I saw it in my mother's eyes the first time she said goodbye to a 7-day-old Katherine and went back home.  Kennett was no longer her home.  Where ever her granddaughter was, was her home.  Four months later, she had left her current job in Arkansas and had found a new job and apartment 15 minutes from our house.  Two months after that, my parents put their house on the market.

I knew it was coming.  Not just because of the look on my mother's face when she kissed Katherine goodbye for the first time, but also because there was nothing keeping my parents in Kennett.  We didn't have any other family in the area, and my brother and I had both ended up in St. Louis.  Now with a grandchild in the mix, where else would my parents go?

Now, one year later, my parents' house is sold.  Anyone who has ever had to clean out all of their stuff from their childhood home knows the emotions that can come with it.  (And if you follow me on Instagram, you've seen some of the packing shenanigans.)

We moved in to this house in the summer of 1996.  I had just finished the 6th grade and was in the midst of the junior high awkward phase.  I still remember the giddy feeling I had the first time I stepped into my brand new empty room.  The house was centrally located, a lot closer to my friends' houses, and originally built in the 1940's, but had undergone many renovations and additions.  My bedroom was gi-gantic (You can read more about my love for my childhood bedroom here.) with a huge walk-in closet, "Jack and Jill" bathroom, and French doors leading out to the pool.  I mean, really.  I still get chills when I think about that closet.  I'll probably never in my life have a closet like that again.

Looking at our empty bedrooms gave me the giddy feeling again, and also the pain of sadness.

{Looking into my room from my brother's room.}

{That closet...}

{Looking into my brother's room from mine.  My heart catches in my throat when I look at this one.}

{That view.}

{Saying goodbye to the pool.  This was my spot for 18 years.}

Eighteen years, and many pool parties later, it was time to say goodbye.  Packing up 30 years of stuff that had accumulated for 18 years was not easy, physically or emotionally.      

{Moving day.}

{"Keeping everything"}

{The old shopping cart came in handy.  My brother obtained it years ago, legally of course.}

{Goodbye old friend.}

{Goodbye College Avenue.}

Though Jason's family still lives in Kennett, visiting will never be the same.  Handing over my keys was like the final scene on F.R.I.E.N.D.S., brutal.  As Katherine and I drove away for the last time, "Goodbye to You" by Michelle Branch came on the radio.  No.  Lie.  I cried all the way to the interstate.

Goodbye Kennett.  On to the next adventure.      

I wanted to add decorative pillows to our couch, but because our couch has large pillow cushions already I didn't want large decorative ones.  I wanted a certain size and a certain pattern, so I decided to make my own.   

Making pillows is probably the easiest sewing project you can do.  For my pillows, I picked out a couple of patterns I liked at Hobby Lobby.  I used duck cloth (canvas) because it's thicker and sturdier and seems to last longer. 

First I ironed the fabric so that all the creases were gone.  Then I treated the fabric with Scotch Guard.  This will help your fabric resist stains. 


Once the Scotch Guard had dried, I measured how big I wanted my pillow to be, then cut two separate pieces. 

Then I sewed them together, with right sides together, making sure all stitch lines were straight.  Make sure and leave a gap open large enough to stuff your pillow.


Once your stuffing is in, it's time to stitch up the open gap.  Fold the fabric down and pin it closed, then stitch it up.


All finished.  I like to fluff the pillow when I'm done so that all of the stuffing is even and not bulky anywhere. 

Now I have decorative couch pillows and I spent a fraction of the price they would be in the store.

Trying to stay organized with a toddler in the house is like shoveling snow in the middle of a blizzard.  I've learned that there's no reason to try to "pick up" during the day, or any time Katherine is awake.  I've also learned not to stress out when the floor is cluttered with toys.  There will come a day when I'll wish Katherine was still little and left her toys in the floor. 

Because our living room is also the play room, I had to come up with a way to store items where they're out of the way, but still look like part of the décor.  What I came up with was baskets.  Lots of baskets. 

