My two favorite guys last Friday night...

 

(Please ignore the messy counters, primed door less kitchen cabinets, ect...)



The sun peeked out for about a half hour yesterday so here is a preview of Autumn in Maine...

Taken in our driveway...

Yep, it's that pretty...

Thanks for listening,

Rainy Days & Mondays...

Are both getting me down...

I know I promised you pictures of the fall decorating we did in the front yard, but it has been gray and rainy pretty much ever since... The sun did pop out for a little bit on Saturday while I was out running errands, but by the time I got home the fog had rolled back in... Ahhh, the joys of living on the coast.

Hopefully the weather will change for the better soon... The leaves are all changing and I want to take some photos to share with y'all... I may take a few today either way... It is just so beautiful here!

Paul spent most of his free time last week cleaning out a shed that was just too full for him to tackle previously... When he finished he told me he had put aside some items for me to check out. He told me he knows I'm always looking for "odd items" to decorate with... (I don't know how to take that...) Anyhow I headed out to the shed and this is what I found...

Oars...

Clearly these needed closer inspection...

Really nice antique oars in good shape...

Cute... right down to the leather grips...

Oh, he was sooo right, I have been looking for the perfect place to hang these all weekend...

I'll let you know when I find the right spot...

Here are some ideas I found online:

I like this one from Coastal Living...

But it's a little to "white" for me...

The rest of these are from Completely Coastal...

I like the "X" pattern these are hung in, but lets face it, the only thing our home has in common with this picture is that we own a couple oars...

This is a cute idea...

So is this one...

But this last one is really more "me"...

I even have a fun shelf that would work and a large red mirror that might look even better then the little black ones... It would be a completely different color scheme, but I can see it in my mind now. 

Ohhh... I just had a thought,  Paul also found some cool antique railroad lanterns in the basement...

Now I'm really excited to get started!

But they weren't all he found...

He also found these...

Antique wooden lobster buoys... Three really unique ones...

Most of the buoys these days are foam...

Like this one...

Reproduction wooden ones abound in tourist type shops but actual, old wooden ones are often snapped up by decorators and/or antique dealers and can be somewhat expensive...

I can't wait to figure out where and how to use these inside...

Way to go Paul!

Thanks for listening,

Post it Tuesday... Thursday Edition...



Thanks for listening,

Today...

Sparky went on her first ever "date" this afternoon... She and a bunch of friends went on a sailboat ride around Camden harbor after school. She was with a whole group, but she was there with one boy in particular. (We don't do one on one, alone dates... not at 15 anyhow.) The boat belongs to the father of one of the kids and he was with them the whole time. She isn't "going out" with this boy... He isn't her "boyfriend" yet, she is still getting to know him, but I do think we may be moving in that direction... New chapters everyday...

The girlies and I did a little fall decorating... The light went away before we had a chance to take the final shots so I will have to share those tomorrow, but I will show you what we were up to...

A few years ago my parents had a ramp put in where the front porch used to be, but that left this "walkway to nowhere" in front...

It is right behind what was the most amazing daisy patch back during the summer months...

Here is a side view...

This has bugged me and I wanted Paul to remove it, but this fall I saw it as an opportunity...

We moved a bench they had on the back deck out front...

added some hay bales...

The girlies did the heavy lifting...

(Sparky needed a break...)

I trimmed the daisies then we added mums, pumpkins, gourds, and corn stalks...

It turned out really fun...

I can't wait to take photos tomorrow...

What was Paul doing while we did all this work this evening? Perhaps you noticed the "pool" still up in the background? Well, it is finally down... Woo hoo... Poor guy drained it weeks ago but every time he would get the last of the water out and get it clean it would rain again before it dried. If you put it away wet it will mold so the poor guy has done this about six times now. Thankfully we finally had a couple dry days and he got it down tonight.

(Sparky loving fall... I just wanted to put this photo in... )

Also... I am toying with doing something wild with the front door and trim...

I'm thinking a purple front door...

homedepo.com

and Green trim... (the posts and all the unfinished rails, leaving the shutters black and window trim white)

homedepo.com

It's Maine, people paint either bright crazy colors or go all white with black trim & shutters...

 I think it would help the house stand out and it needs bright to pop with the cedar shingles...

The house looks so little from the road... It really need something to give it presence...

What do you think?

Thanks for listening,

 
PS. I am also struggling with something right now. Please pray for me. I feel led to share an experience with you guys that is really hard for me to tell. It isn't anything too terrible... it is an experience with some other women that has left me in a lot of pain. I have kept this to myself and have only told my side to just a couple people. I was so afraid to gossip or cause division that I allowed myself to be bullied, for lack of a better way to say it. Please pray for me as I prepare to share this... I have been encouraged by my husband and someone else I consider wise to tell this... to shed some sunlight in this dark corner.

Homecoming Dresses...

So Friday I told you about our quest for the perfect homecoming dress... The kids were informed Monday that "semi-formal attire" would be enforced. Apparently it has been kinda lax for the last several years... I don't know, we're new here. I wasn't worries as Sparky had a couple dresses that fit the description. It turns out none of those would work as I described in my last post, so Friday while she was in school we went to the two "department" type stores that are in the next town over to see if we could find her anything. (Keep in mind the dance was Friday night.)

