Look at Me Now!!

One of my best friends, Traci ,is a very talented blog designer so she offered to give my blog a makeover and I am so glad that she did. I have to say that I LOVE it!! I am so excited to have a new look and I love the way she set everything up. If you are thinking of a new look for your blog then Traci over at Sweet Cheeky Designs is your girl!

Thanks sweet friend, I love ya!

A Productive Weekend

What a weekend! My sweet husband and I were very productive this weekend which was so nice. I love getting a yard ready to celebrate Spring and Summer with all the beautiful flowers. Cary had a lot of items waiting on his "to do list" due to tax season taking all of his free time before now. 

Over the weekend Cary installed a new storm door since ours shattered last year when he was mowing. This was a blessing

since the last one had broken a few time and was circa 1980's and not very sturdy. I never realized how often I used it till it was gone. I love openingthe door to look at the world and also as a way to let people know we are expecting them when they come over. I love my new storm door, thanks Honey!

Also on the list was taking a tile class at Home Depot, mowing and fertilizing the yard, edging, killing weeds, and trimming the trees in the front yard. I am sure I have forgotten a few things but these were the main items. 

This is just one of the four piles of branches in

our yard.

In case you are wondering I had my own list too.

I waited till Saturday to go pick out flowers so that Kaylee could go help too. About 5 minutes

into touring Garden World with them I wondered why I did not leave them both at

home. All I kept hearing was "I am thirsty", "I am hungry"," I am tired", "It is so hot", "Are we

going home yet?". Then we got to go to Lowes too. After about an hour we returned home to start planting since I had already prepared the beds that morning. Once we started planting, the

girls made it half way around the first tree, I realized I had only bought enough flowers to go around one tree in the front yard. I had bought 4 flats of flowers! I always forget just how big that flower bed is.

Therefore I got to make a return trip to Lowes

for 3 more flats of flowers, a rose bush, and a

few bags of soil. Once I returned to my car I realized I had left my phone in the car while I was shopping and Cary had called. Before even leaving the parking lot I got to make a return trip into the store to get a new nozzle for the garden hose. At this point I decided Cary and I could both use some Sonic refreshment. 

When I returned home the FedEx man delivered my new

favorite thing, this solar powered fountain birdbath. I am even

more happy that I finally found something to take up the space in this bed beside the arbor that we will all enjoy.

After all his hard work my sweet husband even grilled dinner for us last night while the girls played outside. 

Oh, the joy of Spring! Just a few pictures to show what Spring is all about.

An Ocean Performance

On Friday we had the joy of going to see Kaylee perform in her school music program for the year. There is something about going to a performance in a school cafeteria that just brings back a floodgate of memories. As you can see from this first picture their theme was All About the Ocean for this year. There was a lot of action going on during the performance. There were singers, dancers, and some children had speaking parts. I was really impressed with the creativity of the parents who had to design their own fish costumes for those speaking and also with the fact that none of the children forgot their lines. ( I was very lucky all Kaylee had to wear was a solid color shirt and jeans.)  The performance was really cute and lasted 20 minutes which was the perfect amount of time to try to keep a three year old entertained especially when you get there 30 minutes early to get a good seat. 

Kaylee was so excited to be able to play finger cymbals during the song "Colors of the Sea". She was so proud and so were we.

Here is Kaylee smiling and singing away.  A few of the other song they sang were "we're Sharks leaving our Marks" and "Commotion in the Ocean". All the songs were cute and so were the children.

When I asked Kaylee why she did not want a speaking part she said that she did not try out for it due to her stage fright. She would prefer to stay in a group on stage.  I love that girl!

I just love days like today! Way to go Kaylee!

Conversations with Kaylee

I just have to blog about this conversation Cary had with Kaylee last night.

Kaylee asks Daddy, " Why is my sister so odd?" 

Pause

Kaylee, " I know why, because she is three years old and three is an odd number!"

Cary, "Well you are seven years old and that is an odd number too."

Kaylee, "I guess I am a little odd too."

They both crack up laughing.

I just love the things that come out of my girls' mouths. Priceless.

Surprise!

On April 15th we woke up to a BIG surprise around our house. During the night some visitors had arrived at our home. If you live in our town there is a chance they could be coming to you soon.

No you are not seeing things, there are pink flamingos in our yard. A local realtors association places pink flamingos in your yard if a friend pays $10 to have them put there. We can say "Thank You" to our dear friend Lindi. The flamingos stay in your yard for 2 days and then 

you can choose to have them placed in someone else's yard for the $10 fee or do nothing at all. I

thought it was a very clever fundraiser. The profits go to buy children new shoes at the beginning of the school year who otherwise would have none. 

I would say we had about 15-20 of these plastic birds in our yard. Kaylee was not sure what to think but Campbell thought it was the best thing ever. Campbell kept running to the window all day to make sure that they were still there. Of course, she also kept calling them swans due to her love of the Barbie Swan Princess movie. It really was quite humorous. So much so we had to get a picture of Campbell with her new friends before they flew the coop.

Tremendous!!

Tremendous is the word my husband used about the food and good time with friends that we had last night. Two of my sweet friends, April and Whitney, turned 30 this month so eight couples went out to celebrate. Since we moved here we have been hearing about a wonderful restaurant called Rancho Loma located in Valera, TX. The website calls it an experience and I believe them. There is a very talented chef who has a set menu each weekend consisting of five fabulous courses. This weekend the menu was full of the best food that has ever touched my lips I do believe. It is a little pricey but so worth it. After all once you make the reservation the table is yours for the night so you can walk around the wonderful ranch in between courses so you can make more room in your tummy and enjoy scenery as well as the quiet.

Just to give you a little thought to ponder here is the menu from last night:

Mixed mushroom & goat cheese pizza

Rock shrimp & sweet pea rissotto

Roasted tomatoes & mozzarella salad w/ pine nuts (and an amazing pesto sauce)

Grilled Premium Porterhouse for Two ( They were not kidding, the best steak EVER!)

Chocolate cremoso w/ sea salt

We decided to sit with all the women at one table and the men at another. I do not know who laughed more or louder the men or the women. Who knew eight men could talk nonstop just like a bunch of women? Our table also had fun when the different courses were served watching the mens' faces as they branched out and tried something new.  I am proud to say that they all

 tried each item and were won over by all the mouthwatering flavors. 

Needless to say it was five courses of INCREDIBLE!! Before we left the table for the evening we decided to go ahead and plan for the next person's birthday to be there too. I cannot wait to go back again!!

Here is a picture of me and Cary just to prove that we did go together:-)

As we walked to our cars still smiling from the great evening spent laughing with friends we looked up and took in all of the beautiful stars in the sky and were so blessed by the wonder of God. Thank you Lord for moments like these. 

Goodbye Tax Season 2009!

When your husband is an accountant you learn to look forward to April 15th each year. It becomes even more of a day to look forward to after having children because then you are not the only one looking forward to him coming home each night but so are two little girls who think their Daddy is the best ever. Cary tries very hard to be home a few nights a week during the months of February till April 15th (really March thru April is when it gets really bad) to actually eat dinner with us and tuck the girls in to bed at night since that is their special time even if he has to go back to work afterwards and work until morning before returning home again. He does a wonderful job of not bringing his frustration home and being very helpful when he is at the house. He even continues to make us feel special each day. This year he managed a very crazy tax season as well as being the assistant coach of Kaylee's softball team. I loved him so much for that! He is our Hero!! In order to show our appreciation we decided to have a celebration waiting for him when he got home yesterday. I cooked a yummy dinner of asparagus, Italian new potatoes, steak Diane, and a gooey pumpkin cake for dessert for us all to sit at the table and enjoy as a family. 

I also bought some poster board and had the girls each design a poster for Daddy. Kaylee chose to put the words "Welcome Back" on her poster. When I asked her why those words she said because he was coming back to be with the family for dinner and the rest of the fun family times at night. I thought that was hilarious! 

Cary got a kick out of it too.

Here is Campbell's sign. She just wanted to tell Daddy that we loved him.  

We all love our Husband/Daddy and are so proud of all the hard work he does each day to make sure we are taken care of. Thanks for all you do honey!!

Easter Day 2009!

Here are Kaylee and Campbell with their Easter baskets bright and early Easer morning. They were both very excited to tear into them and see what the Easter Bunny had left them. Kaylee was a little concerned about what exactly was from us and what was from the Easter Bunny. I had never given a thought to her even caring. Mental note to remember that for next year if she still believes in the Easter Bunny. Campbell on the other hand just wanted to see the new Crysella doll she had gotten since she is all about anything involving a doll of any size. They also got their cards from Papa, Nana, Great Papaw, Uncle Don, Aunt Trudy, and Duncan. Since Papa and Nana sent money in theirs for the girls to get a treat we even made a trip to Wal-Mart on Easter after a yummy lunch at Red Lobster, and going to see Monsters vs. Aliens. It was definitely a day full of a lot of activity for all of us.

Right before church we actually had time for a picture outside on the porch. The grass was wet and it was cool outside so no picture with actual green grass in it. Maybe that is something we can try to accomplish another Sunday. I thought the girls looked beautiful  and was very pleased that they were both smiling. 

Hope all my blogging friends had a wonderful Easter!

SH Egg Hunt 2009

Now that I have a working computer I can post about Easter Happenings so here we go. 

Both of the girls had Easter Egg Hunts at school but since I was sick on the couch the whole

week I did not make it to either hunt and I do not have pictures to show you at this time. However, I was up and moving for the big Egg Hunt at church on Saturday. The only bad thing was that it was too cold outside for them to wear the precious outfits that I had purchased for them months ago. You would think that by now I would have a cute long sleeved back up outfit

 for each of them. Maybe next year.

 

Doesn't Campbell look very excited in this picture? I do not know why but when the time came to hunt she just wanted to hold on to my leg for a few minutes before getting into the hunting. After she warmed up to the idea she was very picky about the eggs she chose. None of the sugar coated eggs or

marshmallow animals for her. 

She managed to get a basket full of goodies and was all smiles when it came to running around with her friends afterwards.

Kaylee's age group was next and she was ready to

go. She has a very serious look on her face like

she is thinking of a game plan while standing with two of her precious friends. I think Kaylee's

 plan was to get all she could as fast as she could. Cary said he could hardly keep up with her to get some action shots because she was too fast. 

Here she is after the hunt was over holding up her very full bunny basket.

Here are the girls enjoying their second favorite activity of the day. An Easter Egg Hunt would not be complete without a barrel train ride that bounces you all over an open field. Just hearing the giggles and screams of joy made all the people smile. 

We had a wonderful time watching the girls and enjoying some of the candy that they would part with afterwards. For the rest of the day we went and had a yummy lunch at Chili's and then spent the evening watching Bedtime Stories for a family movie night.  The perfect end to a great day!