YOU'D THINK AFTER 3 MONTHS....

....i woulda already shown ya'll pics of the house.

i know shame on me, but here are some for ya. the pic quality isn't the greatest, but you get the idea :)


right side of the kitchen with my lil coupon/freebie nook. that is now a lot cleaner than it is in the pic.


island and other side of the kitchen. i love, love, love this kitchen.


island, aka baking station. all baking things are in this thing. love it!


dining room. i still haven't found a window treatment for this window. during the day i actually like how open it is. at night i don't...lol.


my copper jello mold collection


dining room



this is actually a cd cabinet that i got for supa cheap and it houses extra glasses, candle holders, and that type of thing. my fab-boo zodiac bar set is sitting on top. framed is a vintage italian pharmacy bottle label and a vintage postcard of an italian girl.


the beginning of the "family" wall. i have allsorts of frames, i just need to put pics in em to get em all up.


the gold "m" that resides on the other side of the dining room window.


living room shot


another living room shot



mantel with vintage camera collection


'nother shot of mantel


this is one of my favorite things in the whole house. its all of our finger prints. i figured since michael is knee deep in fingerprints all day, what a great way to incoporate his life in the house (considering he says that the house is nothing but what i want in it...that's right buddy). so one day we all drove to the pd, michael fingerprinted us, he played around in photoshop to sharpen it all up and voila!!!


vintage posters with got at the tip-top atomic shop in milwaukee four years ago....love these things. they are for an italian festival.


and this is the lil entry way that leads to the guest/play room and the master bedroom.

well i guess that's it for now. as soon as i get a chance i'll show more :)

A WEEKEND IN REVIEW

*spent two hours friday night, while watching murder she wrote and the kids were sleeping and michael was working, going through expired coupons, filing them, making a grocery list, and finding the coupons for the goodies on my list. this was quite a thrill and it felt so good to get rid of that walmart bag full of expires (yes, i said a walmart bag).

*friday afternoon me and the kiddos picked some blacked-eyed susans from the yard (one of my faves).

*mopped

*stopped by big lots to pick up a few packs of the american crafts slick writers that they have for $2...whoo*hoo!

*did my grocery shopping thank goodness b/c it was beginning to look like ol mother hubbard's kitchen at my house and my cat was about to starve to death...lol

*of course used coupons on deals and pretty much saved about $60

*worked on my halloween swap package. i don't wanna give it up :)

*did two three lo's that i'm super excited about how they turned out (stay tuned).

*cleaned

*watched a ton of episodes of the office on netflix. thank you so friggin' much simone for letting me know i could watch them there. i have been hooked in front of the computer most of the weekend catching up. i'm not a coupla episodes into season 3.

*baked three loaves of banana bread

*talked to simone for almost two hours ;)

*made homemade spaghetti sauce

*also made pork bracciole which was delish

*started to reorganize and rearrange the craft room. i swear one of these days ya'll will see pics of it.

*and the saddest thing of all.......



...mikey went on his first sleepover at a friend's house {pouts out lip}. my lil bug is growing up. he was so excited to get outta the house that he didn't even come in and tell me goodbye when he left (believe you me, big michael paid the price for that for not telling mikey to come in and tell me goodbye). i pick mikey up after i get off of work and i hope he had a blast.

not sure if i left anything out, but that was pretty much my weekend.

OKAY, SERIOUSLY, HOW BEHIND AM I???

oh how i hate getting behind b/c all ya'll nosey folks out there don't get to peek into my life as much or as often :)

first lemme says *big thank you* to everyone who dropped in and let me know that you were still reading! seriously, i was beginning to think that i had bored ya'll to tears and no one was checking! so thanks for giving me that bloggin' boost!

secondly, i'm sorry that it took so long to say that but things have been busy around here, but more on that throughout the week.

