Mi Casa- Room 4- The Kitchen

My favorite stove in the world, the tile is STILL not finished (another long blog story) And we're still missing the pasta filler

Giant appliance garage (1/2 of it is closed to show painting detail)

The hutch, our Price is Right model is back



View looking into the kitchen from the hearth room

I guess you could say the kitchen is one of my favorite room. I love all the colors and I spent the most time designing this room. I drew out every single cabinet from the outside to the inside and I worked closely with our cabinet company covering each little detail. I counted in my planner how many meetings I had with them and it was over 25!!! Yikes!! I guess you could say I'm most proud of this room too, as I've never designed a kitchen before. I bought several books and learned the most important thing is the "cooking triangle." You should be able to move from your work space, to the refrigerator, to the stove, all within a triangle. So as I was staring down at blank graph paper, this is the main thing I had to keep in mind. I also made numerous lists of everything I had in my last kitchen and made sure there would be a spot for it in the new kitchen. It turned out fantastic, I think, I wouldn't change anything about it.

One thing I really like is I have pull out trash on both sides of the middle island. I also LOVE my little vegetable sink and our little mini drink refrigerator. I love my lid drawer and all my pull out spice racks!! I love to cook, so I spend a ton of time in the kitchen. My favorite color is funky shades of green so of course, I wanted to incorporate my favorite color in the kitchen. I was pretty excited as my designer friend sent a picture of a kitchen that she just loves to me that she found in a design magazine (this was BEFORE she saw my kitchen) , and I'm happy to say my kitchen looked EXACTLY like the picture, almost the same colors too!!

My friend Pam always jokes with me that she's going to come and do a cooking show in my kitchen!! Actually, I'm planning something for this Fall... We also had a catered party at our house for Scott's guys that were in town for a meeting (almost 40 of them) and the caterers were just in love with our kitchen. My husband always tells me to "Never love something that can't love you back", ok honey, but I do LOVE the kitchen!!!

To do list

Only a sample

Am I just a geek or what? I type my to-do lists. I hate when they are more than one page. I have to circle things and put them into categorizes. Like if I'm going into "town" which means, San Antonio, then I can group all those errands together. Then I have the Boerne things grouped together, it just never ends......it just keeps growing...I've had it down to 1/2 a page once, but that didn't last to long. I have to retype my list every week. I can't wait to cross stuff off but then something else just takes it's place. I'm trying to simplify my life...I don't really think it's working....I'd like to have a to do list that said nothing but 1. rest, 2. rest some more, 3. read a magazine, 4. take a bath, 5. relax and watch a reality show, 6. swim in your pool.....I know you get it, but please answer me, will there ever be a day where there isn't a list?????????

aaahhhhh Karate chop!!!!

Barrett running around like a mad man...not a distraction or anything....

He was so focused, Mommy is so proud

Blue crab cupcake with a side of chocolate milk

Ladybug cookie that looks great (but to me tastes like dirt).....

Well, it's official, Brandt has pasted his pre-karate classes and we are now in the "Little dragon" program at World Karate. I always dreamed if I had little girls they would be in ballet and little boys, they would be in karate. The classes don't officially start until age 4 but if they're younger, which Brandt is 3 1/2, they can "test" to start early which is what we did today. The not so good thing is that they want them to attend classes a minimum of 2-3 times a week. It's a big commitment but I'm already SO impressed. He's learning to say "Yes, Mamn and No, Sir", he's learned that you "earn" things that not every thing is "given" to you, to look people in the eyes when they talk to you etc. and not even to mention to follow directions and to work on hand-eye coordination, so at this point I can't say enough good things about it, but ask me again as I drive to and from 3 times a week. BUT he looks so dang cute in his little uniform!!!

On"school days", I pick up the kids and we'll go to some type of activity like pick out books at the library or feed the ducks or go to the bakery(which we did today.) I actually had 2 diffent couples come and comment on my kids to me. They asked how old they were and they couldn't believe that they just sat down and started looking at books while I paid for our treats. They commented on how well behaved they were. They just couldn't believe how much older they acted for their age!! I was thinking inside, yeah lady, this is a good day!! Actually, I felt very proud of them. Sometimes you just need a pat on the back from a stranger that all your hard work is paying off!!!

The kids LOVE going to the bakery, it's a cute little place. Barrett always gets a cupcake and chocolate milk and Brandt a cookie and chocolate milk, nothing like a little sugar to get you through until the dinner hour. Now Brandt will be on a sugar high during karate, he'll be doing flips before we know it!!!!

