Category: Home life

Halloween Finds + Varmits

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I love Halloween and Christmas. My only issue is that I don’t like moving things into the shed to make room for the decorations. I feel as though I lose my house for those months. This year I’ve decided to only put out the things that I really love and donate the rest. I did buy two things to add, but I really loved them both.

I love Bethany Lowe halloween decor. It’s just so very expensive. I was online and saw this cat they had at Walmart. I checked online to see if any stores around us had it. Nope, not a one. I even went to Walmart because a lot of the time the inventory they say they have is wrong. I found the hole where it used to be, but no cat. I decided to go ahead and order it online. When I went to checkout I noticed that the shipping was almost as much as the item. No thanks.

Jack and I had to make a Walmart run so I checked again online before we left and the website said they had it in stock. When we got there there was still just the empty space. While we were shopping I ordered it as a pickup. By the time we got home I had an email saying that it wasn’t available for pickup but they could ship it to me for free. Why yes, that would be great. Two days later I got my cat in the mail.

I absolutely love it and am tempted to just keep it out year round. My decor is already kind of weird so it would fit right in.

Jackson and I also went thrifting and I found this guy for a dollar and had to have him.

I’m not sure what he’s made out of, maybe a gourd, maybe paper mache. I’m just not sure, but he’s so ugly he’s cute.

We have been getting night visitors for a few weeks. This cutie is not bothered by me in the least now.

I’m glad it’s not scared because I would hate to get sprayed.

When Donny and I were away I got these texts from the kids.

The possum is quite shy but likes to come eat the cat food. I see him just about every night. I’ve only seen the raccoon once. I’m not sure what we’re going to do about them, but they don’t bother the cats or the chickens, so that’s a plus.

Queso

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A few weeks ago my daughter Bethany was moving to the hill country with her family. They found the cutest house, the only problem was, the landlord didn’t allow cats. No problem, we met her in Waco and picked up her cat Queso. This is how he rode the whole way back.

When we got home I picked up the cat burrito, but I didn’t realize just how big this cat was and he almost slid out of my arms. He is another tuxedo cat like Milo but he has extremely long legs and tail. He is an inside/outside cat like all of ours are.

At first the other cats were not really sure about him, but he quickly made friends with Milo.

One thing Bethany failed to mention was that he preferred way to sleep in on your chest with his head on your chin and then he drools. Yeah, he sleeps at the foot of our bed. He also loves to rough house. Last night Donny said he was wrestling with Milo, got over excited and ran and jumped on the bathroom door jam head height.

He is such a sweet boy though.

And now for some random information. I have mentioned this product before, but I washed a load of laundry and didn’t realize that Hannah had an open lipstick in her jeans pocket. Didn’t notice until I took everything out of the dryer and saw all of the red, yes it was red lipstick, on the clothes. I immediately grabbed this and started spraying.

Every bit came out of Donny’s pants and jeans. The only place that is still red is the pocket of her jeans where she had it.

I swear that stuff is magic because the lipstick was all over the front.

I love planners. Every year I get one from Big Lots. I don’t get a planner at the start of the year, but in July because I use it for the school year. This year when I went to get one, Big Lots didn’t have any. None. I was really bummed because they are really good planners and are under $10. I decided to hit up Ross because it’s in the same strip mall. I found an even better one than the ones I usually use and it was only $8.99. So if you need a planner definitely hit them up. There were so many to choose from also.

Big Lots last year planner:

It was cute, but it was the size of a spiral notebook, so almost too big.

This one is thicker and smaller:

It also has a pocket in the back which is going to come in handy.

There’s nothing like a brand new planner.

Also we got a surprise rain shower today. Not a lot, just enough to wet the lawn clipping bags enough to where the bottoms are going to fall out. They should have been picked up yesterday when the trash ran.

We are making progress in the side yard. I pulled up all of the weeds around my jasmine. They had gotten so bad. I didn’t take a before picture, but they were taller than the planter.

I guess a little progress is still progress, right?

