NumberNineteen

Score!

I made a great score at the local thrift stores on Thursday!  I got 3 adorable dresses(one Ralph Lauren), 3 shirts, and a Madeline book for Hope, all for about $14.  I know, not as cheap as the thrift stores in most areas, but MUCH cheaper than buying new!  For me, I found a brand new, with tags, Brooks Brothers shirt for $3.95.  Perfect for work.  The thing that I'm really excited about is this:

I've been looking for a cheap brass chandelier for our kitchen eating area so that I can copy this:

Glenn checked to see that it works (it does!) and I've given it a first coat of spray paint.  I choose to use matte black instead of the brown that they used in the magazine, because that is what we had!  I'm so glad to get rid of the current light fixture. Not my style at all.  I'll post a photo as soon as it is up. The kitchen mini-redo is almost complete!

A Pretty New H

I'm at home on a mini-break & having the best time!  I took two days off just to be at home. By.Myself. I've shipped the kiddo off to day care & am doing wonderful things like crafting, scrapbooking, thrift shopping and reading. Ah.

Yesterday morning, I created a new 'H' for Hope's shelf.  I've had the chipboard 'H' form around for awhile, but was waiting for inspiration & time to do anything with it.  I love the font of this one...its from the departed ..sigh...Recollections.  I got inspiration for the medallion from the wonderful art of Andrea of www.velvetstrawberries.typepad.com (stupid new typepad won't let me link...if you are reading Mr. Typepad, please fix it) and Rosemary of http://rosespetitemaison.blogspot.com.

Here is how it fits in with its other H friends on the shelf:

I will post more soon because I've had both a successful thrift shopping & flea marketing trip!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Glenn!  Hope is the luckiest girl in the world.  I had to wait 27 years for you, but she got you from Day One.  We love you!!!

The Fleming Follies

You may have been saying to yourself, "Gee, I wonder what Kim & her wacky family have been up to???"  Busy weeks & busier weekends!  I dove right into baking by making Boston Cream Cupcakes from this magazine:

Here are the results:

Here is my review of the recipe: Fine but nothing spectacular.  You use a cake mix for the cupcake, which is fine, but nothing amazing.  Other than that, the fun part is the "boston cream" filling that you squirt into the cupcakes using a long nozzled bottle.  I'm looking forward to making the next recipe on my list, Red Velvet Cake Roll with White Chocolate filling.  MMMMMmmmmm.

I've also been consumed by the attention that needs to be paid to a toddler in potty training.  Can I just tell you, I feel like we've been doing this potty training thing FOREVER????? It had been going well & then she got sick & we sort of slacked off & now we are just getting her to a good place.  Of course, we finally got to this good place by bribery.  I swear, I tried EVERYTHING else & we were tearing.our.hair.out.  It seems that my kid will work for cookies.  A chip off the ole' Mommy block.

This past weekend we returned to one of my favorite summertime activities, the Arlington Flea Market. Yay, the season for fleas has returned!  It was hot as blazes, so there weren't as many vendors as there usually are.  However, we had a good time looking around and I found one treasure:

 

Look at this beauty!  It was $5!!!  It came framed & ready to hang.  It has a small tear in the lower left corner, but its barely noticeable.  And, it was $5!!! I love bargains.

On Sunday, we took Hope to the pool, where she went on the toddler water slide again & again & again.  We would wait at the bottom to catch her as she splashed down.  She would come up, shake off the water & declare "Do it Again!".  Afterwards, Glenn had craft time with her:

Note the evidence on her face of her successful potty reward.

He decided that he needed one as well:

Teehee.  Lets see how long it takes him to realize that I've posted this :)

I hope that you are enjoying these first few days of summer!