i heart burlap.

so. my mantel has been bugging me for quite. some. time.

as in - since we moved in and put the t.v. above it.

in our old little shoebox duplex {which i love & miss} that had so much character, i loved my mantel. it was heavy & chunky. even though it was a fake fireplace. it still fit. and i loved decorating it with everything i could come up with.

but ever since we moved into this house... a huge answer to prayer about two years ago, i might add... we had to put our t.v. above the mantel according to the hubby.

so this severely limits my decorating capability.

plus we have a two story space - so it makes it hugely out of proportion and the space above the t.v. drives me bonkers. literally.

and i know the hubbs gets a kick out of me trying something new up there almost every week. i don't know about you - but i have to live with something for a few days to decide if i really like it or not.

anyway, i digress.

so - a few weeks ago - through pinterest {do you know what pinterest is?!?} i discovered an awesome blog - that i think i was probably the last to discover.

whipperberry.

even the name is cool.

and when i saw this set up - i had to try it.

so i followed her tutorial on the burlap garland. mine was WAY smaller... and i used THREE yards of burlap. it did only take an hour or so to cute/thread/put up the garland - which is SO my kind of project.

i LOVE how the burlap turned out. i do, i do. i promise.

but i don't know about the mantel as a whole.

i love the look in her picture... and i tend to be a 'bigger is better' personaltity {that's what she said - sorry, it was just too good} but is it too much for my dinky mantel? maybe i need to add that braided garland in there to offset? hmm.....

anyway. i wish i could find MORE uses for burlap. other than the itch that comes with it... i LOVED working with it - and LOVED how it twisted on this twine!!!

week in review.

this week has been jam packed.

with play dates. projects. meals. laundry. work. work. and more work. {for jeff - anyway.}

on monday morning we went to jack carter with stella & pierce. {and miss joanna, of course!!!}

the boys had fun playing on some odd cement square that has been there forever {wondering what it's covering up?} and running around. skipping. {or so they said.}

love this picture of b. {below}

he's literally off the ground.

monday afternoon we made smoothies. 

with the magic bullet.

i totally made fun of my dad for getting for me. but - i use it. especially in the summer.

it's perfect for smoothies. really.

and b. likes to pick out his own fruit. 

this time it was pineapple. blueberries. raspberries & black berries. 

with a splash of apple juice.

{it was yummy - but if you have a smoothie recipe - please share! i'd love to try something new!}

charlotte's been wearing "big girl" bows. 

{i.e., bows without a headband.}

she was NEVER a fan of the headband. always took it off. 

but these little bows don't bother her in the least. 

{this one is courtesy of miss kate. we love you, miss kate!! PS. where'd you get these? they're so cute!}

friday we went to the stonebridge beach club with riley & miss amanda.

we're going to the beach later this summer - and he was talking about all the stuff we were going to do there. so i had to explain to him - this is a "little" beach - and we're going to the big beach with mimi & papa. 

but when we got there, he shouted: "mommy, this is the biggest. beach. ever!!!"

so cute!

miss amanda looks good with a baby in her arms. doesn't she? {wink!}

riley & b. practiced the "baywatch run" {or - that's what i called it..}

leaving their noodles in the water and running from the top of the sand to the pool and jumping on their noodles. 

{here's the baywatch run...}

i love full weeks like this - but it also makes me long for a quiet weekend. 

or a quiet week next week.

happy friday - and happy weekend.

oh - and P.S.

tonight, jeff & i will say good bye to friday night lights. 

i know that i'm going to be boo-hooing. as silly as it might sound. 

i normally get sports tears every week. but this week i have a feeling it's gonna be more than that. 

i can't believe it's over. 

and kelly over at fabulous k posted on her facebook that espn classic is replaying EVERY episode starting with season one. 

we still haven't seen season two so we WILL be recording that!!! 

those of you who have direct tv. and have seen the last episode - no spoilers please!

even if you weren't into fnl - PLEASE watch tonight! i know it's going to be awesome. you'll be sad that you've never watched before & run out to get season one! i promise!!!

that's all.

project life. nkotbsb edition.

i'm gonna be honest.

i was sorta disappointed with how this week turned out.

