Memorial Day

First of all, happy Memorial Day. While I myself never served in the Armed Forces, I do have many friends and family who have. It wasn't because I didn't want to- I had a health issue that prevented me from passing the physical. I spent four years in JROTC, so many of my friends and classmates went on to serve our country. In short, freedom isn't free and even though most of us enjoy the three-day weekend, we can't forget to reflect on those brave men and women who gave their lives so we could remain free.

The view from our front porch- stars and stripes, a dirt road and a hay field- Americana at its best! 

We spent our weekend working on some house projects, doing yard work, and spending time with family. 

Saturday was mostly spent chasing around paint colors for E's new room and for our front door project. You can read more about that on our house blog, Organized and Simplified. We had a cookout with my husband's family, where we visited with his cousin who lives in Georgia. Emorie got to spend time with her best bud and cousin Caroline. These two are beyond cute! 

We spent Memorial Day itself working in our garden and FINALLY rounding up those paint colors. I will post more about that when we are done. 

A weekend filled with plantin' and family

If you can't tell, I took a bit of time off from blogging. My regularly scheduled blogging will resume at the end of this week. Our week has been extraordinarily busy.

How sweet is little miss Emorie?

Friday night was the eighth grade dance. I went, I danced, I helped give this year's eighth graders what I hope was a lasting memory they'll always treasure. I got home late, tired, but feeling good. 

Saturday morning led to a trip to Lowe's, where I purchased MDF and trim to create E's new chalkboard for her playroom. I'm not done with it yet. I also bought some shelf paper so I can give her little bookcase a quick make over. 

We also visited with family and planted some flowers in our numerous containers we've got stashed around this place. It was a great weekend, full of sunshine, fresh air and family, and I cannot wait for our three-day weekend this week. Please know that my outdoor planters are far from finished, but I am lovin' what we've done so far.

These red impatiens are planted in an old RC Cola wooden crate I found at my grandma's house. I was going to plant succulents, but when I saw these, I decided I'd really like them on my back porch. Plus, since we have our (currently unfinished) back porch decorated in red and navy, they match the color scheme. 

So the "RC Cola" is faded, but you can still see it.

Mother's Day weekend

I thoroughly enjoyed my Mother's Day weekend!

On Friday night, we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and then visited Michael's grandparents.

Emorie attended the Strawberry Festival with her grandmother, great-aunt and cousin, while the husband and I accomplished a few household tasks. She got her face painted and enjoyed the playground. Here's a picture of my sleepy sweetie after the Strawberry Festival- can you see the heart on her face?

When she returned, we took her to Burlington City Park. This park has an amusement park for small children with a carousel, a train, helicopters, boats, and little cars. There is also a walking track and playground. We love it because it's less than an hour from our house and the rides are only about a dollar each. Emorie loves it because she's fearless and loves the rides- the helicopters are her favorite! We were supposed to go shopping after the park, but a huge gully washer came up and we got soaked and had to go home.

Here we are riding on the train together. 

She loves the carousel- we rode it twice! 

My helicopter riding baby- her new favorite. 

She also rode the boats. This picture was taken only seconds before the torrential downpour began, which soaked us down to our skivvies. 

A soaking wet selfie- Emorie and I after getting soaked to the bone in a surprise rainstorm! 

On Sunday, we went to church, where we enjoyed a fantastic sermon. Mother's Day at our church is always Baby Dedication Sunday, which always takes me back to when we dedicated our sweet girl. Afterwards, we went to Cracker Barrel for a wonderful lunch with my mother-in-law, my husband's grandmother, and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. 

We definitely had a busy weekend, but it was a wonderful one! 

Weekend recap

We had a fantastic weekend, though a busy one.

Friday evening marked mine and Mr. B's fifth wedding anniversary. We don't feel like we've been married five years, but we have. My, how the time does fly! We didn't go anywhere Friday night, because we had gone out for a nice dinner the previous weekend for my birthday and our anniversary. We spent a quiet evening at home and just enjoyed one another's company.

This weekend, my grandparents and my aunt also came into town. They live three hours away, so even though we do see a lot of each other, we make it a point to spend some time together when they come down. My aunt, who is more like my sister than my mother's sister, and I went on a short, but very fun shopping trip. We are both crafters, so we hit up Hobby Lobby. I bought some wreath making supplies so I could finish up this project. I also made a mental note of several July 4/Memorial Day/Flag Day decorations I want to buy as soon as they are half-priced. We could have happily spent all evening in there, but we hurried over to the high school to watch my favorite cousin in her high school production of Tarzan. Sadly, we didn't get to watch the play as the loud music and some of the scenes in first part had poor Emorie freaking out. I guess she is a bit young to go to a musical :(. We ended up leaving and going to get some ice cream.

Emorie is involved in a program at church on Wednesday nights called "Adventure Kids." I am not one of the program leaders, but my mother is. I can definitely tell my kiddo has learned a lot about the Gospel through this program. Her Adventure Kids graduation was this morning at church. She sang four songs. This is important because last year she refused to stand on the stage or sing at all. She did a great job this year and even won her first certificate, for having the best attendance and the most badges in her class.

Singing away!

Serious face! 

"I am ready for a nap and I do not want to pose with my certificate!"

We have a busy week ahead, but we are ready for it! 

A birthday re-cap

Tuesday, April 29 was a pretty rough day at work, but fortunately, the day improved drastically when I left work. This was a good thing, since it was my birthday :)


I had already celebrated my birthday the previous Friday with my husband and daughter, and the previous Sunday with my parents and extended family with a home-cooked meal. On my actual birthday, we ate a home-cooked meal with my mother-in-law and father-in-law. He is a fantastic cook so I always appreciate and enjoy his meals.


We have been in our home for almost one year now and are still in the process of decorating it. I mostly received gift cards and money for my birthday. Two of the gift cards went toward new running shoes, while the rest will be used for house-related purchases.


I am really excited about what this new year holds in store for me!