Weekend update

We spent a great deal of time outside this weekend.: planting some fall flowers, working on bringing the yard back to life. and just playing.

Will seems to think that any time we don't have an activity or any where to go that day that is automatically becomes "pajama day". So on both Saturday and Sunday he spent the day in pj's. I know I certainly love a good pj day!

I just had to throw this picture in.....there are some days when the bickering can almost put me over the edge. So when Will called Livi over, "Livi, I found a dandelion. Do you want to make a wish?" Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!

Livi had to have some "purpur" flowers, so we took out the angel winged begonia out of this one. This hangs on the wall right outside our front door. I am allergic to something in that kind of begonia, so I was only all too happy to take it out.

So, all in all, a very productive weekend. Happy Monday, y'all!

Wild Card Wednesday....Wild Animals

Not sure if The Kept Woman is playing this week....but when I get stuck in a routine....well, we all know someone with a little bit of an OCD....so let's just leave it at that.

We are lucky enough to have a few trees in our yard. This is a new neighborhood, so not many do. It is nice because it does provide some shade in this Texas heat.

We have this little bird feeder an old boyfriend's parents gave us long ago. That is a whole other story,....okay where was I?? Oh yeah...bird feeder....well, I fill it usually on the weekend. We are out in front washing cars and playing with the neighbor kids. So it gets done then. All the birds flock to the house because apparently the flavor I buy at the commissary rocks!

I got it filled....all the birds in the neighborhood come out for a party. Seed is flying everywhere. The little birds are picking up the leftovers from the grass below. The big blue Jays are hogging it from everyone. When they get their fill, the cardinals come. yada yada yada, Come Tuesday, I notice the thing is empty! EMPTY....it is a good sized feeder.

Seems like the furry tailed little rat in the neighborhood likes the seed as well. Not only does he like it, he tells his friends as well...."Hey guys, easy feedings over at 1234 Easy Street".....because in less than the 2 hours I was gone this morning to drop Will off, go to Livi's music class, and come home....it was all gone. They had cleaned it out.

Apparently the bird seed wasn't enough. This one proceeded to try to chew through the string holding it to the tree.

When Livi saw him out there, she growled at him. It did not even faze the little rodent! Then she was mad because it wasn't afraid of her. She thought it was going to get her. Great ...now I can add squrril to her list of things she is afaid of....Batman being the first!

He even gave her the evil red eye look! Little beast....I guess I better go back to filling the seed, or my pour little feeder will be on the ground after he chews through it.

happy Wednesday y'all

Rainy sick days..

I had two sick kids on my hands all day. Yesterday afternoon Will was feeling warm to the touch and took a little cat nap on the couch. I just knew it was going to be a power nap and he would be up all night. Nope, by 7:30 he was in bed asleep! So then I knew he was sick.

I got up like normal at 6AM....totally not realizing I snoozed my alarm and didn't really get out of bed! Oops, at 6:40 I jump into the shower and wonder if I have time to do the whole wash/dry/shave routine. I figured I am going to work out after I drop Will off, so I will shave but fore go the whole hair washing routine. Livi doesn't have a class on Thur so I can come home and shower then.

By 7:10 AM I am dressed in my workout clothes with my nicely fresh shaved legs. I get my coffee started. That is Livi's responsibility (she just clicks it on) but seems like she is sleeping in a bit. I even have time to roll the trash down to the curb for trash day. This is Will's responsibility but seems HE is sleeping in as well. These are the two children who never fail to be up by 7 AM at the latest.

By 8 I am wondering what he going on....of course I have gone in to check on them...Will is warm to the touch....Livi's nose is stopped up and breathing out of her mouth like a freight train coming into the station!

By 8:30 I call Will's school and tell them he won't be in today.

Livi finally wakes up...by now I am wishing I could have gotten the memo to sleep in....oh well...

Livi is what my brother calls a secret thumb sucker. She has to have Bunny in her hand to sick her thumb. She holds one ear and rubs the ear of Bunny. To have a stopped up dripping nose is the worst for her. She would take a little suck on her thumb, then have to stop to breathe out of her mouth.

But in true Livi style...she saw my camera and perked right up....."cheese me, mommy" <---Livi speak for "take my picture."

By 9, my little boy is still asleep, or so I thought. I sneak in to take a picture.....Dang, I forgot to turn off the flash. I hear him, "Mommy, did you picture me sleeping?" Oops!

So needless to stay, we just all snuggled on the couch a lot today, ate what little they could, and watched Lion King a couple of times. It was raining so we just chilled and snuggled all day.

Speaking of the rain, this is what part of the front flower bed looks like. Note, there are no cute flowers in this corner....We had gutters installed last week, but just a tad too late for those flowers. So I had to cut them back or pull them out because they were damaged too badly. But this little crop of mushrooms seems to be doing fine there.

