Will.I.Am.

This morning I had the honor of coming to a precious little boy’s birthday party to take some photos.

His mom and I work at the school together, and I was glad to take the opportunity to improve those camera skills.

After all, practice is the only way to get better.

Since I’ll be heading out on vacation before long, I want to give a preview of the photos that I took. Who could stand to wait a whole week to see pictures of cutie pie, Will {thus the title of the blog}.

Wasn’t everything just decorated adorable? April is such a great time to have a birthday for the simple choice of colors that can be used. My classroom looks like spring took over my room there are so many flowers and butterflies and pastel colors.

Can you tell this is my favorite season of the year?

 

The kids seemed to have a terrific time with all of the face painting and egg dying and birthday partying. However, that made it awfully hard for me to get them to be still enough to get a quick shot of the group.

Why it was so hard….

So, I’ve now sat here to do this blog post and ended up narrowing down all of the 600+ pictures that were taken. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share these sooner than later.

It may be a while until I’m back around blog world. I’m preparing for that vacation I spoke of earlier. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and {to some of you} enjoy spring break!

Disclaimer:

Let me remind all of you that I am BY NO MEANS a professional photographer nor do I want to be. I’m just a girl with a camera whose trying to learn more about it. Please don’t judge my photos by thinking that’s what I’m trying to be. Please and thank you!

UPDATE:

Here are the rest of the photos from the party. Enjoy!

View Full Album

Planning Time!

I am officially in the planning mode for vacation that is only days away! I can hardly contain my excitement. My bag that I will be taking may or may not be on my floor with some clothes already in it. I’m busting at the seams!

This is a bit of a blast from the past. We rode some sky lift in Gatlinburg, and some nice man took a photo of us together. I can’t wait to take pictures with my new camera this time.

My main goal while we’re there is just relaxation and getting away from everyday life. No phones {except a few calls to let people know we’re alive and well}. Another one of my goals is to keep expenses down!

I’ve been to Tennessee for many years, so I’m very familiar with it. However, if you know of anything I may be interested in, PLEASE comment and let me know. I wouldn’t want to miss out on anything.

This photo is the living room of the cabin we’ll be staying in. We rented this cabin {with my family} the one and only time Colby and I have been to the mountains together.

We’ll be staying in a cabin in Wears Valley, which is between Townsend and Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg and Sevierville are relatively close and not out of range for any ideas.

Here are a few of my ideas {even though I’ve done some of these before, it never gets old}….

• Make the drive through Cades Cove at least once a day
• Hike Laurel Falls {or Abrams Falls}
• Picnic on Hyatt Lane or is it Sparks? in Cades Cove by the gorgeous creek
• Visit the Lily Barn
• Shop any antique shop that looks run down and dumpy for the best finds
• A nice friendly game of putt-putt golf
• Dollywood {not a top priority, but still an option}

What I really want to do is explore all of the “off the beaten path” places! What are your suggestions? I know many of you out there have been! Don’t be afraid to share!

Spring break will be here before I know it! And the lists begin!

The Next Step

While there’s still debate out over the fabrics, I will say that more than one of the fabrics will be used if the plan is implemented. It is now time to turn the focus over to the bedroom.

A headboard is very expensive to buy, but it is such an important need in a bedroom to make a room look visually appealing and balanced.

Cate sent me over a link to the Better Homes and Gardens website for one of the headboards she liked, but I must say that I fell in love with a few of them.

As for the one she chose…

Number One: The Photo Frames

Instead of using the black frames, I would lean more toward white frames with a white matte. Depending on the final color scheme chosen, I might would even do a double matte with the second matte being a light neutral of some sort.

Inside the frames, Cate could have the choice to put some black and white photos in them. OR, she could choose some scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby {or my go-to place, JoAnn’s} to fill them.

Number Two: The Windows

I love a light and airy feel, and I love the fact that this window headboard gives the room a cottage feel. I could do without the more contemporary furniture though if this were to be the route taken. I feel this would be a pretty inexpensive choice, especially if you could find it at a great price at a thrift store {perhaps a Habitat Re-Store}.

Number Three: The Bench Cushion

This is really a favorite of mine because I’m the kind that likes to sit up at night and lean back on my pillows and headboard to read. Apparently, the cushion is just a bench cushion that they took some covered buttons and tufted the cushion themselves. Very creative!

And last but not least, I adore this headboard, and it reminded me of what another blogger mentioned in a previous post…

Number Four: Shabby Chic

All it is is a salvaged mantel! Of course, you would want to make sure you definitely secure the thing perfectly. No one would want a bump on the head from it falling down in someone’s sleep.

