Finally Friday {Take 7}

Hey Y'all Charlie here.....Well it's that time of the week again. It was brought to our attention (by family members) that Emily has been slacking and hasn't done a Finally Friday post in a couple weeks. So as Emily was leaving the house for work this morning I got instructions to write on the blog.

Charlie

↓  Insert soapbox

1. Okay, I usually don't like to complain about things I see when it doesn't directly involve me but...It drives me nuts when people on social networks complain/degrade/b*tch etc... about what other people are doing or saying.  Emily had shown me a couple different places on instagram / facespace where people were saying nasty things to others for what they were doing, what they said, or even what they were wearing. These are grown adults who, behind a computer seem to act like they are above so many others.  I laugh at these "internet bullies" because to me, they are the true loser. You are spending your own short life on earth to say and do these things.  How about instead of making these comments you go and try to lick your elbow.

2. Wheww...I'm done.  On a better note, our lil girl went to the bathroom on her potty all by herself.  Stealing Emily's thunder...she'll give ya more info.

3. Surgery went well. Now I am on to physical therapy...I think physical therapists are the most sadistic people on earth. *Disclosure - If you are a physical therapist, I am sure you are a wonderful person, but I'm sure, secretly you like to hurt people. Haha.  
Therapist: Show me how far you can bend your knee Charlie. 
Me: Bending knee, oh-so-slowly and carefully. 
Therapist: Very good, let me see your leg. Starts to put my leg in some sort of wrestling move and begins to wrench on it. 
Me: Oh, @%$# .......@(*&^%......!!!!!!!!
Therapist: Oh you did wonderful today, Charlie. See ya next time. 
Me: Yea, uh-huh....I'm gonna go get on a website and write nasty things about you. Refer back to comment 1.

4. My garden is planted and doing good.  Now just to keep the deer, raccoon's  rabbits, skunks, two labs and a weimaraner from eating all my vegetables!  Yea, our "special" dogs eat tomatoes and peppers right off the vine.  awesome..

5. All of you that are in favor of us getting a swimming pool say "I"!!!!.....I look at it as something I would need to help with rehab of my knee.  (Or where I can float on a raft and drink a margarita - because after dealing with comment #3, many Margaritas are needed.)

Emily

1.  WOW!  My hubby sure is pleasant this week isn't he!?!? HAHA!  Sounds like I need to get a margarita in him quick!

2.  It's true. Paisley went pee-pee on her potty this week!  Yes, she's only 12 months.  Nope, it hasn't happened again.  I bought it last weekend because it was a bargain and we all know I can't pass up a good deal! :)  Anyways...she found it and started investigating it.  I've always told Charlie that when a kid gets interested in the potty, you act on it.  You put them on it as soon as they show interest and you don't look back!  So, unfortunately, Charlie witnessed Paisley checkin' out her new potty. 

In his most sarcastic voice ever, he looked at me and said "OK, she's showing interest, don't you have to put her on it right away!?!?". 

I rolled my eyes and got up to prove my point, totally assuming I was about to eat my words!  I sat her on the potty and she started peeing instantly!!!! WWHHAATTT????!!!!!  Charlie and I both started screaming and he started snapping pictures with his phone because she was just so darn proud of herself after seeing our reaction! It was quite possibly the cutest thing ever!  She threw her arms up in the air and she had the biggest smile!  Charlie got this picture but she he was so excited, it's all blurry!  Totally a keeper though :)

3.  If you follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you might have seen my Girls Night / Pinterest Party photo.  This week we had a "Mama's only" party and the Dad's were in charge of all our kiddos!  I have to say, we should do that more often! :)  We made dinner, had a glass or two of wine, and made tiki torch wine bottles! (more info in a post to come)  We had so much fun and it was nice to sit and relax instead of worrying about pulling one kid out of the toilet, or counting time outs, or telling the big girls that they can't do cartwheels over the babies.  On a full girls night, with kids, it's really just organized chaos and us Mama's are way outnumbered by kids.  But, we love it...and I know we'll look back and appreciate the stressful chaos one of these days!

4.  Ummmmm hello Charlie...I want a pool too!  Did you find someone to pay for it, yet????  NO? Ok. Let me know when you do! 

5.  I get to shop for wedding stuff tomorrow and I'm kinda excited about it.  I'm helping one of my best friends plan her wedding and we're getting started tomorrow.  Details are surely to come!

You can check out my Pinterest board for some of our inspiration pins!