This little visitor seems to have camped out on the porch as well. Can you see the cricket on the brick? I was hoping to catch him trying to eat it...but no such luck.

But the hanging basket looks amazing! I will say two positive things about all this rain....my electric bill is half of what it was last summer! Also, my grass looks amazing!

happy friday y'all

There is a rooster in the house....and notecards too.

There is a rooster in the house...Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?? My friend J asked me if I wanted to go to this sale out in the pawpaw patch of a bunch of rusty old stuff. J has this rooster in the next size....38 or 39 inches to be exact.....of course this spot will only accommodate a 36" inch piece. So unless my little rooster was going to lose his legs, I had to get this baby one. He is made of metal and has rebar legs. I saw this at an arts and crafts festival in the fall. I hesitated and decided not to buy it. (mainly because I wasn't sure the medium sized one would fit there). Every since no other rooster has compared. I always kept telling myself I should have gotten this one. So when she asked if I wanted to go, I jumped at it.

I also got this little plant thing. My snap dragon that is just to the right of it is just about crushed from all the rain we have had, so I think I will get some ivy that will climb this stand.

Friend J got this adorable little red pig and a cross with a Texas star on it.

**Thanks to nice friend R who I call for random directions to get around this area!!** It did save us some time.

When we got home from our little adventure I was quite surprised to get these little things in my mailbox.

A few weeks ago Sisters with Style held a celebration in honor of their 100th post. They had a random giveaway to anyone who left a comment. Well, my old Alaska Bunco winning spirit** must have been with me because today when I got home from getting the rooster this was in the mail. I am not sure if it is because I am "being a woman" and am overly emotional or what, but the little monogrammed note cards* really brought tears to my eyes. I started reading their blog from a link on lost in surburbia a while back. So, many thanks, Sisters for your little act of thoughtfulness. These note cards will write letters of love to the man who rocks my world even though he is halfway across the planet!

*I blurred the monogram because I am paranoid like that!!

**When I lived in Alaska, I was in a Bunco group with 24 people. Yep, it was that big because no one had anything to do up there!!. I won some prize every single time I played the entire two years I was there.

Hanging Basket

On Saturday we headed over to the garden center to get some flowers. In the Walmart ad this week they had a handy dandy little step by step to a hanging basket. I showed the girl the ad and told her we wanted these plants. She tried to steer me to the ones that were already done. I know it would be a lot easier to just plop one in the planter. But, my dear friends, we were needed an activity that would last at least an hour!! The weekends can crawl by all too slowly if we don't have enough to do. Then they think they can watch tv sun up to sun down.

Where was I?? Oh yeah.....planting. So we get home and get the hanging basket down. Will starts swinging the chain around like he is some stripper from Girls Gone Wild. I had to rein him in for fear that he would whack Livi up the side of her head. Hence the sad look on his face in this picture. Who wants to be scooping potting mix with a old bucket when you can swing a chain around??

Livi had to get in the dirt action too. She couldn't get far enough into the bag, so she just started using her hands. She actually was alot of help.

After knocking the basket over two or three times, we finally got it planted and hung. Not bad for an hour on a Saturday afternoon.

Happy Sunday

I did it!

I hung the planter I got from hosting my Southern Living party this weekend. Yes, I drilled into the mortar, set the anchors and mounted the screws.....whew hoo...I really was nervous. I did the bottom part and put it up there. Only to realize I had to take it down to drill the top holes! Oh well....I figured it out. I really love it. I need to find some fun flowers to put in it now. I'll have to add some leggy vines to trail out of it. I am sure Livi will want "purpur" flowers.

While I was hanging it, it was warm enough for the kids to swim. I filled up this baby pool we have had for the last two summers. It was only 78 degrees out. The water was really cold. I need to get the kids some of those water shoes. Livi was running around in the front yard and stepped on something. It was either a vine with a thorn on it or a bug that bit her. But her big toe swelled up like a little sausage. I gave her some Benydryl and put some anti-itch stuff on it.

I guess we will go look for some Crocs this week. I swore I would never get those shoes. Oh well, never say never.

I tried to get a picture of Will.....at least he wasn't throwing his hand up in front of his face.

Just wanted to add a big Happy Birthday to my mother in law.....I hope your wishes come true. I am glad you got the wreath on time!!

emotional kind of day

List of emotions from today

Love: these two crack me up....today was "Crazy Hat day" ....I was really surprised Will wore his hat. When I dropped him off at school, one mom and the secretary told me this was the last year I could buy the matching madras plaid hat and shorts from Gap.....i LOVE those shorts. He is almost four.....I think I can do it one more year!

Amusement: Right after we took took that pic, Will said, "Let's take a silly one....just for Dad...He is silly, he would like a silly one."