Party like a rockstar......

~~~~~ Callie's bday invite~~~~~

I just had to share this party invitation the boys got for a birthday party this weekend. It's a "rockstar" party and the invitation is like a plastic VIP pass!!! The boys are to dress like "rock stars"....I just had to share as I think this is WAY to cute.... The party is for Callie, which is Cole's little sister (Brandt's idol, Cole). She is "sharing" the party with another little boy, Jax. What a great idea to divide the work and expense of a bday party, way to go girls!!

I was so sad I had to miss the birthday party this weekend as I was hacking up both my lungs and bleeding into Kleenexes. Thank goodness Daddy is a good sport about parties and took the boys to Will's 4th birthday party. I hate missing fun things.

Monday munchies.......

Emerils in training

I try to do an activity everyday after naps or if we have Adela (our housekeeper), after she goes home for the day. Yesterday, it was so hot outside, plus I wanted to watch Oprah, we decided to stay in and surprise daddy with chocolate chip cookies, his favorite. Scott LOVES cookies, we call him the cookie monster and all his guys tease him.

Now, I'm not really sure how sanitary having them "help" me is, but they sure had fun pouring in the ingredients and stirring....So, beware if we bring over cookies to your house, we DO indeed wash our hands, now... the toddler slobber, that's no extra charge.....

Our Favorite painting....

I know you've seen the Gene Simmons tongue before, but this is just way too freaky!!!

Notice, the leftover Popsicle beside him...nice.....

My Price is Right model......

Brandt was helping me in my craft room while Barrett napped yesterday and he wanted to sit on the "shelf" as he called it. Thought this would be a great pic to show you our favorite painter in the whole world, Antonio Di Viccaro. This of course was bought BH and BK, (before house and before kids), when not only did we appreciate art but we cold afford it!!! We found him while we were in Greece. We've flown to Sana Fe, looked in Hawaii, specifically etc. but we always go back to Antonio and his colorful, heavy brush stroke style. It's weird, you look at it close and it looks like just a bunch of heavy pretty colored paints but from far away, it's breath taking. We walk by this every day (not sure if it will stay in this spot) but every time I look at it, such wonderful memories I find myself thinking about and I just go to a happy place.

My design apprentices

Lovely, hugh?

The boys always see me messing with "accessorizing" the house. That's the designer term for taking stuff or crap (which ever way you look at it) and making it look pretty while also setting the stage for something for dust to settle on. So anyway, I'm always fluffing this and fluffing that, rearranging this, hiding that...when I'm walking through the hallway and noticed the boys had "added" a little 2 and 3 yr old touch on my to one of my "pretties"(as I call them). Cute, but I don't think so.... I smiled, left it there for a minute or so and then had to move them.

Everyone always asks me, "How can your house look so nice with little kids?". I was just bound and determined to keep thing pretty much looking "adult-designer" like and nice once we started a family. I just started very young with them, saying "uuuuhhhhh (I never use no unless it's dangerous..) Mommies pretties". They have just grown up knowing not to mess with the pretty things and they actually do a great job at listening....good job boys!!!

Amber alert..has been cancelled..Phone has been found!!

What a great hiding spot?

Ok, it's going to be a great week. Many things Wonderful have happened this am and it's not even 9am!!

First, today is the first day since Wed. that my head doesn't feel like it's the size of a hot air balloon and my voice is somewhat coming back (is that a good thing? it is to me..)

2ndly, Big boy Barrett is telling Mommy when he has to go pottie now and has gone both pee-pee and poo-poo on two different occasions this am with great success (it's the small things that are just so dang exciting!) (he did get candy and a ton of praise ), this is H:U:G:E: for a little just barely 2 year old boy!!! (I DID take a picture but his pee-pee was showing and I really didn't think it would be wise to put that on the Internet!!) I'll save it for his scrap book. I got these cute little undies stickers.....

3rdly, I found the PHONE!!!YYYYIIIPPPEEE!!!!! Brandt had asked me to get out his race track that I had put away in the toy room in the "cubby". The room continues underneath the staircase, we've made a little "cubby area" where I put the boy's play kitchen (yes, Scott had a heart attack when I bought the kitchen for the boys, but they love it) and low and behold I crawl back into the cubby, stepping on fake eggs and fake plastic snakes (nice combo), and all of a sudden this black beautiful piece of machinery catches my eye...I about fainted!! I started to see stars and flashes of light (ok, maybe it was the medicines I'm on!!).... Then Brandt says to me, "Oh, Mommy, that's NOT a play phone?!!!" DUH!!! AAA NO!!! Of course, it's been missing for about a month, it was completely dead, I feel like I just found my diamond ring or something....Boys...It was a pretty cute hiding spot...next time it's missing I'll know right where to look....

My boyfriends.......

About a month ago I got the boy's pictures taken by who I think is the best photographer in San Antonio, Maile with Relish Photography. My good friend, Melody introduced me to her. I just couldn't decide on what pictures to get as I swear, EVERY single one made my heart melt. So, I ended up getting the "sweet package", as Maile calls it.