My mother and I hit TJ Maxx first, but their selection was low and we didn't really see anything that fit what she was looking for. There was one dress we thought was a possibility, but at $65 it was a bit more then we wanted to spend on a last minute dress.

We left there and headed for JC Penney's, our final hope without an hour long drive we didn't really have time for. We hit pay dirt... There were racks and racks of semi-formals... all on sale... many on clearance... We quickly picked out six dresses fitting her description of what she was looking for...

Here is what we brought home:

#1: Hot Pink Satin

JCPenneys.com

#2: Blue with Black Overlay

JCPenneys.com

#3: Black with White Flowers

JCPenneys.com

#4: White with Black Flowers

(by the way, not as short as it looks...)

JCPenneys.com

#5: Pink Hombre'

#6: Gray Strapless

(w/ a sneak peek at Sparky's semi-finished bedroom)

 

Options #1 & #2 did not fit but #3-#6 fit like they were made for her...

And the winner is...

#3

Black with White Flowers...

And she loved it...

Especially with the shrug she had leftover from prom...

The good news for her is that due to the extremely low prices (some as low as $11) we got the dresses for we decided to let her keep the others that fit... A decision that was met with squeals of joy!

Here she is with her friend that we picked up on the way to where she was meeting up with the group she was going with...

This is when the battery in my camera died... Alas I don't have any shots of the whole group, but it was fun to see them (and her) all dressed up. These kids are all new to me, but they all seem like such good kids (honor roll, athletes, class president, and yearbook editor to name a few...)  and bring such joy to Sparky and for that I adore them already.

Of course our team was playing Saturday and Sparky had to be there to help sell yearbooks (she joined the staff) and to cheer on her friends who were playing... We won, and she had a blast...

On the way home I noticed the leaves are starting to change...

Autumn in Maine is here...

It's looking like a great one!

Thanks for listening,

Girlies & Such...

First of all Cate had news she wanted me to share... She got not one but two part time jobs this week... and... she will be chaperoning a high school mission trip in October... and... Both her new jobs are ok with that and are totally willing to work around her schedule... Woo Hoo!! She will be a cashier in a local grocery store and working part time at my cousin's bakery... She is so excited she is literally bursting... It is good to see the joy in her again... I missed her... The happy her.

In other news Sparky has her first homecoming dance this weekend... She is thrilled and excited. She is going with a whole group of kids so that takes the pressure off "pairing up." It's a semi-formal which we thought would be a piece of cake... Her dress from this spring is a semi-formal...

Remember this one?

The problem with this dress is...

Sparky has lost weight and it is way to loose to be decent let alone dance in...

Loose, strapless dress + dancing = her daddy going to jail for homicide...

I guess a whole summer of hiking, biking and lots of walking around town with friends has been good for her... Not to mention three weeks of walking around a three story high school with a heavy pack... Girlie is toned!

I'd take it in... but... she just tried it on an hour ago... and... the dance is tomorrow... and... my sewing machine is lost in a sea of boxes...

She does have another dress that fits her...

This one...

Her Christmas dress from when she was 12!

 (Don't y'all love that picture... Star poking outta her head and cat butt... Ohhhh, I'm quite sure this one would win first place in a "poor composition" contest...)

Here's the problem with this... She was only 5'4" when she was 12... She is a little over 5'10" now... Yep folks, that there dress is a lot less "cute" when it's six inches shorter! She is thrilled to fit into such a small size, but unless I sewed a 4" ruffle on this it's not leaving the house on my 15 year old! (I can't do that even if that were a real suggestion... remember, lost sewing machine...)

*Oh and I broke the zipper trying it on her one last time just now... Yep, since I started typing this!

Our solution... Tomorrow her grandma and I are going to run to the two local stores that carry semi-formal dresses, buy 2-4 dresses... Whatever they have in her new size that is cute... Bring them home and hope for the best, return the rest... Lookie... stress makes me a poet!... Isn't that special?

Hopefully you guys will forgive me if I don't do my Five Favorite Friday tomorrow... I will take pictures of her and post as soon as possible... I may even post my five favorite dresses I find shopping tomorrow, but not until after she is off to her dance...

Wish me luck...

Thanks for listening,

You Can Lead A Horse To Water...

But you can't make them drink...

and...

If you try... Best case scenario all you get is a dead horse and an exhausted you...

What does that have to do with anything you ask? Well, I feel this analogy especially holds true for homeschooling high school. I tried everything in my power to make Sparky "drink" algebra last year... I taught, I bribed, I begged, I punished (oh boy did I punish...) and all of that by October... There was non stop strife over this subject in our household... I was exhausted, I was also teaching a 12th grader and was tired of fighting with her, so I gave up... I threw in the towel and bought an expensive computer led curriculum... I needed to take me out of the equation, (forgive the pun) and she needed to take ownership of learning algebra...

