Old Door=New Favorite Place (Pinterest Poser Challenge)

This is the story of six people picked to live in a house, have their lives photographed and written about constantly to see what happens when people stop being polite and start being real.  Okay wait, I'm kidding, this isn't Real World.  And this isn't a story about people.  This is a story about a door and a porch and my new most favorite spot in the whole world.

This is a Pinterest Poser Challenge** story.
 **In an attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week I  detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.   

*My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.

This is the story of how this:

and this

became this:

When we moved into our rental home over a year ago, we found two doors in the back of the garage.  Now, I've been on Pinterest long enough to know that this is quite a find.  But even with all the inspiration online, I had no idea what to do with the doors.  Until Memorial Day Weekend, when we decided a door would become our table.  

I've wanted a table for this porch since we moved here.  It's a covered porch that's perfect for spending time on during hot days or rainy days in the summer, spring and fall.  I was inspired by a trip we had taken to Hilton Head a couple years ago, where the house we stayed in had these long tables on the porches and we spent hours there.

I intended to spend many a Saturday morning going to garage sales to find the perfect, beat up old, yet sturdy table.  But I'm not really a good garage sale gal, I usually show up way too late after all the good stuff is gone.  But then I thought why not make the door the table.  Why not?

So, Tim bought four posts and brackets at Home Depot for under $50.  And he and baby Wade went to work.

He actually bought six posts, but decided against putting posts in the middle.  And it worked out well.  More leg room! 

The whole process took less than one hour and that includes the trip to Home Depot.  Notice the chairs are from another Pinterest Poser Challenge when I went a little nuts with the spray paint.

I am BEYOND PLEASED with how it turned out.  It is sturdy.  It is beat up enough that I don't care about wear and tear.  It is long enough for all six of us, and even a couple friends.  

The first night we ate dinner on the table was Memorial Day, which happened to be a little chilly hence the blankets and fuzzy PJ's worn at dinner.

This table isn't fancy, it isn't perfect and that suits us just fine.  This table has become a place for us to play games and eat peanuts on during an early summer rain storm.

This table is a place for us to take a break and play on the iPad and draw.

This table has become a place where Lucy can do her end-of-the-school-year-I-can't-believe-you-didn't-do-this-earlier-pain-in-the-butt book report and I can write a blog.

This table has become a sweet place to share a Popsicle and a story.

I keep a box of books at the ready for impromptu story time.

This table has become part of the story of our family...a meeting place, an eating place, a connecting place, a special place.  This door that is now our table that is on our porch that is now our outdoor living room is some kind of wonderful.  And definitely my new most favorite space in the world.

Have you made something from Pinterest lately?  Had any great successes? Or advice?  Or warning about a project that's a total waste of time? Do tell.

Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over on Facebook.  Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Summer Wish List Chalkboard-click here

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Sandwiches-click here

Painted Mason Jar Vases-click here

Cinco de Mayo Paper Flowers- click here

Earth Day Cupcakes- Click here

Nail Art-click here

Homemade Photo Booth Fun- click here

Fake Bangs- click here

DIY Subway Art- click here

Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover- click here

Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown- click here
The Smoothie-click here

The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway- click here

The chalk board-click here
Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here
The pumpkin address-click here
The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here

Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

Your Story Matters (& Linking Up With MamaKat)

Everyone has a story.  And the story matters.  Your story matters.

Here's the story of a big sister helping her little brother walk on a log.  We were on an evening nature hike enjoying the evening sunshine in early spring.  

In fact, family narratives or understanding where our families come from can be the "best single predictor of children's emotional health and happiness" according to a recent article in the New York Times.  

A friend of mine who happened to be a very good story teller used to encourage everyone to share their stories.   "Tell the story, tell it and tell it and tell it again," she urged us.  My friend told stories about her childhood, her sisters, her mother, her own children, her grandchildren.  My friend passed away over a year ago, but sometimes I think about her stories.  Like how she said her mother would nap every afternoon no matter what, she would just announce to the children that she was going to "rest now."  I tried that the other day and my kids laughed at me.  I'm in awe of my friend's mother (who also had four children during her napping days).

My friend, and her well-rested mother, were pretty brilliant.  She could have written the book that was featured in the New York Times article.  Because she totally got the article's "bottom line" which is: "if you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family’s positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones." 

Stories can be funny, educational, detailed or simple.  Stories can be told around a campfire, emailed, texted and even documented on YouTube.  No matter how you do it,  just know they matter.  And not because I said so, the New York Times says so and they still matter (at least they carry a little more weight than me).

Click here to read the NYT article.

I linked up with Mama Kat's Vlogging Prompts to tell a part of my story.  

There's a fun trend on YouTube called Draw My Life and if it's trending on YouTube, well you know I want in. (Yeah, this may not be the story that helps my kids' emotional well-being.) So, last night before bed I duct taped my flipcam to the kitchen cabinet (because everyone else had gone to bed), grabbed my marker and started drawing. 