I've always been a picture freak. I just love unique frames and pictures in all sizes. I just think there is something so magic about capturing a moment in time. I decided I'd get these 4 shots to hang together for our bedroom, 2 on each sides of the bed. I think they go well together and I just love how you're focused on them and not anything else. The pictures are simple, yet they say so much.

We get out our albums out quite often and just reminence. It's funny how some things you just never forget. I will say my boys are my world, I never thought I'd love anyone so much.

They grow up way to fast, everyone always told me, now I know what they mean by that. Pictures help slow time down. I'm so glad I have so many pictures of them and scrapbooks filled with memories. I treasure them more than anything I own, including my wedding ring, our house, my closet full of clothes, etc....

My morning started with Brandt asking me if I felt better and he looks up with his big blue eyes and says I'll make you "chicken n stars" soup for lunch "cause that will make you feel all better Mom". He then kisses my arm and rubs it and tells me how much he loves me. Talk about a smile on my face and tears to my eyes. I'm SO thankful for my little angel boys (as I call them). They are the most beautiful thing in the whole universe to me........

Thank goodness it was carpool day!

My book

I'm home today with a sore throat, fever, a throbbing headache, and a fever blister the size of the planet Jupiter on my lip. I feel like HELL. (sniff sniff) The kids come home from school and I catch whatever germ is flying around the classrooml. I guess better me than them, but I'm always sick. I think my immunity (cough, cough) is very low as I have horrible asthma and allergies and I'm an anemic. But, the good news is....I've always been organized. I love it. I could organize all day and be so happy. I thought about doing it for an occupation like my friend Stacie, but decided I thought I'd get the hebbey, jebbeys from touching other peoples stuff. It was just confirmed when Stacie just had a client that she helped sort out her paper and what nots from her client's shower...ok, NASTY!!!

Anyway, just call me a sickly, anemic, organizer.....I just can't lay in bed and watch tv or take a nap. I started to organize the pantry and I felt dizzy, so I'm laying on the couch with all my business cards and putting (sneeze) them into a book. They sell these pages at Office Max and they are so great I just have to share. I have business cards everywhere, maybe because I'm "newer" to town and still "looking" for this and that...but it's just so nice, just a second while I blow my nose,..........ok, just to go in one spot for a phone #. I hate the yellow pages and the phone book.

Then I have my pages divided into personal, house, kids, fix it, etc...I know you're all jealous I have the time to do this as I'm letting my laundry pile up...yeah, right I never have laundry pile up, that's to unorganized, can't deal with that, as soon as it's a full load, it's in the wash and folded and put away by that night...ok, maybe not put away, but it's in the closet in the basket...ok, I'm going to go get some crackers and Sprite, (cough, sniff, blow)...Mom, where are you when I need you...my husband is out on the golf course, imagine that......

Henry and Henretta

Henry and Henretta just hangin' out...notice our phone is STILL missing and NO it doesn't have a "page" button!!

Brandt taking Henry and Henretta to "Show and Tell" day which is every Thursday at "school".


I forgot to mention that on our beach vacation the boys picked out 2 hermit crabs to take home. So far, they've survived almost a week!! Not only do I find myself packing the boy's lunches, but I'm starting to wonder what to feed the hermit crabs. Of course, the place we bought them had just ran out of the food I'm suppose to feed them. I get on line and do research on what to feed them. I guess since I didn't make my kid's own baby food, I've instead elected to feed our new pets the "natural" way. So far, they've had bananas, pineapple, canelope, and some turkey meat (which they really didn't care for). I guess they are more into fruit, and tropical at that.

The neat thing about the crabs are that they have "painted" designs on their shells. I'm assuming this is the cool, hip thing in the crab world as I don't think they were hatched like that? So, Henretta has this black, lime green, and silver sparkles circles painted all over her shell (sparkles= girl) and Henry has kind of this sunset beach scene painted on his, which is pretty masculine looking.

Brandt insisted on taking them to show and tell today. I had asked early in the week if it was ok with his teacher, said yes as long as they stayed in the cage. I'm excited to pick him up today to see what the class thought. Knowing Brandt he'll want to take his fish next week......

Oh, ps regarding our phone that DOESN'T have a page button, we had to get these really expensive phones to have coverage, as we live in the country that is very hilly, so I guess THAT is what you're paying for instead of the essentials you REALLY need on a phone!

My Beach Bums

Follow the leader, Where ever Brandt goes, little brother follows.....

Chasing their shadows

Walk with Daddy


Our surfer dude......


Diggin' for gold, or something like that.....



Catchin' a major wave.....



Our "jaws" shot.......




Body surfin', minus the body board....