Every night, after Katherine goes to bed we pick up all of her toys.  I feel like my day starts better when the floor is clear in the morning.  Even if that means Katherine immediately gets everything out upon waking up, at least when I get up in the morning the house is clean. 



Her DVDs are kept in another basket.  Because she loves to play with the cases, we leave them to where she can get to them.  Whatever keeps her busy while I make lunch......

Extra remotes and other TV accessories are kept in another basket under the side table.  Katherine recently figured out that she can find some cool stuff in this basket, so we may have to move it. 

All blankets and extra pillows for the couch are kept in this old hamper basket.  It's the perfect size for fluffy blankets and fits next to the fire place.  And also covers up ugly TV cords!

Callie and Sammie's toys are kept in another basket behind the couch.  Katherine has learned that these are Callie and Sammie's toys and she shouldn't play with them....sort of.  We're still working on that one. 

All of Katherine's books are in her room.  We found this bookshelf and it's perfect for her room.  It's also perfect because Katherine can get to her books easily.  Of course at the end of the day, every single book is in the floor. 

Our little lady loves to empty her toy basket and bookshelf about as much as she loves to play with her toys and books.  We're working on learning to pick up our things at the end of the day.  So far, no such luck with this. 

This post will be a little more personal than usual.  It's been a rough week around here.

We came home from a week in Kennett to find that none of our fish had survived the week.  While my mom checked on them daily, the filter wasn't on as much and lots and lots of rain may have caused the pond to overflow at some point.  Our poor fish pond had no fish.  This would turn out to be the least traumatic thing to happen all week.  

The very next day, tragedy struck our community.  By now, you've probably seen the news about the death of a young man and the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri.  If not, you can read about it here or anywhere really.  This situation hit close to home, both figuratively and literally.  Sunday night was by far the worst night, with so much violence and hatred that I was sure Jesus was coming.  I haven't slept a full night since that night.

Each night was sleepless.  Each morning, before I even got out of bed I immediately checked my phone to see what terrible things had happened overnight.  Each day, the regular television schedule was interrupted, almost all day, by breaking news on violence and protests and news conferences.  I was a little on edge all week, and would like to apologize to the Jehovah's Witnesses who knocked on the door (while Jason was at work), for answering the door with a steak knife behind my back.  Although the encounter didn't last long, as they threw a pamphlet at me and took off.

The Ferguson community remained in turmoil with innocent residents caught in the crossfire.  My heart ached for them.  I just felt a sense of sadness for the whole situation.  

I decided to stay off of social media due to the hateful comments and misinformation being spread.  After dinner Monday night, I decided to check Facebook and Twitter to see if there were any new developments in the Ferguson situation.  At the top of my news feed was the death of Robin Williams.  I've never cried when a celebrity has died, but this time I cried.  I cried a lot.  It's almost like every sadness and frustration I had been holding in for the past couple of days just came out at the sight of those words "Robin Williams dead at 63."

I think what got to me the most was that there is so much sadness and hatred in this world (some of which I was seeing in my own backyard) and we need more people like Robin Williams, not less of them.  We need someone to make us laugh and make us happy.  My heart broke for him as well.  How could someone who made so many people so happy, be so sad?

Each time the news broke in on the TV, it was more bad news.  I wanted desperately to hear something good, but no such luck.

On Wednesday night, we met my mom for dinner at Freddie's.  I ordered a double cheeseburger.  It was a double cheeseburger kind of week.  I also got ice cream.  I don't even regret it.

I hope the weekend brings peace for everyone involved in this terrible situation.  I believe it's a peace only Jesus can provide.  I can only pray for a positive outcome.

I also bought four more fish today.  

When I turned 30, I decided to do a list of 30 things about myself for the blog.  That was 10 months ago.  At one point, I decided to wait until October and just make it "31" things about me.  Oh well.

Anyway.....