lemme back up though to not this past weekend but the weekend before that! greta came over and stayed for the whole weekend while we scrapped. now needless to say, i didn't get as many lo's done as i wanted to, but i love what i've done. i just so happened to get the fab-boo kit from noel mignon on friday and thank goodness i did. i literally raced home and tore the box open so i can check out its fab-boo-ness in person. you haven't ordered this kit yet, shame on you, b/c it really is awesome.

here are the lo's that i did with it so far (notice the so far :)











this card i made for an owl swap that i am in. ain't it a hoot! sorry, i couldn't resist ;)

and she sent me even more goodies from the ki alpine line which i love too!

i am *so* hoping that i will find some time this week to creat even more magic with this stuff. {deep sigh} the colors are absolutely perfect for fall.

okay, so after i got some creating done, me and g got to meet aimee. okay can i just say how much i adore this chick and her house (go ikea ;) she fit in with us so awesome-ly you woulda never thought that we just met. seriously. i dig this chick and can't wait till we hook up again.


a horrific pic of me and the ever fab aimee :)


greta and aimee


and 3some shot

okay, i promise this week that i will be back with more. i had aunts and an uncle come in for mom's 50th and can't wait to tell those stories and share the pics. hope everyone is having an awesome end of september...bring on october :)

hello?
hello?
hello?
hello?
hello?


is anyone out there?
does anyone read me anymore?
are there any lurkers out there?
have i become boring??
where is everyone???

SO MUCH CATCHING UP TO DO!!!

indeed i do, i have a *ton* of catching up to do, but considering that is 7 am and i should be getting ready to leave for work, i figured i drop in and post a couple more pics of noel's new kit.

it is sa-weet!!!!

i should have it in my hot lil hands, hopefully saturday, i know greta is wanting to fondle it a lil before i get to working on it (she's coming over saturday and staying the night for an all night crop).

here's a couple of new pics that noel sent me.


this is another shot of the main kit....swoon!


and this is a sneek of the add on...again major swoon!!

go here if you missed out on the first lil sneak peek :)

can't wait to get it and once i get it in my hot lil hands, i'll post a pic. now if you feel as if it is a matter of life and death to get your hands on this kit (and i think it is...lmao) then make sure you get over there once she releases it b/c she only has a limited number and if you've ever missed on a kit in the past, then i'm sure you're like me and you have kicked yourself in the ass for it.

here's hoping that tonight or tomorrow i can get on and do a lil catchin' up b/c there is a lot of it to do :)

*smooches*

BOO!!!!

okay, so who doesn't love halloween right?
well one day, while at work, my gal pal simone and i were emailing each other back and forth about our love for all things halloween (esp. martha's halloween goodies at michael). it was at that point that a bolt of lightning struck me and i said, "hey why don't we have a halloween swap??"

well being that halloween is a favorite holiday for simone also, she jumped on the train.

so make sure you go and check out the witches' caldron where you can sign up for a spook-tacular swap, find some great tips are makin' your house the spookiest on the block, some bone*chilling crafts, and some major gross out recipes!!!

all the details on the swap can be found here.

believe you me, this is one swap you won't wanna be caught dead missing :)

HAPPY 8TH BUG!!!

mikey's 3rd bday party

{sniff sniff}
today my lil man is 8 years old (well not quite yet, at 1:21 pm to be exact). i can't believe how much he has grown. i mean when you start to hear that hannah montanta is "hot", you're baby is not a baby anymore.

i surprised him and took him for donuts this morning after we dropped off bella at daycare.

over donuts and apple juice/coffee, i asked him if he felt eight and he said yes. i asked him if he felt older and he said yes.

in a bit i'm off to bring cupcakes to his class and surprise him again by letting him do an early check out.

{sniff sniff}

my baby ain't a baby no more.

happy birthday bug, i love you more than candy :)
and quit growin' up will ya.



this a.m. for bday donuts

TWO YEARS AGO TODAY.....

....everyone's lives on the mississippi gulf coast were turned upside down.

i still drive down hwy 90 and see slabs where restaurants, hotels, and homes used to be.

i still see fema trailer parks.

i still sometimes wonder "what used to be there?"

for those that haven't been reading long, you can go here, here, and here to read a little about what we went thru.

