Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)...

I promise this will not be a post on Cinderella. Even though I know if you are in my age bracket you are humming that tune in your head as you read this {smile}.

A few weeks ago during our family vacation I was snapping a shot of Hannah with Alice in Wonderland. We moved a few steps over for a picture with Mary Poppins and NOTHING!!

After recharged and then a new battery still nothing. So off to the Canon repair shop it went.

It wasn't until she was gone, and I had to revert back to my ole' point-n-shoot ,that I realized just how much better my SLR was. So with that all said please forgive the photos. My sweet baby is do back this week. Hopefully refreshed and ready to go.


Ok, onto the point of this post.


After dropping off Hannah Friday morning Gabe and I were on our merry way to Pre-K. When he spotted a yard sale. My boy has a great little eye and is my sidekick shopper. So we had a few minutes to spare and pulled over.

I feel in love with this!

Honestly, I have been looking for a table like this for years. It had a great structure and was sturdy. But she was asking $35.00 for it. What can I say I'm cheep! This was the first day of her sale and it was 7:55 AM so I figured no way she will come down this early. So as I was walking away I thought to myself, what the heck she can only say no. So I turned and offered her $25.00 and she took it. Yippee!! After some light sanding and a nice new coat of stain here she is...

I did not apply a top coat because I wanted to have a more distressed look.


Aren't my walls pretty? That's a new two color look and another subject. Just for the record they are not yellow. With school starting and work picking up I had lots of free time to start a massive painting project at home. I will let you in on it real soon.Of coarse I need to also find some new tabletop goods for this cutie!

Don't forget to stop by Southern Hospitality and Twice Remembered a check out all the other great goodies.

This one won't fall down!

About eight years ago we purchased a wooden play set at our local Sam's. For years Hannah played on it and then in 2004 we even had the movers bring it to our new home. But the time had come, this past spring ,to take it down. It was a safety issue and we needed a new one.

That's when I started thinking... you see my dad is a welder. Not just any welder but also an artist. He designed and created both the kiddos beds. These pictures really do not do them justice.

Like all great artist's he is a bit slow and needs motivation! So last fall I began planting my seeds about how much the kids would love for him to build a swing set. I kept working at him and after we broke down the old set this past spring he finally found the time.

So, a few weeks ago, it arrived. We offered up a great dinner of take out pizza and bottled water. The least we could do for having him get a co-worker to help in 99* heat. It was only when he pulled up to the house did I realize just how big it was.It didn't take long for all the neighbor kids to realize that we had a front loader sitting in the driveway. Who needs movie night when you have heavy equipment to watch.It took a bit of Oklahoma red dirt digging and concrete mixing.

And one happy little girl!

But it was done and then dad uttered those words every excited child loves to hear! You gotta' wait 3 days to let the concrete set before you can get on it!

So here she sets waiting to be (spray) painted. She will host a slide, four swings and a traipse bar. I'm afraid that she is here to stay! I'll show you the finished project just has soon as she's done!

In the meantime I'm working on dad to start making custom beds. He has no idea just what a hit they could be on etsy.

Schools In...

School starts back for us Thursday {smile} and I came across this fabulous, cute, creativy site and found these...

My kiddos won't have them for the first day but how stinkin' cute are they. You must go check her out at

em Tanner Designs.

Disney Breakdown...

I have had lots of emails with questions regarding our trip to Walt Disney World. And I am glad to see that we all are continuing to contribute to the economy and Walt Disney...we know he needs it. So with my camera sent away for repair I thought I would share a few pointers from Mr. Mouse Ears himself, my husband!

We decided to stay just off property at Orlando World Center Resort . There were many reasons as to why. First, we wanted to have a full kitchen and washer/dryer. Second, and most important, was for the kiddos to have their own bedroom and bathroom. Over our past travels it didn't take us long to realize if we are staying somewhere for over 10 nights we need space. Can I get an Amen!

Not that we ever stayed in the room much. But, on our first day we stopped by the local Wal-mart and purchased all our meals, drinks and trading pins. This was a HUGE savings and a much healthier option than eating at the parks for 10 days{cheap, cheaper, cheapest}. I prepared breakfast each morning , packed our lunch , headed back to the hotel to cook dinner then back to the parks. We allowed the kids to pick any one snack they wanted from the park's each day. They loved that and never asked for the $20 chicken nuggets,fries and a drink.

