3B Designs

There are some new girls in town...3B Designs

They are making some amazing floral arrangements. If you would like to order one, please leave me a message, which arrangement you are interested in, and I will get back in touch with you. If you don't see something that you want let me know what you are looking for and I am sure that they can make it.

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Worship with the Ray kids

This past Sunday Hunter and Veronica led worship for the youth group. Yes, I cried when I saw the video. Made me so proud that my kids are using their talents. Ronnie took about 30 minutes of worship and made this neat little montage. I can't believe that Hunter has taught himself how to play the guitar, and I am so glad that Veronica is finally singing in front of people.

what IS up with those ray's

*This is mostly a post for our family. Boredom may happen if you aren't a family member.

I don't really think that our family has been busy lately, but it sure feels like it. Summer was never here in Rochester, fall flew by in a flash and then today I woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground. Where has this year gone already?

Hunter is growing so fast!! Here is a picture taken last night of Hunter and I. He is not stretching to be this much taller than me. I really do have to look up at his now. I really don't like it.

Hunter told me this morning that he made 3rd chair in the percussion section of the school band. He is really coming a long way with his music. Drums, acoustic and electric guitar and now the bass guitar. There is also a little song writing in the mix.

English is doing well. Her best friend from high school was just out visiting with her. I stole these pictures from English's facebook. Doesn't she look great! I think that they went to Napa Valley and then into San Francisco while Alyssa was there.

This is the only picture I could get of Veronica. :) She is doing well, too. Really enjoying being on the yearbook staff at school. She resigned from Caribou and is now working in the cafe at our church. So that we can afford it I have already started planning her graduation party. I can't believe that she will be graduating in about 7 months. Doesn't seem possible that I will have two children out of school next summer.
And as you can see I don't have a picture for Cole. I haven't taken any new ones lately. Cole is doing good. Right now he is excited about the possibility of getting together with a school friend this weekend. He hasn't done this for about 3 years now. At his parent teacher conferences Cole and Ronnie made some goals for this year. One is to make 3 friends at school before Christmas. Another goal I have for him is to not break another pair of glasses. He has done so well taking care of his glasses, but has broken two pair in the past week. I have to make a way and time for him to go get some new ones. Grrrrr

Ronnie and I are doing well. Nothing new to report. Well I guess I could say that Ronnie had a great time at his high school reunion a couple of weekends ago.

I am a little sad that winter has come a couple of weeks early. I still had some painting I wanted to get done. I guess it will have to wait until spring.

I will close with this picture. It is my co-worker, Ashley, and I. We just got pediatric masks in our department to hand out to sick children if they come in with their moms. Of course we had to try them out. They are so much better than the big blue ones we give to the adults. They have Disney caracters on them.

Before and After: TV stand and side table

Don't get all excited. It isn't really that big of a deal, but I finally took pictures of two of the projects that we were working on. I really like how they both turned out.

The first on is our new tv stand. We took an old console tv and re-vamped it. I agree with my friend Jennifer...the curtain on our version of the tv stand may need a spring rod at the bottom to hold it down.

Before:

After:

During the summer I picked up a not so cute marble top table at a yard sale for $5.00. (Saturday I was at a store where this same before table was being sold for $48.00...before it was re-vamped) Unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but I wasn't very pretty. There was this lattice work in the doors before we took it out and covered it with the same fabric as in the TV stand. The top is a tan "swirl" patern.

I think that both projects turned out pretty good. The tv stand took some trial and error, but we got it just right in the end. What a transformation on both peices. I can't wait to get to some other projects waiting for me in the garage. Hopefully I will be able to get to them before it gets to cold to paint.

Ramblings of Ebby's brain

Here we go again...the ramblings of thoughts going through my brain this morning.

• Why does "pssssst" represent the word fart? Why can't it just be fart?
• I really wish I didn't have to go to work today. I would love to be snuggled up on the couch with my book.
• I have lines around my eyes. I am just going to tell myself that they are good. Means I laugh and smile a lot.
• I want to open a store. I would like to have a re-cycle/juke store.
• My co-worker, Ashley, makes weird noises. Hahahahahahahahaha
• I want to go to Winona on Monday (I have the day off). Me and my camera need to go take a trip to the river to take some pics. I also want to go to the Salvation Army re-store to see if they have any paint or other goodies.
• Hunter made me chuckle this morning. He said, "This is as cold as it gets at the beach (meaning North Myrtle Beach)." He had on a short sleeve t-shirt and was shivering in the morning coolness. Sorry to say son, but it is going to get a lot colder than this here in Rochester.
• Ronnie goes to California this weekend. What trouble can I get into while he is gone?
• Ashley is still making noises. Hahahahahahahaha
• I miss my mom. I haven't seen her in over a year. That stinks!
• I think that I want to go to college. I seriously have no idea what I would want to do. Hmmm
• I am really enjoying my bible study. It is Me, Myself and Lies, but I keep calling it Me, Myself and Irene.
• I want to do something, but I just don't know what. It is driving me crazy.

That is pretty much what was going through my head this morning. Scary isn't it.

Happy Birthday, Ronnie!

I am late again, but I have a good reason. I haven't had computer access this weekend. I was staying at a friend house watching her children Saturday and Sunday. When I got home Sunday evening our electricity was out.

Anyway, yesterday was Ronnie's birthday. We didn't do much, but he is getting to go to California next weekend so I guess that is his birthday present.

Happy Happy Birthday to you, Hunky! I love you so very much and I am so thankful that the Lord brought you into my life. Without you our kids wouldn't be weird and we wouldn't be the dork family. Without you there wouldn't be music in our lives. Without you there wouldn't be much laughter. You make our family fun.