No Sweat

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Today I felt it. Fall is right around the corner. Well, at least what we consider Fall here in East Texas. It was slightly overcast and there was actually a breeze. I have been watching the weather all week so I decided today would be a perfect day to mow. I was so right because when I finished I did not look like I had just crossed the Sahara. It’s been two weeks since I’ve mowed and I honestly could have probably gone another week. The weather is changing. Grass is growing slower, days are getting shorter. That doesn’t mean that we will still not have heat advisory days, but I’m still hopeful that there won’t be too many.

At the beginning of Spring our front yard was AWFUL. There were so many bare patches that it was embarrassing. I am proud to say that we have been working on it all summer and it’s finally looking good.

We have some butterfly bushes and cantaloupe growing on the left side which makes our bed look out of control but it really isn’t.

Can you spot the cantaloupe?

I also weeded the front beds that were surprisingly easy.

I am really ready for some cooler weather and we are getting there slowly but surely.

I also need to add that we actually decided, on the spur of the moment Sunday night to go to Fun Noodle Bar. It normally takes us hours to decide where to eat if we are actually “planning” it. Sunday afternoon before Donny got home I just did not feel like cooking so I made the decision that we should go. It’s a mile from our house and, we’ve only eaten there once before, but it was good.

I’m adding this because I wanted to document the best sushi we’ve eaten here. It actually rivals Kumori, but the rolls are about $4 cheaper. This was Donny’s. ONLY his.

Jackson’s was impressive also.

It was such a fun dinner. I think it has become my new favorite place to go.

I came thisclose to getting a smile from Jackson. Grrrrr, that kid and pictures.

One more really good thing that happened today was that I found my hair stylist. She had left the salon, given me her cell number and then I couldn’t find it. Well, I found it today, texted her and have an appointment Saturday. I get anxiety when I get my hair cut due to a really bad cut I got when we lived in Arlington and I had to go really short. I completely trust Desiree. She is so good. I think it’s been almost a year since I’ve gotten it cut so it is WAY passed time. Here is a before and I guess I’ll have an after Saturday night.

I Messed Up

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Last Monday I had decided that, since it wasn’t going to rain, I would do extensive yard work. On Monday I mowed and did some random yard work.

I was tired, but not too terribly. Tuesday I when I edged around and weeded the flower bed. I did that with my garden weasel and the weed digger hand held.

Again, I was tired and sore, but nothing too bad. Wednesday is when I washed the outside of the house and according to my fitbit, I spent like 2.3 hours in my fitness zone. Thursday is when I messed up. It was HOT outside. Like fry and egg on the sidewalk hot. I had wanted to get all of the Johnson Grass from around the backside of the house. Johnson Grass is a bitch to dig up because you have to dig down deep to get those darn bulbs out or else it will grow back. I thought I was taking enough breaks. Donny even came out and told me to just finish it later. I only had 1/3 left and being super stubborn and needing to always finish what I start, I just kept going.

The grass was about a foot high and several inches deep when I started and I ended up filling 2 of the paper lawn bags. Then I told Donny that I needed to mow the yard. Clearly I was delusional at that moment and I must have looked really bad because he told me to go inside and rest. Turns out that I used my hand WAY to much and we think I might have permanent nerve damage. I was in so much pain from my shoulder down that I literally stayed in bed on a heating pad.

Bailey liked the heating pad also.

We were planning on going to the balloon festival that Friday, but Donny had mowed the yard and gotten a heat headache that was really bad.

I did appreciate him mowing the yard though.

Saturday I was still having issues with my arm and hand, but we had tickets to the festival and I’m really glad we went even though it was SO hot.

The balloon glow is my favorite part. The balloons light up to music.

This year there was a drone show that was amazing.

We grabbed sno cones and finished up the night with the Mark Wills concert that was so good.

It was a good family outing.

I don’t know why we all have weird shadows on our faces, but oh well.

As of today, I still don’t have feeling in 3 of my fingers. My had is super sensitive and I randomly get stingers. Donny got me what I used to call an air cast because it used to have a little air pillow, but now it’s just a foam piece. I’m hoping that will help.

This injury is not going to stop me from doing yard work, just not as strenuously as I have been. This has not been a fun week.

Green House

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Every Spring, especially if we get a lot of rain like we have been, we get a green algae on the front of our house. Because of all the rain the last few weeks it had gotten really bad. It was driving me crazy so today I decided to turn our green house white again.