YIPPPEEEEEE!!!

i have an awesome annoucement to make.

the ever fabulous noel from noel mignon asked lil ol me if i would be a guest designer for her store!!!!!

i am beside myself and completely flattered that she asked me.

if you've never been to noel mignon or to her challenge site, noel mignon challenges then you MUST check it out.

and noel has some exciting news coming up too!

she's offering the first ever fab-boo kit and lemme go on and tell ya, i've seen some of the products that she is putting in there and lemme go on tell ya, they rawk my socks off. i'm so excited to get my hands on it, i can't even stand myself.

so be sure to check back here for more information, more sneek peeks of the kit, and more information on when the kit is going on sale. you don't wanna miss this girls!

and if i didn't have your interest peaked already, then this should do it.

WHEW!!!

okay, first lemme say, thanks for all the hair love. i am soooo in love with this cut, i really can't even stop looking at myself in the mirror. especially when there is a clip in it. supa cute!!!

okay, well considering that there isn't anything too too exciting, i'm going to just post a buncha mish mush.

first this weekend!

friday
*finally finished up the bday invites for the kids bday that is in exactly one week. yeah, i know.
*did the following journal page for this is me journal. oh wait!!! i haven't started from the beginning have i? i signed up for this fab-boo challenge and am just excited over the whole thing. and it helps that two mississippi girls are running' the show ;) i can't believe that i have kept up with it and its uber fun. if you wanna join, there is still time. as a matter of fact, there is no time limit b/c the journal is about YOU!!!


my cover


first page-you had to scrap your honest opinions (these were just a few for that day)



this is the one i worked on friday night.

challenges are posted every monday and thursday. get on it girls.

*then i turned on some murder she wrote and hit the hay!

saturday

*got up early and went to cvs to get some deals. here's my bounty:
**4 big bags of starbursts (for the kids' pinata and myself ;)
**5 twelve packs of pepsi products
**the new martha stewart every day food
**2 packs of reeses peanut butter cups (had to buy these to make my total a certain amount)
**3 packs of these cute lil animal clip things for scrapping
**1 tube of arm and hammer toothpaste

total: $0.88

that's right folks 88 cents!!!
plus i got a dollar easy buck for my next visit.
seriously, cvs is fab.

*then i went to the grocery store to stock up on some things. haven't been in so long since i'm pretty stocked up anyway. you'd think i had gotten some things for the party next week but i didn't. glad i didnt' b/c when i got home, i discovered i had more than enough hotdogs. so all i really need to get is some chips and buns. but anyway, at super walmart i saved $50 in coupons!!!! and thats a lot considering that walmart doesn't double coupons or take internet coupons (rat bastards!!!) the checkout lady was uber impressed. so was i if i do say so myself.

*while i was gone, mike was supposed to take mikey and bella to the boyscout store to get mikey's handbook and some of his uniform. oh didn't i mention that we signed mikey up for boyscouts? oops!!! anyway, when i got home, they were still there and michael was like "i thought you wouldn't be home till five something". mind you it wasn't even noon. that was his way of saying "i know i shoulda already left, but i figured you'd be gone longer so i haven't yet". so we decided that we would go out to eat, take separate cars that way when we were done, he'd take the kids with him, and i'd go run some errands by myself.

gotta love that man!
he'll take two kiddos with him shopping any day (which he ended up regretting since apparently bella stood in line, fartin' herself away, and then announcing it to the people in line behind them....lmao...i found this story funny. michael, however did not!).

so anyway, we go to applebees and we sit in the smoking section b/c of the fact that it was less crowded. there was really only one guy smoking so i figured it would be no biggie. we ordered and noticed that at the table with the guy smoking, they were eating the biggest dessert ever! boy it looked good.

while we were eating, the man got up and paid, which i thought was odd considering that the waitress usually takes your moola. well as he walked by, he stopped by our table and said the following:

"i just wanted to say how well behaved your children are. its nice to sit down and not listen to them yelling, throwing food, and other shit {note: yes, he said shit}.
so b/c they are so well behaved, i bought them dessert".

my mouth was to the floor and my eyes are watering even as i type this. i can't believe some random stranger bought our kids dessert. it made me feel so proud of the kids and made me feel that maybe i am doing something right with the kids. b/c i know EXACTLY what this man is talking about b/c i can't stand that kind of behavior myself.

now the kiddos already knew what they wanted, but we had to explain to them that whatever the waitress brought out, they were not to complain and there were going to eat it.

this is what the waitress brought out


two brownies, two scoops of icecream, and b/c it was four the kids, mounds and mounds of whipped cream. oh and it came with four spoons.

i seriously think that was the best dessert i have ever eaten!!!

*after that, the kids and michael went their way and i went to old navy. ya see, since i am a stress eater, i've gained a few pounds. well maybe more than a few, but who's counting. okay, who am i kidding, i'm counting. anyway, i'm very upset about it and when it comes time to get dressed in the a.m., it usually includes a mini breakdown b/c a lot of my things don't fit. so i figured i'd go to old navy and see if i could find a couple of things.

boy did i hit the motherload. not only did pretty much everything i buy look good (and look good with this new do), but i got some great deals. i'll spare ya the details on that unless you're really curious. okay, what the hell.
**pair of jeans
**2 pairs of pants
**pair of goucho style pants (i think these were 97 cents)
**skirt (1.97)
**shirt (2.97)
**tank top (free b/c of jeans purchase)
**3 dresses
**tank top
**long sleeved shirt
**2 pairs of shoes

total: $140.xx

i didn't think that was bad at all.

*once i got home, i took a nap. i think i could get used to taking afternoon naps.
*watched wild hogs and zodiac. both very good.

sunday

*CLEANED, CLEANED, CLEANED
*YELLED, YELLED, YELLED
*CRIED IN THE LOCKED BATHROOM
*CLEANED, CLEANED, CLEANED
*YELLED
*TOOK A NAP
*COOKED A YUMMY ROAST WITH VEGGIES, ROLLS, AND NOODLES WITH APPLE CRISP FOR DESSERT
*CLEANED, CLEANED
*YELLED
*PAID BILLS INCLUDING MY FIRST MORTGAGE PAYMENT
*THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO THROW UP B/C OF THE ABOVE
*POSTED ON BLOG!

so that was my weekend. this week is going to be just as busy and i dread it. i'm ready for relaxation.

hope ya'll had a fab weekend and hop that this week is fab too!!

*mwah

oh, and i almost forgot. i was tagged by the lover-ly mary ann. this is a good one!

Here are the rules: 1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts. 2. Players, must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. 3. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

my middle name is marie.

here we go:

m: MOVING! we moved a lot when i was little. i've lived in 5 states, 9 or 10 cities, attended 12 {i think} different schools. i don't know if i can even count all the different houses. even though i don't want my kids to move around a lot b/c i think its cool that people here have known people since they were in kindergarten, i think i've learned a lot from all those moves. even if i still have "new kid" syndrome ;)

a: ART! i've loved art since i was little. i'll never forget a picasso art project we did in fifth or sixth grade where we did an abstract using cardboard. it was simply fabulous and i wish i still had it. all thru highschool i took art classes. a lil disappointed in myself though b/c i think i coulda went further with it. i held back a lot for fear of what others would think. in my senior year of highschool, i took 5 art classes. that was where i sold my first "piece".

r: READING! i love to read. i have always loved to read. due to moving so much (see letter "m"), i would spend, hours upon hours in my room reading. i think this drove my mom nuts too...lol. but i would get up in the a.m. open a book, read it until i finished it, start another one and not go to sleep till the wee hours of the morning. damn i miss that!

i: INTUITIVE! i am very, very intuitive. i think it has something to do with me being a pisces, but i could be wrong. i can usually predict things before they happen, and know a lot of times what someone is going to say before they say it. its weird. sometimes i let on that i know, sometimes i don't. usually it only hits me at certain times. its weird but i love it.

