Southwestern the Everything

So- fair warning, this is going to be image intense- a lot came together in the last week. The weather hasn't been cooperating. I think we broke Texas- really. I can get cold and rainy in NC. And while it didn't affect school this time, here is my house last Tuesday.

Just a dusting

I received a couple of cabinets I had been waiting on. First was a wall mount curio cabinet that I got on Etsy for M. She has several little carvings and mineral specimens to display and we wanted to keep them safe. I'm very happy with the craftsmanship.

Madison's Curio

I also ordered some cheap shot glass holders for all  my souvenirs since I'm using the mantle to display them. They're all on the wall in the game room now, and there's plenty of space for more. Yay vacations! 

Shot Glasses

On Thursday, I went for a trial session at a local gym. I have really been missing my workouts! It took some digging but I found a place that offers very similar workouts to K.O.R.E. Yay! It kicked my butt, I guess that's what you get for taking almost 2 months off to move halfway across country. Back at it tomorrow. 

Over the weekend, we decide to explore downtown Tomball. We had great success! We looked in a couple antique stores, an art gallery hat features local artists, had cupcakes at Frosted (Chuck loved the bacon maple cupcake), spoke to a guy at the music shop about drum lessons for Willow, looked at antique firearms and cutlery at Bob's, and finally hit the mother load of all things southwestern at Ottis' Emporium. We hemmed and hawed over some pieces at the art store, but nothing was just right. Well, at Ottis' we decided to embrace our inner cowpoke and Texas the everything. 

cattle horn hat rack for the foyer

New end table, cowhide star mat and lamp for beside my awesome chair

Matching massive coffee table drapes with a cowhide runner

Also got the traditional Texas star

And course the longhorn skull and skin

All the dogs were incredibly interested in the assorted cow parts, but Butter LOVES the cow! She likes the skull, and sniffs and cuddles with the hide. She'll follow it anywhere- and she doesn't try to chew it- just loves it. When it came time to hang it she climbed around on the back of the couch and watched. This morning she climbed on the couch and just stared up at it.

Butter laying with her cow

Why are you putting it way up there! 

So that takes care of the mantle and the giant wall. Following our decorators recommendations we got one long curtain rod, and opened up the curtains for the upper windows. So much more light now! I also switched out the light bulbs in the ceiling fan for brighter ones- what a huge difference.  We also had to pick up a ladder for all of these projects. I guess we're growing up since we're having to buy our own DIY stuff instead of just borrowing Dads. I'm so excited about the ladder though- it can be an extension ladder of various 

Here it is opened up.

 It all looks really good as a whole. The iPhone pictures don't show it well enough , so I guess you'll just have to come visit. The only thing we plan to do at this point is add some color- pillows, something for the table and mantle. Not a rush- I'll know it when I see it.

A couple other things that went up this week...

Found these on clearance at HobbyLobby for M's bathroom 

 

Hung W's T-Rex just where she wanted it on her mural

I have plans for W's bathroom and I'm still working on my craft room. Chuck and I worked in the garage and got it tidied up over the weekend, too. Still some hanging and sorting of tools and fasteners to do, but we made a good dent. 

For meals- we tried Submarina and sub shop close to the house, food was good service was terrible. Oh well. We also ate at Lupe Tortilla again. Soooo good! 

This week we're expecting out head and foot boards, and a landscaping company is coming to address the drainage off the patio and help with some stuff in the backyard.  The kids are off school on Friday so we get a long weekend. Yay!