{ little man's VINTAGE RACING ROOM }

this post is just for melissa.....

i've mentioned before that little man's room is completely designed around these three pics.

my papaw used to drag race. his car was a blue 56 chevy. . .seen in the pics below. i really wanted both boys to have a "different" theme. something that could/would grow with them. so, when i learned about the pics of my papaw's, i knew that was were i would start.

(hint to you all. . .if you have OLD small poloroids or pictures, you can take a pic of the picture and then have the picture you took printed.) does that make sense?

i love his darker brown, and lighter brown stripes.

(huntington beige and woodstock tan)

while building, i saw the chair below on craigslist in the free section! i knew it would be perfect in his room.

once i had emailed the gal, i realized it was stephanie bowling, of stephanie bowling photography in knoxville. she has two little boys as well and she is so nice!

see all the pillows below?

i have a thing for pillows!

don't ask me where, but i saw these somewhere on the net, and saved them into my inspiration folder. about a month ago, i decided to go ahead and make them. i think they turned out quiet nice!


the frame came from hobby lobby. i bartered the suitcase at an antique store i used to work at during college. the tool chest, a yard sale for 30 dollars!




found the car fabric on ebay, and the check fabric and grossgrain at walmart. handed it over to my sweet momma with a "vision" and look what she created! she's so talented!



if you are local or somewhat local. . .there's this place called ETOWAH. it's about 20 minutes from Mayfield Dairy in Athens! they have all these salvage stores that buy mainly from target and k-mart. i LOVE to go!!! the lamp below came from one of those stores for 70 cents! YEP! and the shade from big lots!
the barn stars are from big lots. the red race car from world market and the other yellow car from hobby lobby. it is suppose to hold a photo, but as you can see, i haven't ordered one yet. the red tool box holder came out of a toolbox i bought at a yard sale. the toolbox is actually downstairs on the back of the toliet holding toliet paper, but i pulled the red tool holder out and put it in saw's room, and it looks perfect!



this is what is on top of his armoire in his room. more CHEAP suitcases. i found that green one in a set of three at an estate sale for ONE DOLLAR!!!

the armoire was a freebie from a buddy from church. she gave it to us, and we fixed it up and made it super sturdy and painted and distressed it!

the stop sign a cheapo from wal-mart's clearance section. i actually ran over it a few times, hit it with a hammer or two and put in a bucket full of peroxide and salt to "rust" it!

now, it's just right!!!!!

my sweet buddy used to own a store and they were going to throw this away because it was broken. anyways, i jumped at the chance to get it! nothing a little glue and a hammer wouldn't fix!

close up of the hobby lobby frame! five dollars!

world market race car! my favorite one in his room!

can you tell i LOVE old crates! so fun!

hope you've enjoyed the tour!!!!!

next up...........

the wall map mural!

{ so many blessings }

god has gave me.

i'm thankful for fun trips with my family to places like carver's apple orchard.

i'm so thankful to be a child of god! saved by jesus!

i'm so thankful for my husband. he is such a hard worker. whether it's on his job, working on our land or the cars. he's a wonderful daddy. our boys adore him, as do i.

i'm so thankful for my precious boys. what in the world would i do without them. thank you jesus for blessing me with just them. not any child, but them!!!!





i'm so thankful for my parents. they are godly parents. they both love the lord. what a blessing that they do, and that they are still married after all these years. i'm so blessed to have a momma that doesn't work. since she is the only person i have to keep my boys, i rely on her so much! she will never know what that means to me. and my dad. . .he can make just about anything i ask him to if he can find the time. i love them both so much!



i'm thankful for our home. . . .a roof above our heads and food in our refrigerator.

i'm thankful for my friends. i tried to list you all and tell why i was thankful for you, but i'm afraid i'll forget someone!

i'm thankful for water. i adore taking showers and enjoying a nice long bath.

i'm thankful for thrift stores and craigslist. most of my decor is a thrifty find!

i'm ever so thankful for my snuggly pillow. it has been used nightly since punkin' started to grow in my belly. . . .i couldn't imagine a good night's sleep without it.

i'm thankful for my snuggly pillow. i've used it every night since punkin' began to grow in my belly. i still use it and can't imagine a night without it!

i'm thankful god has given me a desire to cook. that's why i have this big ol' belly. maybe i shouldn't be thankful for that?

i'm thankful for this country. . .thankful that i can share with you just a few things that i'm so blessed to have and love!

i'm thankful for heaven. knowing that i'll have a mansion of my own one day makes me happy!

i'm thankful for our one little tv in our house. i'm thankful that my boys still go to bed early and i can relax at night and watch my favorite shows. (even though hubby and i went to bed last night at 8:30. . . .and i didn't even make it til my show came on at 9)

i'm thankful for you readers! even though i'm a lousy blog updater now that i've moved. . .and i'm sorry! i miss updating so bad. m internet card was over last month due to uploading on here, facebook, and online galleries. i didn't realize that it takes up so much of my available time to upload pics. i have. . .not just pulling your leg. . . got all the pics edited and resized for web for little man's room, etsy shoot, recent shoots, our mudroom, and the wall map downstairs!!! so, since i resized the pics, and they are on this computer now. . .i promise promise to get them up soon!


Happy Fall!

i'm also thankful for the gorgeous colors of fall!

{ what do you want posted }

next??

leave me a message and tell me which one.

1. little man's vintage racing room?

2. the mudroom???

3. or the wall map mural in playroom???

{ buddies, buddies, buddies }

two of my buddies came in last weekend, and we had a fabulous time. tiring time, but fabulous. i used to work with these chicks at my old school.

when i first met kristy, my long dark headed chicka, i introduced myself to her when she was moving her stuff into her classroom. i quickly noticed a picture she had placed on a bookshelf of her and her hubby on their wedding day! her wedding dress was the same as mine! as we talked, we realized that we both have rods in our back and part of our hip bone is gone. instant friends.

then, there's ginger, my shorter-haired chicka. i love her taste! she always looks so adorable in whatever she wears!

only wish we could make our target runs together once again. . .

we now would be towing 5 kids with us!!!

here are some pics of our weekend!

ginger, kristy, and me

if only i could photoshop myself in this pic.
oh miss mia kate.
you are plum gorgeous.

wish i could kiss those cheeks right now!



is she singing or yawning?
he he he





looking out my front door

















and mr. boyce.
you are too cute!

and mr. colter.

your eyes are as blue as the ocean.

{ 10 on tuesday }

1. without pics again.................i do have tons to share, but i wasn't going to post anything, but just decided spur of the moment!

2. check out TALES FROM BLOGGERITAVILLE. she featured the boys' bathroom yesterday!!!!

3. i have t-minus 2.5 days until by buddy arrives from mississippi. . . .therefore, i have been. . .

4. making a shelf and hooks in my mudroom. the pic below is my inspiration. . . .i LOVE it. i've had that pic saved for months and months. i, too, have a church pew in our mudroom so, i had to make a shelf with black hooks and a holder up top for pictures!!!!!

5. i ordered many many new pics of the boys to go in the house! i have so many frames hanging, but nothing inside of them. i also went through tons of my old frames, and took them outside and spray painted them black so that my shelf will look similar to the one above. as soon as the pics arrive, i'll take a pic and post it!!! i've walked out there several times this evening just to admire it!!! i can't wait for UPS to get here!!!!! getting pics of my boys is like christmas to me! i put the wiggles in or laurie berkner or imagination movers and seclude myself to the kitchen island so i can get the pics in the frames!!!!

6. my SWEET momma......did i mention how precious she is?? my sweet momma came here today after i dropped punkin off at mother's day out this morning to help me hang my pottery barn wall map mural in the playroom...............finally.................i'm so happy with it!!!! i love it so much. mom asked me if she thought i would get tired of it, and i can't imagine getting tired of it! i told her the grandkids could even use it one day! this pic came from pottery barn and has been sitting so patiently in my inspiration folder as well!

7. i shouldn't be on here right now. i set down to make something in word and here i am playing. i was planning on typing the word BLESSINGS in a font i love to copy onto a thanksgiving banner for my thanksgiving mantle. my mantle is complete, but i have to add my b-l-e-s-s-i-n-g-s to my leafs and i'll post a pic!