Here is a great little tip when you stay off property... Diamond Parking!! If you are a Triple A member you can ask for a FREE Diamond parking pass from Triple A or purchase one on eBay. This was a great time saver for us. We parked up front and didn't have to stand in line for a tram. The only parks that did not have Diamond parking were the water parks. And if you opt for character dinning choose to have a late breakfast at Chef Mickeys. It is located at the Contemporary Resort. As you drive into Disney take the far two lanes. Let them know you have reservations at Chef Mickey's. We let the kiddo's {and us} sleep in one day and took them to a late breakfast {10:30} at Chef Mickeys. Not only did we have a fabulous brunch you are allowed to park in their hotel for free. Then we walked across the street to Magic Kingdom. So we saved the $12.00 on parking for that day and only packed a snack due to the late breakfast.
Let your kiddos trade pins! My 9 and 4 year old loved this. We purchased the less expensive pins at Wal-mart and then they were able to trade them all over the parks for the better ones. There is even a Pin Trading station at Downtown Disney. So goggle it before you go and know all the {behind the scenes} rules and lingo. When you get home they can have pins that tell a story of all their favorite's. The best place for autographs is Epcot. They have all the characters lined up INSIDE the air conditioning and the wait was a short one. If you have a princess that wants to meet Tinker Bell she is located in Toon Town {Magic Kingdom}. Arrive when they open at 10:30 a.m. if you wish to see her. It still took us over 45 minutes waiting in line.
Some of the best snacks we had were the Dole Pineapple Floats in Adventure land and Snow Cones in Japan. Trust me one that one!
We took a "Disney" break for a few days and drove to the nearest beach, Cocoa. The water is not as clear as the Golf side but it was half the drive. On the first day we found a local and asked where the best spots where. Surfer boy told us where the free parking and no tourist spots on the beach were. And directed us here for a fabulous dinner at Port Canaveral. We ate on the patio enjoying sweet tea, fish and fried plantains. The kids enjoyed watching the ships come in and out.
And on one last note for the best seat at the Magic Kingdom set behind the castle at Pooh's Play house. The fireworks are shot off the tops of the buildings and right over your head. You can still see Tink fly out and without the crowds!

Just Beachy!

Sometimes I wished I didn't live inland. As my luck would have it I was born and raised in Oklahoma. And though I do love my great state ,I long to spend my Saturdays here.

Salt water in the air, sun warming my skin, and watching the kiddos take on the surf.

We enjoyed a few days at the beach on our recent trip to Florida. And though it might not have been the bluest water it was just fine for our family and ole shark tooth!

Our flip flops are looking forward to returning too. As they liked taking a break and just hanging out.

Tick - Tock a Croc !

As we drove to our hotel we joked with the kids (trying to keep them entertained) about looking out the window for alligators and crocodiles! Explaining to them about how we were now in Gator Country!

So when we arrived at the hotel and checked in we saw this.

The kids and I thought it was cute and I explained that how it was a "play on words" as to where we were at. And that the hotel did not have alligator's or crocodiles.

So the next morning ,while getting ready, the kiddos were eating breakfast on the balcony and came in screaming ,at the top of their sweet little lungs , ALLIGATOR!!!!!!!!! Mommy we see an ALLIGATOR!!! So with a laugh and smile I followed them out to take a look.

And guess what I saw?

Yep, Tick - Tock!!

You can see it's eyes and nose swimming in the pond (on a golf course of all places).

Here he is just about to go behind that tree. And as Dori would say "just keep swimming"!

We were SOOOO close that the kiddos huddle together for safety {smile}.

We never did seem him again that week. However, Ryan and I used it to keep the kids close by us. Always reminding them that there could be an alligator around every corner!

Animal Kingdom ain't got nothin' on us!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggied Jig...

We had a wonderful trip and I have so much to talk about it's scary.

Let's see if you can guess where we went.

85 bottles of water (frozen)

48 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper

1 rented all teriann stroller (for a 5 year old)

18,894 Brazilians (It's winter over there)

24 pins to trade

Mole Skin

Way to many Fast Passes

Yep, that's right The Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney World!

Let me just say it's A LOT bigger than DisneyLand. All the parks total up the same distance as the entire island of Manhattan! The last time I had visited was way before my child bearing years. So a totally different experience this time around.

Gabe and Hannah loved it and we enjoyed watching them take it all in.

We were shocked as this was hands down thier FAVORITE park of them all. We had only planned on one day at Epcot but they begged to go back the next. This is why Gabe loved it! The fastest ride in all of Disney. And he was just tall enough! This is him holding all his fast pass tickets to ride it FOUR times.

He also enjoyed riding the train around the Magic Kingdom taking him to his next adventure (I enjoyed the breeze it brought ). I stopped counting how many times he asked "Mama is this real?". It was hard for his 4 year old mind to take it all in.

You gotta stop by later this week. More on our trip, the REAL alligator at our hotel, my SLR camera under the weather and me dropping the point-in-shoot into the Atlantic!

I can't wait to be back in full swing next week and sharing what creative creations I have up my sleeve with you!