Hello Blog World!

So - it has been one crazy-busy summer, full of unexpected trips, scheduled trips, and lots and lots of every day, hum drum work.  I have been MIA in blogging and now that my totally spirited toddler is going back to Pre-school, I have deicided to pick up where I left off.

My 3 year old is heading back to school tomorrow for 2 days a week and will hopefully give me an opportunity to get some things done.  We have decided to place him in a Montessori program, to see if he is able to perform better.  His regular pre-school, that he enjoyed, was a difficult fit.  The schedule was some what unpredictable and he grew bored very easily.  So, we are hopeful that Montessori will give him an opportunity to learn and make new friends.  His old school, he was pretty much the class favorite and had 2 girlfriends... We had to have a talk.  :-)  He was also the class leader.  His teacher told me that he would either grow up to be a preacher or the president because he was in such command of the classroom.  

So, if you get a chance pray for us!

Here is a new sign that I painted and placed in my booth space at Meadows. 

And my favorite summer find - how great is this picnic basket?  It's in great condition, but the paint is a little faded.  I just loved the basket, but had to take it to the shop! 

I hope that you all have had wonderful summers and accomplished more than I have!  

Good Night! XOXO 

Faith and Hope!

To me there is nothing sweeter than family... Especially children.  A while ago I posted a short note about a dear cousin battling Cancer.  She has passed away and her children are left, sort of in limbo.  With a deep and empty place in thier hearts.  I pray for them daily and think of them constantly.  I know what it is like to lose a mom.  ( My grandmother was my Mother and she passed when I was 17) I know the sense of being lost, the desire to pick up the phone to talk to the most trusted person you know.  My heart breaks thinking about the kids and what they will be going through for the rest of thier lives.  I take comfort in knowing my cousin knows the Lord and is in his presence now.  I know she is comforting her children the best she can, but those left here on earth can only feel glimmers of that comfort and will continue on in greif for years.

I have Faith that the Lord will comfort my dear family while they greive for thier Mother, Sister, Cousin, Wife, and Aunt and I have Hope that their greif will not linger and that they will carry on with the warmth of the memories my cousin has left us with.  

In Loving Memory of Wendy. 

Gone and Home again

I haven't been able to post in several weeks and this is why:

My Husband and I went on our first trip, by ourselves, in about 3 years!

We traveled to a small Mediterranean Island, Malta, for 5 days and then spent another 4 days in Rome. 

It was wonderfule and hard all at the same time.  I missed my children so very much, but I really enjoyed the time I had with my husband.   Malta was very rugged and beautiful, but every single building was white or cream colored!  The architecture was amazing.

But Rome was just so wonderful, words can not describe and pictures can do very little to account for the history and all of the amazing buildings!

Our first day in Rome, every corner we turned we were awed by some beautiful structure, even some of the basic buildings, by the 3rd day we basically ignored everything, ecept what we were in that location to see.

The trip was partly the reason I haven't been able to post.  The amount of time required to get ready for the trip and to finish up my work projects.  Work was my other reason.  We have been working so much since the begining of the year and between the trip, work, and my booth space at Meadows of Memories and Momentos in Argyle, I have spent the remainder of my time with my children, Mom and Niece.  So, I am home now and I will be updating my blog again.

I hope everyone else is having an amazing spring.  Our trip was so very wonderful and such a blessing to our marriage.  With so much going on in life it is so easy to neglect the ones you love.

Well, now I am off to finish some work!  and to try and get my home in order.  Which is not easy with two monsters!

Give Away Winner!!!

Thank you ALL for participating in my very first Give Away!

I used Randomizer.org to determine the winner and

Congradulations to....

Ahrisha @ JOYOUSLY LIVING LIFE

Thank you Ahrisha!  I hope you enjoy the plate.  I will contact you about shipping!

Rachelle!

Show & Tell Friday and A Cottage Down the Layne's Very First Give Away!

Happy Friday everyone!  And thank you for stopping by to check out my very first Give Away!