8. i hope you all don't get aggrivated at me for saying i'll do that and them completely forget to post it. . .i will try my best to. . . .as i sit here typing this, i'm looking around the room to see what i can type next. . . .

9. my little man's room is done for now. . .so, i need to take pics of his room and post. did you think punkins' room was cute??? wait until you see this one. it was completely designed around 3 pictures that were taken in the 50's of my papaw's race car. my papaw used to drag race. i know those pics won't mean anything to my little man for quiet some time, but his room just make me smile inside everytime i enter. . . .even when he's crying at 6:30 to get out of bed because of this silly time change. . .and to beat it all...........this crazy full moon that is making my kids WILD!!!

10. am i finally at 10??? my meal planning was going so good, but this week, my chalkboard in my kitchen is empty, and i have no clue what i'll cook for supper tomorrow night? NOT GOOD! i'm very structured and i like to have many things planned out. . .i better go decide what's going on tomorrow before i wake up to two monkeys, oh, i meant sweet sweet boys!!!!

11. number 11, just because i can...........................we got a rain barrell this week and i love it. please please don't hate me if you are from TN, but i wish it would rain----gasp-----just so my barrell will be filled with water!!!!!

{ senior 2010 }

if i've never mentioned it before, i LOVE shooting seniors! they are one of my favorite subjects to shoot. it's especially nice if it isn't bitter cold outside and super dark! that's a plus. we'll the sun decided not to be seen on this afternoon, it was so chilly, and it got dark really quick on us but we made it through!!!!

here is miss K! she's a real sweetheart!!!

my fav jump shot ever!

i couldn't decide between black and white or color. . .loved them both!

{ good grief this is a bunch of pics }

so. . . . .

i've had so many people wondering what in the world the boys were going to be for halloween.

i had decided they were going to be mario and luigi, but honestly, they would have had NO CLUE who they were. maybe next year......huh? i figure by next year, punkin' will be a bit more assertive and tell me who/what he wants to be and he won't allow me to decide.

so..........this year, i decided to do something fun that would make me smile for years to come.

without further ado, here is charlie brown and snoopy!

BEWARE. . .picture overload!

so out of focus, but i still LOVE it! mamaw playing in the leaves with the boys!

GOOD GRIEF that was a bunch of pics!

we wish you all a safe and fun costume day!

{ golfin' up some fun }

i ADORE this family. i've been photographing them for three years now, and they are so much fun! this sweet family owns NIOKA GREEN STORE.

if you are a KNOXVILLIAN, then you should stop into the southern market in west knoxville to check out their merchandise!

here's some of my favs from their session.....we only had about 70 images to chose from!

{ mini-sessions }

i'm so far behind. it seems i type that on this blog way too much!

i was going to do these last week and honestly, the week came and went and i didn't even advertise for them!!!

SO..............here they are with the exception of the date...........

the NEW DATE IS:

NOVEMBER 10

{ i'm back }

for a super quick post and a 10 on tuesday...(that includes no pics)

1. i turned 30 recently. . . .it was such a crazy day. don't ask. i started typing it, and it was so insane, i just stopped and erased it all!

2. my boys are sick and have been for quite a long time. our doctor's office must be tired of seeing us in there all the time.

3. does this crazy swine flu not scare you all to death? no, my boys don't have it, but hearing about it on the news everynight is so scary. are any of you all getting the vaccine for your child/children?

4. huge meteor shower tonight from 1am-6am.

5. i'm about half finished with their halloween costumes. put some more details on little man's costume today. yes, i'm still keeping it a secret! once i do their pics, i'll post them......

6. i have pics to share with you from an etsy shoot.

7. we went to the imagination movers in knoxville last week and punkin' had a blast. scott patted him on the head!

8. one of my dearest buddies is coming to stay with us soon...........all the way from mississippi, and i'd like to accomplish several more things in the house before she arrives. can i do it? the way it looks, i don't think so. she may have to come in and help me do them when she gets here....he he he!

9. our dog is getting huge and she LOVES to nibble.........especially my boys!

10. i'm starting to work on changing the flashing pics up top...hopefully......all of my boys!

ok......pics to come in next post!! i'm sorry this post was boring. it is so hard to edit downstairs, put on the jump drive (which is never where it is suppose to be) bring it up here, sign on, etc .. . . . .i was used to having unlimited access to the internet...now, i'm typing this quick post while i'm not online, and i'm going to sign on really fast and post it and sign off! when i actually upload pics it takes forever!

ok. enough silliness.....have a fab night and enjoy the shooting stars!

{ somebody shtop me.... }

as jim carrey says in the mask.

evidently, i'm in a movie quoting mood today AND a blog posting mood. i'm trying to clean off my jump drive.

here is what sawyer's costume WAS. i borrowed it from a buddy and i'm working on transforming it into something else:

here are two shots of me and the boys. i really don't know how you photogs out there get SUCH AMAZING shots taken by yourself of you and your kiddos. mine NEVER turn out.

finally, here is a pic that i adore. hopefully it will be in my living room soon. this shot was taken at our old house, right before we moved. instead of having cattle as next door neighbors, now we have horses.

i LOVE our new house. i told my sweet momma today, that every day i wake up and feel like i'm living in a dream....................BUT..............i miss the old house. i miss us being cramped up with one another so tight in a little farmhouse less than 1000 square feet. i think about the memories of our first supper in the floor of the kitchen with no furniture, our honeymoon period, struggling with infertility, being pregnant, bringing the boys home from the hospital, nursing them in this one chair in the living room.........................every single memory of "us" being married up until 2 months ago.............that's almost 8 years of memories!

anyways, i could tell you thousands and thousands of memories, but i'd hate to bore you. . .i'm just so so thankful for my sweet jesus and what he has done for me.

{ MISS E SENIOR 2010 }

i had a blast taking pics of this gorgeous gal. . . . .

first we were incredibly blessed with the weather turning out the way it did. it rained all day long, then the sky cleared up and it was beautiful. thank you dear lord for blessing us with beautiful weather!!!!

miss e, i hope you enjoy your last year as a smoky bear!!!

{ playmate. . . }

come out and play with me. . .

that so reminds me of the adam's family movie!

i have SO MUCH to blog about, but i promised my buddy that i would blog these, and she doesn't believe me, so i'm going to prove her wrong.

this sweet gal and her clan are so fun to be around, and my little man will even ask me occasionally, where's RHONDA at? he only asks about his favorite people, so she must rank up there pretty high!

she came over recently and here are a few i snapped of our playdate. . . . . .

notice our gorgeous mismatched chairs. our chairs are finished that we ordered, but they've not been delivered yet. they'll be distressed black!

oh and see the martha stewart puppets above? they have them now at big lots for 2.00, and 5 come in a pack. PERFECT for a playdate. . . .even when you have to get sweet on the older woman like my little man did to get her to help you out!! meagan has a new friend!

{ punkin's room + advice on a blank wall ]

i was so proud of myself.

we try to have at least one playdate a week with my dear friends. i try to always take pictures, but for some reason, i forget to post them. well, i went downstairs and edited the pics while little man was asleep. came back up here to upload them, and all of them aren't on my jumpdrive. . .i had my entire post typed and everything! ahaha!!!

oh well....i'll try to do that another day, soon.

a little background first.
mom and dad bought punkin's baby bedding a long time ago and i STILL adore it. it was derby plaid, seen here. when we were building the house and i was trying to decide what i wanted to do in the boys' rooms, i decided to do maps in punkin's room. i was tickled. started painting some cool treasure map things. bought some fun pottery barn map bedding off of ebay. . .went all out. but when i stopped and really thought about it, i didn't want to change his theme. i adore his theme, and it's so him! when he was born, i called his room the BASS PRO SHOP baby room, and i still think his room is that way. what does my baby love to do? ride four wheelers, the rhino, be outside, play in the water, go to the mountains, play with the dog. . .he's such a lover of outdoors. . . so i decided to scratch everything i had already done and begin to think about what color to use for the walls, because that's something that you have to have to your painter before you move in, you know! :)

see his curtains? i figured out the colors of the wall by his curtains. the chenille at the top was actually his cribskirt a long time ago. . . and the red check at the bottom was one of his cribsheets...............all with derby plaid.................and they are COMPLETELY nesterized. HOT GLUE PEOPLE. ..............NO SEWING..................you would never have known that if i hadn't told you, now would you???

here is a more wide shot of his room. notice his nightstand has NOTHING on it. it is typically over to the edge of the wall, in case he falls out of the bed at night.

i want to buy a vinyl wall decal to put above his bed and under the bear that says:

LET HIM SLEEP FOR WHEN HE WAKES HE WILL MOVE MOUNTAINS.

that's on my list to do!

i raised the blinds to let in more light, for the individual shots around his room and just realized i forgot to close that side for his entire room shot! sorry!!!!

his quilt came from JC PENNEY. i love it. it's been washed twice and it held up very nicely. his olive green shams are from goodwill and all his pillows are from different thrift stores, except the green and red one behind the fish. my momma made it!!!

this is the tall dresser between his windows. the little bear to the right of the boat was mine as a baby.

the canoe. . .craigslist $5.

rocks from one of our many trips to greenbriar. . .in the mountains of TN.

a thermos from a thrift store.

this is the wall across from his bed. the oar was my sweet hubby's. the pic is my hubby's. . .his momma got it for him, but it is now in my baby's room! i hung two old crates on either side to put cars and odds and ends inside of!

i need to come up with something to put on the dresser under the other crate? any ideas???? i'll eventually move that lamp to the nightstand.

a lamp we bought him before he was born. it used to represent daddy, mommy, and sam. . .

now it represents daddy, sam, and sawyer! notice the keys in the boat. my boys LOVE KEYS. this a "hiding spot" of his. i left them there when i took the pic, because it makes me smile!

hat/coat rack. . .

thrift store for 2.00


two books i love about THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS.


there are a few ROBERT TINO bear prints around his room, you may have noticed. but this is something really special to me. my uncle randy used to make lures. i told him i wanted some for christmas one year, and he made this for me. i LOVE it, and now it is hanging in punkin's room for him to enjoy!!!!!

this is the wall that i need advice about. what would you do here.......under the other bear pic? i wanted to put the plastic picnic table (seen below) here, but it will be too cluttered. i was thinking about an old distressed bench? what do you think?

it just needs something there. . . posting these pics makes me think of all kinds of things i need to do and add to his room!



my momma and daddy bought us a jim gray print for a housewarming present. for my birthday, they got it framed and matted for me. it is hanging between the boys' rooms.


it's so appropriately titled, BROTHERS.

finally............i was brainstorming the other day about the cute tutu and tea set shoot for girls, and i came up with a camp shoot for boys. . .

here's a quick one of my boys playing around with the props. . . notice many of them are in punkin's room!

{ my punkin' head }

remember i said i took some pics of one of my favorite people in the entire world?

well, would you like to know a little about him. . .

he's such a cutie. he's so adorable, most of the time, but when he smiles, he'll melt your heart. he adores 4 wheelers, rhinos, guitars, singing, wiggles, imagination movers, mexican, his brother, books, clothes, tractors, lawn mowers, basketball, lowe's, just about anything that goes fast!

i'll say this again and again and again. . .he's truly my 1 Samuel 1:27. . . i so so thankful for him and thankful that god blessed us with HIM. not just any child, but HIM. His timing is perfect.

we did a little question and answer to remember his favorite things at three years old. (Thanks Fran for the idea).

What is your favorite color? "blue"

What is your favorite food? "cheese dip, shrimp, and pizza"

What is your favorite thing to do? "go to the fourwheelie place"

What is your favorite animal? "elfanut"

What is your favorite thing to watch on tv? "the movers"

What is your favorite sport? "basketball"

What is your favorite drink? "orange juice"

Who is your best friend? "see saw, lyndsey, and brock"

boy do i love this kid!!!!!!!!

here are a few of my favorites from his three year pictures. . .

i've made this into a black and white 12x12 that will possibly be making an appearance on my living room wall.






this was taken in front of my great grandmother's smoke house. the one that you met in the last post!

just a few with one of his "best friends," his precious brother. my two favorite kids in the entire world!!!!!!!!!!!!