weekend eye candy

today.  i'm re-landscaping.

if you live close by, feel free to drop in and bring a wheelbarrow and a shovel visit. 

when we bought our house 2 1/2 years ago, we immediately started planning the new landscaping.  ok, so I immediately started planning.  we brought in several landscape dudes to give us quotes, check out the drainage issues, and sketch designs. 

then we sat back, took in the $hocking figure$, and decided to wait.

well, i'm officially tired of waiting.  so i'm starting on all the areas that won't be affected by the new drains we have to eventually put in.  

so, i'm jotting notes, searching my landscaping/gardening boards on pinterest, and scouring my local nursery for what looks good.

so here's a little peek of my plans.  any and all constructive comments are welcome.  {hint, hint}

i'm doing something similar to this on the shady side of my house.

source

i'm also mixing in hydrangeas.  i was also considering mixing in ornamental grass, but my man really hates it.  and i love it.  and i think i should win this argument, right?!?!

source

i'm thinking 3 knockout roses, one hydrangea, 3 knockout roses, 1 hydrangea, etc.  maybe an ornamental grass in the very middle.

thoughts from any of you trusty gardeners???

source

i'm also looking at mixing lavender in with the hostas in front of the knockout roses and hydrangeas.

source

that's one side yard plan.  i can't do the other side of the house because that's where we have to have a drain installed.  all the way around the house, to the other side yard.  but i can still landscape one side without causing problems.

once the drain is installed, i want a rock path.

source

i love that.  don't you?!?!?

and in the front, i'm trying to reuse existing things.  but only what i like love.  and mixing in more boxwoods, hostas, lavender, juniper blue star, pencil holly, and perhaps a hydrangea or two.

source

by the way, Bubba just walked in as i was typing all this out.  he wants to do this in our backyard.

source

if only, Bubba.  if only.  i so admire his enthusiasm.

i'll share before & after pictures when i'm finished.  hopefully they'll be worth showing.  {grin}

my boy

oh.  this boy.

y'all....he melts me. 

ok, his older brother does too.  {and that girl.}  but y'all seriously, he melts me.  

looks nothing like me:  fair to my dark.  straight to my curls.  blonde to my brown.  math to my music.

and i just flat out heart him.

on sunday morning Bruiser discovered his front tooth was loose.  and of course he couldn't leave it alone.  

monday he played his very first baseball scrimmage.  monday night he lost that tooth. 

notice those sleepy little eyes in that picture above.  after the boys' baseball game i had a marathon tennis match.  {which i lost in a tie break. grrr.}  

when i got home WAY past his bedtime, he was still awake.  

waiting to tell me.  show me.

just like last time, he couldn't let the tooth fairy take his tooth.  he had to leave another note.  {cute, right?!?!}

oh this silly little fella.  he doesn't even really look like himself in any of these pictures.  but his little personality sure does come out.

y'all.....i love him.  my cup overfloweth.  seriously.  

and i kinda like the fact that he is one seriously big fat momma's boy.  

and he's unashamed.

just the way i like it.

another one bites the dust

my boys have been listening to Queen lately.  a particular favorite is Another One Bites the Dust. 

and that's the perfect title for today.  because another one is sick.  first it was my Doh Doh, my Birdy Bird.  now it's Bubba.

it's been a long day of high fever, new medicine, vomit from the taste of Tylenol meltaways, and so much more.

i don't like being stuck inside when the weather is gorgeous outside.  

and so some days you just gotta do what ya gotta do.

that's right.  i took my ironing outside.  i do it a lot this time of year.  i also fold laundry outside.  and pretty much anything else i can do outside, i do it.  in fact, i had planned to blog outside today.  but i'm just now sitting down for the first time today.  {sigh}

my girl joined me.  staring at the swings, wishing i wasn't ironing.  {yeah, me too.}  but she loves being perched up on the deck like this.  

by the way, my girl has quite the fashion sense these days.

and truly, boots go with everything.

when we drove down to school to pick up my Bruiser, Doh Doh jumped in my lap as soon as I parked the car.  

she immediately put her fingers in her mouth.  and very soon i heard snoring.