The ONLY way to cook corn on the cob!

Hey y'all!  How's it going??? 

We're takin' you into the kitchen today!  We're pretty picky eaters, (but we're working on that little by little). One of our favorite go-to side items is, and will always be, sweet corn on the cob!  I don't know about you but, removing the husks is a pain!  Especially when cooking a lot of it! 

Wanna know a secret...???

MICROWAVE IT!!!!!!!

Yep, you read that right.  Throw it in your microwave!

We had 4 pieces of corn and put it in the microwave for 7 minutes.  The husks and silk practically fell off when it was done!  It doesn't dry out or lose flavor, either!

The second best part about this is that it required no pot of water, which means one less dish to clean!

I seriously won't make corn any other way ever again!

Do you have any time-saving, dish-cleaning secrets to share????  Let us hear them!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

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A Country Fair Carnival Party

Hey y'all!  Well, I told you last week about how it rained on Paisley's carnival but we made the best of it anyways.  I'm sad to say the majority of the games didn't get played, I had to hand out prizes instead of using the tickets, my signs got all soggy, my cute decorated tables didn't even get used, and I had way too many children under the age of 5 crammed into my house at one time.  That being said, my family and friends never cease to amaze me.  We are beyond blessed to have so many great people in our lives and despite all of my hard work getting completely drenched and un-used, we had a great time!  And, I think it's safe to say, I no longer have a living room.  It's just a big toy box at this point!  

Even though most things didn't go as planned I still snapped some pictures to show you guys!

First let me tell you about this cute little ETSY shop I had the opportunity to work with! Lee at Pear Tree Space is just plain awesome and so is everything she creates!  All of my signs, food labels, invitations, thank you cards and banners are from her shop.  She was so great to work with and her prices are so reasonable!  

Here are the invites I ordered through Lee, and she personalized for Paisley. 

Totally adorable, right???

I worked my butt off for about three weeks before the party to pull off these carnival games for the kids and I don't care if they didn't get used, I'm showing them to you anyways! :)

We used a ladder and a bean bag to create our bean bag toss game.  Each section was worth points.

Formula costs way too much to not find a use for those cute little cans!  A little scrapbook paper and these babies were ready to be knocked down! 

Fish bowls full of real CHEDDAR goldfish made up our goldfish toss game! :)

(I was afraid my friends would get mad if I sent this home with REAL goldfish!!...)

And, I'm no face painter folks....so fake tattoos it is! 

Spray painted root beer bottles and a dollar store bangle bracelet made up our ring toss game. 

Now for the decor...

This adorable sign comes in the party kit that you can purchase to match your invitations .  We used dowel rods and made them our centerpieces! 

The mason jar was supposed to be full of popcorn and the little tin bucket was supposed to be full of peanuts!

This was supposed to be the food table...

And, it's not a first birthday party without a smash cake, right!?!?

So there it is...Paisley's Country Fair Carnival (rained out) party! 

Ok, so I know you have a party coming up....

Head on over to Lee's shop and find exactly what you need!!!

Here is the package we used ...

Thank y'all so much for stopping by and checking out Paisley's party!  Before we know it, we'll be planning her 2nd! TIME FLIES!!!

Have an awesome day guys!

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DIY Bathroom Light

Hey, Y'all Charlie here again.....It's been awhile, but I've been a little busy having surgery done.  Since I am planted on the couch for awhile, Emily thought it would be the perfect time for me to write some blog posts.  So, I figured I would show you guys how I made a homemade barnwood vanity light for our newly remodeled bathroom. 

This isn't any ordinary light you could buy at local hardware store; or is it? 

I started by using a simple vanity light that you can buy at any local hardware store.  We were fortunate to already have a light from the original bathroom that we were able to use. (Score one for us, no extra $ had to be spent).  It looked just like this...

(source)

When looking for a vanity light make sure it can be taken apart where only the wires and metal are exposed like this...

Take your light and remove the front cover, exposing the wiring and bulb sockets. Don't be alarmed, I hate electricity and if you can screw in a light bulb, you are an electrician on this project. 

Make sure that your barnwood is thick enough that the light sockets do not stick out too far and are exposed, or that they are too far down so that a bulb cannot be screwed in.  This piece of barnwood that we used is about 2 inches thick.

Ok, this is where the craftsman and not the blogger comes into affect....I jumped ahead of myself before I snapped some pictures. SIGHHHH....(from Emily). As you can see, I had already started to drill some holes, but you didn't miss anything important.  