Here's how my lifestory is summed up with a marker in approximately two minutes. 

If you're an email subscriber, click here http://youtu.be/49P9WgoIv9s to see the video.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already.

Check out Mama Kat's Draw My Life video, it's awesome.

Puppy Love Post #1: Snake Bit

Since getting a puppy over a month ago all I can say is....I'm tired.

No here's the thing, puppies are cute, but they are a lot of work.  It's like parenthood on speed.  You only have a few short months before the puppies are full grown and full of bad habits.  If anything, my puppy is making me appreciate how much more time I have to make up for all the mistakes I make with my kids.  But all of it is a lot of pressure.

And really, I didn't need more pressure.  I didn't need yet another reminder that I don't have it all together.  And that's what having my puppy can feel like sometimes, like the sometimes when I'm trying to get all the kids out the door to school and she pees on the floor.  Or the sometimes I'm reading a story to Wade and she whimpers and whines that no one is on the floor with her.

Honestly, I was at my wit's end, ready to wave my white flag and give up.  I was ready to admit to what a lot of people were thinking, I couldn't handle four kids and a puppy. Waaaa.

But then, I watched my kids with our little puppy Cosi.  I put my flag away and committed to raising this puppy.  Because Cosi is part of our family.  

Honestly, she fits right in with us.  Thankfully no one else is peeing on the floor, but we are all trying to get attention, be loved, show love, enjoy life and be a part of everything just like our little puppy.  

To make it easier to remember why I love my sweet little Cosi, I will be doing a monthly Puppy Love Post.  A post where I share a warm and fuzzy story about Cosi.  A post with a sweet picture.  I mean, puppies/dogs in general could use more space on the kitten/cat-obsessed-focused Internet. 

"That boy is snake bit," my husband said the other day sounding like a character from a 1950s coming-of-age cowboy novel or movie.  

He was referring to our son JT and what he said is a little bit true.  If something bad happens in our family, it usually happens to JT.  Autoimmune disease? Check.  Broken arm while picking strawberries? Check.  Speech delay? Check.  Being in the wrong place at the wrong time when your baby brother is swinging a curtain rod wildly and it hits your head? Check.  Concussion after the basketball game? Check.  And I could go on and on.

JT is also the kid in our family who has connected most to Cosi.  When he gets home from school he tells her he missed her.   He plays catch with her after the other kids have had enough and go inside.  He hugs her good-night before heading upstairs to bed. 

In some ways, the story of JT and the puppy is like a 1950s book.  It's a story of a boy and his dog, loyal pals.  I love that even though he might indeed be a little snake bit, he's always got somebody (else besides Tim and me) in his corner giving him unconditional love.

Got a puppy story? Want to share?  Let me know if you'd be interested in sharing your Puppy Love Post.  Leave a comment or send me an email to youngbloodsix@yahoo.com.

Don't

"Mom, there's something about Madonna in this museum," Lucy said excitedly as she came running over to me.  "You love her!  Go look."

I could see the guard give her the eye--the "um, we said there's no running in here remember?" eye.  After reminding Lucy to slow down a bit, we made our way over to the Madonna exhibit.   While it wasn't a display featuring the Material Girl, it was still fascinating.  I'm a fan of both famous Madonnas.

The other day, Tim and I took all the kids to the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA).  

We haven't been to an art museum since before we had kids.  It just seemed like it wasn't a good fit.  We've had a toddler in the mix for the past 11 years and I don't know if you've heard, but we aren't the quietest bunch around town.  How could a rowdy bunch like us go to an art museum?  A museum where everything is "don't run, don't touch, don't talk too loudly, don't skip, don't get too excited, just don't."  At least that's what I thought art museums were all about.

Here we are before we boldly made our way into the museum.  Yeah, I have my "attitude glasses" on.
Is that Thinker judging me already?
Looking down on us before we even go in?

The kids were running and wrestling all over the grass as we made our way to the museum.  It wasn't looking good for our brood to suddenly discover their inner refinement.  We usually make an entrance and an exit like the Looney Tunes' Tasmanian Devil, spinning around in a whirl of chaos leaving messy destruction in our wake.  Tim and I agreed that if it was too much, we'd just leave after five minutes.  No sense in bringing down a billion-dollar painting in a wild rumpus that is our family to prove that we can hang with the museum crowd.

As soon as we busted through the giant, heavy front doors, I knew it was going to be a challenge.  Each child ran in a different direction.  "No running," said a man with a nice jacket and non-smiling face.  One minute in and the "No's" had already started. 

The man behind the front desk looked miserable and even annoyed. It didn't really bother me thought.  Because he and I were both thinking the same thing, "what the hell were we thinking bringing these kids in this museum?"

Tim and I ushered the kids to the corner and had a quick family meeting.  "We have to be on our best behavior in here guys," we begged said.  

As we made our way through the museum we admired paintings from Mary Cassatt, Van Gogh, Renoir and more. I'm happy to report that my kids didn't touch any painting or knock any down.  And the older kids actually got really into it.

