I'm Moving...Eventually.

Dear Crafty Friends...

Wordpress is quite the challenge.

Why do they have to make it so hard?!?!

I WILL be moving, 

but not until I've gotten things squared away over there.

Please continue to visit this crazy, er crafty blog.

More nonsense rambling & 

fun projects coming your way soon...

Happy Wednesday!

Mwah!

 

I'm Moving!!

I'm so excited!

I finally purchased my domain name & 

am now forever known in blogland as

CraftySouthernMama.Com 

 

It might take me a couple of weeks to figure everything out at Wordpress, but please stop by to visit & bookmark my new home.

 Lots of fun, crafty goodness coming your way soon! :)

Thanks for all the good years, Blogger!

See y'all soon! :)

 

Bloggers Block...

Haha...

Is that even a real thing?

I am so random & lame lately,

I cannot string together a simple sentence...

 (warning, spew of random blabbering ahead)

Many, many, many things have happened here.

Way too many, actually!

But, thankfully...

ball season & this crazy school year

are both winding down.

Miss O's softball season just ended,

one of our least favorite seasons thus far. 

I think she may even decided to give it up

 after this season (I'm disappointed). 

But...chin up.

With softball over, now she's playing in a 

May Volleyball league. 

Looking for me on Monday night? 

I'll be over at CU.

(I'm starting to love these INDOOR sports, I might add)

The TWEEN thing is hitting hard.

Drama, drama, drama!

Oh, my!

I think I mentioned a few months back about Sneaky E being diagnosed with dyslexia and we were making some modifications for him.  I am so tickled with the kindergarten teacher he has this year, she has been so good with him...working with him on his level. He feels so safe & happy & confident at school, we have been so blessed having Ms Pam this year!

However, because our current school is a bit advanced. We are sad that he is going to be changing schools (& we so love our little private school that our kids attend), but this will get our guy the help that he needs learning to read (anyone have background on the Spalding Method?). I've been doing a lot of reading up on that. Next year is going to be a big learning year for my Pootie (aka Sneaky E).

((Sidebar))

I've become obsessed with this blog...

I have sat for hours!!

Hooked On Houses

DON'T click on that link unless you've got time to kill!

Ok, Big O & I just got back from 8th grade trip to 

Washington, DC.

These were my boys for the week...

love these sweethearts!!

I.HAD.SO.MUCH.FUN 

& 

was tickled to spend the week with my buddy, Lynda.

She & I are constantly trying to get a lunch date together,

but she is a busy, busy gal! It was great to spend sometime with her.

I'm already looking forward to Miss O's class going in three years! There is SO MUCH that I did not get to see! 

My sister & I live in different towns,

we text off & on all day...

((we are both certifiably crazy)) 

Lately we've gotten a good laugh over sharing stupid news stories.

Here are a few...

I sent this one to her yesterday

& her reply was...

WELL, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE!?!? 

HA!

Maybe that one wasn't so stupid...

I'm sure many a woman would love to see that! ;)

I've got to stop rambling...

we're having some house guests this weekend.

Got to go tidy up a bit.

I will leave you with this shot.

The first blooms of spring in my yard,

mauve iris that I dug up from my Granny's yard.

Makes me smile every time I head down the driveway

(which is like 300 times a day). ;)

Happy weekend, sweet friends!

Wild in Washington!

I'm off on a school charted trip with Big O this week...

Boy, my feet sure HURT!!
(Boy, I sure am shrinking!!!)




Miss O told me she could not BELIEVE I was leaving her & sweet baby home with P Daddy for a WHOLE week ("who will feed us!?!", she wailed)!

I bet they're having a party right now! ;)

Hope this week is off to a great start for you!

Mwah! ❤

Mandy - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wordless Wednesday...Seven Years Ago

Seven years ago this morning...

the prettiest little 

dimple flashing

baby boy

was born.

Happy birthday, sweet Evan

Helllloooooo, April!

Whew, weee!

It's been busy here!!

We have had so much fun this spring... 

I just want to plop (that's right, plop) 

in here & share what's been going on!

P Daddy surprised us with a last minute

Birthday Trip 

to Disney World!

The surprise...

He let us go, 

even though he couldn't! 

Grandma was (a warrior) and 

stepped up to fill his place.

We spent four crazy fun 

days in Orlando with our dearest pals.

Big O & I enjoyed a LARGE birthday week!!

 

Dear Big O, How dare you be 15....

Bunny ear phase in full force. Even random strangers aren't safe!!

So much fun!!  

We were home a little over 24 hours & 

then P Daddy & I headed back to the airport...

We had been planning this trip for awhile.

It was such a treat turning 40 

in my most favorite city in the world, 

Charleston, SC.

Sunrise on The Battery, from The Palmer Home veranda.

The morning we were leaving,

they were filming a tv show down on the battery.

It was the pilot for a show called Reckless,

it's supposed to be on CBS this fall.