You are an amazing father...a wonderful husband...and the bestest best friend! Thank you and Happy Birthday!

Douglas Trail

We had a great weekend at our house. Ronnie and I had three dates in one weekend. Oh my goodness!

The Twins game on Friday night was good. They beat Detroit 3-0. It was fun being at one of the last few games at this stadium. Next year the Twins will be in their new stadium and we probably won't be able to afford the crazy prices there.

Saturday night we were invited by our friends, Michael and Heidi, to their house for Wii "American Idol" night. I didn't sing, but I did my best heckle. Ronnie had a great time as always. There were 6 couples there and it was very competitive. It think the score was pretty close in the end.

Sunday was a lazy day for me. I went to church on Saturday night so I stayed home Sunday morning. When Ronnie got home we took a little nap and then went over to a friends to help them with some yard work. After that we headed up to The Douglas Trail for a walk. Walking down the Douglas Trail is so peaceful. I love it out there. I snapped this little photo with my phone. Ronnie wouldn't let me stop to take a picture so it is a little off centered. Look at all the leaves. Fall is in the air. Now only if the temps would drop a little bit it would really feel like fall. Come on 40's and 50's.

Smalls and a Ball

Here is our little Smalls. Yes, that is a tennis ball in his mouth. It is his favorite play toy. He loves to play fetch and is pretty good at it. Veronica took him outside the other day and snapped this photo of our little pup. He is in need of a haircut as you can see. I often wonder lately how he can see to get anywhere.

Pray for little Smalls. He is having a little operation in October. He is going to lose his manhood. Awwwww....poor pup.

Veronica took this picture just the other day. You can see all of the leaves that are already on the ground. FALL IS HERE! I am so excited. After fall comes winter! That makes me even more excited.

One more thing and I will end my rambling. Ronnie and I are going to a Twins Game tonight. It should be a good game. They are playing Detroit and from what I understand they are both in the race for the playoffs. Should be a great date for me and my hubby.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jennifer's Before and After

A few weeks ago I had the following converstaion with my friend Jennifer.

Ebby: "Hello?"
Jennifer: "Ebby, are you coming over to Heidi's house today?"
Ebby: "I am on my way."
Jennifer: "Great! Go down this street and check out the table on the side of the road. It is free. If you think it is ok pick it up and bring it with you."
Ebby: "Curb side? I am on it!"

I went by this house and grabbed this table. It is a sewing machine table. Kind of a not so nice blonde wood with scratches and marks all over it. It also had this bronze handle that would open the front. The top also opened up.

Here is the table "before".
After much sanding, gluing the top down, cutting the legs down, some staining, standing back and looking, more staining, some painting, standing back and looking again, and a little more paint this is what Jennifer did to the table.

The old ugly handle is gone and replaced with a wooden applique. You can sort of see in the picture the distressing that Jennifer did. This table is so awsome now. It is sitting in Heidi's living room with a nice lamp on top.

I am having so much fun with all of this furniture re-doing...even when I am not the one doing it.

I hope to have some pictures of some of the things Ronnie and I have been working on this week. Stay tuned!

Amazing weekend!

I had such a good time visiting English this past week/weekend. It was so good to just sit there and stare at her...listen to her laugh...hear her stories...and just plain hang out with her.

I arrived in Sacramento late Wednesday night. Thursday I talked English into driving 3 1/2 hours over to the coast so that I (the lame mom) could go to Glass Beach in Ft. Bragg, California. I had heard about this beach and really wanted some beach glass since I never really could find very much in North Myrtle Beach or when we went to So. Cal. in June. I convinced her that she should drive me over there. We drove, and drove, and drove. It was a long drive. We had some laughs on the way. Saw some fires and lots of fire trucks on the way there and back (different places). We ate at a lame resturant that was supposed to be nice...or so said the "local" that we asked. We both almost threw up because of the smell at Glass Beach. We picked up a lot of glass.

Here is a picture of what the beach sort of looked like.

It was crazy the amount of glass on that beach.

I am sure that you are wondering where the other pictures from my trip are. Well there aren't any. On the way to the airport I realized that I didn't have the camera with me. We were already more than half way there and couldn't turn back. (Lame mom again)

After our drive to the coast on Thursday we mostly hung out at English's VERY cute apartment. I really liked it. Mostly I just enjoyed my daughter's company. It was just what I needed.

I returned home on Sunday to a clean house. I don't know about anyone else, but coming home to a clean house is wonderful. It makes me feel like I can just sit down and relax after being on the plane all day.

Monday was spent at our friend's house. Brandon and Heidi have just recently moved into their brand new home. Brandon grilled some scrumptous ribs, Wayne made asparagus, Jennifer made backed Mac-n-Cheese and dessert, and Heidi made corn on the cob. Before lunch Ronnie and Heidi made a big huge batch of salsa. They put some in jars and are going to see how they turn out. If it is good they will can a bunch of it next summer.

What a great week I had. I got to hug English, which is just what my arms needed. I miss her so much already, and I want to call her right now-this minute and tell her that I love her. I got to have a wonderful Labor Day with family and friends I love.

Here is a picture of my girls, Jennifer and Heidi, and I from a few weeks ago. We were celebrating Heidi's little boys 1st birthday.

Here is Ronnie and I at the Angels game we went to in June while out in Cali. I was so tired, but it was such a great time.

Check back this week. I will have some pictures of before and after furniture. I may also share some things that we are doing in our house.