Coolest Painting Ever!

My friend, Erinn painted this awesome picture of Bennett! She used this picture to create it:

I really like the contemporary look to it. She is so creative!!! Thanks Erinn!

Show Us Where You Live Fridays-Living Room Edition!

We are to Week 2 of Kelly's "Show Us Where You Live Fridays!" I can't tell you how excited I have been about this. I tell people about it who don't even blog or read blogs! I have even gotten a few comments from people that I don't know...it is so COOL! I know I am such a blog dork! Anyway, here are some pictures of our living rooms.

This is our "front living room." We really don't do much living in here. Most things in this room are hand-me downs! We didn't have much when we moved in so, our parents gave us random things.

I tried to get a full shot of the room so it's a little crooked. The couch was from my mom's storage unit. I found the curtains at JC Penney. I am hoping to get the faux wood blinds soon. I have been saying that for 2 1/2 years now. I need to get on that!

I made some adjustments to the top of this buffet today.

The painting is from a little furniture store in Ruston. We received so many gifts from there for our wedding-we were able to take duplicates back to get this! I really like it. I just need more on this wall because it is SO big and bare. Any ideas? The table with the twisty legs used to be a really light pine color. Neil's parents gave us that and the chair with the blanket over it. Neil sanded the table and re-stained it. The lamp on the table is from my friend's garage sale. Her mom works at Montgomery Interiors and the lady who owns it puts things from the store in the garage sale. I got this lamp for $5!! Let me get off my soapbox and get back to the chair. I want a new chair instead of the blanket covered one. I just haven't seemed to find the perfect thing for that space.

I just made some adjusements to this table. I got to pick up Bennett's portraits today so I re-did a lot of the tables around the house today!

When we moved in, Neil's parents let us pick out a rug and coffee/end tables for our house warming gift. This coffee table and the end tables next to the couch were part of the gift. The buffet at the end of the room is my favorite! It holds all of my scrapbooks from high school up to Bennett's birth. That lamp on it was also $5 from the same garage sale!

Neil's parents also gave us the 2 lamps on the side tables. They were in their house for years! I would have turned on that lamp next to the door but, it has a short and no longer works! That is our front door. We hardly ever use it!

Here is the living room where we "live!" We got these shelves and entertainment console from World Market about 2 years ago. I ALWAYS change out my apothecary jars on top with the season. After Easter, I can never think of anything to put in them until Independence Day! So, they are empty at the moment. Neil was watching "My Boy Jack" when I took this picture. This is the view when you walk in from the kitchen. Also, that crystal candy jar is always filled with peanut M&M's. Sometimes I mix it up and add peanut butter ones...these are NOT Neil's favorite!

This is our love seat in between the door to the kitchen and the door to the hall. We have been looking for something to go over this love seat for 2 years and have not found anything yet. A couple weeks ago we decided we would paint something... Oh Goodness! That is a post all to itself! This rug was our house-warming gift from Neil's parents.

Here is the couch where we spend most of our nights. I gave this coffee table to Neil for his birthday about 5 years ago. I love this painting too. Some say that is it not "original!" I call it an "original" but we have seen it numerous places! Amy's mom made the green pillows for my birthday one year!

Here is a table that sits in the corner of the room. The top is pretty full! I used to have it on the other side of the room. We moved it to put up our Christmas tree and haven't moved it back.

The corner where the plant is is where the table above used to be. These doors open to our patio and back yard. I bought some fabric to have roman shades made but haven't gotten around to getting them made! The little play mat in the corner is a Bennett favorite!!

Thanks for stopping by our house!!! See you next week!

A Day with Mommy

Bennett and I had the best time together yesterday. We got up and I fed him. Lynsie and John came over and we went for a walk around the neighborhood. I love being able to do whatever I want! Stay-at-home motherhood is everything I thought it was going to be and more.