I used a squirt of dish soap with water in a spray bottle and a brush. It took a little bit of elbow grease, but I got it off.

It looks so much better. Now I just need to repaint the pavers. Hopefully I won’t have to scrub the house again until next Spring.

Donny had to get up super early because he had a meeting in Dallas this morning. For some reason I woke up at 3:30 and could not go back to sleep. I did get to see the most beautiful sunrise though.

The Great Texas Balloon Race is this weekend so I’ve started seeing the balloons flying overhead practicing for the race.

I can’t wait to go to the Balloon Glow and see all the different hot air balloons. We haven’t been since we moved here.

Recharge

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It seems as though we have just been going, going, going lately. All of the end of school activities, house stuff, yard stuff had been a lot. Add to that the emotional aspect, when Friday rolled around, I was done. My batteries were running on their last legs. Since it was officially the first day of Summer break, I decided to give myself a much needed day to just recharge.

Our bedroom is my relaxing, cozy spot. It’s quite small for being the primary bedroom (I actually think Jackson’s bedroom is bigger) but I just absolutely love it. Yesterday I REALLY loved it because there was a lot of doing nothing.

We keep a blanket on our bed because sometimes one of our cats likes to take a little nap. Also, if you have a queen size bed, but don’t like how short the queen duvets and comforters are, get a king size. It fits so much better.

There was quite a bit of reading. I finished the John Saul book. It was pretty good. I hadn’t read one of his book in a long time. I kind of got off Patricia Cornwell after reading one of her VERY long books where I felt like the ending was just rushed, almost like her editor called her up and told her she’d missed her deadline and to just end it. This one, so far, is good. I watched the Netflix documentary on Joan Didion and just had to get this book when I found it in the thrift store. She led such an interesting life. I’m about halfway through and it’s also very good. I don’t take the time to read very often, so it felt good to just take the time to indulge.

A recharge day wouldn’t be complete without a few episodes of Supernatural.

Our TV is really too big for our room. We have looked into getting a smaller one, but since it works just fine, I think we’ll just wait until it doesn’t.

I wasn’t a complete slug. I did make dinner, clean up the kitchen and do a little housework. Not too much though. You would think that by relaxing all day I wouldn’t be able to sleep last night, but I made my goal hours.

Today because I finished all the laundry, including putting it all away, I did not feel like cooking. Luckily my online order coincided with Donny getting off work so he was able to swing by Little Caesars and pick up the pizzas. We tried the pretzel pizza, one with cheese sauce and one with pizza sauce. They were delicious. Even Donny, who isn’t terribly fond of LC, said it was good.

I think the cheese sauce one was my favorite.

New Lights

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I was planning on being a hermit all day, never leaving the house, but then I remembered I needed an oil change. Got that done. Started working on chair number two. Ran out of paint so I had to go to Walmart. FYI, don’t try to spray paint on a really humid windy day. Anyway, I got chair two finished and decided to do something to make our flowerbed look a little better.

We’ve had the same solar lights for 4 years. They just recently quit working so well.

Not a bad run for 98 cent Walmart lights. I stepped it up this time and got $1.25 ones from Dollar Tree.

Because it was so cloudy in not sure how they look yet, but they are a little fancier.

I still need to weed. I actually want to put down new weed barrier and of course more mulch. Baby steps. It’ll get there.

And I picked up my favorite oranges at Aldi. If you haven’t tried Cara Cara oranges, you should. They are so sweet and juicy. I had two for lunch.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be very rainy. The forecast has been so wrong lately. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

i just went outside and the lights are awesome. They are the flickering kind that I just love. I 100% recommend them.

Productive Day

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I love the rare Sundays that Donny is off. Today was that day and we got so much done. I vacuumed, dusted, scrubbed the bathroom and the main thing was that I finished all of the laundry. It’s a chore I’m not very fond of, but I am able to get through it thanks to Supernatural. I had never watched it before and I was scrolling on Netflix and started it to see if I’d like it and now I’m hooked.

We have to keep a blanket on our bed because the cats like to take naps there. But anyway, gotta love those Winchester brothers.

We are always missing charger blocks and cables. Always. I did a round up in someone’s room while they were gone and look at what I found.

I still cannot find the big charging block to my laptop. I don’t know why hair brushes and chargers always disappear in this house.

