My projects

I love Pottery Barn but I can't afford it. I love the way they style their rooms. I saw this photo and liked all of the old photos above the bed. So I sent out an e-mail asking for everyone's wedding photos (still accepting photos!!!! post a comment and I'll send you my e-mail address if you want to contribute, I don't want to post it here).

Here's my version. I definitely need more photos. I think that you can see too much string. (And I HAVE to do something to finish off this poor headboard - a door I stole out of a Waco neighbor's trash).
The reason I wanted wedding photos is because my wedding photos are behind the headboard in this guestroom.

Thanks to all who sent them.

My next Pottery Barn steal turned out a little better. I loved these chalkboards but at $134 for 4 of them (and I needed 8) I would be saving for a few months.

Here's how mine turned out.

I literally picked out a piece of 2 x 8 x 16 and had Home Depot chop it up for me (at a cost of $13). I bought chalkboard paint, chalk and decorations. So for about $40, I got my artwork.

One word about this project...chalkboard paint is not all it's cracked up to be. Whenever I messed up, I had to re-spray the entire piece of wood because wiping it off left horrible white smudges. So I decided to spray over the writing with Acrylic spray so that nobody can smudge it. That means I can't ever change what I wrote. So much for the gimmick of chalkboard paint. Maybe it works better on other surfaces.

What Ace is up to...

Ace has discovered my utensil drawer. He takes his little chair over to the cabinet, opens the drawer and systematically empties it onto the floor. Then he says, "Mommy, you want to cook with me." OF COURSE I do.

Here's a video of my little chef. It's not that great. Sometimes he loses his talkative-ness when the camera is on.

His favorite is when we "try" whatever he's made and I stick my tongue out like it tastes gross.

So that's what we've been playing lately. Here's how he's been playing with his Daddy.

The sweetest thing he's been saying lately is "Family." If he finds two things that match, he'll say, "That's her family." Here's an example. Then, for some reason, he starts trying to convince me that his crayon is brown.

Ok, this last one is for Sashi so that he can see what Ace looked like while they were talking on the phone. It's much easier to understand what Ace is saying if you are looking at him because his speech usually reflects something he is doing.

Two Videos

Random Ace videos.

This first video was taken when Ace and I were in Dallas at the beginning of September. We were at Love Field watching the planes take off. We had so much fun, it made me wish we lived in Dallas just so that we could make this a weeky outing. He had such a good time and he speaks with such exclamation and enthusiasm.

This was taken this morning. For those of you who don't know...Ace has a blister on his big toe and you would think he is recovering from a life-saving surgery while this blister is healing. He INSISTS on wearing socks. He asks me each night if he can take a bath with his socks on (to which I answer "no way" but Honey, LeLe and B have all given him baths with socks on to avoid the screaming that ensues when you take them off). So he's telling me to put his socks back on.

Never a dull moment.

Thank you Soldiers!

It's been EIGHT years since 9/11.

Thank you to every soldier at home and abroad that is keeping and has kept my family safe. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you to your families for their sacrifices. You allow me to snuggle safely with my child every night. To not live in fear every day, to not have to worry about terrorism, to be FREE - thank you for these gifts that you have given our family.

I hope our soldiers feel my/ our thanks, especially on an anniversary where they sacrificed so much. I will proudly wear my FDNY t-shirt tonight as I eat popcorn and watch a movie during a quiet, Ace-free night with Jonathan and a movie.

May God's angels double their watch over all our troops.

Oops

While in Dallas last week, Uncle David (Allen's brother) gave Ace a trim with their hair trimmer. I didn't want him to cut it much because the kids were taking photos with Honey and Sashi.

Honey bought us a trimmer of our own since it worked so well so I thought I would give Ace's hair a little more of a trim since it was still really long...oops. I should have picked a longer setting.
He doesn't even look like my Ace anymore!
I'm not crazy about it and am glad that his hair grows fast.

I can't wait until it's long enough to spike up and style the front like normal.

He wailed the entire time and kept screaming, "Mommy, clean me off."

Ya live and ya learn.

Direct Hit

While in Dallas, LeLe and Honey took Ace to a nearby fountain.

This will forever be one of my favorite photos!