Whirling Dervish

This is my baby, my first born, the one I used to call Pooh Bear before he told me at the ripe old age of 5 that 'Pooh Bear is a baby name' and to please stop calling him that.

The former Pooh Bear, known to my readers as Whirling Dervish, will be turning 16 in 2 weeks.  I've felt this birthday coming on like a runaway train.  Most of his friends have already turned 16, and many of them already have their licenses.

This impending first adult privilege has had me panicking and counting down the moments left before he flies the nest.  There are only 2 Halloweens, a handful of Christmases, 2 Mother's Days, etc. before he's living somewhere else.  And that, my online friends, is why I've been MIA.  I've tried to eke out every last moment of this summer, because we only have 2 left before part of this family unit might leave.  Lucky for me, summer in NY doesn't end until Labor Day.  We've spent this summer up at the cottage,

down in Georgia,

up at the 1000 Islands,

and camping in the Catskills.

This stage of teenage life has WD annoyed at being forced into family time,

and taking the first chance to go off on his own.

Museums that delight SB,

have WD asking if we're done yet.

But this summer of living out of our luggage has found that elusive WD smile every now and again.

This past weekend, WD and I ran the Warrior Dash at Windham Mountain.  It was the first time in a long time that I've seen WD smile all day long.

It didn't hurt that he kicked my tail.  The course goes 1 mile up a ski slope before zig zagging around and back down, with some walls, ropes, and barbed wire thrown in.

Let's not forget the mud pits,

 and fire jumps.

There are no pics of us running together.  It turns out that WD is part billy goat, because he darted up that mountain faster than anyone else in our flight.  My pride hurt a little watching his backside bound up that mountain while my lungs were burning, but I couldn't be prouder of him.  And I finished towards the top of my age group, so I can't be too disappointed in my own performance.

The little boy that I used to love reading to, when he'd sit still for a moment,

can now school me on a race course.

But that's ok, because he's announced that he'd like for us to try to run all of the Warrior Dashes(there are 49 in the US, Canada, and Australia,) then try a few Tough Mudders and Spartans, too.  He may be planning on widening the gap between our finish times, but all I here is that he's making a multi-year commitment to hang out with his mom.

Summer's almost over and I'll be back to regular posting once the boys are back in school.  Thanks for popping in and listening to me prattle.

Furniture Makeovers w/ Cassie from Primitive & Proper

I'm so excited to have Cassie from Primitive and Proper here today.  She's such an inspiration, and every time I need a kick in the butt to get motivated on a project, I visit her blog.

Hello to all of Marcia's fans!  I am so excited to be here today on Marcia's blog.  She is so sweet, and talented, and MUCH better in the kitchen than I am!  I am Cassie from Primitive and Proper, where I blog about furniture makeovers, my home, crafts, life, and anything else I feel like.  In my few years of blogging I may have shared one recipe, maybe two.  So I am not here today to share any cooking tips- you don't want them from me!

Today, I am going to share with you some of my past furniture makeovers, with a little twist.  We all have the right to change our mind, right?  It's our prerogative.  Don't need permission, make my own decision... he he.

The makeovers I am going to share today are going to be madeover makeovers.... meaning pieces of furniture I have redone not just once, but twice.  We moved into our current home last fall, and with moves come change, naturally.

Recently in another guest post, I shared this Dorothy Draper knockoff I found.  When I first found it, it looked like this....

Then I gave it its first makeover, and it looked like this and was used in our family room.

And finally, the last outfit it wore before I decided to sell it.....

We also had these cute chairs that were in our playroom in our first house.  I can't find a picture of what they looked like after we painted them (they came unfinished) but here they are unfinished, prior to being painted blue and green.... (and that little baby is just about to turn 7, sniff sniff!)

When we redid the playroom in our last house they were repainted a pretty shade of turquoise...

And in this house, they are now being used in Sawyer's room and needed a makeover again!

This time, he chose the color- glossy cherry red, and it adds a nice pop to his Star Wars room.

Emmy also had a piece that had been done for her old room, and then needed another makeover after moving.  We bought this vintage vanity and stool for her room at our old house...

