WiShInG yOu A SpOoKy.....

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A Joe Joe.

Last Friday was such a beautiful day so we hopped in the car and went to one of our favorite places, the Zoo! Here we are taking a ride on the newly renovated train with my girl Cleo and the boys.

Warren and his favorite elephant. He has to get a picture here every time we go.

The Houston Zoo is the most beautiful zoo I have ever seen. It is filled with rich, lush, tropicals all throughout. These Tai Plants had been planted recently because I haven't seen them before. They were so bright and beautiful. These pics don't really do them justice.

The Lions live! I had to post a picture of the momma Lion awake. We have lived in Houston for 3.5 years and have never seen either of the Lions awake. They have always been sleeping. I had decided that the zoo really didn't have Lions and they were stuffed. They were sleeping again when we first got there but as we walked off they lifted their dreamy heads and opened their eyes for like 3 minutes before they returned to their slumbers.

And here is my sweet little Ben. Just as we left the zoo I handed him a Joe Joe (A cookie of chocolaty goodness from Trader Joes). He was so tired but they are SO delicious that kid was eating it in his sleep! For like 5 minutes. Now, that is the goodness of a Joe Joe my friends. :)

Drooling chocolaty goodness finally, he rests, but the Joe Joe is still in hand.

The DIRT.

I finally planted my very first garden! I have been working my tail off the last week and I finally got it built, installed and planted!!! I really don't know a lot about gardening but I am hoping I will learn soon. Here are some pics from my little garden spot transformation.

The goods: Peas, carrots, green beans, cabbage, cilantro, kale, spinach, lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, orange red & green peppers, tomatoes, squash, basil & rosemary.

I did some research a LONG time ago and had decided to do a "square foot" garden because it claims to be the most successful with the least amount of upkeep and I am all about low maintenance. ;) I built these three 4x4 garden boxes in the garage this week in 95 degree weather & 90% humidity. It seems like it has been raining for 40 days here. It was ugly but I made it through without swearing.

PS Don't mind the crushed utility box that Centerpoint Energy has been promising to replace since last February when one of our oak trees uprooted during a wicked Texas thunderstorm. It is totally messing up the Feng Shui of my garden spot, I know. After they replace it I plan to build something a little more attractive around it to hide its ghastly appearance.

;)

24 Bags of enriched vegetable soil (40 lbs each) & 4 bags of cedar mulch.

I bought some landscaping fabric and layed it down under the boxes (I don't do weeds) and over the area where I wanted my mulch paths.

Warren was just tickled with this project. He told me "I am the LUCKIEST boy EVER to plant a garden!" It was so fun to do together and I was a little amazed how much FUN he had doing it too.

I am growing everything from seeds - except for the tomatoes & peppers. I also planted my small basil & cilantro plants that I already had growing in pots in the Herb box.

All finished! Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait for it to start growing! Gardening tips welcome. :)

Kids Aprons

Last week I dusted off my trusty Bernina and had some fun creating these vintage children's aprons. My friend "Tink" came over to show me how to make my own patterns and after a little trial and error this is what I came up with. I just love this apple pear fabric from the Alexander Henry Collection.

Ruffle Pocket. Pre-teen size.

I am also happy that my new wire dress form served another great purpose. :)

It's hard to tell but these pixie aprons are sized approximately for ages 3-5.

Butterfly apron.

I was feeling a little guilty having so much fun creating these girly aprons since I have two boys, so I made one for the little chaps too.

Tell me what you think!

In b(ache)'n we trust......

Warning: This blog post probably contains too much information about practices within the Hall Family. Although, such practices have rendered successful results in the past and therefore information shared is considered privileged. Now, don't you feel special? If you want to read more about it. Read on.

(FB friends click here for the full post: www.hallsrock.blogspot.com )

Weston's brother, Dustin, was yearning for a little brotherly love and flew into town last Wed evening. He came into town first, to see us. ;) Second, to participate in Weston's personally designed LSAT boot camp. Special, just for him. Dustin aka Dusty/Dawg is taking the LSAT on Sept 26th. For those that do not know, the LSAT is the Law School Assesment Test that one has to take to get into Law School. Four score and seven years ago, after Weston took the LSAT, he scored high enough that he was able to become an instructor for KAPLAN, a test prep company that prepares people for various grad school entrance tests.

It is great to see two brothers bond in such a way. They have been REALLY tight since they were younger. For instance, on many occaisions, Weston felt the desire to pick Dustin up by his head. Over and over and over again. Calm down, he didn't grab his neck or anything. He was much more gentle. He just put a hand over each of his ears and squeezed real tight and wah-lah, Dustin was air born! What can I say? They are tight like that. Another great story I get to hear about is the "bendy bendy". You can probably figure it out but it has something to do with seeing how bendy your legs really are. Literally. Although the one feeling the love of the bendy bendy is usually not a volunteer. :D

Well, I wanted the boys to be able to focus and not let "bonding" get in the way of their studies. This was serious. So, being the best wife in the land that I am ;) , I prepared for Dustin's arrival with all the basic LSAT boot camp sustenance. It proved well for Weston and therefore I naturally wanted to share the wealth with Dusty. Gotta channel that LSAT chi!

LSAT booster secret No. 1: Eat bacon. A lot of it.......cause if big brothers happy, Dustin's happy and so are his neck and his legs. ;)

LSAT secret No. 2: Find your fight song. Meditate the words and play every morning to start your day. You are currently listening to Weston's (Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins). Dustin responded well to it also.

LSAT secret No. 3: Eat cookies. Not any cookies. My special cookies. Eat a lot of them. (not pictured)

Day 2 (Thursday): I greeted the day with a (fight) song and just after eating a full bacon breakfast the brotherly bonding started and they headed off to work for the day. Weston being the good samaritan that he is, bent over to pick up a piece of paper for his secretary and threw his back out. Oops. That didn't stop them, though. They were committed. Coincidentally, we have a friend who is a chiropractor staying with us for several weeks right now. He went in, tried to adjust him but it was too painful for Weston that day and we went home. He was stuck in a horizontal position but the LSAT study chi....was flowin.

Weston's back didn't seem to be getting any better. In fact, each day it seemed to get worse. Sunday he woke up and he was in more pain than ever and so we took him into the ER.

Day 5:

He is not checking in at the desk. He literally could not sit down for more than 1 minute and so he had to stand leaning against the reception desk the whole time. Poor guy. Eventually, after about a half hour of leaning right in front of her, the nurse had mercy on him and brought us in the back and let him lay on a stretcher in the Hallway.

Finding humor in triage, I had to take this picture. It was like they were waiting for him. Trying to lay down in "Hall Triage". They gave him lots of drugs and sent us home.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....Dustin was taking care of us. I tried to scat him back to his studies but he was always thoughtful to help clean up after meals and played with the boys. Warren was so happy to have him here that it was a job in itself to keep him out of their hair. Despite Weston's injury they got some good studying in and we even found time for a little fun.

Day 6:

Dustin is a Halloween junkie and so is Warren. He has been wanting to decorate for Halloween for months now. We decided to break out the decorations a little early so they could do it together!

Weston's back is FINALLY feeling better the last two days. His shuffle is getting a little quicker and the groans are getting softer so I think we are on the home stretch there! Dustin is taking the LSAT this Saturday and we want to wish him all the best! You are going to do great Dustin! Don't forget your bacon & fight song. Goose.

Fab Find.

The other day I found this little treasure! I am SO excited about it and so I had to share. I have been looking for a display piece for my jewelry for sometime now. I have seen many in craft stores but most are too victorian looking for me. The other day I had a few minutes without the boys so I stopped at this little boutique in Kingwood I have been wanting to go to for a while but certainly wouldn't attempt with the boys in tow. I am SO glad I did! When I went in the owner was rearranging the entire store and had pulled this out of the back and I saw it! I talked her into selling it to me and wha-lah! It was the only one she had. (insert happy dance here)

You can also take it off the stand and display it table top.

Isn't it simply perfect?

1 2 3 Magic...(Take 1)

It has been just over a year since we moved into our house. We moved in Aug 1 when I was 9 months pregnant, scheduled to deliver Ben on August 15th. We knew when we bought this house it would be in need of some renovations and we have been very busy the last year doing just that.

Since I knew I would be practically changing everything, I took awesome "before" pictures when we bought the house but I lost them when my computer crashed last Thanksgiving. I scrounged up these pictures from the realtor. They were the ones used when it was listed on the MLS.

Our first project started just 3 days after we moved in when we paid a crew to come rip out all of the old flooring downstairs: white carpet and glued down wood (orangy oak) floors. Many have asked for pictures and I have been reluctant to post any because I wanted to have it ALL put together before I did. However, finding the "perfect" art, chairs and money to do it all doesn't always come together as quickly as I'd like! So, here is the first area we tackled, thus far:

Dining room before:

White.white.white. They are invisible here but before the base boards were 2.5 inch off white.

Dining after: Weston & his brother Dustin installed the floors, during his paternity leave I must add. ;) Five inch hand scraped maple. I installed & painted the 6 inch square baseboards all throughout, curtain rods, hemmed linen curtains & painted all the walls.

Here is another view.

Sitting/Office area before.

After:

I have big plans to turn this into a mini library, adding more bookcases (we have like 10 boxes of unpacked books still), some comfy reading chairs and a love seat in this room but we are still working on the money tree thing & the energy to do it all. ;) Notice my bare walls. I have been searching for that perfect art for over a year now.

The lighting in this picture shows the true paint color a little better.

This is the best picture of the entry way before that I could find. This was taken at the YW Christmas party held at my house (they were performing the nativity). To orient yourself....here you see the piano (behind the girl wearing the blue sheet) and the front door entrance.

Front entrance after. (The piano is behind the pillar)

Another angle. The door you see is the entry to the powder room which is currently under construction but getting close to being done. Pictures to come soon. We replaced all the doorknobs, light sockets/panels, plug sockets/panels & painted all the doors. I plan to paint the stair railing all white like the rest of the trim. I have found my new console table but I am waiting to purchase......"oh money tree, oh money tree!" :)

Now this here... is a (insert Uncle Eddie accent) "fine piece of art". ;) I have also been searching for the perfect chandalier for the past year and I think I just found it but I am waiting for the darn thing to go on sale! Therefore, I am stuck with this one a little longer. For the time being, I am going to paint it junk chic style. Anything will look better than this. I will post pics after I do.

We have been working hard in other rooms as well (kitchen, family & powder room). Soon to be starting the master bedroom & bath. I will post pics of those when I can too. :)

We are pleased to introduce......

Esther.

Sweet. Spunky. Submissive and fearless.

The lowdown: For the last month we have been actively looking for a kitten. We had checked out various pet stores and after being interrogated by the NAZI Kitten agency at Petco I was happy to leave them behind as I was SURE they would all go to PERRRRFECT homes. *ehem*. Subsequently, I started to check around for free kittens in the area and found an online ad for free kittens at a farm & feed off the feeder road headed toward Porter, a neighboring city. If you are not familiar, Porter is a much more....how should I say?....."Country" city. ;) Well, I don't have a farm so, I wasn't sure where that was but thought perhaps they were referring to the Tractor Supply Company, also off the feeder road.

When I walked in the store the cashier was with a customer and as they were finishing up I asked her if this was where they had free kittens. The cashier said, "We don't have any here." Then, both the cashier & the customer said simultaneously with eager eyes....."You want a kitten?" We all chuckled and started to chat. They both described their kittens, I exchanged phone numbers and called one of the girls.

Wed night I went to check "him" out. He sounded cute but I had really wanted a girl so I almost didn't go. When I got there, not only was he SUPER cute, "he" jumped up on my lap, cuddled up and started purring instantly. I decided to double check the sex and to my surprise "he" was actually a "she" and well...after that I just new it was meant to be. (Hey that rhymed!) So... I brought her home and so far she has been the BEST natured little girl. Really submissive but also quite spunky. She has NO FEAR. The night I picked her up she walked right under the belly of a 100 pound Rottweiler and stopped for a little rest, until he tried to EAT her! She hardly flinched! While I could see the owner loved her, I couldn't leave her there with that freak show dog, so I snatched her up and brought her home. So, that is how we got her....and I knew instantly what her name would be.....and it suites her quite perfectly I think. ;)

Warren was SOOOOOO surprised the next morning and has not let her alone for one minute.....except for a few mandatory "Kitty Quiet Times" enforced by mom. He just love love LOVES her and she is so content to let him cart her around, shove food & water, toys & stuffed animals in her face, comb her, kiss her, hug her, bath her (with her watering tank) and constantly put her in and out of her bed.
This morning he carted her upstairs and was educating her about his trains. It was SO funny, she just sat there and watched with the most curious & attentive face.

Warren & Esther. Best Friends Forever. ;) We sure do love her too. :)

Benjamin's 1st Birthday!

I can hardly believe it has been a year but last Saturday we celebrated Benjamin's 1st Birthday! Words cannot express how much joy this happy little boy brings into our lives. We love him so!

You must watch the birthday cake video below to get the full effect but this little guy gave this cake quite the run for its icing! He licked, then sucked, the picked the entire piece up and tried to swallow it entirely and then squished it and continued to scarf it and smash it all over his face. Afterwards, he exhibited signs of a serious chocolate buzz! It was hilarious!

Can you feel the buzz?

The kids waiting for the birthday cake to arrive and to serenade the birthday boy!

Simultaneously, we had a mini reunion with some of our favorite Michigan friends. The Anderson's, Fowles, Millwards & Us all met in Austin. The Fowles were so kind to host the party consisting of 8 adults and 17 kids! It was so wonderful to see everyone!

I just love these ladies! Andrea Fowles, moi, April Millward & Cheri Anderson.

Thanks for celebrating with us my friends and Happy Birthday Ben! :)