now listen.......be kind.  remember i've had sick kids.  i'm wearing no makeup and my hair...well, my hair....ugh.  i NEVER take pictures of myself.   EVER.  but it's a goal for 2013 to be in more pictures with my kids.

that's how she sucks her fingers.  pinky and ring finger in her mouth with the opposite arm crossed over.  most of the time her hand is a fist and she hits it against her lips.  odd, charming, and hilarious.

i was texting all of these to my man.  my kids never fall asleep on me like this!  not since they were super little.  so i stole every little kiss i could.  rubbed my finger down her soft cheekies.  and kept her tucked right in.

i hated it when she woke up.  and classic Doh Doh, her first words were:  where's Bruiser?

that girl loves her brudders.

and we're praying her brudder Bruiser doesn't also get strep.  this has been a very rough week.  and now, i need some sleep.  i also need to check on all my babies.  i bet at least one is softly snoring.  again.

a look at the past

ya know, it's very funny to go back and read my past blog posts.

i rarely label my posts so digging through them is a chore.

but i just read a few and it's fun to go back down memory lane.  even some i've completely forgotten about!

**  i just enjoyed reading this one sharing my faith, two of my favorite Scriptures, and even one of my favorite songs.

**  in this one i talk a little about my Jane Austen love.

**  another post about faith, but this one has a youtube clip of a super awesome song.  if you didn't download it when i first shared it, then do so now.  in fact, all of matt maher's songs.  because they're awesome.

**  if you like springy eye candy, then check this out.  good pictures...plus more Jane Austen.  what can I say....it's spring!!!!

**  i love random posts.

**  pollyanna love.  'nuff said.

**  and just because it's cute.

happy saturday!!!!

{fridays i'm in love with you}

name that band!

my girl is still sick.  strep.  ugh.  sorry for all those we came in contact with before we knew.  {i hate that!}

this is day 3 of captivity being cooped up in the house.  and y'all...i've gotten so much done!  oh my!!!!

on wednesday i did laundry, stripped the beds, cleaned the kitchen, etc.
on thursday i started cleaning and rearranging the playroom.  yikes.  
today i finished the playroom!

well, finished it for now.  here's my goal.........

source

although i refuse to pay very much for our set up.  i change my mind too quickly.  we get tired of things.  or we find out that it doesn't fit our needs.

source

so i'm looking at a table top, a few file cabinets or drawers and that's that.

source

the picture above is from the Bachman Idea House.  I've talked about it on pinterest before.   on the blog Bees Knees Bungalow she does several posts from the different Bachman houses.  Definitely worth the read!!!  major, may-juh eye candy.

the blog Hammers and High Heels also does posts on the Bachman Idea Houses.  again, super duper eye candy.  sometimes on Bees Knees she does angle shots which, personally, make me want to vomit from the motion sickness.  but not everyone feels the need to puke when turning her head too quickly.  {grr.}

p.s.....i'm watching Pride & Prejudice.  Mr. Darcy is currently walking across the dewy meadow to claim his love.  gasp!!!!!!  <3 i="">

so yesterday i cleaned out the boys' closet.  not a great pic, but it looks so good now!!!

i moved an old coffee table in there just to get it out of the playroom.  the drawers hold all our puzzles and some games.  underneath it stashes a couple of bigger toys that now can't be seen.

"you have bewitched me body and soul"
{gasp!!!!}

we get a lot of questions about our shoe buckets.  the boys each have a bucket (they desperately need to be repainted!!!) and they just chunk their shoes in it.  we've tried a lot of different things...but buckets have worked the best.  seriously.  so lots of people give me a quizzical look when i tell the fellas to put their shoes in their shoe buckets...but it works for us.

so until i decide on what desk arrangement i want....here's what we have.  this was our old dining room table.  then turned craft/sewing table.  now completely computer table.

and i'm searching for chairs.

source

i like these.  but i just put red metal chairs in my kitchen.  red is the only color these come in.

source

at first i was in love with these.  now....hmmm....notsamuch.  the reviews are awesome, but they all take about putting them out by the pool, or on the patio, etc.  don't think that's what i'm going for.

source

ok, love these chairs and might use them again.  i just put these in my kitchen.  except i did red.

we LOVE them!  and they are much more comfortable than what we had.

i'm still trying to get used to the red...but y'all know me!  i love color!!!

well, it has taken me over 4 hours to write this one post.  (yikes...almost 5 hours.)  in between writing, i've also read about 14 books, given medicine, snuggled, and refilled water bottles.  all for my sickly little lady.  so now i'll happily go back to snuggling.

and at bedtime, i'm watching pride and prejudice again.  it is spring after all.

