

Back to Bug – while doing dishes, we talked about her day.  She was so excited to share with me all of the things she did that day.  (She spent time with our friend and babysitter).  I just watched her face light up, and her animated expressions and said a prayer of thanks to God for giving her to me. 

Go take your kids outside to play in the mud.  Then spray ‘em down with the hose!  Have fun.  Be a kid again.  Create those memories that will stick with them and will open the doors of life-long communication between you and your kiddos.  It’s worth the mess!

Thanks for stopping by,