School's Out For Summer: Meet The Kids

My thanks to Alice Cooper for help with the title ;)

Thursday was our first day of summer vacation.  I've added full time chauffeur, recreation director, camp counselor, lifeguard and police officer to my official job title of 'Stay-At-Home-Mom'. 

I think an introduction of my kids is in order, since I'll probably mention them a bit more over the next two months. My kids asked me not to use their real names or photos on my blog...

...so I gave them a little summertime homework assignment: choose a blog alias and I'll find a picture of an actor or actress whom they resemble.

Audrey (age 15)  is my oldest daughter.

Audrey is our Thinker. She's a gentle and sweet girl who is responsible and dependable. Audrey just finished her first year of high school with spectacular results. She plays piano and flute and is learning the trumpet over the summer. Audrey has her Blackberry with her at all times so she can be in constant communication with her friends to plan trips to Starbucks, the movies and malls.  Thankfully, she's very tolerant of her younger brother and sister!

Awesome Possum (age 13) is my son.

Awesome Possum is our Comedian/Inventor. His yearbook signature page was filled with comments from his friends about how funny he is and that he's always willing to help out. A.P. is bright and witty and has a very strong sense of what's fair and just. He has a section in the basement where he can modify electronics and test out his inventions. Of course, Awesome Possum loves computer games. He builds virtual cities, houses and ''stuff". I really don't understand what he does; it all seems very technical and complicated.

Purplicious (age 9) is my youngest daughter.

 *remember, they choose these monikers themselves.

 

Purplicious is our Artist. She's creative and girlie and loves art, crafts, baking, shopping and fashion. It's not uncommon for her to have three wardrobe changes in one afternoon. Her lip gloss collection numbers close to fifty.  Purplicious is extremely chatty and inquisitive.  Mr. StyleBurb once tried to count how many questions she asked in 10 minutes, but he lost count. Purplicious is very good-hearted and has a lot of empathy for people and animals.

Summers at our house are busy, loud and messy- there's never a dull moment!

Inside Out: My Backyard Deck

I've always loved the idea of making your outdoor deck or patio feel like a room inside your house.  At the same time, our summers are so short, that I'm all about easy and fuss-free living from June to September.  When we have lunch or dinner outside, I set up the food and plates buffet-style on the kitchen counter where we make up our plates and carry them out to the deck.

This is where we spend a good deal of time in the warmer months.

I bought the outdoor carpet last summer and was happily surprised at how it anchored the furniture and brought us a little closer to making the deck feel like an actual room.

The cushions on this cozy little bench under the pergola are new this year. I haven't bothered with cushions until now because the chairs are comfortable- even though they may not look like it, and, I think I would be horrible at remembering to bring them inside during bad weather.  We'll see how it goes!

I've seen many of these mason jars turned candle holders on a number of blogs, but this particular version is inspired by one from The Inspired Room.  Thank you for the wonderful idea, Melissa.
 

A group of three mason jars placed on a wicker tray makes a nice summery centerpiece.  So far I have only seen the candle light at dusk. I don't sit outside when it's really dark because I'm terrified of bats- and no amount of rational explanations have cured it!

Moving on...

I love ferns and tucked this plant stand in one corner of the deck.

I have another little seating area on the lawn. I used to have a bench here, but it fell apart last year.  The two chairs are more practical because they can be brought onto the deck when we need more seating.

This is a nice sunny spot, and it's relaxing to sit here with a trashy summer novel and have tea- or something cold from the fridge.

Another one of my painted pots.

That's it for the main deck- I just have to show you one final picture of my peonies.  This will be the last one because the heavy rain that fell last week took all the petals off... at least I have the pictures!

We're ready for summer- I hope the weather forecast is good!

I'm joining Amanda's party this week...

Painted Pots

Last week while Mr. StyleBurb sanded and re-stained our back deck,

I dragged out my spray paint booth to give our mismatched flower pots a fresh look for summer.

I know...  you want one too!

Our flower pots were a mixture of colors and styles- some plastic and some terra cotta. I decided that the best thing would be to unify them with a few coats of soft black paint. We have black outdoor furniture and I love the way black looks with our taupe deck stain.  I used Rust-oleum's oil rubbed bronze spray paint that says it can be used on "wood, metal, plastic, masonry... and more."

Clearly I didn't plan to paint our flower pots when I put annuals in this big planter a month ago!

 Our flowers had to spend an afternoon covered up with a garbage bag.

But everything worked out ok, and I think the planter looks very sharp!

 I've had this large terra cotta pot in my garage for years.

 Now it's holding my tomato plant.  I even have tomatoes!

Every year we buy hanging baskets from the garden center and every year the plastic pots are different colors and shapes.  We have quite a collection.

I removed the hanging apparatus, wiped them down and spray painted a few of these plastic pots as well.

I didn't prime anything I painted- I barely cleaned off the cobwebs- and I have no idea how long the paint finish will last, but I'm really pleased with how they look right now.

This green plastic pot won't make it through another summer- there's a hole in the back...

...but it looks better black, too. I wish my flowers looked a little healthier. I'm hoping they'll fill in and hide the green rim.

 

I bought some double bloom pink impatiens that needed to be re-potted, so I bought a few of these little cheapy guys at the dollar store.

I spray painted them gloss white and hot glued on some cute lady bug buttons I found at Michaels.

Again, I don't know what is going on with my flowers- they look a little sick. 

If they don't start looking prettier soon, I'm going to spray paint them as well!

I really want to show you how my deck looks, so I'm working on that post next.