Laughing At My Total Failure :)

Hi Friends

There are days when we must 
Just laugh at ourselves - YES?!?!?!

I, if I do say so myself, consider 
Myself fairly handy around the house

Since my hubby passed I have:
Replaced a garbage disposal, replaced the water reserve
Tank on the car I owned, and replaced all of the plumbing in one bathroom

I have also painted rooms, torn out carpet and stained a floor, 
I change all of the pool filters and keep it clean and chemically balances,
I take care of the yard, plants, flowers and tree, and I keep the HOA
Out of my hair (most of the time)
I also cook, clean, take care of my adult kiddo with special needs
And work full time as well as babysit my granddaughters every week

SO
When I decided that the space below needed a little 
Pick me up
There is nothing in me that thought my idea wouldn't work

This area above my stove has been this 'Bland' for many years
I put the sign up years ago and never did anything else
Can we say "BORING"

I purchased a shelf at the Goodwill for $2
Sanded it, painted it and sanded it again
I hung it up and shopped my kitchen
To get a better finished look

This is how it ended up
I fussed with it for a few hours
And was getting ready to remove the little red bowl
I just felt like it was too much

When all of a sudden I noticed the shelf was coming loose from the wall

Yep, for some strange reason
Even though I used drywall anchors and screws
The one of the left side was pulling out of the wall

Fortunately
I noticed it 'before' the shelf fell off the wall
And nothing was broken
 

Now I have two large holes in the wall
And I noticed the area around the hole
Is very mushy, ugh

So
Bella Cucina 
Is once again a lonely sign hanging above the stove
With no other decorations to share the space
Ahhh.
Total Failure
Maybe next week I'll try something else

Gotta laugh
Something as simple as hanging a little shelf
Causing so much grief :)

Have you even just had to laugh
At your own epic failure?
Do Share!!

Enjoy your week!

Big *Smiley Face* Being Featured

Hi Friends

I am SO excited and honored 

To have this little blog

Featured

At 

Junk Chic Cottage

Please hop over here

To visit Kris,

And learn more about her

Saturday Spotlight: Life behind the Blogger

And then hop over here
To visit Susan
From Must Love Junk
To see who she is featuring
On this weeks Saturday Spotlight

The Faces of Thursday

Hi Friends,

Well it has been a Busy week

And to be quite honest

I'm tired and not feeling all that great

I guess it's just been all the excitement 

And Busyness of a Super Special Week

 

SO

I thought I would just share a few

Of the Faces of This Thursday Afternoon

We had a fabulous day
And enjoyed Lots of pool time
I think I should have joined Little Miss K-Baby
And taken a nap

I hope you all had a great day
And are preparing to enjoy a wonderful weekend
May the Lord Bless you tonight

I must go make some dinner for a few boys :)

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Thank You
To the 31 friends who took the time
To wish my My Matthew a Happy Birthday

He kept checking FB and my Blog all day
He was SO excited to receive so many fun wishes
I will print each comment this weekend
And make a huge card for him
He will absolutely Love it
And it will be kept forever, I'm sure :)

These are the 4 young men I have/am spending my week with

Of course, my Matthew is the tiny guy in the front

But as you can see his friends are not so tiny

Yet they are such fun guys to hang out with

Their diagnoses' range from:

ADHD

Anxiety

Asthma

Autism

Bi-Polar

Depression

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Mild and Moderate Mental Retardation

Mood Disorder

ODD

Kidney Stone Syndrome

And a few others

They are 25, 28, 29, and 32 years old

They have been friends since the year 2000

They are great friends and enjoy spending time

GAMING together

One of them spends about 6 to 8 weeks a year here at my home

They are all like kids to me

I love that they get along so well
And enjoy each others company

But mostly I love that they treat my Kiddo so kindly

It's a special week for a very special kid
I know God knew how much he would bless my life
And how much I would Learn from having him as a son
God has been So Faithful

Happy Birthday Again Matthew
You Are SO Loved!

Happy Birthday To My Miracle Boy

It was November 1, 1985

When a social worker placed him in my arms

This 4 month old 

Weighing only about 7 pounds or so
With a diagnosis and a 
Not so positive prognosis

We were told not to expect this to be like our first foster child
Not to expect too much out of this child
It was possible he was deaf, blind and paralyzed on one side
He probably wouldn't walk or talk
It was best if we didn't get too attached
He may not live a year

This was taken at 6 months

He was just as cute as a button

I won't lie

It was tough

LOTS of therapy

MANY doctor appointments,

hospital visits and even times

When we had to let him go for visitations with his birth family

But through it all we had Faith

Trusted God and Believed he would live

And he would be ours

On his 2 1/2 year birthday

The judge signed the paperwork

He became ours

Life has not always been easy with his precious kiddo

He's faced many challenges along the way

But God has been faithful

And this young man is truly a treasure

This momma is never quite sure about the Long hair

But it does make for a fun photo shoot

Which reminds me that we need to do another one

I don't have any recent photos of this kid

I remember praying for this unborn baby one day
My husband and I took a load of trash to the dump
While there, I saw a young mother to be
Standing on the side of the dump
While her husband was down below going through the trash

I knew the situation they lived in and I prayed:
God,
What will ever happen to that little baby
God,
Protect that baby and keep it safe
Give it a good home and keep him healthy

WOW,
God answers Prayers Friends
Little did I know that several months down the road
He would be placed in my arms and given
A safe, protective and healthy home

I Believe In Prayer

This Momma is So Proud to call you Son
This Momma Loves you So Much
Happy 29th Birthday Mr M