Jump ahead several peace filled months, her grades were up and I was glad she was doing much better. There was peace in the household and I had hope our mother/daughter relationship might not be damaged. I should have been happy with the total turn around but the discrepancy between her test grades and daily assignment grades worried me. She has never been a strong tester in math subjects, but chalk it up to a mother's intuition... I toyed around with her curriculum and discovered how a smart lazy kid could pull a fast one on it... Could actually con the computer into doing most of the work for them... I had no proof this is what she was doing, but I had my suspicions... I talked to her dad about this and we sat her down and talked to her. We didn't ask for a confession, nor did she offer one. We explained how from this point on all math builds on what she had just learned. We explained how she would only be hurting herself. We explained that she was only setting herself up for failure in the future. Did our discussion sink in? I don't think so, and this spring happened... Sick grandparents... Us flying back and forth... Graduation... Prom... Moving... She miraculously passed algebra with a very low C...

Fast forward to this year... Public School & Geometry... Does she remember anything she learned in Algebra 1... Nope... None... Nada... Zilch... She barely remembers the stuff from pre-algebra... Does she need to live with the consequences of this? Yes... Absolutely... Here's the thing I struggle with, do I go talk to the school and tell them my fears about her mathematics foundation?Would I be throwing her under the bus?  Do I let her struggle through and deal with this on her own? Why do I feel so terrible, I felt at the time I had done everything I could... Did I? (Wait... I don't want to know...)  What would you do? Keeping in mind I can't go back and re-do last year... As much as I wish I could right now. I guess I could make her do a review...  Sink or swim is so much harder when it's your baby in the pool...

When does this motherhood thing get easier and when does the guilt let up?

Thanks for listening,

Whatever...

First off, I think it's ironic that the thing I like best about my blog is that it is a place for me to be me. I always type my posts from the perspective that you guys are my friends and we are meeting up for a cup of coffee. What ever I say here is what I'd share during that (almost) daily fictitious coffee date... Those of you who know me know that the "voice" I use here is my own... In fact many of you have said you can almost hear me saying the post out loud as you read it... Do I fit into a category?... I don't know... I don't think I'm a "mommy blog"... I just happen to be a mom who blogs... No write-ups on diapers here, I'm in a different phase of my life... Am I a "christian blogger"? Again I don't think so, my faith is a real part of who I am but it doesn't come up daily in my blog (maybe it should...more on that later) Am I a "humorous blogger" or just some one who is slightly amusing from time to time? I think the later... I am certainly not a decorating, cooking, or crafting blog although a lot of my favorite blogs are and I wish I had more focus to do those things and take time to blog about them consistently... Clearly this blog isn't about my amazing photography skills... So where does that leave me? I don't know, all I know is I love this medium for sharing... I love "meeting" other bloggers and developing "bloggy friendships"... There are a few amazing women who read my blog regularly (heaven knows why) and are so supportive with their comments... I really, really have grown to treasure you all... We don't all blog the same way, we are not in the same phases of life, don't go to the same church, but I feel a kinship with you very much. This blog and you guys has become one of the great joys in my life...

That being said...

(You knew that was coming right?)

 I refuse to let a few bad apples ruin my "bloggy world" or bleed over into my daily life. Apparently there was someone (who shall remain nameless) deeply offended by Friday's post... This blogger not only blasted me in comments and emails, but apparently felt the need to send in her "bloggy henchmen" to comment and email... That is who I'd like to address here... Your comments that got through were deleted and so were your emails... I admit at first I was taken back by the venom and anger, but I refuse to allow a few women who obviously have way too much time on their hands to change me or this blog. Your personal attacks were uncalled for and other then momentarily stunning me, were ineffective. I am truly sorry you don't think the world need "another preachy christian b----"... I'm not sure the world needs your venom filled hatred either, but if I were to accidentally click on one of your blogs in the future I'll do what I do whenever I run across a show on TV that doesn't interest me... I'll hit a button and move on. I admit was momentarily stung by your words and then angered that the attack became so personal... I even considered printing your comments and emails here with links to your blogs hoping you'd feel the sting of my true bloggy friends too, but then I decided to take my own advice... I will not address you again, I am moving on...

Thanks for listening,

Five Favorites Friday... Counting my blessings...

The level of crazy dealing with my step dad and his alzheimer's this week has been extremely rough... I will spare you guys all the gory details, but suffice it to say I didn't have it in me to put into my weekly post like I usually do... So much for plans... What I really need right now is to count my blessings...

Here goes...

1. God

I know that sounds simple and even to some they may be clicking away, but without God and my personal salvation through Jesus Christ I don't know if I could keep going. My more selfish nature tells me to put my parent's in a nursing home and be done with the craziness, but the Lord has given us (both Paul and I) the peace the truly does pass our understanding when it comes to them (mostly my step dad though) and I feel his presence daily...

To name four other blessings right now is more then I have in me... Of course I am blessed to have my family, the beautiful location in which to live, a church family both past and present to lean on... ect... ect... but right now my #1 is all that is getting me through...

(So I guess it's now "One Favorite Friday"... Sorry)

Here are a couple songs that have helped anchor me this week...

I hope you take time to listen to them and feel blessed...

and

I'll be back next week with the whole "Five" and a "linky" party and all that jazz...
 This is where I am today... Keeping it real for ya folks....

Thanks for listening,