My very favorite part of the day was Donny making dinner. He made brussels sprouts, homemade steak fries and grilled steak. OMG, everything was so good. I swear food you don’t have to cook yourself just tastes better anyway, but everything he made was delicious.

The only problem was that on his steak he spread black truffle butter. All he did was spread it on the steak before he took it outside. I smelled this awful smell from our bedroom and sure enough it was the butter. The smell literally makes me so nauseous. I googled it to see why that was and apparently there are a certain number of people who just can’t stand the smell. It’s kind of like people who taste soap when they eat cilantro. Super weird, but this saved me. This and staying in the bedroom.

And just because this cat is always on patrol at night saving our lives from stray neighborhood cats.

He was exhausted from all his hard night work. Milo is the sweetest cat ever and comes in the house whenever he wants, but he feels like he must be on duty at night. Ya know, saving us from all the bad stuff out there.

Paint

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This morning I woke up before 5 a.m. and that, coupled with the fact that I couldn’t fall asleep last night, meant I felt lousy. I need at least 7 hours of sleep a night. According to my Fitbit I only achieved 4.2 hours and it was fitful at best. Thankfully Donny took the kids to school and ran our errands after he dropped them off.

I finally started feeling a bit better and we were able to run to Walmart to pick out paint for the chairs. I was going to leave the bases plain metal, but there is a lot of rust on one of them and so we decided it would look better to paint them. I don’t like chrome or anything really shiny. I’m also not found of light wood. All of the wood in our home is dark. We settled Oil Rubbed Bronze for the base and Warm Caramel for the chairs. I was leaning toward a warm yellow, but Donny thought the caramel would work better. I only got one can of that so we are going to test it out when they are ready for paint.

We are also thinking of getting a new TV for our bedroom. The one we have is really big and we wanted something newer and smaller. We need to measure the chest of drawers that it sits on to make sure that it will fit. There are some really big TV’s out there. I feel like ours is way too big for our living room, but it’s what we have and it works so we’ll be keeping it. Our bedroom one only gets netflix. For some reason it won’t let us load any other of our streaming services. It’s old.

Because I felt not myself we decided to make paninis for dinner. The kids like them so that’s a win and it’s easy. Mine was veggie because meat has not been in my taste buds lately.

It’s 9:20 so I’m going to try and get a full nights sleep. I’ve got to much to do tomorrow to feel this way again.

Gone With the Wind

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The day of the eclipse we were supposed to be getting rain. A lot of rain. Luckily the clouds cleared for the eclipse. We were in the 99% totality area. It got dark enough to where the street light came on and the solar lights lit up.

Everything was going well until that evening when the storm hit us. It was bad. The wind was just awful. When we woke up the next morning we had lost power and it was still storming. The patio was taking on water which meant our laundry room was too. When there was a break I went out to see how bad everything was.

Our little gnome drowned. The wind and water had flipped all of our landscape timbers.

We had a stream running from the backyard into the front ditch that was already overflowing. But the very worst thing that happened was this

Our poor greenhouse was demolished. I thought we might be able to save it, but when everything cleared up yesterday and we went out to survey the damage, several poles had snapped. Donny had so many plants that he had painstakingly been taking care of. We moved most of them to the side garden, but it was just so heartbreaking. Hopefully he’ll be able to save most of them. We just don’t know yet.

The power was still out Tuesday, but luckily the storm had brought cooler weather. I’m thankful for our gas stove because I was still able to make breakfast.

And coffee, thank goodness

Since it was so dark outside because of the rain, I decided that I would just lay in bed and read. Bailey had other ideas though.

Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous. We were finally able to get back to Kilgore to see if they still had the dress that Hannah had decided HAD to be her prom dress. She gets very overwhelmed when shopping so we lucked out and got the dress, shoes and jewelry at Everything that Blings, her favorite boutique.

Since I can’t post the dress yet, I can post a picture of her shoes since they won’t really show in the actual prom pictures. It’s so hard to find closed toe heels that she likes. (she does not like sandals) I happened to walk back to a corner of the store and found the perfect ones. They were the only pair and just happened to be in her size.

Prom is in one week and lately weeks have been flying by. Tomorrow we are going to practice hairstyles. Wish me luck!