Wow, that makes me feel old :)

Hoping to Receive at least 29 Happy Birthday Greetings for Him
Will you Leave a comment please :)

UPDATE: Do You Believe God Can Answer Prayer

06-22-2014 UPDATE
After 4 full days with sweet Lulu on
Complete life support with No response
Here is the latest update from her precious mom

Lulu Ysarua Martinez is feisty and fighting!! She has went day and a half no blood pressure meds fever staying at 99 she has 3600 white blood cells she has a 1248 anc which means she now has cells that can help her body fight the infection..she is moving her eyebrows shaking her head flaring her nose and coughed. ..her lungs are still bad but they do have ventilator turned down to 4 0 and she is fighting machine and breathing on her own.. her sisters and dad and close friends all got to see it but the best was her baby sister Rylee Ruth squealing SHE IS DOING IT....today we cry tears of joy and high fives around the whole icu unit...Lulu is a fighter

I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER!!!!! 

Thank you for Praying with US!!

06/18/2014 UPDATE:

Lulu made an awful turn for the worse early this morning
She is on full life support
Pupils are fully dilated
CTScan now
Her life truly is in God's hands tonight

Tonight

I'm asking for prayer

A young girl that I have grown to love

Is fighting for her life

Her name is Lulu Martinez

She has been facing and fighting her second bout with Leukemia

Leukemia is close to my heart as my father passed from 

leukemia after battling for 6 years.

Lulu fought this disease when she was younger and won

However recently it reared it's ugly head 

She began to fight again and was doing well until this past week

She has strep and her lungs are completely full of fluid

She has high fevers

Her body has not responded to antibiotics

She is on a ventilator

Today her doctors sat down with her family and recommended ECMO

To try and give her body a rest and save her life

They have called her family in and are believing God to do a miracle

Can you pray with me and believe as well

Here is her CaringBridge site if you would like to follow her story.

Thank you in advance

The Colors of Thursday

Don't all of these bright, fun, playful colors
Just make you want to come play with us
On Thursdays

Yes,
These are the colors of Thursday
And they make me as happy
As those I get to share them with

Enjoy your up coming weekend
Blessings to All

A Favorite Piece

Because the weekend was so hot
I decided to do a bit of deep cleaning (inside)

One of the areas that has been neglected
Is my vintage hutch
This piece is one of my absolute favorites
And as much as I love to paint furniture
It will NEVER be painted - nough said!!!

It belonged to my husband's great Aunt
And although we are not quite sure of the age
It is somewhere from the late 1800's to early 1900's
We believe it came out of Bodie, CA
Which is now a historic state park
And the place where most of my late husband's family came from

It is also where Mark and I were married in 1981

 This piece needed a good cleaning with milk oil
Once cleaned I decided to update the top a bit

It is one place I do keep a few photos

But I added my special #3 that I found at Sweet Salvage

A small old classroom bell I found on Etsy

And an old copper vase that was found 

Near an old abandoned town in Texas

Not sure of the date, but it is definitely old 

I was happy to find this old classroom bell

And happy that it came with the cute #1 tag

And little piece of Bling

This pitcher has been hiding in another area of the house

I almost forgot I had it

And was surprised how much I like it on the hutch

I had the sunflowers from a recent photo shoot I did

So decided to add them for a little color

Meet 'Andrew'

My Ashton Drake doll

He truly reminds me of my #1 son

So inquisitive, curious and red headed

When I found him Many, Many years ago

I couldn't believe he was really created with the name Andrew

It was perfect

But then, a few years later

I found another Ashton Drake

This one is named 'Matthew"

Ummm...hello...I Had to have him

He totally reminds me of my #2 son

Who has the sweetest disposition, is a bit shy and has

 just enough of a twinkle to keep you on your toes

The top shelf of the hutch hosts a portion of my grandmother's china

I love it!

Under the hutch is another of my favorites

It's a Hot Point Hughes Electric Hot Plate

From the very early 1900's

Original key for the hutch

Makes me smile...

Not only am I pleased that this piece is Clean
It is such a special piece to me
And contains so many priceless items inside
That is brings me joy 
Every time I walk by it

Thanks for stopping by today
Have a blessed week ahead!

Sharing at:
Coastal Charm 
Revisionary Life

Fun Day / Too Much Sun Day

Spent my entire day 

With My 3 Favorite Girlies

As soon as they got to the house

They put their swim suits on 

So we could spend lots of time

Out in the Pool

I slathered them with Lots of Sunscreen

Out to the pool to play

We took a break to eat

And then back out to the pool

Sunscreen is an Important part of our outside play

And although I covered the kiddos really well

Me...

Not So Much

YUP

Silly me

Sore tonight

But we had a Great Play Day

Enjoy the upcoming weekend

And if you are outside much

Apply your sunscreen :)

And We Have A Winner...

I enjoyed a Very Productive day at the office

I took so much mail to the post office

I thought I might have to rent a U-haul (wink~wink)

I came home and jumped in the pool

For my 30 minutes of

Laps and exercises

Working hard to drop a few pounds of fluff

Then I had my cute youngest son

Help me by drawing a name

For my 6 year/600 post drawing

 

Let's have a drum roll

For......

 

Linda from Sparrow Scrolls

Linda, I'll message you for your address

And get your special gift out this weekend

Congratulations

Thank you all for encouraging me along my journey

And checking in from time to time 

You have made my 6 years of blogging

Enjoyable and have inspired me to keep on

Blessings for JOY