Mama and her boys, this is our "Sports Illustrated" swim suit shot.....


One thing about living in South Texas is you can be to the beach in a matter of a few hours. We made it door to door, with Friday afternoon traffic, an accident we came upon, and one pottie break. Don't let the pictures fool you, it's the Texas coast not Destin Florida..but from a 2 and 3 yr. old's perspective, it's pretty darn cool. There is still something magical about the ocean no matter how beautiful(or not so beautiful) the beach is. The boys had a ball digging in the sand , playing in the waves, and going out for yummy, fresh seafood. We found 2 great finds for food. If you don't know me very well, I should of been a food critic, as I'm always thinking about food and trying to find the best stuff to eat.... We stayed in Port Aransas at a place called the Sand Dunes. It was perfect for us, clean, a boardwalk away from the beach, playground, and the kitchen sure came in handy.

When we first moved down here, everyone always said, "Yep, we're heading to the beach.." or "Goin' to the coast"...Now, I know what they're talking about. Growing up in Iowa and living in Kansas City, it was "Headed to the Lake"..meaning Lake of the Ozarks for those of you from Texas. It's a 92 mile long lake, one of the 3rd busiest lakes in the US, with tons of bars, restaurants, coves for water skiing...with cliffs for diving...We just grew up going to the lake, we actually had a house on the lake while growing up. Into my teenage and after college years, we'd go to the lake several times during the summer. I miss it. I guess Brandt and Barrett will grow up, heading to the beach, which isn't such a bad thing at all...Memories, you got to love making them, especially our little family ones....

Mi Casa continued....Room 3..Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

I love love love our bedroom. I still need to finish with window treatments (entire house) and a rug (can't find the perfect one yet...) things on the wall and some big pots with florals and something cool in on our ceiling, but it is fine for now.

We moved our furniture from our old house into the guest bedroom and I insisted on getting new bedroom furniture as the "old" stuff was BA (before Angelia).. So this is my favorite furniture line in the world...It's all Large scale and big and chunky, yet refined. The brand is Marge Carson from California. They only make them when they get an order so it took us 8 months to get the dang bed!! We also got a new mattress that is to die for, Simmons black label beauty rest. I feel like a Princess and sleep like one too...

We also have a tv in our armorie, which Scott had to twist my arm to get as I'm not a tv in the bedroom type of gal (like Oprah), but NOW I am...As he's watching his wrestling dumb stuff in the "guys" room, I'm all snugly in my pjs and silky sheets watching reality tv....

OH, I can't forget our sheets!!! My favorite place in Kansas City to buy sheets!! I made a trip just to get MY..OUR sheets...at Scandia Down. Yes, I am a sheet snob, I will admit it but it's Scott's fault. When we first started dating, he'd get his sheets pressed and laundered every week at the dry cleaner at $75 a pop, after we became engaged I put my foot down, and they get laundered in the home washing machine at $0. They get all wrinkly anyway.....We can save up the extra $ we save in dry cleaning and buy more sheets!!

Teaching Responsibility

Responsibilty Chart

I found these at Target. I think they are from Learning Tree? (I threw away the wrapper and nothing printed on the board). I just wanted to share as the boys think it's really neat and now I can just warn with...".uugghhhh, No magnet on your responsibility chart!!"

Each day they get a magnet with something "cute" on it, if they have "done" what the chart says. For instance, "used please and thank you", "no hitting", "brush teeth", "waited on Mommy"...no just kidding, there are blank ones you can fill in, but I'm kidding, really...and the thing that's cool about it is that as they get older, you can switch out the magnets for "bigger boy" ones like "made the bed", "fed the dog", etc.. They LOVE it, although not one boy has gotten a "perfect" score yet, but they are working on it. I have a box filled with "treats" that if they happened to get ALL stars then they can select from the box...Hasn't happened yet, highly unlikely as one goal says NO FIGHTING and BE NICE....like a said, It's a work in progress....

School bags

Hangin' in Place

I just have to brag on my talented friend, Melody.

She made these bags for the boys to carry for school. Aren't they just way cute!! She just makes the best and cutest things!! I've got to hire her to help me with the boy's shower curtains and to spoof up their rooms. I better do it now before she's busy with her own house that is being built!! Thank you Melody, we just love them!!!

Missing.....

This is what it looks like.....

If anyone sees our phone...it's missing, and could you send it home....One thing about having a "larger" home, if you misplace something, you're screwed. I can't find the damn phone anywhere!! I've been looking for a week now. It's not like I lost a button or something, it's a phone!! I'm about ready to put up the missing posters at the mail drop like people put up when they have lost their dog!!! I'm really irritated. I might call a search party if I haven't found it in a few days, don't be surprised if I call you, I'll serve drinks, we'll need it......

Our first "Craft day"

Some of my scrap pages I completed....