Along with the explanation of how there's more than one Madonna in the world, we talked about a lot.  We talked about history.  We talked about painting mediums.  We talked about Egyptians and mummies.  We talked about families.  We talked about art.  We talked about how great it was to be together.  We talked about not skipping and how skipping is so much more fun.  We talked about the French Revolution.  We talked about kids fighting in wars.  We talked about the chips we love to eat. 

We talked about the giant elevators.  We talked about self expression.  We talked about art.  We talked about coming back.

Reluctantly, I let the kids go in the gift store.  The day had gone so much better than expected, I didn't want to end it with a giant case of the gimmes and pouting when I told them we weren't getting anything.  But to my surprise, the kids had brought their own money and spent it on....wait for it....me. What?!?!?!  They bought me a necklace with a heart and a t-shirt.  I was beyond grateful (and surprised).

So maybe the only don't in this whole story should be said to me, "don't sell your kids' short, give them a chance to surprise you."

If you live in the Metro Detroit Area, you should check out the DIA. They even have specific programs designed for families, click here.

Here's a link (click here) to a Parents.com article with details about the top 10 best art museums for kids, maybe there's one listed close to you.

The Puppy

We got a puppy.

The puppy's eyes are the only ones you can see in this picture.   We're doing the super squinty, happy smile.  The puppy looks a little scared.

I'm not really a puppy person or an animal person.  I've mentioned my feeling about cats before (and got some major flak, cat people can be so catty).  But my family talked me into it.  Actually my husband, suggested either a puppy or a baby.  So, we got a puppy.

And because we I am obsessed with Les Miserables, we I named her Cossette.  Cosi for short.

I don't see anything wrong with naming a dog after a character from a musical. Especially if the theme of that musical is compassion and love and faith and goodness--"to love another person is to see the face of God."

On the ride home, JT and Cosi bonded.

When we drove away with our new little Cosi, I had the music all cued up for the perfect song from the soundtrack.  The song is The Bargain and the lyrics go something like this:

"Cossette shall live in my protection....
I shall not foresake my vow...
Cossette shall have a father now!"

We changed "father" to "family."  Too much?  Oh it was so sweet.


Singing the song, romanticized getting a puppy just like people do with having babies.  Yeah, puppies and babies are cute and sweet, but they are also a hell of a lot of work.  And they are gross.  But you know what?  None of my babies ever ate a dead mole.  And yeah, my puppy did that the other day.  It has me totally rethinking the whole baby/puppy decision.

Yesterday after school, the kids came home begging to take Cosi out for a walk.  So they leashed her up and set off down the driveway.

"She found a rat!," I heard my son yell.

"What?!?!?!?!"  I came running outside.  "What the hell? Oh my god, shit, damn, oh my god," I yelled because I am the queen of calm, always.

"It's not a rat, it's a dead mole," my oldest son informed me.

"Get it out, oh my god that's so gross!" I screamed.  "Get it out of her mouth! Oh Jesus, she's eating it! Oh shit. No!!!!!! Call your father!!!"

Well, it's been a long few days.  

I should have remembered this whole house training thing, the sleepless nights, the chewing on EVERYTHING (even dead animals).    You see, right after Tim and I got married we got a puppy, Al.  He was our first baby.  But I forgot how it was those first few months, it's a blur, just like all of my babies first few weeks (it's that way for everyone right?).

I simply remember Al as the greatest dog that ever lived.  I hated that he shed like crazy and never once chased squirrels out of our yard (because you know how I feel about squirrels!).  But I loved how he was the kindest, most gentle of dogs.  He was my first crack at real responsibility of another living creature besides my spider plant (that I guess anyone can keep alive).   He was my buddy as I battled demons of depression during my first pregnancy, he gave me comfort when I thought no one would understand.  And he loved my babies, he loved all of us.  

When he died, I swore off dogs and became more of a non animal person.  But after five years and my kids and my husband begging, I gave in and we have a puppy. 

I found this quote quite amusing since I posted a pic of my new puppy on Facebook and it got more "likes" than the announcement pic of my fourth baby.  People love dogs.

A puppy that will become the dog that my kids remember.  The dog that will comfort them through dark days of middle school and high school when they don't feel like anyone understands. 

This will be the dog that Peyton says good-bye to when he heads to college in about 7 years. Gulp. How can that be?

The dog that goes to their baseball games and races.  The dog that they take for walks through the park and play fetch with in the backyard.  They will grow up together.

Cosette will be the dog that helps teach and reinforce the lessons of compassion and love and responsibility.  

But first, Cossette has to be the puppy that eats dead moles and pees in the house.  And that's okay, I guess.  

Just like if we had a baby, Tim and I are playing the Who Has It Worse Game.  Do you know that game?  Tim has been working late all week and it's been rough.  He dared to say his meetings were worse. Um, whaaaat?  I set him straight.

Woo-hoo I win! Wait, I don't want to win this one. Waaa.