Catch-up Blog #2

Look at me posting two days in a row....  I'll pat myself on the back.

She's a Growin' Folks

Look at my babies grow!  My garden is officially in bloom and is adorable!

Look that baby broccoli in the eye and tell her she's not cute.  You can't because she is.

Potatoes are growing strong!

From little rotten eyes to big strong greens!

We even have a baby tomato growing!

Even my flowers are coming in beautifully!  

Now I've been working on turning my hydrangeas a little more blue...as it is my signature color.  

(If you are anything like me you just read the last line with a thick Southern accent as Julia Roberts once did and added on "my colors are blush and bashful."  I love that movie!)

  It entails adding aluminum to the soil in order to change the pH in the soil slightly acidic.  I think its a delicate process and as detail oriented as I can be in certain areas of my life, no comments from the peanut gallery, this wasn't one of them.  I just threw the stuff all over the place.  Oh well.  Pink is a lovely accent.

(Side bar:  I have to do a lot of googling in order to write this blog.  All of my southern and not-so-southern phrases must be googled because I often change the phrase in my head and you guys would get much too good of a laugh if I didn't double check it.  For instance, in the last two posts I have googled (1) "riff raff": I didn't have a clue how you would spell that or if it was a real word and (2) "peanut gallery":  I have a tendency to say pea gallery.  Do you guys ever say a phrase and then realize in your head you are spelling it way off or even have the words wrong?  No, just me. Oh well.)

(Side bar:  I like side bars.  Sorry if you don't.  Its how my mind works.)

I should take more pictures of the garden.  I think we officially have everything planted with the exception of some kale I found for Grei but I missed the first planting season and will have to wait to plant it later in the year.  I'll leave you with a list of everything we have planted this year.  Its overwhelming but I like to think I will be glad of it when it taste so good.

The Steele's Garden 2011:

Zinnias

Radishes

Garlic

Sweet onions

Random flower

Potatoes

Squash

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Carrots

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Pole Beans

Corn

Okra

Watermelon

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

Jalapeno pepper

Cayenne pepper

Some herbs

So far only the radishes are coming in and we are just eating them as we go.  I plan to put up a lot of the vegetables later in the year.  (If you aren't from around here that means preserve them in some way...freeze, can, dry, etc.)

Hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day Weekend!

Catch-up Blog #1

Yes I will have to number them.  I am approximately 3-4 blog behind and I'm so mad at myself for it.  In my head, I have let my readership down (what readership? please) and the post like food or celeb gossip is never better than it is fresh off the presses.  So here is my slightly stale take on 4 blogs I've been storing up for you guys.

Spray Paint Your Way to Newness

I have an admission:  I used to be afraid of spray paint.  All that dripping and running.  All these rules about how far away to hold the can and at just this right angle and this kind of long stroke...Aaaaahhhh!  I can't handle it all being on me like that.  I thought it was supposed to be the easy alternative to real paint.  

But alas I have slowly confronted my fears and now think spray paint can be a true Life Changer!  That's right I made a huge sweeping statement there that I will not take back.  In fact, I will repeat it.  

Spray paint is a Life Changer!

My latest adventure in spray painting includes giving new life and uniformity to my ho-hum flower pots.  You know those pots you bought last year for $4 at big lots that looked shiny and vibrant but now look muddy and have startling amount of dents and scratches just from a year of taking the brunt of a Tennessee summer...Yes, even those pots can be revitalized.

Case in point.

Now I couldn't just let these ladies be less than their best on my porch.  They needed a good spit shine before I would let them on my brand new porch.  In comes their knight in shiny metal armor...

I recommend the spray paint gun-handle thingy for all painting projects.  Total finger saver.  I chose to use the above spray paint because my mom already had like 6 cans.  Boom.  Great reason.  And I wanted a not to shiny, not to dull, just right paint.  

(Shhhh....I'll let you in on a little secret.  I also used the same spray paint to paint my ...don't tell anyone... shutters.  You heard me.  The shutters on my house were spray painted white.  I bet you can't tell though.  I'll show you a picture once the house is complete.  B says I shouldn't show you the house yet.  But I think we should be complete-ish by next weekend so expect pictures after that...hopefully more timely than my recent tract record.)

Step One:  Find your paint and buy a spray gun thingy.  Done.

Step Two:  Gather your old pots.  You can use any of them no matter how opposite they appear in the beginning or if their matching twin finally went to be in garden heaven, because after we're through with them they will have a brand new uniform-matchy matchy family.
(I forgot to take a picture of all the pots beforehand.   Blogger fail.)

Step Three:  Find a place to paint.  To my husband's dismay I usually choose our brand new grass.  He loves when I paint bright white circles into it. We're just going to cut the paint off next time he mows right?

Step Four:  Paint. Paint. Paint.
It takes no time to dry so paint light even coats and Repeat.
(Not as hard as I used to think it would be.  Just go slow and keep moving.  Its better to go over the same spot 4 times as you circle your pot than try to cover it the first time and it look splotchy and drippy. Yuck.)