{boo.}

but it's thursday - so that means project life over here, right? 

granted - i did {and still do} have plans to put one of those long journalers in here with the text from my tmi blog post. and more nkotbsb pics on the back. and maybe once i do that {if i do that} then it will live up to my expectations.

until then - it's just kinda... blah. 

in my opinion. 

but hey - it is my project so i can say it's blah, right?

and - i missed getting my pictures developed this week. argh.

so i have to wait until next week to finish the last two weeks. double argh.

oh well. i'll be sure to update if i DO mess with this week to get it to live up to all of my hype.

i just feel like the concert & the week were so exciting - and it doesn't FEEL like that on this page.

you get it right??

happy thursday.

can't wait for friday! it's been an insane week at the leach house. ready for the weekend. woot woot!

i heart burlap.

so. my mantel has been bugging me for quite. some. time.

as in - since we moved in and put the t.v. above it.

in our old little shoebox duplex {which i love & miss} that had so much character, i loved my mantel. it was heavy & chunky. even though it was a fake fireplace. it still fit. and i loved decorating it with everything i could come up with.

but ever since we moved into this house... a huge answer to prayer about two years ago, i might add... we had to put our t.v. above the mantel according to the hubby.

so this severely limits my decorating capability.

plus we have a two story space - so it makes it hugely out of proportion and the space above the t.v. drives me bonkers. literally.

and i know the hubbs gets a kick out of me trying something new up there almost every week. i don't know about you - but i have to live with something for a few days to decide if i really like it or not.

anyway, i digress.

so - a few weeks ago - through pinterest {do you know what pinterest is?!?} i discovered an awesome blog - that i think i was probably the last to discover.

whipperberry.

even the name is cool.

and when i saw this set up - i had to try it.

so i followed her tutorial on the burlap garland. mine was WAY smaller... and i used THREE yards of burlap. it did only take an hour or so to cute/thread/put up the garland - which is SO my kind of project.

i LOVE how the burlap turned out. i do, i do. i promise.

but i don't know about the mantel as a whole.

i love the look in her picture... and i tend to be a 'bigger is better' personaltity {that's what she said - sorry, it was just too good} but is it too much for my dinky mantel? maybe i need to add that braided garland in there to offset? hmm.....

anyway. i wish i could find MORE uses for burlap. other than the itch that comes with it... i LOVED working with it - and LOVED how it twisted on this twine!!!

friday.

HAPPY FRIDAY. 

i heart fridays. 

who doesn't love fridays? with all of the hope & promise of the weekend to come? 

that's right - us mommas have big hopes for weekends too! 

and today is a great friday because i got myself out of bed early enough to go on a jog before the hubbs left for work. {actually - it's more like - the hubbs was at home late because he was taking georgia to the vet}. either way. this momma got some much needed cardio in before the day even began!

and now it's nap time. and my laundry's done and - get this - folded! wooohooo. 

so, i'm taking some time with my google reader before getting a bit crafty. 

this will be the first day in a LONG time that the littles and i have stayed home all. day. long. we didn't go to the pool this a.m. we turned down a very tempting offer from sweet friends this afternoon. and it's actually really nice.  

{wednesday morning b. was begging to go to the pool so instead of fighting that battle, i gave in. after a 30 minute process of making lunches/chaning clothes/getting sand buckets we headed down to the pool that was YUCKY. it's normally great. clean & quiet. but not on wednesday. i won't go into details - because it still gives me the heebie jeebies - but needess to say we weren't there long & i promptly gave the kids a bath when we got home. }

okay - so onto the bonus project life layout! yay!

{you'll notice - i was so excited that i got two weeks done in one sitting that i forgot to put the date on it!}

i journaled way less this week than i have done in the past. 

may go back - eventually - and add some more commentary.

especially about the soccer game & harper's birthday.

and c's first dip in the pool. and the arrington girls' party at the mall. {again - an iPhone photo!}

i can't wait for the hubbs to come home.

i'm making these.

and these. 

and this. {minus the guac}

my mouth is already watering.

and maybe {just maybe} we'll put the littles down early before we eat and we can have a makeshift date night with our sliders & highly anticipated friday night lights. {and dateline. if we stay up that late.}

do you watch fnl? let me tell you folks, you are missing out. 

watch out for coach taylor. he might be a tad bit good looking.

{and the hubby doesn't mind me saying so. he gets it. plus - he thinks coach's wife is hot. don't worry -  i get that too.}