I placed the metal light fixture on the board and got it centered.  Once I like where it was I traced a line with a pencil all the way around all of the light sockets. 

Lay this ↑

onto this ↓, socket side down so you can trace...

This is where I realized I didn't have a Spade-Blade drill bit that was large enough.  I had to call Emily to pick one up on her way home. (Score another tool for Charlie!!!) 

Once I had the bit I began drilling all of my marked holes for the light sockets.



After you have your holes drilled in your wood, place your light fixture on top of the wood, sockets into the holes, and push down so that the metal is touching the wood.

Now take a pencil and trace around the perimeter of the light fixture.

This time I have a valid excuse as to why I don't have a picture of the the next step. Not safe to take pictures while using power tools.  Once your line is traced you can use a circular saw and cut exactly on your line.  Make sure you set the depth of your saw as to not allow the blade cut through your board, but also make sure it as deep enough for the light fixture to sit into the wood.  

Now that your fixture is sitting flush, you can run some screws into the wood, being careful not to hit any of the wires. And, of course use short enough screws so that they don't go all the way through the barnwood.

Now screw in some light bulbs and you've got yourself a one of a kind vanity light!  

What do y'all think???  It was just the touch our bathroom remodel needed and it didn't cost us a thing!  FREE is always the best kind of project, right!?!?

Thanks for stopping by! 

{free} Mother's Day Printable

Hey guys!  How's your week going so far?  We have a big morning ahead of us.  Today's the day.  Charlie is finally getting surgery on his knee!  This has been a long time coming, so he is beyond ready to get it over with.  However, surgery is scary no matter what, so do us a favor and keep us in your prayers today!

How about some freebies to start off your Thursday!?!?  

Who loves their MAMA???? (raising hand!!)

Here's some free printables for you to give to your awesome Mama's this Mother's Day!

Just right click and save!

Hope y'all have an awesome day! Thanks for stopping by! 

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It's not supposed to rain on your Birthday...

Hey y'all! Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?

Paisley's first birthday was Friday! So, we had a busy weekend!  Paisley and I ran errands for the big party on Friday, while Charlie and his parents worked on some last minute things around the house (like putting together her Birthday gifts!).  Friday night we went to a benefit for some friends which was held at one of our local wineries.  Yep, Paisley spent her birthday at a winery!  That's what all 1 year olds do, right???

She is so close to walking but still has a little wobble in her step.  So of course, being held for two hours straight in a crowded room with music is not what she had in mind.  I let her stand up next to me and hold onto a chair just to give her a break from being held.  She decided it was time to dance.  Before I know it, her dance moves got the best of her and she hit the floor.  Forehead to concrete.  She's a tough little girl and only cried for about two minutes.  But, we were left with a pretty red bump.  Best way to start the birthday festivities!  I should have known it would only go downhill from there!

Do you follow me on Instagram?  If so, you probably seen the prep work for her big Carnival/Country Fair party.  

I worked with a cute little Etsy Shop and had all of these adorable invitations, signs, carnival games, and decorations.  

Then Saturday morning came.  The day of the big event.  

And...

it rained.

and rained.

and rained.

Can you feel the gloom here????

Let me just say our local weather people got this one wrong!  I knew it was supposed to rain. But it was supposed to be done early morning which would be fine for her 3:00 party! Not so much.  And it wasn't like a heavy down pour.  It was that annoying continuous sprinkle ALL DAY LONG!

So, we ended up with about 50 people inside our house.  About 10 of them being under the age of 5!  Let's just say it was a little crazy!  

But even though it rained on our parade (carnival), we had a pretty great day.  We crammed everyone in the house and garage, served our crescent dogs, pretzels and nachos, watched Paisley devour a smash cake, and witnessed our family and friends completely spoil Paisley to death with so many wonderful gifts!  Saying we are blessed is a complete understatement.  We are beyond blessed and grateful to have so many family and friends who love Paisley just as much as we do!

I think she may have liked climbing on all the boxes more than what was inside!!!

After that eventful party...Paisley spent the next day like this...

She was completely tuckered out!  Tattoo wearin' off, moose man in hand!  

Make sure you stay tuned.... I'll be back with more details on our Carnival Party Fail, but that's how just a sneak peek of how we spent our weekend!  Bustin' our butts to pull off a backyard carnival that got completely rained out!  

At the end of the day, we're nothing but grateful.  

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping by!