DONE!
Now I have beautiful new shiny white flower pots instead of a riff raff bunch of random loose ends that don't match.  As Jackie would say, "It makes a bigger statement if you use all one color!"  That's her summer 2011 word of wisdom.

(Oops...Guess I gave you a sneak peek of the house.)

I don't have all my pots planted yet but I'm already loving the uniform look.  It makes it look like I went out and spent $$ on all my pots but in reality I just re-invented what I already owned.  Now that's what I call being smart with your money.
My total cost:  Under $10.
My cost if I had bought new matching pots:  almost $100!
...and that's if I stay frugal.

So if you are tired of your blah random assortment of pots.  Do something about it!  Its fun and you can blog about it.  I'd love to see what color you choose.  (Color can be fun!  I almost went with green.)

She did it folks!

After 5 years of absolute misery and grueling studying, 100 packs of notecards, making approximately 3 nursing friends, a few tears and a great peace being in God's plan, our Care-bear is finally a BSN!!  We are so proud!  We celebrated this big occasion all weekend, which began with a pinning on the day after the beloved Florence Nightingale's birthday.  What a kawinkidink!

Candace got to pin Cara as a fellow nurse.

I'm sure you are surprised to see that Cara bought monogrammed jackets for she and her nurse friends.  That is so not something she would do.

Graduation Event #2:  The Party

If  you know my family, you know we love a good party.  And by we, I mean all of us but especially my party planner extraordinaire mother.

(Side Note:  My mother just got an i-phone and a facebook.  Congrats Mom!)

Graduation Event #3:  The Actual Graduation

Aren't they the cutest?

Although Cara and Big C were still having fun, all this graduation partying tuckered Cubbie out so he fell asleep sitting up in the middle of hundreds of people.  Now that's sleepy.

CONGRATULATIONS, Cara!

Anyone would be lucky to have you as a nurse!

Flashback: Big Blue Nation

Naturally, since I've been a bad blogger, I am going to take you on a look back about a month to our Nephew, Caden's, birthday weekend!

We started out the weekend at the first annual Murray half marathon!  No, we didn't run, but B's dad ran his first.  I love races.  They are always so exciting!  So we picked up the boys and headed out to cheer Papa on!

Copelan is blowing his whistle in preparation for Papa's arrival at the 6 mile marker.

My Kentucky loves!

It was very windy and chilly!

Copelan insisted on sitting on Papa's knee despite the fact he just ran 13 miles and was exhausted.  They were so proud of their Papa!  Caden ran down the sidewalk the last 100 yards chasing his Papa.  It was so cute!

Later that day, came the much anticipated Pool Party!  Our Caden is 6!  Can you believe it?  I met him when he was just 6 months old and now he's 6 years old!  Where did my Lee Middleton baby doll go.  He's now a boy who likes clothes and worries about his hair.  

He had so much fun at his party.  I'm not kidding when I say at one point he shouted "THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!"  

Isn't he the cutest 6 year old you've ever seen?

Yes that is a big water gun he is holding!  And he definitely knew how to use it.

What's better than shooting your friends with water guns?

My sister-in-law, Whitni, is so great at parties!  Obviously Caden has a football party, so she made football shaped oreo balls.  Yum!  The party favors were blow up football the kids played with in the pool.  It was so cute!  It never fails she throws the best birthday parties!

Overall, even though our trip to the Bluegrass state was short, we packed in as much fun as we could!  Can't wait to be back soon!

3 years!

Can you believe it?  

B and I have been married for 3 years today!  3 years!  It feels like yesterday and also like we have been married forever.

Our very first meeting, when he was a Freshmen and I was not.

Yes, it is slightly embarrassing to admit that I was on the Quest Freshmen Orientation Team when B came into Lipscomb, but I'm trying to let that go.

From Quest Team meetings...together this time.

To finally dating,

To our wedding day,

and, I'm still having a blast!

I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Happy 3 year anniversary B!

Cubbie Picture Explosion!

I had the best night last night!  Candace and my Cubs were in town!

(Get ready for a picture explosion!  All taken in like a 2 hour period.)

Looks like someone likes Neet Ney's house!

We love our Cubs!  And Cubs loves us; well he especially loves his Uncle B!

As you can see, Coleman gets absolutely NO attention.  

Coleman loves to rock on Neet Ney's knees.  Loves to "walk"...which he is surprisingly good at.

Gives kisses.

 Or rather just puts everything in his mouth.

Including his toes.  He was nawing on them like his bunny chew toy.

 Big C loves his little c.  

After being totally neglected ALL night, someone needed a nap.

B and I loved waking up to our Coleman-bear!  I hated going to work earlier and not being able to play longer.  He is so adorable.  He giggles.  Pretends to be shy when he flirts with you.  So cute!

I know I have been a terrible blogger recently, but in our free time we have been going NON-STOP on the house.  Pictures will come eventually.  Maybe a paint party preview later this week.