Summer Time

My mom mentioned to me the other day that she keeps checking my blog to see if I've made any updates. I figured that I didn't really have any stories to tell since school was out but I got to thinking and that's not true. The summer has been quite eventful. So, Mama....Here it goes....

Let's start with the last day of school. The last day of school with my little kindergarteners was so much fun! It was a half day that was over before I knew it. We, of course, did nothing educationally productive but they were incredibly productive at cleaning our room!!! I gave them all a Lysol wipe and said "have at it. Find something and clean it!" And off they were. The whole room was cleaned 20 times over. We watched "The Mouse & the Motorcycle" which was a huge hit, we went outside for about an hour and then went home! The day was filled with mixed emotions for both me and my kids. All of us were happy & excited to be out for the summer but sad because we would all miss each other. At dismissal, one of my girls, (the one that got sick at lunch a few days earlier) said "Mrs. Whitlow, I wish you were my mom." It was so sweet & sad at the same time. For weeks after school was out I would dream about my kids. I pray for them often and find myself hoping they're okay. I love those kids. They taught me so much. In many ways, I grew up too last year.

I have been wanting a kitty for a long time so we decided to wait until school was out to get one. I went to the Humane Society and got a kitty. I walked in and was told which room the cats were in. When I went into the room, I was immediately greeted by the cat in the first cage by the door. It was like magic! Our eyes met and she just starts meowing as if to say "Where have you been?! I've been waiting for you!" I open the cage door to pet her, she put her little paws up on my shoulders and I was instantly hooked. I wanted to look at others cats though so I shut the door, took two steps and said to myself "what are you doing?" so I turned around and got my kitty. Her name on the paper read Penelope: medium hair calico. (She's got a freckle on her nose!) When they looked for her paper work, they realized that she had come in with a different name than Penelope. Her name used to be Poo Poo. Yes, that's right: Poo Poo. The vet even commented indignantly, "Who names a cat Poo Poo!?!"
It took her a few days to get used to her new home and to us. After a few times of calling her. We decided that the name was just too hard to say: Penelope, Penelope, Penelope. It's a mouthful. So we decided on the name Gracie. We like that a lot better. Now she is part of the family and we are so in love with her. She is so sweet and will let you do anything to her. Her hobbies include: sleeping, eating, being petted, laying in the window, and spending long minutes playing in a converted mesh laundry hamper. (Converted in the sense that it's no longer used as a laundry hamper but a cat toy, not to be confused with converted as in it is now a Christian.)

Here's Gracie in the window.

Here's Gracie asleep upside down.

On to the next interesting thing that has happened this summer.....
I've always wanted a yellow kitchen. I called on my lovely sisters and my wonderful mother to help me paint it. Taping w/ blue tape took FOREVER!! Some of us thought the job would only take 45 minutes but instead it took us more like 4 or 5 hours. We had a lot of fun though. Yes, we did. I couldn't have done it without them. It would have taken me days to paint it. The kitchen looks great. It's a lot brighter and very cheery.
My theme is "old country veggies". I had some plates that an artist named David Carter Brown did and used them as an inspiration. They look like these. I don't have these two, so if you find them, let me know - especially the blueberry.

I have one large pear up above my cabinets. It looks like something out of Veggie Tales. I keep expecting it to start telling me a Bible story at any moment!! I like it though. It fits the theme. :) I'm planning on adding more large fruit to my kitchen as well.

In addition to painting my kitchen, with the help of my lovely sisters and my wonderful mother, I also painted my bathroom - by myself this time. It was a very dark navy blue which we loved when we moved in. After two years, not so much. I painted it a light, creamy brown like coffee w/ lots of cream. The color is called "Warm Buff". It feels so much more relaxing. I love it.

Before:

After:

So far, that's it for my summer time update. I do have some exciting events happening this weekend. My sister & her hubby are having a birthday party. The theme is '80's skate night. We're all dressing up in our ugliest 80's outfits. Oddly enough, the best place to look for such clothes is Target not Goodwill!!! There will definitely be pictures!! So stay tuned.

If anyone else reads this blog, thank my mom for giving me the boost to blog again! :)