Go Spartans!!! Woo HOO!

We went downtown yesterday to take in all the sights, we had a blast cheering on our Spartans!

Ford Field, where all the games are taking place.

Sparty at the pep assembly!

Myah all decked out in her new wrist and head bands.

We are so excited that our MSU Spartans are in the final game! Go State!

Go MSU!!!

These two men are like royalty in our family, Magic Johnson and Tom Izzo! To prove it, here is a funny story. When my cousin Mandy was being tested for kindergarten her teacher asked her to draw a picture of her family. She drew four little stick people representing her dad, mom, brother and herself, at the end was this tall, dark stick person, the teacher asked who that was and she replied "Magic Johnson". Yes, she thought he was a member of the family.

Today our beloved Spartans will play in the Final Four game, at Ford Field no less! We are hoping that our hometown advantage will prevail! We are going downtown today to take in the sights and sounds and show our support for MSU!!! I have to believe that my Dad was their "angel in the bleachers" this year, he and my Uncle Cleo were their biggest fans. We still have somewhere in mom and dad's house the video tape from the 1979 Championship game where Magic Johnson played against Larry Bird, it is the 30th anniversary of that game this year. Dad watched it so many times! Let's go MSU!!!!

Myah's Spring Wardrobe Bargains

If you want to find out how I have saved lots of moola buying Myah's spring and summer wardrobe hop on over to my other blog by going here. I have had lots of fun!

Basket Case

I am having a fun time decorating my "new " kitchen, it is almost finished, just a few more pieces of trim and crown molding to go up, gosh I love my hubby, he has been so awesome, he is such a handy man to have around, and cute too! Here are a few images from around the kitchen. I love this new to me old basket on top, I filled it with old tableclothes and doilies that my great grandmothers had made.

I love this little basket I found at Joannes this week for three dollars, I put a cute little plant in it, I also scored the basket/woven jug in the background, it was at my favorite thrift shop for $4. Love it! Oh and I drooled when I found this silver champagne bucket at TJ's on final clearance for $7, I only have 2 drawers in my kitchen so I am constantly trying to find creative places to store my utensils.

A few other treasures that I found for a few dollars, old rolling pins in a new basket hung on the wall.

Picture Wall

Here is what I finally did with all of my favorite frames. I have been picking them up for years and they were all scattered around my house, I decided to put them all together in the family room to make more of an impact. My initial goal was to put all black and white photos or old family photos in them. But after I hung them with the pictures that were already in them I kind of liked it just like that. I have taken so many pictures of my kids over the years and I just haven't had a chance to go back through all of my files and find my favorites so I figured this would work for now. I need to take updated photos of them soon! I love how they look hanging over our new couch. I was not really ever a big fan of leather but it has really helped tie my rooms together and with a toddler and a teenager it just makes more sense to have leather. I learned that the hard way! I see one of my frames is a bit crooked, must be Myah got up there and tried to help me decorate! She sees mommy doing that all the time! I love all of the different textures of frames. I have some old barnwood frames from Dryad's Dancing , a Pottery B*arn outlet treasure (the huge frame), a tin frame, one that has a saying about family from Ko*hls, a large chipped one from a thrift shop and my favorite, and O'brien and Schridde that my sister bought me for my birthday a few years ago. I love old frames and photos, so this really makes me smile!

My little cutie had to be in this one! See that staircase, that is on my list to be painted white! Lots of painting has been going on in here lately, I will show you more of that later!

Small Changes in Myah's Room

I have always wanted to put these old plates from my Grandparent's house in Myah's bedroom but I never got around to it. I am in one of those moods lately to "use what I have" instead of looking for something new. I love all things old so it just made sense to finally pull these out of the cupboard and put them on her walls. I always loved the flower patterns in these, Grandma had a huge plate rack in her kitchen and these still even have some of the original "dust" on them, makes them a little more nostalgic doesn't it. Dust from your Grandparent's house. I am sappy that way. They look perfect in her room with her floral bedding. A few months ago we switched the kids bedrooms, so now Myah has pale yellow walls which I love, I think it really makes things stand out better than the pink did. One plate has a large chip in it, but by now you should know me well enough to know that it doesn't matter to me.

Don't they look so pretty?

This used to hang in my kitchen but now that we are redecorating it just doesn't go. I couldn't imagine getting rid of this picture, Mark bought it for me years ago when he was promoted to Sargeant, we had just moved into our new house and this was my thank you gift from him for all of my support. Isn't he just a sweetie?! It is a Tracey P*orter print with the prettiest ribbon matting. I decided it would go in Myah's room as well, it looks so nice in there.
This clock was also something from my family room decor that I couldn't part with, so I included it with a new shelf from Hobs Lobs, it was bright pink so I painted it creamy white, you can't really see it but it is a tin shelf. I put a few more of my favorite old china pieces on it.
I love having pictures of Myah as a baby in her room, she is always asking about when she was a "tiny baby" being that we adopted her 5 days after her first birthday we don't have many pictures of her in her infancy, the one is our referral picture and the other I took of her right after we brought her home. I love the small frame, it has a phrase about adoption on it. She enjoys looking at her cute little face. I love having these out too as it reminds me of the little girl who wouldn't smile and would just sit when we first got her, these help remind me of how our love and affection have made her come to life, she is so bubbly and spirited now, a true blessing.

Mommy's Day Out!

My new favorite store Acorn Farm (this was at Christmas time)
My creation, I call it barn by the apple tree

I love her special blends of potpourri, I love the lime vanilla, she packages it up so cute!

A few weeks ago while I was out shopping for a new couch I ran across an adorable new store in a nearby downtown. I was drawn in by the name "Acorn Farm" isn't that just so cute. I walked in and knew right away that this was probably my new favorite place to go when mommy needs some time to herself. It is a cooking/stationary/childrens goodies/home dec store. As I was leaving I noticed a cute little painting on the countertop, the lady behind the counter told me that they offer several cooking classes at the store and each month a watercolor painting class. The little barn with an apple tree picture was going to be next month's creation and she reassured me that yours will actually look like the original. So I thought what the heck, for $20 I can give myself a few hours out of the house and maybe start a new hobby. I am NOT an artist by no stretch of the imagination. Actually when I told Dayton that I was going to take a painting class, he cracked up, I mean CRACKED up! My good friend Val watched Myah for me and off I went yesterday. The owner of the store Kathy is just the sweetest person you would ever want to meet, I love someone who smiles as much as I does not think I am goofy (right mom!). Anywhooo, I was there with about 8 other women, mostly all older women, but I love spending time with people of "age" so I was thrilled to be spending my precious mommy time with these sweet little ladies. The teacher Wendy was so patient and so talented. I had a wonderful time, they are all asking me to come back and they also want me to join their Optimist club, (which is too far away so I wont' be doing it but flattered that they asked). I was pretty proud of my creation, it is just a tiny print about 4x6 but it is a good start. Mine didn't even look close to the original but Wendy kept telling us it was our "own interpretation", her nice way of saying, keep your day job! I cannot tell you how much fun I had! I really needed that! Afterwards Kathy gave us a 20% off coupon to spend in the store so I purchased a box of her own blend of potpourri, she has the beautiful jars filled with her seasonal scents. I took Val a small box too for watching my little darling. They have them boxed up so cute in a Chinese take out box with cute ribbon. I am sure my sister is dying to see my work, please be gentle Mel, remember I am the organized one! I will definately be going back next month!