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That's a bunch of bull-

And Mad made me take her picture with it.  Both her and Jaden think bulls are so funny.  We ate at Sante Fe yesterday for lunch and as soon as we got close to it, she started giggling and saying look at that bull mom!  It always goes downhill from there.  There is another restaurant in town called Mi Toros (one of my favs, and THE BEST mexican place to eat).  In the parking lot is another bull but sometimes if you park in the right spot, you will end up facing the rear of the bull if you get my drift.  Jaden always has to point out how we are parked in the bull's butt.  So what does Maddie yell out when we get close to Santa Fe's bull yesterday?  Yep, Look at that bull's butt!  I was so embarrassed but thankfully no one was around to hear it.  Of course I'm telling you all now though huh?   

I also wanted to show you my lilies!  They are starting to bloom-  Lilies are one of my favorite plants and I love the bright yellow color of them.  O and I don't have to do anything special to keep them alive.  This is very important, since as I've said in the past, I tend to kill anything green. 

Here's an update to the watermelon plants that the kids and Paul planted.  First thing in the morning, they head out to the back porch to look at them.  They are steadily growing and soon will be put into the ground.  Hopefully they will still grow once they are put into the clay we call dirt around here. 

I'm hoping to post a coupon tomorrow for Market Street on Saturday so check back. 

Have a great week! 

Red-neck kite flying, Chuck E. Cheese, & Landscaping

That sure is a big title right?  I've had lots of things to blog about but not enough time to actually do it.  I'm combining several days into this one so BEWARE: it's long one.

One day last week,it was really breezy and Maddie wanted to fly her kite.  She wanted it to go really high but it was hard for her to hold onto so Paul rigged up something to make it easier for her.  This is what we like to call "Red-neck kite flying"

Yes that's right, that's a fishing pole she's hanging onto, that's attached to the kite string.  Pretty ingenious I think (way to go hubby).  All that work Paul did and the she only flew it a little while and then was ready to do something else of course. That same day she had to get her Kindergarten shots.  4 to be exact.  I told her that morning what we were going to do and she immediately was not happy about the day.  I finally convinced her it had to be done and I would be with her the whole time so that she was so upset.  When we got there we had to wait about 20-30 to be seen and during that time she kept saying "When are they gonna call my name mom?, I'm ready for my shots!!!" Once we got back to the back she told the dr. Where are my shots??.  I was like, forgive her, she's a little nervous and just wants to get it over with.  But when the nurses came in holding four needles in one hand, she said rather quickly... "I don't want any shots!  I'm not ready, I'm not ready!".  She made it through couragiously and I took her to dollar tree to pick out one goodie for each shot.  She was happy with that, and I got out pretty cheap in the process :)

Last Friday night Paul & I drove over to T-town (Tuscaloosa, AL) for a night out to celebrate a friend's birthday.  The five of us went to a japanese steakhouse, which is one of my fav places to eat by the way, and filled up to the point of nausea!  I made myself not eat all day except for one muffin mid-day so that I would be able to enjoy all the food.  It was great.  After that Matt (the birthday boy) wanted to get some Starbucks coffee and then after that, we asked what he wanted to do next and he jokingly said, let's find an arcade!  Of course Paul was over that and said YES!  The only place we could find that wasn't a smoke filled pool hall, was Chuck E. Cheese!  I made everyone swear they wouldn't tell my children who were stuck at home with a babysitter and then said, I'm in let's go!  I hope we don't wait for another birthday to do it again. 

And finally, we come to the landscaping part of this blog!  Paul surprised me the other day by asking me if I would like to redo the front of the house?  I was like, uh, of course I do!  It looked terrible, since we really had let it go.  I took before and after pictures so you can see the difference.  It's hard to believe what a difference a little bit of dirt, mulch, and a whole day or hard work can do.

We started by going to Lowe's and picking up some stones for edging, some cow manure (which totally grossed my son out), and a hoe.  We still had some major weeding to do so instead of using the hand tool we had, we got the hoe.  It was so much better!  I especially liked the part where Paul used it.. hee hee.

After that, we stopped at the co-op and picked up a few scoops of mulch.  We've never bought it like that before and were surprised how much mulch comes from two scoops!  It was a crazy amount.  We ended up giving about a third of it to our neighbor since we couldn't use it all. 

Here's the before/after pictures!  (you can click on the pics to see them bigger)

I'm so proud of how it turned out!!!

   

   

   

We just enough stones leftover that we made a little garden around the mailbox.  I have to say I am extremely pleased with the new look of the house!  The window closest to the front door is my studio and I enjoy looking out of it now while I'm working.

We also picked up some watermelon seeds for the kids to plant.  Paul helped them get started in small buckets.  They were really excited about growing something-  I hope they grow!  I promised them I wouldn't touch them since I tend to kill all living plants.  Hopefully my pretty new flowers will take root and not die since I put them in the ground.

I think that about wraps things up.  Time to catch up in my studio...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers for Mama

My little girl loves to pick flowers.  Yesterday this is what she brought me.  It didn't start out this beautiful since she would bring me a handful at a time but this was the end result.  I wish I had a real flower garden she could pick real flowers out of but alas I kill anything I touch when it comes to greenery.  I have been able to keep my bushes alive but that's about all I have in front of the house.  Occasionally my neigbor comes over and plants things like lilies and such.  She is a pro when it comes to planting.  Sometimes they live sometimes they don't.  Probably because they've heard my reputation for being a plant killer.

On a totally different subject... I'm thinking of buying an embroidery machine.  I've wanted a good one for about 2 years now and can't figure out which one to get.  They are so expensive and I want to get the right one for me but it's so hard to tell which one that is.  I'd love to hear from you out there- I'm leaning toward a Brother and I want one with a USB port so I can use my computer along with it. 

Since I mentioned Brother.. I want to vent a little frustration I have with this company.  You cannot find prices anywhere for this brand.  The closest dealer to me is an hour away so I called and they said they couldn't tell me the prices over the phone.  Brother policy.  She said the company would take away her ability to sell Brother products if she disclosed that information because they want people to come see the product before they decide if the price is worth it or not.  I understand this to a certain degree.  My problem is that I have to drive an hour just to get a comparison of pricing???  So if any of you (who are not dealers) know some average prices I would really appreciate it :)

I'm off to work, I have about 20 Toy Boxes to complete and they sure aren't going to make themselves...