..Of Octopus, Kites, & Palet Shelves

Well, hello to you all from another rainy day in Grenada. I am still wondering where dry season is but don't mind the rain as long as I have something to keep me entertained in the house. Lately I have had so many projects that I should be working on & so I have been loving this rainy weather lately!!!

Well, my husband is becoming quite the master at whatever task I put him to. :) Whether that means making me all kinds of wonderful things out of old pallets, turning closets into changing tables, & his newest venture....spear fishing!!!!! Last week he came home with this beauty!!! Well, if you can call a slimy octopus beautiful (otherwise known as calamari)!!! So, know we have to learn how to fix this baby up to make it edible....anyone want to come and be a guinea pig?? Here she is in all her glory......

Anyway, on to other things.....with April comes breezes....with breezes comes kites....with kites comes the constant sound of "singing"... :) Friday was the last day of trimester for the schools here in Grenada, leading into a two week vacation & so Friday was kite day. The students and teachers all headed out to St. David's point. The students with their kites & the teachers with their scissors & an extra bit of patience. A large part of their job is untangling string out of briars & hoisting kites into the heavy breeze. Here are just a few pics of that day.........

Jody with two of her cutesy little kindergartners.

Brandon flying his kite

Jaheem and his spiderman kite. I do not think that spiderman ever did get very high

Mr. Moses getting ready to hoist Nigel's "American" kite

...And thar' she blows....

And Ben even got in on the fun. ;)

That is one way to keep Celina quiet :)

Nigel flying his kite

                                                                              

And now for the pallet shelf. Well, I've mentioned before my love for old pallets cuz they are free & they make some pretty great signs, shelves, etc. And so this is my latest pallet makeover....

I had seen something similar awhile back & I decided that I should prolly really have one like it. So I showed my hubby a picture and he got to work cutting & hammering. I then did two coats of white wash (white paint mixed with a good deal of water). I still wanted the wood to kinda come through so I didn't want the paint too heavy. I then added a bit of stain to bring out the darker areas and then hit it lightly with the sander. Traced the reference to one of my favorite verses on the front and just colored it in with pencil.....I was just too lazy to get the paintbrushes out.....and viola...done.  Then I just took a few items I had sitting around here and there and added them to my shelf....I do believe the driftwood has to go though.

a closeup for whatever it's worth

This was another rainy day project....we have been having a lot of them lately. Took an empty can of powedered juice mix that I had been saving for a day when inspiratin struck. Modpodged some paper on, followed by some sheet music and couple fabric flowers and you have yourself a vase or whatever you want it to be. I just stuck a plastic cup in to hold the water, since the sides are cardboard & added some Carribean goodness.

Well, that is all for today.... I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!

...and we had visitors

We have thoroughly enjoyed all of our amazing visitors this winter!! From pretty much January until the middle of March we have had very few days without having visitors here. Here are a few pictures of Danny & Lori's visit and Rodney & Rochelle....

Ellie with her Uncle Ben

The part of the family that came along for the visit....twas so good to see them all again.

Aidan LOVED splashing in the cool water!!!

Took a few pics of sweet, little Ellie

All us Girls :)

We stopped to visit Ms. Velma (a lady who comes to our church)...the kiddos had fun playing with all her toys.

Ellie with two little friends she made at the park. She was hilarious....everyone that passed by our house was greeted by her. Not sure if there is a person out there that she wouldn't make friends with.

And the next set of visitors...we had Ben's parents and a work crew in there too but for some dumb reason I did not get any pictures of that. :(

posing in front of the "natural water slide".....posing was as close as we got this time ;)

Rochelle relaxing on a very hard comfy looking rock..

 And now it is time for a little Monkey Business
               we took Rodney and Rochelle to Bellmont Estates, a cocoa bean plantation/ small zoo.. 
                       I get such a kick out of these monkeys. They act so human sometimes it is almost scary!!!Vernessa, our guide, was kind enough to get one of the baby monkeys out to climb all over us. Note: when the monkey is climbing on you, do not attempt to hold it, monkey will bite without reserve. (I tried it)

up the skirt he goes

trying to take the monkey for a walk...monkey opted for a ride instead

"whew!! all that climbing plumb tuckered me out."

