The Ramblings of Haley Anne

I have often wanted to start blogging a bit again but then life gets in the way... and well, now we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter...! Maybe I will set aside the time here in the near future!
But for now... I wanted to share Samuel's baby nursery with you! It has been such a fun project and I love how it turned out, now we just need to bring the baby boy home!

Click Photo to enlarge:

Wes' Childhood Teddy.

ROOM BEFORE:

Resources: Crib- walmart.com Dresser- Ikea Helmes
Swivel Rocker Recliner- Havertys
Hope Chest- Was my Great-Grandmothers
Side Table- Marshalls Lamp on Side Table- Ikea (already had it)
Fox Night Light- Restoration Hardware
Faux Sheepskin Rug- Ikea
Faux Regtangular Sheepskin Rug- Homegoods
Foot Rest- Homegoods
Book Shelves- Ikea (picture shelves)
Books- All of the lovely people who showered us! ♥♥♥
Shelving above crib and under television- At Home
"You Are Loved" sign- Marshalls
"Hello There Handsome"- Marshalls
Light up birch tree- BBB
Guardian Angel- Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona, AZ - Mom ♥
Canvas- Photo taken by Picturesque by Haley http://www.picturesquebyhaley.com/ printed by: CG Pro Prints
Curtains- Marshalls
Curtain Rods- Homegoods
Woodland Prints- Jahna Vashti Etsy Shop
Frames for Prints- Ikea (mats custom cut at Hobby Lobby)
Monogrammed Blanket on Recliner- Vicki Collins ♥
Lamp on Dresser- Marshalls (moved from Living Room)
Hand Sanitizer Bottle (soap bottle)- Target
Pacifier Jar- Don't Recall
Mirror- Kirklands (moved from spare room)
Changing Pad and Organic Burt's Bees Cover- Teresa Lowe (Target) ♥
Changing Table Organizer- Kay Leonard (Target) ♥
Wreath on Door- handmade by Vicki Collins ♥
"Samuel Talbot" Wood Blocks- handmade by Annie Soliz ♥
Wood "WINCHESTER" Sign- handmade by Wesley Talbot in highschool wood shop class!
Crib Bedding- Restoration Hardware
Mobile- Restoration Hardware

In preparing for Wes' 29th birthday, I went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients to bake some of his favorite treats. In honor of my Grandmother who passed away almost one full year ago, I now fold all of my plastic bags.

Mema would fold each bag precisely. As a family, we all joked about her doing this but it is one of those things that made her the amazing woman she was! It is a small window into how she lived her life.

Organized and put together and in its place. Makes me happy :)

I made Wes his favorite lemon meringue pie (his mom's recipe). The last time I attempted this I had a hell of a time with the meringue. After going through a dozen eggs I just gave up. Yesterday I had sweet success! Hallelujah!

Gorgeous, fluffy and thick meringue! I feel like a won a war! Yes!

I also made chocolate chip cookies and they are oh so good. I found recipe on allrecipes.com. It was their #1 chocolate chip recipe with over 600 people that reviewed and gave the recipe 5 stars.

The recipe called for a box of pudding which I had never heard of. I think that is the secret to the deliciousness!

Yes, this post is quite random. I was walking around yesterday and just kept finding lots of random things to blog about and wa-lah! These are the eggs I used for baking Wes' treats!

My mom has always kept a compost pile in the back yard. When I was a kid she actually sent my sister and I to the circus that they were having behind our house with a wheel barrel & shovel to ask the carnies if we could have the elephant poop. They agreed and we scooped. I will never ever forget that. Ever. Never, ever. And then there was the time my home room class was having a banana split party and I eagerly collected all the banana peels and wheeled them home on my bike to one proud momma. Oh and we did worms and all sorts of cool and down to earth things!
I have limited space in my back yard I don't really have a good spot to keep an actual compost pile. I decided to google homemade compost bins and found a how to tutorial for this:

The instructions had me put screen over the holes but that didn't stay in place long after a few turns of the goods. I thought the compost would start seeping out of the holes without the screen in place but surprisingly it has not, yet anyway!

Lulu is very interested in the compost. See the yellow line on the concrete? This is where Wes and I are planning on removing the concrete to add more flower beds. We had a bad storm earlier this year and it took our huge shade tree down out back. It was heart breaking! I am desperate for some more greenery so we decided to try to DIY and rented a concrete saw, went through two blades and then decided we were going to have to hire a professional. :(

The green pots: I planted some morning glory seeds about a week ago

One on both sides of the gazebo

My goal is for them to climb the gazebo!

These are my neighbors morning glory's that drape over our fence. I love to see them blooming in the AM. My mom always had morning glory's too. I thought it was so neat how they bloomed in morning. She also had moon flowers that bloomed in the moon light and 4 o'clocks that bloomed around 4 o'clock!