She's watching me...

I had heard it a few times before 

and kinda believed it, but I thought I had time.

It came from my friends, or my Mom, or other Moms.

Moms of daughters, in particular. 

They would say,

"She's watching your every move, you know."

"Be careful, she will pick up on that."

It's that time.

It's happening already and she just turned 5 years old last month.

Kinda sad, but I better take full responsiblity or

we will be in trouble....we, referring to her Dad and I.

My daughter grabs my tweezer imitating me, looking for gray hairs, 

or tries to make her hair wavy, like mine. 

She wants my lip gloss after  I apply it.

And when I get dressed in the morning, she

usually says "Ohh cute Mommy, I like your shirt.  Will you 

save that for me when I get bigger?".

I never explain, "it won't be in style" or it'll probably

"never be your size".  I just say, "Of course I will, Tatum."

Then I kiss her on the forehead and tell her

how nice she is, and that she's absolutely gorgeous.

So you know where that brings me?

I wear thong underwear.

There, I said it. I'm getting personal again, aren't I?

That's prolly gonna be a problem then, isn't it?

She and her brother have mentioned it, "Mommy, why 

does your underwear not cover your boom-boom?".  

{That's what we call em' in our house.}

And what do you say to that?  

"I wear a thong cuz that's the underwear I started

wearing 20 years ago and it's cuz it's comfortable to me?"

I didn't have a daughter 20 years ago.

But, I do now.  

She watches me like a hawk.

I never use words like, skinny or fat, or big.

I don't even want them in her vocab.

Most of all,  I always compliment her spirit, her smile,

her laugh and how pretty she is.  

I make sure I tell her she is smart too, I think

that's important for a girl to hear.

What was supposed to be me talking about "thong underwear"

has turned into "raising your daugther".  

I didn't mean for that.

But, I can't talk about my daughter and not

tell you I have hopes for her and want her to 

have a blessed life.  I want to protect her from pain.

And, I want her to be confident.

I could care less if she becomes a hair dresser or

a scientist, a professional ballet dancer, or a

doctor.  I just want her to love it....to sparkle while she

does it.  To know she was meant to do "it".

So, this is where I need your help.

The 16 year old girl at Nordstroms told me "boy shorts" are

what everyone is wearing.  So, I found a few pairs that I like.

They are comfy.  

I'd rather wear something I don't have to 

explain to my daughter.  I am the example now, aren't I?

Tell me what you wear?!

Tell me where to get them.

I may even need the style number so I can get it right.

Cuz, I went to this.....

 ...and I think with these, I will have less

explainin' to do.

I can't be the only one still wearing thongs.....

Happy Wife = Paint the doors

I got my doors painted.

Branmuffin caved.

True story is...we went to the paint store that day.

Bought the paint, he taped and prepped.

I painted.

Prepping and taping is harder.

This ended up not being about a few doors I wanted to paint.

After the first coat on each of the 3 doors, 

I wanted to go up to my room and go to bed.

I hated it and had that sick feeling of "what did I do?".

What I thought would be done in one night 

ended up taking a couple of nights and

a few trips to the paint store.

I learned this:

Be patient in your projects.

Look at it from different perspectives and light.

My husband loves me.

I know what colors I like, not the guy at the paint store.

See that Pepto Bismol door in my entry?!

Yeah, that's what the paint guy talked me into.

Whatevs.

Four coats on three doors later, I am done.

And I am happy.

I went back and got "Peony".

The green is called "Sweetness".

{The fish was painted by my Mom, it ended up being the inspiration.}

And here's all three doors in one shot.

I'm not a professional photographer and

it's so hard to shoot that mudroom because 

there is NO natural light...but this gives the idea.

Most importantly....

Husbands are happy when wives are happy!

If you look close, you'll 

find I hung my "Happy Wife, Happy Life" 

sign above one of the green doors...

Just as a gentle reminder to all!

Toodles....

Crazy girl-NO

Now, if it's about home decor and you call me

crazy, I could care less.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I know what I am 

talking about, at least a little bit.  It's not that difficult...this decor stuff.

I'll use pictures to explain.

I want to do this:

to a door in our pantry:

 where you see the pink arrow.

Red circles mean I want to replace those too...in time, in time.

To this:

I text Brandon the idea, he's at work.  

Maybe I should have better timing.

But, if I see things I like....I go crazy.

And I have to have.it.now.

He says:

 ...he didn't think I needed a white kitchen years ago

and when it was done, he replied "this is awesome".

Then, he went off the deep end.

What's not to like about this idea?!

 It's just a bunch of fabulous that I want to

embrace in our home.

 We are a fabulous family,

so, we need more fabulous-ness.

 I'm thinking the service door to the garage 

would become a salmon color

or HOT pink.  

It will cover dirt and brighten our mudroom.

 

And the green in our kitchen will add "freshness".

 

 

Then I went and put it on Facebook....

...happy to say, most people agree we should give it a whirl.

Then I called my Mom and she told me about 

two other doors I hadn't thought about.....hmmm.

I am not crazy.

I just like color.

 

Toodles...