Pages

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

summer sun and fun

We don't discriminate based on age around our house.  We threw a party this past weekend and our guest list truly ran the gamut.  And to tell the truth, I think that's what really made it a success!  After a few months of work, we have finally gotten out house to reflect our personalities and we wanted to share that with our family and friends.  Don't get me wrong, we've still got some projects planned, but overall we were ready to reveal it to the ones we care about most.

Along with opening our home, we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and location.  So my best friend brought down her 2 kayaks, my mom brought hers, we threw in our old canoe and Bub's parents hauled down their adorable little paddle boat and we were ready for a day on the water.  It would have REALLY been complete with my dad's new work boat, but since he had to work we decided to leave that one alone.

One thing my hub likes to ensure is that there is something for everyone.  So with a cooler full of sodas, juice boxes, beer, liquor and wine and a grill packed with sizzling burgers, hot dogs and spicy sausages we were ready to roll.

the bar


a little recreation


relaxation


let the games begin


flip cup




gone fishin'


Thank you to everyone who made it to our party, we had such a wonderful time and can't wait to do it again soon!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Challenge...Can we do it?

While attempting to trim up the beautiful old tree in our front yard yesterday afternoon I had a stroke of genius.  Ok, that's stretching it, but I did have a pretty fun idea.  You see, the way our "yard" is set up we have a front yard, fence, mailbox, etc. and then there is the road (Point Breeze Rd.) that runs in front of our house.  But, on the other side of the road is a strip of grass with our big old tree, our pier and we've got some chairs set up as well to enjoy the view.  By law, that land is ours and also by law no one can "own the beach".  Meaning that's public property and if someone wants to walk on it they can.  The grass, however, and pier might I add, are private.  Sometimes people either choose to ignore that fact or just think that we're nice enough to provide them with free access to our chairs and pier.  No, sorry folks, we aren't that nice.  (Unless we know you of course!)

So how do we solve this problem?  Well, we're going to take a cue from our dear neighbors.  They've designed their land in a way that people know it's clearly theirs.  And since our private property signs on the pier aren't doing the trick, we're going to try and do the same thing.  Which brings me back to my brilliant idea...I've challenged myself, and Bubba of course, to take on this task without spending a penny!  A totally green-reuse type of project...

Here is what we're up against...our neighbors have the prettiest house on the block, in fact when we tell people where we live we say, "you'll see a big house with a red roof...we're the small white one next to it..." Anyway, here is their strip of land by their pier, designed so people know it's private:

[It's hard to get the full effect from this angle, but they have a portioned off a rectangle filled with sand to make it look like a beach.  Then there is the lighthouse whose light turns on each night as dusk, two beautiful chairs chained to the ground so no one steals them, and the mulched and flowered area in the front.  It's perfect and such a good idea!]



And here is what WE are working with...

[Not quite the same effect...at all. Our chairs PALE in comparison, but they came with the house.  They were funky old chairs that we just painted and stained with some leftover materials my mom had.  So our cost free project is technically already underway!  Cross your fingers for us, this could be tough.]


Monday, June 13, 2011

Happy Birthday!

Happy belated birthday to my favorite nephew, Jakey!  This little guy turned 3 years old this past week and had a Robin Hood party to celebrate.  The biggest hit of the party?  The slip-n-slide Pop-Pop and Maw-Maw gave him.  What a great way to cool the little ones down during the icky humid weather we've been having!

[Excited to cool down, but a little unsure of what to do.]


[Dad showing him how it's done.]


[Really not sure who enjoyed it more...]


[One of Jakey's friends contemplating the slip-n-slide.]


[Birthday Boy!]


[When all else fails, throw in a beach ball.]


[Another not so sure party guest.]


[This ones got the right idea!]


[Blowing out his candles.]


Where has the time gone?  I feel like it was just yesterday when we were celebrating his 1st birthday...

 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

UPDATE! Bedroom [almost] Complete

Since purchasing our house earlier this year, our first big project was to update our bedroom and give ourselves some closet space.  We are pretty much finished except for a few final details, and couldn't be happier with the results!

We were inspired by THIS post from my favorite bloggers, Kev and Layla Palmer, from The Lettered Cottage.  I joke that they are my and Bubba's soul mates.  Their style and teamwork is very similar to ours.  After seeing their mirrored closet doors I knew that was just what we needed for our small bedroom in order to open it up and make it look larger.

[BEFORE]


[AFTER]


[And a better look...]




Instead of having one really long closet, we decided to cut out an alcove of sorts for a different type of storage and light.  Because I love all things that bling we got this cute mini-chandelier from IKEA to give the room some much needed light.  We (and by we I mean Bubba) also made a bench seat that opens up for extra storage.  We found the beautiful yellow fabric on eBay and had it made into a small cushion for the seat.  Since there was some leftover fabric, Bubba's aunt who sewed the cushion for us also made us an adorable little pillow to match!




We also purchased some new curtains to add some non-linear aspects to the room.  And they look pretty neat from the outside of the house.



Again, there are still a few final touches that need to be worked on, but all in all we're pretty happy with the outcome!  Here is a list of some of the products we used:

Wall Color:  Wisteria Snow, Valspar found at Lowes

Closet Doors:  $15 from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore then sanded and painted and applied mirrors and trim.

Headboard:  $7 from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore repainted with metallic spray paint.

Window Treatments:  Target

Chandelier:  Ikea

Fabric: eBay

Light Fixtures and Door Knobs: Lowes





Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Playing Catch-Up

I have had so many great things to blog about lately but haven't had 5 minutes to sit down and actually type it out.  I'm so excited about this post, even though it may have been about a month ago when it actually happened!

My husband has two passions in life: hunting and farming.  He is a country boy through and through and I love him for that.  So you can only imagine his excitement when he and his grandfather, who we call Pop, went turkey hunting this spring.  Apparently in his younger days Pop was more of a deer, pheasant and rabbit hunter, and since Bubba has gotten into turkey hunting, they've been determined to get Pop a turkey. 

And they did just that.  As Pop said, "83 years old and STILL putting dinner on the table!"  He has such a great sense of humor, I see where Bubba and his dad get it from.  Check out this 22lb. bird Bubba called in and Pop shot.  I'm no hunting expert, but I have to say I think they did pretty good.

[I couldn't get over all the different colors and patterns of feathers turkeys have.]


[Pop and his prize, which they cooked and had for their meal that Sunday.]


[Shot of the 'fan'.]


[He was an old, big bird.  His spurs were so big they could hang him from them...]


[Who would have thought turkey feathers would have such a pretty color?!]

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Pink Light

The calm before the storm that never came...Yesterday evening Bubba and I were planning on taking out the old canoe for a little paddle, but the news was calling for storms, the leaves were curling up, and the waves picked up pace.  So we pulled her back in and decided we better not risk it just in case a storm did come. 

I should have known better though.  They've been calling for rain for the past week and a half and we haven't seen a drop yet.  Mother nature sure was acting like she was ready for a good soaking last night, but was nothing but a tease.  When the sky started casting a pink light on everything in the Point I thought for sure the storm was coming.  I was wrong, but at least I got a few pretty pictures:

[I know the humidity is horrible for my camera, but I couldn't resist snapping a few shots.  Our neighbors roof line is just beautiful against the cloudy sky.]


[If anyone knows what kind of tree this is can you please let me know?  This one is in our front yard and we have another in the back.  The only other place we've seen them is out on the island.]


[You could cut the humidity and mugginess with a knife.  It gives the beach an eerie look.]


[The pink glow on the water was so pretty and peaceful.]


[I was busy taking pictures of the water, when I turned around to find the clouds were back lit with pink and purple light and were just heavenly.]


[Lovely.]

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Throw Some Glitter, Make it Rain!

I glittered out the blog, and I hope everyone likes it! :)  There isn't much that a little glitter can't fix...

Things have been pretty busy in the Hill House lately, so I apologize for the lack of bloggage.  This weekend was the weekend of beautiful babies.  Besides the fact that it was my dad's 50th birthday (and he happened to be a beautiful, round baby) it was also Memorial Day weekend.  Even though it's not officially the season of Summer, this is the weekend that always kicks it off.  At least for our family :)

Saturday I got to hang out with some of the prettiest babies I know: Jake and Nora, our nephew and niece.  Jakey will be 3 in about a week, so I guess he's really turning into a big boy now more than a baby...but that's too sad to think about :'(  Here they both are, hanging out on the farm during this sunny weekend.

[Such a happy baby with her Mommy]

[Relaxing in the shade with her Daddy]



[Just a Swingin']

[He took a break from the swing to go rabbit hunting]

[Jakey found one sittin'!!]


Even though I don't have a picture of the next precious baby I saw this weekend, I still want to tell you about her.  Ava Renee Gruber was baptised this weekend at Holy Angels Church and I was lucky enough to be invited.  She is such a tiny thing (like her Momma) and just as cute as she can be!  Ava did very well throughout the baptism and didn't hardly make a peep.  Her Mom, and my former roommate, Renee, was beaming with joy.  Motherhood suits she and her husband, Rob, you can see the happiness all over their faces!

These next babies get bigger every time I see them.  They are my sister Marci's babies, but I still like to spoil and love on them.  Eve came down to my house for a walk one day last week and got to go for a ride in the Volvo!

[Sweetest, prettiest girl ever!]


[Samson on "stage" at Marci and Adam's new place!]


And finally we went to a cookout at my aunt and uncles house for Memorial Day.  A blog post about "babies" wouldn't be complete without featuring their "babies".  Sophie and Ella, and miss Paris, Brittney's dog, was there too.  Referred to as "the babies" in their house, these dogs rule the roost!

[This was the best shot I could get of Sophie, she was too busy running around starting trouble]

[The newest "baby", Paris.  Brittney's sweet pup.]

[Finally, the cute and cuddly Ella.  Her allergies to everything keep her under the weather, but isn't she just so cute?!]