{my girl}

i love my girl.  and right now she's sick.

she's running fever.  but other than that she's been dancing around the house.

i know it sounds funny...but i like sick days.  i like snuggling.  i like being stuck in the house.  i like reading, working puzzles, snuggling, watching movies, snuggling....

i even like the fact that she asks me 9,452,358 times if that man is God.  it's really just a man selling Jonah a ticket to "not Ninevah."  but it's cute.

doh doh started running fever some time yesterday.  we took the boys to baseball practice and were just supposed to drop them off and go back home.  but the tylenol had kicked in.

and she dressed for the occasion.

so we hung out for a little bit.  watching.  enjoying.

of course, when she said she needed to potty we hit the road.  momma does NOT like the restrooms at the ball fields.  in fact, you could pretty much just say public restrooms in general.  yuck.  {boys are so much easier.}

by the way, doh doh's little BFF thanks God every night for her.  and her purse.

and that's just cute, y'all.  {and so is my girl}

bunheads {i miss it}

so let's talk about bunheads, shall we?

some of you groaned.  and immediately stopped reading.

others of you cheered!  and you are my favorite readers.  {ha}

source

yes, i do love this show.  and yes, i've blogged about it before.  maybe even twice.  

now, honestly, what did all of you faithful viewers think after it came back after the hiatus?  did you like the additional characters?  were you stunned at the finale?  {confession:  i was floored.  and i may or may not have shed a tear for Ginny.  cute, spunky Ginny.  oh my.}

source

i'm cuh-razy for that yellow shrug she wears.  makes me want to dance again!!!

i'm ready for season 2.  i don't know when it's coming back, but i'm ready to see what all unfolds.

to quote Mike Hale @ NY Times:[Bunheads is]..."a serious, literate, hourlong comedy it will always be a rare breed. (And it is a comedy, in the classical sense, not a comic drama or, ugh, dramedy.) Ms. Sherman-Palladino’s hyperverbal, screwball style and amusingly neurotic characters seem to be drawn less from television history than from John Hughes, Woody Allen and Jane Austen."

source

and no, i don't go around reading articles about my tv shows...truth be told i'm just not that fanatical about stuff like that.  but i did do a google search looking for answers to season 2 dates.  (does that make me fanatical?!?!?!)

until then, i'll continue watching my golden girls and frasier reruns.  i'll snort out loud while realizing how closely my life resembles Big Bang Theory (i married a cross between sheldon, leonard, raj, and howard).  i'll giggle watching sean & gus on psych.  and of course finish out the latest season of project runway.

and.....wow.  that sounds like a lot of tv.  to make myself feel better, perhaps i should do another post on books i'm reading.  perhaps that'll make me feel smarter and less stereotypical.

source

just because it's funny

i told y'all the other day that i love working out.

i even shared with you my favorite workouts, etc.  however, i failed to mention something very important about my workout on the Rebounder trampoline.

and i thought about it after reading this post on Meg's blog.  i even left Meg a sweet little comment, which was probably way more info than she wanted to know.  but she started it....

ya see, i'm a mom.  to 3 kids.  and my first kid was over 9 pounds, 22 inches long, and had a head like a bowling ball.

do you get where i'm going with this?

yeah, jumping on a trampoline isn't such a great thing.  ok, jumping on anything isn't that great of an idea.  coughing is brutal.  heck, a sneeze that catches me unaware is horrendous.  get me??

yesssssssssssss.....poise pads and i have become BFFs.  

but if Rebounding trims away my saddlebags, then BFFs we shall be.

and i'm unashamed.

oh, these guys

so let's get back to playing catch up........

these fellas.  oh my.

i love them.

i mean, they try my patience every day. 

every.  single.  day.

but they're oh so adorable.  right?!?!  when they're not fighting....  {ahem}

right now all they're interested in is playing Minecraft.  and of course fighting over it.

Bruiser sings everything.  every. thing.  it's hilarious.  he sings instructions.  he sings while pooping.  he sings in the shower (his favorite, from the M&M commercial, is i'm sexy and i know it).  he sings while playing minecraft.  he sings while doing everything.  this week his favorites have been Christmas songs.  (let heaven and nature sing!)  but he usually just makes up lyrics, with whatever he's doing at the moment. (i'm clearing the table!  because my mom told me to!  and i'm sexy and i know it!)

i love him.

Bubba...Bubba is getting very witty.  i must confess, he seems to be developing my quick wit and passion for one-liners.  and he can deliver them deadpan, straight face and all.  the other night while tucking him in, he had me laughing so hard i quickly forgot all about my rush to get everyone to bed early.  all i could do was wipe away the tears and listen to more.

they just crack me up.  

i miss the baby days, when their teeth were little and cute.  and they smelled good.  but i love seeing their personalities come out.  love seeing the men they are becoming.  i love seeing their hearts.

and i really love watching them just be her "brudders."

blessed.  oh so very blessed.

a tisket, a tasket

i loved Easters when i was a kid.  we always went to my grandmother's house.  egg hunts, adventures with my cousins, great food, and family.

i really do love my family.

this Easter reminded me of those Easters long ago.  

saturday we dyed eggs.  so. much. fun.  some turned out really pretty.  i even attempted a few hombre eggs...but the kids weren't patient enough to wait for that kind of crafty.

i have all these wonderful egg cups.  i used them to decorate the table for Easter dinner. but doh doh wanted to use them to display her beautiful eggs.

not surprising, she wanted all pink eggs.

watching them figure out colors, techniques....priceless.

it was serious business.

as you can tell.

and besides all the eggs.....tulips.  i have tulips on my table.  i love them.  i have daisies all over the house right now too.  they were centerpieces on all the tables for Easter.

don't you think that daisies are the friendliest flower?

yes.  yes i do.

{name that movie}

but tulips ain't half bad either.  love this time of year.

y'all, i love this movie

i love the meaning of Easter.

the true meaning of Easter.

i'm annoyed at all the bunnies, the candy, and the feeling given that Easter is just a welcoming of Spring.  

pish.  posh.

{check out yesterday's post for a great Piper quote.}

and though this has NOTHING to do with the real meaning of Easter.... by golly, i love this movie.

source

it is hands down one of my top ten favorites.  seriously.  i hope you've seen it.  i hope you own it!!!!

{i even own the soundtrack.  of course i do.}

if you haven't seen it before stop reading this blog pronto then go find it!  watch it!  it is so good.  i mean, sooooooooooo good.

source

i quote this movie a lot.  i mean, nobody else gets it.  but i quote it nonetheless.

and people look at me oh-so-funny when i sing "happy easter!" to them.  just like Fred Astaire.  i want to scream at the people looking at me with one eyebrow raised, "Hey, get some culture!  watch a great movie!"  but whatevs.

source

if you're my friend in real life then you've probably been around when i've spontaneously busted out singing, "all night long he calls her Snooky-ookums, Snooky-ookums."

you'll be happy to know it comes from this movie.  see....i'm not crazy after all.

and i have sung so many times i can't even tell you the song Judy sings, "when that midnight choo choo leaves for Alabam, i'll be right there!  i've got my fare!"

so good!!!!!

or my favorite....... "i love a piano.  i love a piano.  i love to hear somebody play!"

if you've never seen this movie, please OH PLEASE watch this clip.  seriously.  it's only 3 minutes.  and it's such a FANTASTIC sequence.

did i mention i was begging??!?!?!?  even if you've seen the movie.  

watch.  this.  clip.

and then you can thank me. {you will}

p.s........ if any of you are on the audition circuit, those 2 songs i quoted make great audition songs.  you'll be the only one who uses them!  and that's NOT a bad thing.  {just please don't sing Les Mis.  please.}  this is a pretty good audition song as well (the ending).  I did this at a summer stock audition.  it worked for me!!