After we got home, we went to lunch with Daddy at Jason's Deli and then went to our favorite, GYMBOREE! Bennett is starting to sit up using his hands. He is starting to laugh with sound too! I finally got a recording of him laughing! It's the best sound in the world!

Show Us Where You Live Fridays!-Kitchen Edition

I am so totally excited about this series that Kelly's Korner is doing! We are going to show different parts of our houses each Friday. This week it's the kitchen! I think this will be my favorite week because I LOVE KITCHENS! So...Welcome to our kitchen!

This is the view of our kitchen from the dining room.

Here is the little serving bar area. When we were looking at houses and I saw this..I told Neil "I can serve food on this for Bunco!" (And I do.)

Here we have the fridge and the shelves where I keep my crystal glasses (that I have used twice) and my cookbooks. I love cookbooks. That really large frame on the counter is hiding our toaster! :) Here is the window that looks out into our back yard. The dishtowels hanging on my oven are from Anthropologie. They have the best dishtowels. I like to change them out with the season.
Thanks for stopping by our kitchen. Stay tuned to see what room you can tour next week!

On the Road Again.

We spent a family-filled night in Ruston last night. We ate dinner at the 102-A Bistro. Yes, the Lewis family is obsessed with this new restaurant. It really is yum-o! Bennett was a perfect angel and was the star of the show. Almost everyone stopped by our table to see him. Nana gave Bennett a bath and they also played in the mirror! The mirror is one of Bennett's favorite things. He loves that baby in the mirror! He can grab his own feet too.

Here is a picture of Grand-Machine and Nana. I was making faces trying to get Bennett to smile and Richard was the only one who imitated me!

We went to eat at 102-A Bistro again today for lunch. Yes, we like this restaurant.

Bennett had so much fun playing at the restaurant. He just fell asleep!

Aunt Rebecca and I went to get pedicures after we ate lunch. We got our toes painted "cajun shrimp," one of my favorite summer colors!
After we got finished with our pedicure, Uncle Andrew came over to visit. Bennett had on his cute t-shirt from Beth's mom. She sent it to him from New Jersey.

Jobs Galore!

Today turned out to be a great day. Neil got a new job as a Land Man at Twin Cities today! We are so proud! He starts Monday and is really excited about this new position. I know this new job will be great for Neil. I feel like there is a lot more opportunity to grow with Twin Cities. What an QUICK answer to prayer!

I subbed today at my Alma Mater...Captain Shreve High School for one of my old teachers. It was really bizarre to see some of my old teachers. Not much has changed except for the fact that the dress code seems to be way more relaxed than when I attended. We couldn't even wear backless shoes! Also, there was no shortage of hilarious t-shirts! The political ones were my favorite. I definitely think that grades 6-12 are my thing. The young ones were just too much for me to handle. I felt like a glorified babysitter. Good thing I am getting certified in secondary!

In The Same Boat!

I'm just going to cut to the chase: Neil and I are both unemployed. Around 5 pm yesterday, Neil called me to say "we are in the same boat." I was confused by this because I already assumed we were in the same proverbial boat. I said "What?" He said he lost his job. And I said "what" about 10 times in confusion. When he called I was at DSW with his mom and sister. Bennett and I left and went home to see Neil. I was stressed when I got in the car and do you know that the perfect song for me in that moment was on the radio? Here is the chorus to "By Your Side" by 10th Ave. North:

Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

I cried a little bit and Neil assured me that everything would be fine. I know it will be OK because the Lord has gone before us. He will protect us and be our provider as He always does. For those of you who don't know, Neil lost his job back in 2007. Back then we did not have a baby and I also had a job!

Neil made a bunch of calls today to try to get something going. We are hoping and praying for a new position for him soon. We are looking at this as a positive thing. It was time for Neil to move on because he was unable to advance where he was working. We know that he will be on to bigger and better things.

With trials comes some sweet things. The baby slept the WHOLE night. We fed him this morning aroun 6 and then he slept in our bed until 9 am! Please look at my sweet boys: