THE BEGINNING & END

I can't believe that this school year is over. I am not sure where all of the time went. I can look back and remember each season, football game, field-trip, teacher workday, choir performance but it is hard to believe that it is all behind us now. I love summer and count down the days until it gets here. This year is bitter sweet. Another one graduates.  I like the slow pace of summer. I love family game night and movie night. I like a little time with nothing to do. This summer will be different, busier than ever. #1 is moving into an apartment when she goes back to school so  I am going to be busy looking for things for her. We have some furniture we are giving her and it is going to need to be painted. I have some things I want to make...pillows, lampshades, upholster a bulletin board and so on. Sounds like a whole lot of crafting to me!!  #2 will be in a dorm and somehow, I seem to make that a summer project as well. Things have to be just right, you know. If it's not cute, then I not satisfied :). She and her roommate are looking at comforters at Anthropology, but haven't made up their mind yet. They haven't graduated from highschool YET and I think I am behind. (Yep, that's me. I am not sure if I am a micro manager, worrier or just organized. I don't like to wait to the last minute (month) to do things. I like to plan, make lists and go for it. I even (don't hate me) started talking about Christmas lists yesterday.) 

I take a picture of the princesses on the first and last day of school. I even had #1 take a picture of herself on her first day of class and UNC, but I missed the last day. I guess I am going to have to let that tradition go. It is a little harder when they are in college! I love looking back and comparing the changes. 

August, 2008

 #3 on her first day of middle school

(11)

Middle School-pro

June 2009

(12)

#3's school had awards day yesterday. I am proud to say that she was one of the few that made the A Honor Roll. Her total average for the year was a 97.5. That's not bad, is it?

She also received the Sixth Grade Physical Education Award from the PE teacher. 

So I guess that means that she is smart AND can run fast! Ha!

(We are very proud. We take a lot of pride in our girls being very active and committed to a sport.)

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Senior Girl!!

August, 2008

(17)

Last Day of School!

June 2009

(18)

(all the seniors wore their college shirts)

We have a few graduation parties to go to this weekend and then a lot of yard work planned. It has been rainy so the weeds are taking over the flower beds!! I also have some planting to do.....again.  The deer have treated my flower beds like a salad bar and I am furious....... more on that later.

 I am in the middle of a war!

FROGGY

This is one of the many visitors we had in our backyard over the weekend.

We had a short rainstorm Saturday evening and once it was  over the frogs came out to celebrate!

There were so many frogs croaking at once, it was too loud. 

It is almost a full time job fishing them out of the pool, especially after it rains.

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This is a busy week. 

#2  and a few of her friends are having a big graduation cookout at our house the weekend after graduation. She is graduating June 11. 

They have already sent out the invitations, so there is no turning back now. 

It is time to roll up our sleeves and get busy. 

We are using lime green and aqua with black and white polka dots. 

We have a lot fun things planned, but have a lot of running around to do. 

We are painting clay pots black with white polka dots and are using them as center pieces  on the tables with bouquets of balloons "growing" out of them. 

I think it will be so cute!

Here we go again...... Show Us Where You Live Friday.

 Is it Friday already? This week has flown by. 

This week Kelly has chosen nurseries and children's rooms. 

That is a dangerous choice in my house seeing that I have 2 teenagers and a 12 1/2 year old.

Their rooms have good days, bad days and then there are the horrible days. Being the good mom that I am, I try to ignore their rooms until Fridays. I have this standing rule....

YOUR ROOM MUST BE CLEAN BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING AFTER SCHOOL ON FRIDAY,

PERIOD!

This rule has worked the majority of the time. I sometimes get a call asking if they can go to Sonic or someone's house on Friday afternoon right after school and my answer always is,

"I don't know, let me go check your room first."

Sometimes friends will even come over to help so that they can get their weekend started asap!

I don't care who shows up, just so it gets cleaned.

You would think that my kids would learn to plan ahead and just maybe get the job done on Thursday night so they wouldn't have to "be the only one that didn't get to go", but no, that would be too easy. I sometimes do let them slide and just tell them to get it clean as soon as they get home. I am a softy.....sometimes!

Here is #3's bedroom.

She is 12 1/2. 

 Mr. Bubbles wanted in the picture!

The walls are a little greener than they are showing up here.

 

The dresser and chest were my grandmother's. When I was a little girl, my "granny" wrote

too hard on a piece of paper that was on top of the dresser  and left some writing impressions (fancy scratches). They are still there. We want to paint this furniture but I am torn about painting over them.

How long will this last?

I love these pictures. The "diva" , is actually a Christmas ornament I bought at Target. 

This is #2's room.

She is 18. 

Mr. Bubbles just wasn't going to be left out of any picture.

Girls and their keepsakes!

These are all of #2's corsages from all of the school dances she went to during high school.

Looking into her bathroom from her bed.

More treasures!

And now for #1's room....

(she is 19... and she and all of her "stuff" are home from college!)

Can you read the plaque?

It so applies to her!

a peek into her closet.....

I don't think she needs any more black heels!

So, these rooms don't exactly fit into the category of nurseries or young children's rooms. But they are my little girls' rooms, no matter how old they are. It won't be too long before all of you with little ones will look back at your nursery pictures and be amazed at how fast the time goes. Just remember the Friday rule! It will come in handy!

SENIOR NIGHT

The final countdown has started!

In just a few short days, #2 will walk out of her home away from home her last time.

She will be graduating from high school.

Last night we celebrated the beginning of the end.

It was 

"Senior Night".

