She's here and I love her!!!!!!!!!

Here she is.............my new front door!!!! I have waited so, so long for this sweet little thing! I've had my eye on this style for many years. She came on Saturday, one day before my birthday. This present made me very happy. BUT as all projects go, this little addition has led to other projects. This one being ............... a major painting project! The door still needs painted, all the trim work and our garage doors and porch posts. This could take some time!

But for now,  I will just enjoy the morning sunlight streaming into my once dark hallway. Which of course highlights the need for a fresh coat of paint in the hallway and on the baseboards. Excuse me while I go and revise that Honey-do list.

20 Years Later ........

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary!That's us in 1990, so young, so thin and so wrinkle free!What the heck is on my head, oh my that does not look so good twenty years later!! I made my groom-to-be get his uni-brow waxed before the wedding day and he will never let me live that down! (he should be thanking me!) My husband did most of the planning for our wedding, he even did all the calligraphy on the invitations. He's talented like that! We've come so far, 2 kids and 4 houses later.....

This is us today. Older, wiser and very, very blessed!  I started the day with a migraine, not a fun way to celebrate this momentous occasion. We did manage to go out for lunch at one of our favorite seafood places and then stroll around a garden center trying to come up with a design plan for the backyard.

Maybe tonight we'll break out the wedding album and have a few laughs with the kids!

So tell me, do you still like your wedding gown? Bridesmaids dresses? (I'm almost too embarassed to post those pictures! BIG hair + BAD dress= BIG OLD MESS)

Happy anniversary honey, here's hoping for 20 more!!

And so it begins..........

Look what I found in the backyard this morning! I've been spying out the windows all morning. I sure hope the man operating that thing knows what he is doing!! He certainly is swinging that thingy close to my house.

I wish my little guy was home from school to watch all this digging, he would LOVE it!

Of course I had to take pictures from all angles of the yard yesterday, to remember what we had for 6 years. A big, long space, great for kicking soccer balls . Running races. Setting up lots of tents for cul-de-sac camp outs. Good memories,  but lots of new ones to make too! First up will be the "Mommies-only" pool party while the kiddos are still in school. Doesn't that sound delightful!!

Come back for more updates, they say it only takes about 2 weeks to install. We shall see.........

The Go-To Meal

I have to be honest, my meal planning isn't going so hot right now. I'm good one week and then I can't seem to pull it together the next week. But the family still needs to eat, right? I enjoy a nice bowl of cereal for dinner every now and again. But the husband is looking for a little more substance I believe!

So here's my tip for today.....
If you have fresh or frozen chicken breasts, throw them in the crock-pot and pour a nice bottle of  BBQ sauce over the chicken and cook on high until you can shred the chicken with a fork. It only takes a few hours. So easy and so tasty!!  I usually serve this with my homemade fries and coleslaw or broccoli.

(I know, I know I have the ugliest dinnerware EVER! I would really like something new, but it's one of those wants and not really a need kind of thing!! Plus we got them for our wedding 20 years ago!!! They are almost antiques!! A few have accidently slipped out of my hands..........so when I get down to 3 plates it will become a NEED thing!! There are 4 of us in the family afterall!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

This is the house where I grew up . My parents have lived here since the 1960's and boy has this place changed! It looked nothing like this when I lived here. There was an in-ground pool in this spot but the pool was getting older and needed lots of work. My sisters and I had moved out, so my parents filled it in rather than pay for all the repairs. Boy are they sorry now! Lots and lots of great memories from this backyard! But I must say, they have done an amazing job transforming this yard into the oasis it is today. Here's a little tour..........

      My absolute favorite thing in their yard is this little table and the mushroom seats! The kids sit here all the time.

This is where all the picnics happen, such a nice place to be out of the sun.

My husband enjoying the porch swing!

This huge pin oak tree sits right in the middle of the swimming pool. This tree grew sooooo fast!

My parents are both retired but now have a full time job WEEDING! Their flower beds are huge! So pretty but so much work!

I love this little  rock wall that runs in front of the house.

A great climbing tree for the kids!

Spring flowers everywhere!

When my parents built this house in the late 60's, it was all white with no brick. They have totally changed the outside. If I remember correctly, they built the home for way under $20,000. Isn't that crazy! And of course the kitchen was avocado, gold and orange!! Let's hope that style never comes back. What do you love most about your childhood home?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

It's Good to Play in the Street!

Our cul-de-sac does not usually see a lot of traffic, so it's a great place to play all sorts of games in the street. Recently about 10 kids made a huge and very imaginative chalk drawing. ( I was impressed) They made a city with all kinds of neat things that literally stretched to the middle of our street. You can see a small portion above. They then proceeded to scooter all around their town. They played like this for hours!

And of course after all that hard work, it's good to sit in the middle of the street and eat popsicles!

I made my Wal-Mart run yesterday and have stocked the freezer with new popsicles. They don't last very long around here. The kids travel in packs and you have to hand out at least 5 at a time! Sometimes I find a line at my freezer door in the garage, just waiting for the ok from me. Maybe I should install a vending machine, might be a good way to make some money this summer!!

Nature Walk

The last few days we have been blessed with  incredible weather. I think the kids have spent the last four days outside from morning until night. Don't you love seeing them so tired at night that they don't actually fight you to go to bed! LOVE IT! Today we visited a nearby community that has the most awesome walking paths. It literally goes for miles. My daughter and I are always looking for interesting textures to photograph. It's amazing what you can find when you slow down and really look at everything around you!

Of course both kids managed to leave with soaking wet sneakers! Sure hope they are dry for school tomorrow! I believe my last words were..........."I don't think that's a good idea".

Do You See It ??????

It's Ok, I can't really see it yet either. There are stakes in the ground, contract has been signed  and we could be swimming by Memorial Day! So excited but so uncertain because I don't have a vision yet. Why is it that I can drive around and look at other homes and know immediately what should be done. My yard - NOT A CLUE! I know what I would like but there's that little thing called a budget! I understand that we can't do it all at once. I need to make peace with that and it's hard. However, we are so very blessed and for that I am grateful! Happy April and Happy Easter everyone!!