Sad: That little comment made me sad because it looks like it will be another nine months before Mike gets home! I can't believe he is being extended another three months. UGH!!!

Proud: the kids and I planted these and they are still alive....even after a snow over Easter weekend!!
Worried: this one has yellow tips.....does that mean it is dying???

Amazed: this one looks like it will live but will be permanently leaning to the side from the ice storm this past winter!

Relief: I literally ran across the street tonight from a Pampered Chef party because we were in a tornado warning! UGH!!! The power went out several times, so I lit a few candles....turned all the stuff off and hoped the battery on the laptop would last for a bit until I was ready for bed!

Excited! the weekends tend to be easy...we start Friday evening with Papa John's pizza, sleep in on Saturdays and make pancakes on Sunday....generally a nice lazy weekend



Heartsick... I try not to think about Mike being gone for yet another birthday, another thanksgiving, our ten year anniversary, and another Christmas.....but I do....and it sucks!

Thankful: for my neighbors and friends and family....I couldn't do this without them.

happy friday y'all

Mission Accomplished

Saturday was a beautiful day....in Okie-living-in-Texas speak that mens it wasn't already 90 degrees with 80 % humidity! So the kids and I got down and dirty, filled some planters, and put the leftovers in the bed in front of the porch. It has some mums in it, so we just filled in with some annuals.

Will is very sensitive to texture and is not one to get his hands dirty. So he sat back and blew some bubbles. When he put this shirt on this morning, he pointed to it and said, "D-A-D...dad"! It is from a song Mike sings to him from Sesame Street I think. Anyhow, I guess all that Montesorri preschool is paying off. He amazes me at some of the things he already knows.

Now Livi is the one to be digging in dirt and jumping in mud puddles.....all the while wearing a "princess dress". She was actually pretty helpful. I don't know if the flowers will live as she was man-handling them while planting. But it not, she had fun and is still talking about her "purpur" flowers.

Can you see the dark brown little spots?? There really are some more little flowers there.

This one turned out very well I think. I hope that moss lining thing holds up. Last year I had one of those plastic ones in there. I really wanted to find some of that live mossy stuff to line it, but I couldn't find any of here in big Texas.

This one is one Livi did all by herself. I think I defintely will have to put that one in something else. It seems to low for that liner thingy. The opening is kind of crescent shaped, so I would have to probably put a square one it in.....

Oh well, it all turned out great. We got the potting mix cleaned up, porches swept, and everything put away before the kids were ready to eat and crash!

happy Monday, y'all!

Stuff Portrait Friday - two....

I know it is not Friday yet....but I have time NOW...so Kristine at Random and Odd. new challenge for this week is .....insert drum roll here....TWO. So my two includes: two projects that I need to get done this weekend..

While Mike was home, hanging this planter was on his "honey do" list. Now it is just begging for some flowers. I was waiting until the spring soltice to finally put some flowers in it. Some old man told Mike that it would freeze one more time here around the 20th....

I don't usually put much thought into statements like that, especially since it has already been nearly 90 degrees on several occasions. But, in the back of my mind I was wondering if he knew something I didn't! Remember what happened the last time it iced over here......My poor little flowers never recovered. There is another urn like this on the other side of the garage. The little tree in it has some brown leaves in the center, so I think it might be dead. The flowers have long been pulled out. After the ice thawed, they looked like lettuce does when it gets to cold in the veggie drawer.
This is another fun planter that I got at the prisoner store in Leavenworth. Yep, some convicted felon crafted that little doozy with his own little criminal hands. It has started to get that rusty patina I so love. My little ladybug kevlar (or it is styrofoam, not sure what the training one is called) is looking a little dusty. I guess she needs a bath this weekend too. I saw one of these ladybeg helmets when Mike and I first got married. He made this one for me just before he left.
The final place begging for some color is this little patch between the porch and the front yard. These mums and some other things came back after I hacked all the dead stuff off.

So tomorrow after I drop Will off, I guess Livi and I will head over to Home Depot or Lowes and get some flowers. I can bet Livi will want anything "purpur", it is still her favorite color. The kids and I will be getting down and dirty this weekend...okay technically that is three places that need flowers, but who is counting??

Did you play?

friday night

Today was super rainy and muggy all day....

I got some more ivy to put in the planters. I'll post pics of them in all their glory later.

The kids and I are going to make little terrariums this weekend. I saw them in an ad for Lowes. Now I am not the one who usually goes to Lowes or Home Depot, so this was new to me. I had such fun getting the stuff for them. Liv and I went today while Will was in school. I'll post pics after we do them tomorrow. We are going to make them this weekend. Will doesn't have school Monday, so we have to spread out the fun for three days!!

happy Friday!
t.-