           And now for a few updated family photos.... :) No worries, I did not give birth to a monkey..(not yet anyways)

yes, that would be my ear & no you cannot add that to your collection of stolen watches, rings, necklaces, etc

All was going well...until monkey decided to take a dump. He was considerate enough to do it on the ground right between Rodney & Rochelle & kind enough to get a minimal amount on Rodneys pants in the wiping process. Thus the end of family photos...monkey went back in pen.

And so we visited the older monkeys...the ones that don't get out as much.

A sweet treat....

A tender kiss....

And now it is down to business....a job this big takes two (i don't know that they found any fleas, lice, or such like in Rodney's hair) :)

Mr. Screechy Pants

Screechy pants getting a neck massage

And then we headed to the old "Pearl's Airport" ....to test how fast the scooters go & enjoy a picnic lunch

Posing in front of Latant Point

 Hot & Sunburned? We've got the perfect cure....ever try unthawing a pack of frozen hamburger??? Ah...sweet relief!!!

Rodney tinkering...this is what he did with every spare moment

And one last picture of our last set of visitors for awhile!!!!

Dreamin.....

Ok...so this whole "having a baby" thing has got me thinking of nurseries!! I really do dream about it alot, the only problem is that all this designing and dreamin' should really be holding off until we go home because realistically I can't do much with our house here. This poor baby might just have to share a nursery with daddy's desk, but at the same time, I hope to incorporate a few little lovlies to make it a cute haven for baby. Oh, well, doesn't hurt a girl to dream a little does it? Here are just a few of my inspiration rooms....



via Decor Pad

                                    I am lovin' all the neutrals in this nursery....seems so peaceful

via Susie Harris Blog

LOVE..LOVE...LOVE that alphabet up there on the wall & the cute, little touches throughout...



via Susie Harris Blog

I am thinking a little chandalier would be the perfect accent for a little girls nursery. Love this room, although it may be a little too uniform for me & I am not really big into PINK!!! Thinking gray neturals with pops of yellow or coral & blue..........

via Decor Pad

Lots of color in this one...a little too much for me, but I do like the color palette




These next three images are from Aimee at My Pink Life These are her nursery pics and I seriously LOVE this room so much. Not sure that I would ever attempt painting that tree but maybe some vinyl stick-ons could help me out in that area. And those wide stripes...yup!! I am seriously gonna try that sometime!! Tissue Paper Pom Poms.... actual branch curtain rods.....those adorable diaper basket things that she got from IKEA.....and that amazing changing pad cover which is currently sold out at Diapers.com, cuz I checked & was THAT disappointed cuz I have not seen any that cute anywhere.

And for those of you who care to see a current picture of me with my "slighty-there" baby bump...here ya go.

This is actually at 17 weeks & I am almost 19 weeks so not a whole lot has changed, except after I eat a big meal, then I think I about double in size!! I haven't felt any movement that I can definitely say was baby moving. Little twinges here and there but nothing definite. It will be so reassuring to feel that first kick!! And I seriously cannot wait for my 20 week ultrasound just to make sure that baby is moving around, even if I can't feel it & hopefully if he/she cooperates we will find out what we are having...boy...girl...twins...j/k about the twins part. Pretty positive there is just one in there!!! :)  Been busy sewing maternity dresses...sewed two this past week and I think it is high time to give it a break. I have this love/hate relationship with sewing. I can get so frustrated in the process but I love seeing the final results and of course having another dress to wear.  And once I start..you can forget trying to get me to do anything else....I pretty much have a one track mind until it is done, which can be scary, esp. from the kitchen's point of view!! :(  Speaking of the kitchen's point of view, well....really the house in general (it's not lookin' so good) & since the motivation isn't coming I need to make it happen or it never will. So off to scrubbing floors, cleaning windows, painting screen doors (so we can finally keep those nasty mosquitos out), scrubbing the toilet & organizing the refrigerator (blech...why do I dread that one so much??) I go!!!