In her old room, orange was perfect....

But in her new room, pale pink was the best choice...

And finally, here is the last redone redo I will share today.  I bought this dresser intending to redo and sell a while back....

It had a nice clean modern shape that was perfect for a simple white treatment, so I painted it white., but then I loved it too much and kept it in my room!

Well, then I found THE MOST AMAZING dresser that was actually a little larger, too and gave us more storage.  This one needed some touch ups, so of course I just decided to repaint it entirely. :)  I wanted to give it a new, fresh look.   Here it is now....

Of course, the problem now is that I love it even more.  It won't work in my own room in pale pink, so for now it's sitting in my garage waiting for me to find a home in our home for it.  Or waiting for me to get up the courage to say good bye, and I am not sure that will happen any time soon!

Thank you so much, Marcia, for having me here today and allowing me to show that it is ok to be fickle indecisive lacking direction confident in whatever direction you want to go!  Never be afraid to change your mind!

(Me again) Big ol' Thank You to Cassie from sharing some of her amazing furniture makeovers while we're in Hotlanta.  Isn't she amazing?  Hop on over to Primitive and Proper to see even more awesome transformations.

Life and Blogging

I've had a few e-mails wondering how I've been doing, since it's been a while since I've posted, and I'm happy to say that everything is going great around here.  It turns out that life has gotten in the way of blogging, which is such a better statement than blogging got in the way of life.  I'd much rather report that endless hours at the pool have put a crimp in my screen time, instead of telling my kids that "mommy just has to finish this post."

Along with lots of pool time, there's been some water balloon action,

and exhausted kids at the end of the day.

I haven't stopped baking or creating, but my camera hasn't captured the step-by-steps needed for a tutorial. I did snap a pic of this strawberry crepe cake that I made the other day.  It's made like my chocolate crepe cake, only without the cocoa powder, and using a strawberry mousse.

I hope to find time to share some projects, but I make no promises, because there's a finite number of summers available and the pool is calling.

Thanks for popping in and bearing with the sporadic posting.

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Nothing says summer like pink lemonade, and the perfect way to kick off summer is with these Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes.

I started by creaming together 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil.

I added in 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup agave nectar, 1/2 cup raspberry applesauce, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and the zest and juice of one lemon.

In a separate bowl, I whisked together 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup sorghum flour, 1/4 cup sweet rice flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup arrowroot starch, 2 tsps baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt.

I mixed the dry ingredients into the wet, and then mixed in 1/3 cup milk.

I accidentally set my camera down for this next part.  I whipped up 3 egg whites with a couple tablespoons of sugar sprinkled in gradually until they were at a soft peak, then folded the egg whites into the battter.  Spoon the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake for 22 minutes at 325 or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Using a large tip on my piping bag, I poked a hole into the cupcakes, and piped in about a 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry fruit spread into each cupcake.

I mixed up some cream cheese frosting(cream cheese, butter & powdered sugar,) and added in 1/2 cup raspberry fruit spread and 1/2 tsp lemon extract.  I topped each cupcake with a fresh raspberry.

Thanks for popping in and baking with me.

Luau Craft - Sand Art Necklaces

As a room mom for my boys' classes, I've helped to throw a gazillion class parties.  We tend to stick with a basic formula of a story, a snack, a craft, and a game.  This year's first grade End of Year party is a beach / luau theme, and few things are more beachy than sand.  Remember the Sand Art displayed in the boys' Under the Sea bathroom?

We have several Sand Art bottles throughout the room, because it's a fun easy craft.  In that same vein, we decided to have sand art necklaces as the craft project for our luau party.  We found some fun fish bottle necklaces at Oriental Trading Company.

They each come with their own tiny little funnel, but an even easier way to fill them is with Pixy Stix.

You can fit the Pixy Stix into the neck of the bottle, and the finite amount in each stick makes over filling with any one color impossible.

It took 6 Pixy Stix(2 - 3packs) to fill the little fish bottle.  The kids are going to love making these to take home.

Thanks for popping in and crafting with me.