e: ENTERTAIN! i love to entertain and don't do it often enough. i love to plan the party, have everything be themed, cook all the food, and blah blah. the only thing i don't like is the socializing part...lol. even though they are people that i have invited, it can still make me nervous. if its a small group, i'm usually okay, but a larger group i have a problem with. damndest thing!

okay, now that ya'll think i'm more of a nut than you did before, i get to tag a few of ya'll.

i'll tag.....

simone
greta and bitch, you're middle name is not mitchell!!!!
colleen

if anyone else wants to do it, leave me a comment and let me know you did.
b/c i'm nosey like that!

THE BECKHAM!

got a new 'do which i absolutely love. i can't wait to play with it in the a.m. hard to tell in these pics b/c sometimes me and the mirror don't have a good relationship when it comes to photoshoots!


the front


the side

the style is called the beckham apparently and its about an inch long in the back (if that) and of course as you can see the sides come down in chunky layers in the front.

love it!

the hair is been driving me crazy since i was due for a cut about three weeks ago.
i can't wait to get some wax and clips in it. i've been wanting a pixie for about a month now, but didn't think i would look in that. i'm going to play with this for six weeks and see if i want the sides to be any shorter.

so whatchya think?

WOW!!!

big news!
check this out!
i am soooo friggin' honored and so friggin' excited about this i can hardly stand it.


big love to all the eves :)

HAPPY 8TH BABY!!!

happy eight years to the man that i love more than 8 years ago today.
here's to another 80 more.

and hey, baby, we're celebrating it in our true fashion. ya know, the way our marriage has been for the past 8 years. its what makes us "the manna's".

you're sick in bed with what i had but with a temperature.
my car broke down this a.m. which means $CHA-CHING$
the hot water heater still does not work.
and what else....

i love you baby.
i love you more than candy.

I'VE BEEN SICK NOW HE'S SICK....

oh my lord.
since thursday either my ass or my face has been in the toilet.
friday, i thought i was going to die. hell dying may have felt better.
seriously.
i'm just now beginning to feel a lil like a human.
here's hoping i'm better by tomorrow b/c i MUST go to work.
but now michael is sick.
gross!
i better break out the lysol b/c i can't bear to have another weekend ruined.
i've got family coming in in three weeks and the kiddos' bday party to plan for.
oy vay!
i better go lay down now.

SOME HOUSE PICS....FINALLY!!!

i know this post is going to make some of you *very* happy....especially my inlaws ;)

my house is still in a state of complete disarray and i don't wanna post pictures of a mess. so this post is going to be devoted to the two rooms that are the most complete.....the KIDS ROOMS!!!

i am so thrilled with their rooms, i'm a lil jealous. each room i think represent each child and they enjoy hanging out in there. they hardly have any toys in there aside from books and we made the decision that in this house, they were not going to have tellies in their rooms. we have a play room that houses toys and a tellie so i wanted to make sure their rooms were theirs. a place they could go to read or just be by themselves. b/c i can certainly understand just wanting to be alone. i've always been like that and i think it is very important to have your own space. i guess that comes from having two little pesky brothers and wanting my own space.

i swore i wasn't going to do themes in the kiddos' rooms b/c they outgrow them so much but when we were at rooms to go and saw the pirate furniture i knew i had to get i for mikey. when he grows outta the phase, then he can have a nautical room.

beware of the horrible pictures...we have *amazing* sunlight that comes thru the windows that makes for horrible shots :)

oh and their rooms aren't 100% complete, bella needs a bookshelf, mikey needs a fab/old table and a lil chair for his reading nook!


the entry wall to mikey's room



his end table


end table goodies. thrills me to no end that he has a word search book on his nightstand :) box holding goodies i got thrifting and the lantern at a garage sale. wooden cigar box is currently holding mikey's new rock collection.


this fabulous piece MICHAEL spotted while we were thrifting a couple of weeks ago. yes, i have the most *amazing* hubby who lets me drag him into thrift stores, antique shops, and garage sales. he acts like he doesn't like it, but i think he secretly does. damn i love that man.


mikey's bed which is simply the best and this pic is complete shit and doesn't do it justice.


the footer of his bed. when he grows up, we can switch the map part around for a solid wood piece.


closet doors. do you see that skull up there. an amazing (yet slightly expensive) find at an antique store believe it or not. on his closet door hangs the lil saint medallion my grandparents sent him when he was born.


mikey loves this piece and it couldn't be more perfect


shelf i thieved from mom's garage (well i didn't steal it, me and her thought it was perfect so she said i could have it). pirate ship is a bank mom got for him on one of our most hilarious garage sale-in' trips and lantern is from thrift store. sconces outside of closet doors also got thrifting and plan on burning some candles and sticking them in there for an old pirate ship effect.


mikey's favorite piece, the lockers. now i got these at an antique store before i bought the pirate stuff. so when i saw the pirate stuff these def. popped in my mind b/c i thought they wouldn't match. well when me and michael find a minute, we are going to spray paint them a darker brown and sand em a lil to give them a worn look. mikey said that davy jones (on pirates of the carribean) had lockers or something, so i guess it will match....lol. i also am going to make old looking labels or numbers to put on the lockers. these lockers serve as his dresser and a place to put all his treasures.


goodies on the top of his lockers. pirate ship tin came from a garage sale, pirate hat we got him at disney two summers ago, globe was given to mom who gave it to him, and lil jar i scooped up thrifting.


for those that remember, mikey's room originally had a plane light in it. this was pre pirate stuff. so michael took that light down and i found this perfect ceiling fan at lowe's. when you turn the light out, it puts this amazing wavy image on the walls that look like water.

well that was mikey's room....on to miss bella boo.

when i had bella, her nursery was very shabby chic. i loved the look. didn't want something too fancy, but def. wanted it girly and it def. had to have vintage pieces in it.

so i knew that i wanted her room at this house to be the same.


oh bella boo's dresser. i spotted this beauty in a booth at an antique store the day i bought her bed. i was kinda talked outta it b/c the condition of it wasn't great. the drawers need something in them to make them move just a lil smoother. it was on sale though from $145 to $95. well, i'll keep looking i thought. well i kept looking and didn't find anything. when i went to go back and get it wasn't in that booth anymore. upon walking around some more, i noticed it in another booth. repainted and these drawer pulls on it and of course more expensive....$125. i was crushed. first it was more moola and it was repainted. the first time i saw it it was still white, but shabby. so after looking a few more weeks, i thought fark it, i'm getting it. so we all stopped in the antique store and there it was. ON SALE FOR $75. SOLD!!!!!! i guess it pays to wait. i don't know if i am going to replace the drawer pulls or not. they are start to warm me over.


the windows (bad picture) with the carasol (sp?) horse my mom made for bella.




bella's fab bed!


bedding came from target


her light which i absolutely love and got from lowes



her end table which i got at the same antique store that i keep mentioning. i love that place. when me and michael bought that table and brought it to the front, he kept looking at it. ya see, there is a country blue paint that is barely peeking thru at some points that the paint is chipped. i knew what he was thinking. he wanted to repaint it. i told him hell no. the gals that worked there were on my side of course ;) oh and the box underneath houses her bobbsey twins books which i cannot wait to get on a shelf.

so that's it my dears. the first two rooms that are almost complete. they both need a few more pieces and then they will be done. i'm proud of the kids for keeping their rooms very clean.

hopefully i'll have more to share soon. i'm hoping to go garage sale-in' this weekend to pick up some pieces that i need. aimee if you're reading and ya wanna go, gimme a call :)

A GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE UPDATE!!!

good morning sunshine has finally been updated with a few goodies!!!



and be on the look out for more to come. since i am busting at the seams in my new craft room, you'll find vintage buttons, yards of fabric and ribbon, papers, and all sorts of other lover-lies being added soon :)