Which headboard do you like best?

If you want to see more of the headboard ideas from Better Homes and Gardens, click here.

So Happy to Announce…

…that a new blog has been established by a girl I hardly know, but I know enough about her by just what I’ve read and seen to tell you that she is an amazingly beautiful, fun, sweet, Christian girl that I can’t wait for you all to get to know. Quite frankly, I can’t wait to get to know her better myself!

Meet Samantha!

See what I mean? Stunning!

I hope you all take my advice and start following her blog just like I’ll be doing from here on out.

Go on over to Lemon Fields of Daisies!

Note: This is my second post of the day, so make sure you keep reading to find it =)

Today’s Tidbit

One of the best things about kindergarten that I have discovered lately is when the children are to the point where they begin to write on their own. Now, we begin writing at the beginning of the school year. It’s at this point in the school year though when they are able to “chop” their words apart {or sound out} and put their thoughts on paper.

Their creative spelling cracks me up, but in truth it is many times the way it does indeed sound.

Today’s writing in language arts was about different modes of transportation all around the world. Our reading story is about that, and it shows pictures of many of the ways from car to llama. I instructed the kids to pick a mode of transportation and write anything they wanted to about it. They just had to tell me something about the transportation they chose.

What’s funny to me is that there was an air boat {of all things} in the story! And….one of my kids chose that as theirs.

Here is what I got:

For those of you who may need a translator, it says….

The airboat went to the store.

The erbot went to the stuowr.

USE THOSE PHONETIC SKILLS PEOPLE!

I was impressed by her sentence seeing as how she sounded it out fairly well. I was even more impressed with her picture though. It was so cute that I had to bring it home to show Colby. I feel sure he’ll appreciate it.

Check out the picture. The driver is even sitting up higher than the rest of the crew on board.

And this is why I love my job!

Putting the Pieces Together

My cousin sent me a text the other night requesting my assistance in an upcoming decor project. She’s going to be moving into a different place at college, and she wanted some help in making the place feel a little more like home.

Now, so far, the place they will be living very soon has not been chosen, but it could be as soon as this weekend. I {clearly} have no idea what the place will be like, but she promised to send pictures ASAP.

For now though {since I don’t have a whole lot to go on}, I’ve been thinking of how to put this project together step by step.

What better way than some curtains??? Mistreatments you may say.

I knew immediately I wanted a print, which is weird for me since I won’t ever choose them for myself {non-risk-taker}.

Here’s what I emailed Cate:

Which two would you pick?

50 years

After 50 years of marriage, a couple would seem to definitely say that they have been through the good times and the bad, sickness and health, and for richer or poorer. I’m sure my grandparents would agree with that seeing as how yesterday they celebrated their Golden Anniversary of 50 years!

What a testament that is to couples all around! In our times, couples do not seem to withstand the test of time. They let the bad times, sickness, and being not as wealthy as we would like get in the way of their love for one another. H0wever, I am certainly proud to say that my grandparents {50 years} and parents {25 years} are still holding strong.

In honor of my grandparents, we celebrated their half a century of marriage with them along with many other family and friends last night.

The lovely couple renewed their vows, which meant so much to them. You could see the love in their eyes. I tried my best to capture the moments of the night, so for your viewing pleasure…..

Bridal wreath adorned the entry way and several other places throughout the building. This was the same thing used as their wedding. At their wedding, my grandmother didn’t even think she was going to have flowers until a lady arrived with tons of it to decorate the church with.

The topper on the cake {minus the 50} is from her original wedding cake, which I thought was a sweet touch.

These are the wonderful owners of The Hourglass that my entire family is so thankful for. Truly as nice as they look in the photo!

Their first dance {and certainly not their last} of the night. As a matter of fact, lots of people made their way out to the dance floor to make a few swings around with some 50s and 60s music going on. It was a blast!

My dad probably had the best time of any of us on the dance floor! If you know him, you know this is not out of character for him. If anything, it is maintained! He’s tons of fun to have around to get a good laugh from!

By the end of the night though, we were all pretty tired! We’re so glad that my grandparents had a terrific time and that it turned out to be all that they hoped it would. We all had fun, and I can’t wait until the next time we’re there again to celebrate something else!

To see more of the night, you can see the album by clicking on the link below!

View Full Album

If you click here, you can also view the online album version of the gift my parents will be receiving very soon. I can’t wait to see it and give it to them!