Deck Dreaming.....

It's FRIDAY!  Today is one of those laid back Fridays when I catch myself making an impossible "To Do" list for the weekend.  It's usually something like this:

• Football Game
• Kids' Sleepover
• Run 10 miles
• Drink coffee/Eat Doughnuts
• Finish 12 painting projects
• Remodel Deck
• Prepare Gourmet meal for whole neighborhood (you know for that fabulous spare of the moment party I'm going to throw)
• Stay up late watching movies
• Then do it all again on Sunday :)

In reality I will do the following:

• let the kids have a sleepover
• make an excuse NOT to run with Patty (at least not 10 miles)
• drink lots of coffee & eat a doughnut
• paint a little
• watch one movie
• DREAM about a deck redo.

So I'm starting early on the last item and here's some inspiration for what I would like the deck to look like......

(source unknown I saved this long before I was blogging and needed sources. Sorry!)

(Thrifty Decor Chick: http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/)

I dream of a deck that is an extension of our living space.  Can't you imagine sitting out on either one of these with a cup of coffee in the morning or glass of wine in the evening?  Someday, maybe someday soon.......

Anyone else think Bob gets scared when he reads these posts?  It's just a glimpse into his future "To Do" list!

Pumpkin Love

I haven't bought any pumpkins yet this year but I'm thinking that will change this weekend!  My porch feels naked without them.  Dawn across the street is winning the pumpkin war with several on hers making it so festive!!

My dirty little secret though is that I really don't like to carve pumpkins.  Bob is great about doing it with the kids and gets very detailed and creative.  I on the other hand will use anything handy to keep me from having to scrape pumpkin guts but still get fun pumpkins this time of year.  So today I thought about last years favorite pumpkins and wanted to share.....

This one was the menu at our Halloween Chili Party.  A Sharpie marker and no dirty hands :)

The same pumpkin then got a coat of spray paint and a message of "Give Thanks"  The little one next to it was beautiful in gold.

T for Turner or T for Thanksgiving either way it's fun.

The Polka dot was my favorite!  Add one more to the top of a terra cotta pot and it's a Fall vignette (fancy talk for a grouping).

Okay I changed my mind...this one Abby did is my FAVORITE!!!!  In addition to being adorable she has a heart for Jesus that brings tears to my eyes.  Her faith shines brighter than the glow of this pumpkin!

I've stolen borrowed some ideas from blogland for some very cool pumpkins this year and I'll be sharing sometime soon.  What are your favorite ways to dress up a pumpkin?

Ahhh the weekend!

It was one of those wonderful weekends when we didn’t have any big plans but somehow we had a blast, got some stuff done AND was relaxing at the same time.  Friday night we had free tickets to PBR (Professional Bull Riding)  It isn’t often when Bob and I go out without kiddos and bull riding didn’t seem like my first pick but we had the BEST time.  The event was exciting, our tickets included drinks and dinner at the arena, kids were being taken care of by great neighbors and I was with the best looking city cowboy there J

                   (Abby took this picture because we were getting ready to go out on a "date")

Remember that desk I’m suppose to have done by October 1^st????  Well, it got sanded and primed on Saturday!

We all went to an amazing church service Saturday night then dinner out at TJ’s Burger House (a family favorite all the way around)

On Sunday the desk got a coat of paint.  That’s all you’re getting out of me about it until the big reveal!  Bob meanwhile power washed the back deck in preparation for staining in the next couple of weeks.

Does anyone believe I was working as hard as him this weekend…… it’s just I had to stop to take some pictures……yeah no one who knows us believes that :)

I also made some Monster Cookies to take down to those great neighbors’ house for dinner Sunday night.  That’s right they watched our kids Friday night AND had us down for smoked pork and all the fixings on Sunday (for anyone keeping track I didn’t cook a meal once this weekend)

Monster Cookies

6 eggs

½ lb. butter

1 lb. brown sugar

2 c. white sugar

1/8 c. vanilla

½ t. salt

1 ½ lb. crunchy peanut butter

4 t. baking soda

9 c. rolled oats

½ lb. chocolate chips

½ lb. M&Ms

Blend sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Drop by ice cream scoop onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I couldn’t think of a better way to end a great weekend than this.....good friends, good food and a good drink on their deck.

Monday brings laundry, cooking, grocery shopping and some painting but that's okay because the weekend is only 5 days away!