Our guest of honor, Lynne (who is 60 today!! Happy Birthday!!!, You're the most beautiful 60 year old I know!!)


My crafty friends, Amy, myself, Melody and Jennifer



I had a great day yesterday, Why can't everyday be craft day? I came up with this idea (actually did this in Kansas City) ...once a month while the kids are in school, my crafty friends and I are getting together to work on our "projects". Amy worked on getting her son's birthday invitations out, Melody painted pink letters for her daughter's new room in the house she's building, Jenn worked on her Christmas cards and I did my scrap booking. We had Bear Moon muffins for breakfast and O'briens for lunch.


When I first moved to Texas I was very lonely. I had the stress of building a house, moving from a place I loved to a small town where I knew no one, missing my friends, a traveling husband, a toddler and a newborn, renting a house where our garage was a storage unit, I kind of got caught up in a group of gals that weren't so nice to me and I stayed as 1. I didn't know anybody else. and 2. I was stupid....I could go on and on...... I was a complete wreck!! It was one disappointment after another... yes, please go ahead and grab a Kleenex... SO....I'm just so thrilled to of found my girl "homies"...not only do I have so much in common with them, they are just wonderful women and friends...I'm very blessed, they were way worth the wait!!!

Amy- When I first met her, I thought, no way this chic is way to straight laced for me, she says things like "dang gummit", now who in the hell says that? Amy does.....but since I'm the open type of person and I don't judge and really take my time to get to know people (unlike most small town girls around here), she has become a great friend. Amy is to smart for her won britches, graduated Vanderbilt, grad. school, she's a little spacey, always running a little late, has the best smile and little laugh with her southern charm, she's just a delight to be with, she's the friend you call when your fire place mantle falls off the wall and her husband rushes over to shut your gas off and you call her when you get your first scorpion bite, as she always knows what to do in emergency situations, you can always count on her... she just had her 3rd baby, a girl, Amelia...beautiful like her Mama....

Melody- Love her, a talented photographer, seamstress, everything she touches screams boutique, she is amazing with the computer, a little shy, funky, she's got that edge, always thinking outside the box, she's the beautiful quiet little petite girl in the background but once she knows you.., she always has a witty remark, she should be a stylist in LA, She keeps me hip. You ask her a simple question like "What should my boys wear for their pictures" and you'll get not only an answer, but a map on how to get there and a restaurant that you should try while your headed that way...she doesn't stop amazing me, I think how does she do that? Pure Talent... We are going to a craft show the end of the month and I'm looking forward to hanging out with her. Oh, and I just love her smile and her sweet laugh. When she's a stylist in LA, her 2 little girls need to be on the billboards, absolutely gorgeous girls.....OH, and her husband always wears the coolest shirts!!!

Jennifer- She's my friend that we can talk on the phone for 2 hours and it seems like only 20 minutes has passed..She's my super Mom, always dressed like she just walked out of a magazine, jewelry to match, shoes that were made just for that outfit.. the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen (which match the rest of her beautiful self, hair, skin, teeth, etc..sickning...)..she's kind of my "Oprah" friend and by that I mean we can talk about deep topics like kids, family, and she's "real" she's not afraid to voice her fears and that to me is a unique person and a great friend to have, she is a very giving person, totally unselfish, she'd give you anything you wanted or needed without even thinking twice, She's that Mom you see in the parking lot at drop off that she looks like she's just all together, and well, she IS..She's always up for a challenge, guitar lessons, marathon training...she's the best...

Thanks girls for your friendship. I look forward to growing old with you and watching our wonderful children grow up together!!!

Shoes....galore

My Cinderella slippers

You know you're approaching 40, when you decide to get rid of all your shoes that look great but are uncomfortable. I just can't do it anymore. I always thought I could suffer through the day as long as my shoes where the perfect match. Forget it.... After church and lunch Scott wanted to get groceries. I made the excuse up that the boys needed to get home to nap. I didn't want to tell him that I already had 3 blisters, I could barely walk after sitting in church and at lunch...and that the callous that I've developed was throbbing...they are all in a brown shopping bag, ready for good will in the morning, I'm sure some young chic will snatch them up..enjoy!!

Child Labor Laws..Not in our house!!

The boyz....hard at work...

Break time...using the barstools as their "airplanes".....

New kitchen ceiling


Thank goodness for Sundays, the day of rest..after church and lunch at "Hungry Horse", yep, you guessed it...home cooked fried everything...one good thing about living in a small town...then we ALL napped. I'm not much of a nap person, but with a full belly, I find this very easy to do.

Yesterday was our "project" day. It's so cute when the boys get out their made-for-them-small cleaning tools and try to "help" us... We finished sealing the tile in "Scott's"room and it looks great. We were thinking about tackling some more today but decided that we would just take the day and rest...

We had some painters come back this week and paint some ceilings in our house. I couldn't decide if it really needed it back when they were here last Fall doing some faux finishes but after a year, I decided I just couldn't live without it. They really turned out nice and the kitchen, hallways and living area look much more finished. They also painted some accents on the outside of the house which REALLY look awesome. It makes the entire house "pop" as my husband says...he's getting the interior designer lingo down pretty well. Enjoy your Sunday....

My "Dancing with the Stars" partners......

Last year at a "passion party". Notice: Pam's shirt (the stain on her boob)....and Tami and I
4th of July, the "real" Stacie comes out......


Guess, who's shirt this is? Not mine and not Stacie's......another stain on the boob...

OK, I'm dedicating this post to my great, dear, wonderful friends, Stacie and Pam. They're giving me a hard time that I haven't mentioned them yet in blogging, so here you go, you 2 absolutly pains in the butt...kidding...x0x0. They really were my first 2 friends I made when I moved to Texas and I just LOVE them. They have listened to me bitch constantly about how I hated it in smallville, Texas, USA AND I'm glad to say they're STILL my friends. They both mean the world to me and I feel so lucky to have gotten to know them so well.

Stacie. She's beautiful and she's got that artsy-farsty edge with a flair for fashion that we just connected right away. She invited me to be in a playgroup and we fastly became great friends. She's a professional organizer and is happy and content at home cleaning. She doesn't cook. She told me about her meals at night when I first met her and I had to say.....WOW..They have sandwiches one night, pizza the next, I think pasta the next, cereal the next...etc..and then it starts all over the next week, the same stuff on the same day!!! How clever and easy!! I love it!! She always has the most warm smile on her face and she's got the best laugh ever. She's so sweet ,just the all-american girl with the right amount of fun....She has the most dark, beautiful hair that you'd just die to have and she has the nicest husband you'd ever want to meet and two absolutely beautiful kids, Tyler and Kaylin. Kaylin will be the next Cheetah girl.
And Tyler whom is a mini Johnny (the hubby).

Pam. I call her Pamela K. She's the most unique girl that I've ever met...She's just Pam. One of those one-of-a-kind type of girls. How do you describe her? You just can't. You just gotta meet her. She's one of those gals that can say certain things and you think, only Pam can get away with doing or saying that! She is very thoughtful, always checking in on me and making sure I still like living in Boerne. She's just as beautiful and looks mighty fine all dolled up!! She loves to cook and is great at it. Ms. Rachael Ray, watch out..She's now obsessed with her son Cole and his sporting events. We like to tease her that she's that parent in the crowd that's just over the top. She's really not, she's just a proud Mom and she has every right to be...Her husband Paul is a small town Texan with a heart of pure gold and man, can he tell a great story. They have a daughter, Callie that looks like she could be my daughter, and I'd gladly take her (see my Flicker).

Ok, now get of my bootie.. hoebags ...you made my blog!!!! YOU BETTER LEAVE A COMMENT!!! I know you are reading this!!! I love you both very much!!! Now, I'm going to get razed from the rest of our dinner club for not being on the blog, but gee, you're just not a celebrity until you're on the blog, I guess.....If I were on "Dancing with Stars" or had a chance to be in the audience, I'd take Pam and Stacie...they're my Stars......(note: We LOVE the show, watch it, don't miss, plan around it, husband put the kid's to bed night, cook you're own dinner, let's have a party so we can watch it together show....right girls.....?????)

Mi Casa- Craft room- (room #2)

View from french doors to the courtyard

Wrapping station

Blown glass knobs


Always a mess....but that's what it's for!!

I'd have to say my 2nd favorite room in the house is my craft room. It could be because everything in the room is 100% mine. Although, I do have a "special" drawer when the boys can come in quietly (which isn't very often)...I spend lots of time in here when the kids are in bed. I have 2 comfy chairs that I usually read in, plus they make a great spot to park my purse! The island in the middle is on rollers so I can move it around, which is nice if I'm doing florals on the floor and I need more space. I also have a cut out in the top of the island for trash to fall in to. This is great when I scrapbook, as you gets lots of tiny scraps...Another favorite thing are my knobs. They go perfect and I purchased them at my favorite store in the world, Anthropologie.

If you're thinking the colors are a little bright, well they are. It's funny it didn't even dawn on me when I was picking out the color scheme, that my room growing up (after the pink room) was lime green, yellow, and orange (yes, I know it was the 80's, what can I say) so did I subconsciously pick the colors from my childhood?? I did ditch the orange (thank god) and put brown with it, goes with the house a lot better. I'm probably boring most of you to death, that's fine, stop reading my blog then, but like I mentioned before this is who I am and what I do, I LOVE design. In high school, when we were asked to buy magazines to raise money for the band, I chose Architectural Digest, as my friends were getting "Seventeen". Oh, thanks for all who are reading...I'm getting lots of emails. I love the comments, in the blogger world, getting a comment is the best!!!

I still want to add some leopard touches to the room. Maybe on the ceiling. I painted leopard above our bed in our house in Kansas City, sounds strange I know, but it's really cool. If Scott who is "Plain Jane, well, Plain Jack" likes it, it IS cool. I have lots of time to think about it, so in the meantime, if I'm talking to you on the phone I'm probably in this room or out on the courtyard..it's where I create and dream...........

Pyromaniac

Burn Baby Burn.....

Are you wondering what Scott does with all the debris that he cuts down? Well, for Father's day I had this fire pit made. Yes, it does double as great marshmallow burning oven for the kids and it makes a great spot to sit on when the kids are playing on the trampoline and on the 4th of July it made a great fireworks stand (which are outlawed in our neighborhood..ssshhhhh)...but hello, I got a pair of sunglasses for Mother's day!! Well, I'll shut up, they were a designer brand. I'm only kidding, it's been great watching Scott burn. I think every man has a little bit of pyromaniac in them and it's a good thing to bring this to the surface. Our neighborhood is very strict about burning rules, and they have every right to be. You can only burn on Tues, Wed. and Thurs, they knock on your door at 7am and make sure you have a hose that reaches the pit, that it's all watered down around the pit, that someone will be watching the pit the entire time it's going and the fire must be completely out by 2 in the afternoon, and yes, they come and check!! So if anyone has extra branches just let us know, I'm sure Scott would love to light them on fire!!

The hubby and the power tool

The hubby in action....

The helper in action, Barrett HAS to do whatever Daddy is doing...

Can you tell which one really works? The one on the left is a "kid" version from Home Depot, it makes noise and Barrett thinks he's REALLY cool with HIS "buzzer".

An ongoing project that Scott is working on is clearing all the cedars from our backyard. Cedars, which kind of look like Christmas trees, grow like weeds down here. They suck all the water from other types of trees are are considered a "weed", that should be removed. So once again, we get a bid for the removal of the trees, I can't honestly remember how much the bid was....but comparable to the $5,000 price of sealing the tile. So, my power- tool- hungry- husband just LOVES to pull out his magic weapon. I must say in some odd way it's kind of a turn on to see his muscles all bulging out and covered with sweat from head to toe..is that weird. So, no couch potato in our house, just a hardworking man from Iowa eager to accomplish his goal. He wants to clear all the cedars so we can see into a meadow that is on our property. We have 5 acres, so at times it's seemed endless but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, or should I say, we are seeing the beautiful field full of cactus and wildlife right in our own backyard....

Cinderella

Trophy Room floor

You may be wondering what I do when the kids are in "school?"...Well, if you're guessing that: first I take a long, hot bubble bath after I have worked out and then I meet a girlfriend for lunch at PF Changs and then we continue shopping, driving from one boutique to the next while we listen to our favorite music in the car between shops...WELL, guess again.....Nope, that is in my dream world.....Instead, I'm pretending to be Cinderella...I'm actually sealing our tile.

Doesn't it look nice...Instead of my dream from above, I'm sneezing as I've got horrible allergies, I've got sealer on my knees, hands and fingers (and somehow my hair...) The darker part is what I've covered. I must say I'm pretty proud of myself. I should get a job at Home Depot??? That's the thing about building a house. First, I get a quote and someone wanted $5,000 to seal our tile. Are you crazy!!! They see a "larger" home and think, let's just sock it to 'em. Well, little do they know, that I can just do it myself....so there, just take that.... you can't put a price on the feeling of satisfaction from a "do-it yourself" home project.

Mi Casa

Powder Room

Ok, so many of you are constantly on me about sending pictures of our house. As many of you know we've had 2 years of pure HELL building our house with one disappointment after another and actually 2 close calls that could of potentially killed us...but I'm learning to move on and have now reached a point where I feel like I can share pictures. We worked with a very talented architect named Gustavo Arredondo, he's just as sexy as his name. Between the two of us we designed everything from the floorplan to the tiniest details. I spent countless hours drawing out cabinets and kitchen plans. Picking out tile, paint, and even one day I had to point out everywhere that I wanted an electrical outlet (do you know how hard that is!!) THEN, I had to pick out the stinking color of the cover!! No, I didn't forget to mention our builders name..I'm just not going to mention it as it's just not worth getting into. No, I wouldn't recommend him.

So, I thought this will be a good way to show you our house by doing a post once a week until I've covered the entire house and it will seem like you've been here in person!! Those of my Texas friends, no need to read...unless you're dying to know what my fav things about the room are!! And please know, and you already do if you know me well, I'm just describing things (not bragging) this IS what I do for a living, well kind of!!