It was pretty fun to watch...

until we'd seen the same scene done twenty five times. 

Same boat floated by,

same three cars drove by,

same bald guy reading the newspaper,

same fake jogger...

Ha

We returned home to find that some 

of Big O's buddies had rolled our yard.

Gotta love it when kids love you that much! ;)

Poor guys,

we've only got two trees!! 

 

Today is April 1st...

Twenty two years ago today, 

I went on a date with this 

super sweet baseball player.

 My goodness,

Time flies!

 Hard believe, 

we've been together over half our lives now!

I love him more every year!

Mwah!

 

This week I'm going to be working on getting 

some PRINTS made from my Instagram photos.

A friend told me about this super fab site...

Printstagram

 

I'm all over it!

Are you on Instagram? 

I love keeping up with peeps there,

you can find me here.

What is it Miss O says....

turn that blue bar green. Ha!

Well, I've got to get busy...

crazy morning ahead!

I'm hoping for some WARMER weather 

this week so that I can get out in my 

garage & clean that nasty mess up 

and get started on a fun little paint project

for my pal, Elizabeth. 

Wishing y'all the happiest 

April Fool's Day!!

Mwah!

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a blessed day!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

When I was a little girl,

our neighbor across the road

used to let me come over to help her bake.

(notice I said *road*, we lived in the country...it's road out there)

Her name was Mary Jane Poston,

she was a big woman with a HUGE heart.

She always made me feel special & loved. 

One of my FAVORITES that she made was the incredible,

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies!

Oh, my word...

I can still taste them now,

still warm, gooey...yummmmmm!

When P Daddy & I first got married & moved away,

I wrote to her and told her I would love to have 

some of her recipes to share with my kids. 

She sent me several of her favorites & MY favorite too.

I LOVE that I have a handwritten copy.

Things like that are very special to me.

I saw someone sharing this recipe on facebook

& I because of my emotional attachment to this cookie,

I needed to share. ;)

(Sidebar: suddenly facebook is Pinterest...people, check your sharing status by logging on to Pinterest, go to SETTINGS, scroll down to "social networks", click NO on Post your activity to Timeline)

Here's the recipe...

I apologize in advance for the sugar coma you will have.

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies 

~~1/2 C Butter
2 C Sugar
1/2 C Milk
4 Tbsp Cocoa
1/2 C Peanut Butter
3- 3 1/2 C Quick cooking Oats
2 tsp. Vanilla
Add the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 1 minute. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop onto wax/foil paper. Let cool until set.

 Hope you're Tuesday is warm & gooey!

(or just warm, I'd settle for that)

Mwah!

Guess where I am this week...

Lots of pictures & stories to share...we have had the most glorious weather ((but I'm so ready to get home to my own bed)).

Happy Tuesday!


Mandy - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Beautiful Baptism Frame...

This is one of those 

"lame tutorials", 

the kind that leave you thinking

"anybody could do that".

I wanted to share

because there's a nice little story attached...

and I do love nice little stories. ;)

Back last month, 

I was so, super proud

of my Big O 

when he accepted Jesus as his savior...

in front of our church.

That takes courage, people.

I am so proud of him!

Well, on this very same day

my mother...

who is one box load away from an episode of Hoarders

(but I love her all the same)

was looking for something else

& just happened to find my granny's certificate of baptism...

dated 1949.

ON the same day of Big O's baptism.

Honestly, I don't think "things" like that just happen.

Clearly, little granny wanted her precious Big O to know she 

can't wait to see him up there! ;)

So, I'd been hunting for the perfect frame

for this pretty little baptism certificate.

When I happened upon this beautiful,

CHEAP

matted frame at Target.
Unfortunately, it only came in black & white.
White, I can work with just fine.

$13 & a little Annie Sloan Chalk Paint...

it's perfect now!

I have had tons of local friends ask me about this paint, 
so I wanted to show the process a bit
& let you see how it goes.

Plain...white...cheap...frame.

I put a few beat up tea lights under it
(of course I have a drawer full, don't you?)...

  Grabbed a can of French Linen

So delicious!

Now, this paint is
FLAT
I mean, FLAT & dry like a stick of chalk.
In that photo above you can see some shine,
but that is because the paint is wet.

This is dry...

Now, my paint job looks awful!

That's done on purpose.
The worse the base coat,
the better the finished product...
IF
you want an aged, distressed look.

If not,
keep painting until it's covered & smooth.

 After it is dried,
I went back over it with some soft wax.

I used a cloth to apply,
had I used the brush
it would have filled in those light cracks,
but I wanted to give it some character.

 It looks exactly like I wanted it to...
aged...
the colors look awesome with that 
antiqued certificate.

Totally a precious heirloom now!

 

and looks lovely in my dining room. :)

I'll pass it on to Big O one day.
Maybe. ;)

The end. 

Happy Saturday, friends!