Friday, April 9th is a special day for me, because my neice was born today 13 years ago!

I thought I would celebrate by hosting the very first give away from this blog!

I am also entering the Show & Tell Friday hosted by http://romantichome.blogspot.com/!
If you have a moment pop on over to Cindy's and take a look at her adorable Show & Tell and browse through the other beautiful items others have posted to Show!

This is my beautiful Tea Set!  It was given to me by a very dear friend Katie.  I have been looking, searching for a Tea Set ( I didn't have one) and I could never find one I just loved or that was in my price range.... Miniscule Price Range.  This Christmas, my dear friend, suprised me with this gorgeous tea set at our annual Christmas party. 

Would you care for a cup of Constant Comet?

Let me pour you a cup or two!

Thank you for checking out my Show & Tell Friday entry.  I absolutely love this Tea Set and I look for any occassion to use it!

Be Sure to check out my give away below!!!

Up for grabs is this very beautiful Limoges plate.  Covered in pink and cream roses, this is my very last Limoges dinner plate.  I had a set for sell on my website ( all but this one is gone).

To enter the give away, please leave a comment below.  I will announce the winner on Monday, April 12th!  The cut off to enter will be Sunday, April 11th at midnight!

This is a close up of the detail on the plate!

For a second chance to win, just mention this Give Away on your blog.  Be sure to let me know in your comment if you are mentioning this Give Away on your blog, so that I will know to enter your name twice! 

Good Luck and Have a wonderful weekend!  ~Rachelle

Easter Tablescpe and odds & ends

I hope everyone had a blessed and happy Easter!  I can tell you mine was wonderful, busy, and stressful all in one day!

This is my Easter table.  I did Yellow and Blue to brighten up the day!  Birds, Eggs, and Bunnies!  Perfect for a cheery Easter dinner.  We actually all went to Church that morning, rushed home and I apparantly didn't plan as well as I usually do, because I spent the next two hours scrambling to get things done!  My dear Mom helped me in the kitchen and we soon had dinner ready. 

This was the Mommy and Kiddie table!  I sat with my boy and a friend who has two little boys.  We sat here to keep the chaos away from the main table!

Now - onto a wonderful TJ Max find!  I got this beautiful 3 teir basket for 10$!  The item was badly bent and the screws would not tighten, so I asked for a discount!  I was ECSTATIC when she told me should would put it at 50% off!  My sweet Husband fixed her right up and it made the cutest little display for our plastic eggs!  I am debating on painting the whole thing in an antique white, with a bit of the brown showing through here and there! 

Ok - so this Friday I plan to announce my Very First Give-Away!  Check back soon for Details!

Ok, just a quick update on my cousin I mention with cancer.  She has been given just a week to live and if you would continue to keep her family in your prayers I am sure it would uplift them all.  She was actually doing well on Easter and spent some restful time with her kids.  She is not very cognizant of what is going on, but does not seem to be in pain.  _ Thank you!

Chair fufify project!

Who would have ever thought refinishing a chair could be so much fun!

I found this chair at a garage sale for 5 dollars.  It was navy blue with a gold and red checkered fabric. (Wish I had taken a before picture)  I followed instructions from My Romantic Home for painting furniture and it turned out beautifully!

I sanded the color down as much as I could ( I didn't have any paint stripper and was too excited to wait to get it)

I primed the chair and painted.  It took around 3 total coats, I lightly sanded, and glazed the chair with a nutmeg color.  I actually had this pretty peice of toile, so in total I spent about 12 dollars! 

I think it looks pretty good and I would love to have more projects just like this! 

This little lovely will be heading down to my booth space tomorrow and I plan - I say plan, because my 18 month old will be with me - to take some snap shots of my booth space and of my favorite booth.

Well, I hope all of you are having as much success with your projects as I am!

*** I am editing this post, because I had not read My Romantic Home, before posting.   I just read it and if you have a few minutes so should you.  It is super insperational and a testament to what we all should be doing!