By trade I'm interior designer, BK (Before Kids) I worked in architectural sales, basically calling on architects trying to get my companies products specified for construction projects. My specialities were hospitals and schools. I loved it! I would be out on the construction site in a hard hat with a bunch of guys (never short on dates!!) one day, and in an modern stainless steel far-out, artsy, architecturally detailed office the next giving a box lunch to 50 architects. With Kansas City's booming population, I made some great cash-o-la AND I loved going to work everyday which included some travel too, which I loved!!

Shortly after Scott and I became engaged, our company was bought out and my area was being "downsized", so I was let go. Scott encouraged me to open my own interior decorating company which I did called "Accents by Angelia". I really liked it, it was flexible, fun, but I really didn't like spending hours looking for the perfect fabric and then the client would say, "It's ok, not exactly what I had in mind". What are you nuts!! It's perfect, I'd think wanting to cram it down their throat!. Yeah, that got OLD fast!! Anyway, luckily, I did get a ton of perks from the job and somehow our ENTIRE house got redecorated...Luckily, Brandt came along and I bacame just to busy.... If and when I do go back to work in the field, I'll have to re-think some things....

The Powder Room: This is one of my favorite rooms in the house. Can we just say one word. Glitter. I even have glitter in the tile grout. You can't see the floor but it's a basketweave with glass (purplish) tile around the border. The cabinets are hand painted from one of my favorite gals we used in the house, Lisa. She did lots of projects in our house. She's a great person and very talented and sweet. She did the wall texture too. Which between her ideas and mine we came up with this gold-leaf animal print texture. It's REALLY my favorite in the whole house. I mixed up the plumbing and choose a brushed brass, the sink is from an artist in Seattle. (Scott lived there for 2 yrs, as we were visiting I feel in love with his work.) The light fixtures are from Egypt (I'm not kidding).. and the mirror, which is suspended from chains from the ceiling, I found in a cute shop in Boerne called Alley on Main. The whole room is shaped like a wedge of cheese and the biggest debate we had in this room where the little "windows" that are on the wall, which have little hand painted doors on them, that can swivel. So the big joke is that if you are shy and have to go #2, then go use another bathroom. So just remember that if you come to visit! And Yep those are little kid butt wipes on the counter. I will mention that when I take a picture ,I'm not going to "stage" things, that way it will be much more "real". I'm not trying to sell the house at this point only raise my babies!!

Labor day in a small town in Texas

Cole, Brandt's idol

Cole, a 2nd grader, is the son of great friends of ours, Pam and Paul (a future post). If it's possible to have a "man"crush at 3 1/2 then Brandt has a MAJOR thing for Cole. I'm looking through my pictures of Brandt and I have dozens of him looking up to him with a twinkle in his eye. I don't see the twinkle for anything else in Brandt's life, not even trains. He constantly talks about Cole. He is the most delightfully "older" boy we know. He calls us "Sir" and "Mame". He has a natural knack with little kids like we've never seen before. Seriously, I'd trust him to watch our kids for an entire weekend and wouldn't even think twice about them..THAT'S how wonderful he is!! It's like he's a thirty year-old trapped in a boy's body! Not sure how he turned into this PERFECT kid, wait until you meet his parents...Kidding..LOVE them!! I'm very proud that Brandt has picked him as his idol as he's a very special and gifted kid...oh, and a wonderful baseball player too.

AAHHH....Don't let you're 2 and 3 year old ride the "Tilt a Whirl"

Thekids were just a little young as we found out the hard way....Brandt screamed the entire time...
"Man, (the toothless guy running the thing)(Why, do all the carnival ride owners have such NASTY teeth??? Extreme Makeover is calling all your names.)...Man, Man,...SHUT this THING OFF!!!" I will say even Scott and I were a little queasy after getting off that thing...

Yeepp...this is what you do on a Saturday night in a small town...

I kept wondering what one of my best friends, Danielle, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona was doing last night? I bet she was out at a "to sheek, just opened, private party" restaurant wearing her glittering high heels and silk top and I'm riding Dumbo and sloshing around in the mud with my pedicure getting all chipped...Did I actually choose this life or did it choose me?

Life in the Fast Lane

I will say for the $3.00/ 3 minute ride, this was the kid's favorite one, they smiled the whole time (well worth the 3 bucks) and they just looked so darn CUTE!!

THE Gene Simmons tongue

Yep, not only did Brandt get my blonde hair and blue eyes, and gift of gab, but he got my tongue...and here's what it looks like after a blue snow cone....

Brandt and his snow cone, BEFORE most of it was on the ground

I'm trying to get more creative with the angles of my pictures so I can work my way up to my dear friend, Melody's caliber...I think I might be on the right track. What do you think?