A Me Day

I spontaneously decided to flee the house on this beautiful day and see where my car would lead me.

I stopped by the Travel Agency (they weren't open) because I'm really trying to make my dream of going to Mexico during my off call time a REALITY. My cousin has a house in Sayulita that he said we can use (for a darn good price=practically free).

Then I went to redeem my Mother's Day gift: Mani/Pedi. Very relaxing and now I have some wild RED toes. Don't you like how I cropped the picture to exclude my funny little toes.


On my way to the mall I detoured to Lowes. I don't know why. Just because. Looked for pole beans and they didn't have any.

Then I headed to the mall with my other Mother's Day gift certificate to redeem at See's Candy. Oh mother load of chocolate and nuts! A whole pound just for me.

I headed to the Land's End section of Sears to return a swimsuit I had ordered. I was just trying to save the cost of shipping and lucky me, they had the same suit in the store so I got to find the right size and exchange it there. (side note: why don't they turn down the heat/turn up the air in the dressing rooms? That is hard work. Take clothes off. Put clothes on. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Wrong size. Put own clothes back on. Go out and find correct size. Do it all over again.)

Of course I found another outfit I had to have.

Then I walked the mall. Just for the heck of it. I perused Barnes and Noble and found a couple of new gluten free cookbooks. I'm really excited to try this one. I recently saw the author on Martha Stewart and her gluten free treats looked soooo yummy. Many of the recipes are spelt recipes. Not gluten free but easier to make.


Next stop: Grocery store, for items needed to try a new recipe I found on The Food Network. And they had pole bean seeds.

Then: Trader Joes, for more gluten free goodies. Quinoa, brown rice, rice pasta mac & cheese, almonds.

Also: Jo-Ann Fabric, for....dadadada....FABRIC. I'm going to cover the cushion on the bench that now sits on my front porch.

Now I have a long list of things to do tomorrow: Make a cushion cover, try my new recipe for dinner, plant beans.

I hope I'm at a birth, but if not I'll tackle that list.

Meet Annie!

Emilia and Annie

Amos being very jealous of Annie.

Annie is wiped out after hours of playing with Amos.

The girls and their puppies.
Emilia and Annie. Savannah and Amos.
(Amos is going crazy trying to get to Annie)

NO!

We did NOT get a new puppy. Emilia's dad got a new puppy and we got to puppy sit her for the day on Sunday. She is a 10 week old lab-shephard mix. She is sweet and Amos is crazy for her. We are trying to tell him that in just a few weeks she will be bigger than him (and she will continue to get bigger than him) then she will be pushing him around. She was a little stressed by our rambunctious dog at first, but as the day went on Annie learned how to keep Amos in check.

Our Backyard Addition

I love the flowers in my yard.

After three weekends of labor we finished our backyard project. I should call it the accidental project! One morning while I was away Mario began hacking away at this overgrown tree, which opened the door to our imaginations. With the brush and branches gone we found almost 20 feet of yard. It is all shaded, we've added the hammock and a couple of tables.

Unfortunately (because it was an accidental project) we didn't take "before" pictures. And the "after" pictures aren't very good, but we are very happy with the end result. The weather has given us a gift these last few days and since we finished on Friday night we have spent every free moment outside. We LOVE it!

Juice Taste Test

For a school project Emilia conducted a juice taste test. She asked us which juice we thought we would prefer before the taste test. After trying each kind of juice (apple, grape, orange), she asked us which was our favorite. It was nice that all the kids participated and had fun together.

Parker at Work

He really does have a job! Here is the truck he drives every day to pick up donations for the Vietnam Veterans of America, with goods that end up at our favorite thrift store, "Red, White & Blue". Go HERE to schedule a pick up and maybe you'll see my handsome boy.

All Because Of A Hammock

I guess the hammock is the reason we've been "remodeling" our backyard for the last three weekends. When we realized it wouldn't fit the hammock frame that we already had, we needed to find another place to hang it. The perfect location was hidden by brush and branches. Very soon it will be done. As soon as we lay the bark chips I will take pictures of the results. I'm excited to have about 20 feet added to my back yard. Oh, and doesn't Emilia look adorable chillin' in the hammock?

One Of My Favorite Things

Lilac's
The sweet smell of spring, and one of my favorite of God's creations.

I am lucky enough to have one tree in my back yard with large, succulent blooms that appear fairly early in spring. They remind me of my childhood. We had a purple tree and a white tree in our backyard. (I liked the purple variety best). I would pick them and fill my mom's house with their sweet scent. I would use them to fill handmade May day baskets that my friends and I would secretly place on the neighbors door.

Now I love it when I see the buds on my own tree and know that in just a matter of days I will be able to enjoy their glory. They don't last long, so I have been picking bunches every few days and filling my home with the sweet reminder of my childhood. Just today I went out to cut a few more flowers to refill the vases and noticed the brown petals appearing. The end of another lilac season is near. But something wonderful will soon be here in it's place!