It was held in the gym of the school. It was such an awesome sight to see all of the seniors walk in, single file, with their caps and gowns on. And yes, the school's band had to play that very sad graduation music. I am not sure what it is called, but I am sure you know it. My daughter's high school is the second largest in the state, so there are a lot of seniors to get inside the gym. That means that song kept going on and on and on. (sigh) It was torture for all of us moms.

Senior Night is the night when all of the speeches are made and all of the scholarships and honor chords are given out. During the principal's speech, he announced that WHS had over 4.7 million  dollars in scholarships awarded. Isn't that an incredible amount? 

#2 was awarded one of the Outstanding Senior Awards. The administration and faculty select the top 15 seniors in the class based on leadership, academics, character and so on. We are very proud of her! I was a proud mama watching her walk up there to receive her plaque and the other chords and honors she received. 

Afterwards, the school held a reception in the main atrium of the school. I lost count of the number of pictures I took. I'm gonna miss these kids. Some of them went to preschool together. I know they are so excited about going to college and moving on, but I am not sure they realize the impact of leaving each other behind is going to have on them. This is such a great group of kids!

#2 said that one of the guys was the first to get sentimental last night. He looked around at everyone and made the statement,

"Look around guys, this is our original group. We've been together since the beginning of middle school." #2 said that everyone got really silent and just looked around the group from face to face. I sure hope they soak up every minute of this. 

 

Preschool Friends!

These girls have been friends since elementary school. They also all go to the same church and have gone on mission trips to Mexico, New Orleans and Jamaica together. They work hard and play hard together!

My Three Girls!

Grandma Came!

I was talking to my mom on the phone at 1:00 in the afternoon and mentioned to her about it being Senior Night. She didn't want to miss it and jumped in her car and drove to Raleigh just for the ceremony. Since she has an appointment this morning in the town she lives in, she actually drove home last night. She called at 11:00 to let us know she got home safely. 

Finding her name on the Wall of Seniors

I had to take this picture. 

It occurred to me as we walked out of the school last night that this was the last time we would be doing this. This school has been a huge part of our family's life for five years (#1 went there too). We have been very active there. I hope all of you with younger children really get involved when your children go to high school. It is such a great gift to give to them. 

Gone are the days of Friday night football games, washing cheerleading uniforms, bonfires at our house after football games, homecoming dresses, the phone calls as soon as school is over, helping with projects, shoving  pop tarts into her hands as she runs out of the door every morning, waking up to the sound of her shower coming on too early in the morning, practices, competitions, the fashion shows every week, watching the taillights of her car as she pulls out every morning while saying that little prayer..... 

..... and just like that, she's gone.

MEET MY DINING ROOM

Dining rooms are next on the list in Kelly's house tour. Last week it was Guest Rooms, and since all of the bedrooms in our house are occupied by my three lovely daughters and me and the MOTH, I didn't have anything to show. 

Just over a month ago we did some painting around the house. We painted the den and dining room. I am not completely finished with either room. I am trying to update some pictures and accessories. I haven't hung all the things back of the walls because I am not sure what I am keeping and what I am replacing. 

This is my dining room.

before

after

 I lost sleep over picking out the colors. I love color and it was so hard going from a  green to this taupe. Isn't it funny....  neutrals scare me to death! I bought so many sample jars and quarts of paint the week before the dining room was painted it was ridiculous. I had little squares of beige all over the walls.

 I was really limited to my color choice because of the rug that is in the room. Burgundy was an obvious choice, but my TV room upstairs (bonus room) is painted  burgundy so I didn't want to put that in the dining room. To add a little drama, we painted the ceiling a dark chocolate brown. I was terrified of that too! It turned out very nice. It is dramatic, but not any darker feeling than before. The darker ceiling actually kind of disappears when you are standing in the room. It doesn't feel like it is closing in on you, like I thought it would. 

This is looking in from the direction of the kitchen. The window treatments were hanging in the living room and I just moved them into here  as an experiment. I originally was going to have something made but I think I like theses hanging in here. They are from Pottery Barn and are a sheer linen. I am going to add some kind of trim or fringe/braid to them. 

The chandelier is either going to be replaced or painted. I like it, but hate the outdated brass. I have been researching online about how to paint it to give it an old world look. It doesn't sound too difficult, but I still think I will replace it.

 

In this picture, my back is to the windows and I am facing towards the kitchen.

from the foyer (above)

looking towards the foyer (below)

I had a formal dining room set when we first moved into our house, but we never used it and it looked out of place. I picked out this furniture  because I liked the informality of it but it still made a statement. I love how it goes with the flow. I can put "good dishes" on it, dress it up for Christmas or set the table with a bunch of  mixed and matched things  and feel comfortable with it. We have a big front porch with a porch swing, rockers and a gazebo on it, so I thought it was a good thing to carry that atmosphere into the house. BUT I didn't want it to be "country" looking.  I hope I have accomplished that.

The furniture is made from  reclaimed antique wood from England. Our floors were actually the walls of a cotton mill in NC many years ago. I love all of the nail holes that are still in them.

(yes, that is my foot...good thing I just got a pedi!)

If you look in the pictures above I don't have anything on the walls beside my china cabinet yet. I don't know if I want to hang the plateracks back up or pictures. I have been looking for something that would add some color to the room, but haven't found anything that I love.

I have a lot of dishes! I am not a" matching" kind of person. I like to put casual and formal things together. I have a lot of old crystal from my relatives that have passed away. Whenever someone passes away, (I know this sounds crazy!) I ask for a dish and a piece of silverware or my mom gets it for me. It is kind of neat to look around the Christmas table and see granny's bowl, Aunt Mabel's spoon, Martie's fork and Aunt Bell's gravy boat being passed around. 

Now that I look at the pictures, I think I need to spend some time cleaning out and organizing!!!

Hope you had fun!