Here we go:

1.  I'm not a procrastinator.  I work horribly under pressure.  I like to have things done early.

2.  I don't like soda.  I've never been able to drink it.

3.  I'm obsessed with everything lavender.

4.  Before I start reading a new book, I read the ending first.  I like to know what I'm getting into.  I do this with every book.  Every time.

5.  I have an irrational fear of snakes and heights.

6.  My mom was a band director.

7.  I'm the spider slayer of my house.  My husband is terrified of them.

8.  I used to have a chronic fear of giving birth.

9.  After watching the delivery scene in "The Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn Part 1", I decided I was ready to have a baby.  Every horrible worst case scenario I had ever imagined couldn't be as bad as giving birth to a vampire baby.  I literally threw out my birth control pills two weeks later.

10.  My favorite color is green, but almost nothing I own is actually green.

11.  I don't believe in "diets."  Make healthy choices and indulge in moderation.  Eat the cupcake.  Don't eat all the cupcakes.  

12.  I can't handle rude and inconsiderate people.

13.  Iced coffee is my jam.

14.  I can quote every line in every episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

15.  My parents recently sold the house that I grew up in.  Saddest.  Thing.  Ever.

16.  I've always wanted to live in St. Louis.  If I didn't live here, I'd want to live near the ocean.

17.  I'm embarrassingly bad at math and science.  My high school chemistry teacher gave me a C.  I didn't deserve it.  I literally think he felt sorry for me and didn't have the heart to give me a failing grade.

18.  I used to want to be a paleontologist until I found out it was in fact, science.

19.  I decided to major in fashion in college after watching the movie "Sweet Home Alabama."

20.  I made the All District Choir in high school three times.

21.  In middle school, I was trying out for cheerleading when one of the other cheerleaders told me I'd make a great "flyer."  I found out what that was and never went back to try-outs.  I ended up being a majorette where my feet stayed on the ground.  

22.  As a kid, I had a plethora of knowledge about Anne Frank, the Titanic, and Ancient Egypt.  I liked history.

23.  I hate being barefoot.  I have to have shoes or socks on at all times.

24.  I met my husband when I was a junior in high school.  He was a sophomore in college.  His first words to me were, "So you've been to Newport?"  I had just gotten back from my great-grandfather's funeral in Newport, Arkansas.

25.  I started writing a novel in middle school.  I got to high school and became too busy to finish it.  The "manuscript" is in a box in my basement.

26.  As a kid, I was an actual member of the official Reba McEntire Fan Club.  I had a membership card and a button I wore on my jacket.  No joke.  Because I was a fan club member, I also got to go back stage at one of her concerts for a meet and greet.

27.  One of my pet peeves is foot jewelry.  

28.  My car horn in high school would randomly start honking for no reason.  My dad had to disconnect the horn, so when I was driving through town, my friend would stick her head out of the window and yell "HONK" at people.

29.  Past jobs I've had include little league scoreboard keeper, lunch lady, goat wrangler, Curves consultant, sports writer for my hometown newspaper, and receptionist at the health center in college.
30.  I'd like to be a ghost hunter.

We've been getting our summer on, pretty hard core around here.  Since Jason started his vacation, we've been busy every day this week.

In addition to daily trips to the pool, we made our second visit to The Magic House on SLCL night and our first family trip to Grant's Farm.

Seeing the city with a toddler is like seeing the city for the first time.  Everything is different this time around.  It's also so funny to see Katherine's reactions to things.  Even though there are tons of cool things to do at The Magic House, Katherine would be content to play in the ball pit or at the water table.  When Jason put her on the slide, the look on her face was priceless.  She was convinced we had just thrown her off of a roof.

{"What is happening?!!"}

And if that weren't enough, we also went to a Cardinals game.  It was a giveaway day, so Katherine scored a mini Clydesdale.  It was also Fred Bird's birthday.  Very exciting stuff.  


What a week.  I think we'll all go to bed early tonight.