Easter Decor

I have discovered that I am not great at decorating for a holiday unless it is Halloween or Christmas. I did however do a little springy/Eastery thing to our mantle. The Silver vase was my Mother In Laws and I am beyond jazzed to have it.

May I introduce my spring decorations. Note...the egg garland was all perfect and level until Mr. James decided to add his decorative touch and mess it up. I like it this way too!

I love the little so fuzzy they look blurry chicks I got at Michael's for a dollar. 

This funny looking bird thing was a gift from my Mom. His name is Anthony and he is adorably funky. Just my style. 

Yea Spring!

 

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LambAround
It's So Very Cheri

Front Yard Changes

Well even though I've been nonexistent in blog land I have been busy. We have been working in both the front and back yards a lot. Its about time we do a little reveal of our progress.

Lets start with the before. Here are a few shots of the overgrown yard from our first walk through. The house stood empty for 2 years and the extent of yard work boiled down to  gardeners cutting the grass and that was about it. I wanted to be able to actually see the house from the street. I would love to eventually take out the huge less attractive pine tree but that isn't in the budget anytime soon. 

August 2010

April 2011

Some of the first things we did were remove the scalloped edging used for the flower beds. We had someone come in and take out the over grown shrubs as well. The flag pole was rusted and falling apart. Out that went...well after a few years of digging and some rope to pull the 4 feet of concrete used to anchor it in the ground.

We trimmed a lot of the pine tree, a bonus for my 6'6" husband who mows the lawn.  No more cracked heads for him.

I ordered a shade garden from www.michiganbulb.com and planted in it front of the window that includes Lilly of the Valley, Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart, Widows Tears, Lillys and Lady Fern. Since they are all bare root plants it will be a little ho hum this year but next year it will be a show stopper.

Grandmas original rose bushes have been pruned and moved to the back perimeter of the large flower bed. The bird bath was moved to front of the flower bed. I have three apricot roses that will eventually be a back drop the the bath. The large flower bed also includes Anemone, Ranunculus, Poppy, Violas, Cyclamen, and Dahlias. This weekend I planted a Mock Orange Tree as well as a Poeny. I have to admit that I have become obsessed with Poenys...I have two in pots in the back yard that will be slow to mature for now...but I did get one potted one this year...I love it!

Apricot Rose image from here

Double Mock Orange image from here

image from here

My plan is to have a few zones of planting and the roses on the perimeter with a stone path winding through the flowers. I would love to build a trellis for the garage wall with some Clematis but that will wait until we paint the house.

Oh and last but not least...the mother in law hill is gone! Now we have a slightly hilly front yard perfect for a Slip N'Slide this summer.

So for now this is the yard...a huge improvement in my eyes...what do you think?

I planted Iceberg Rose trees along our property line, it really helps define our yard from the neighbors. This weekend we took out grass here and created a flower bed that ran along our property line. Pictures on that later. I have planted Shasta Daisy between the roses and plan on using only white flowers here for a little show stopping action.

The shutters were going to be repainted the same color as the porch railing but after taking a closer look at them this weekend its been determined that they need to be replaced. Its not a great idea to paint over rotted wood right??? So that will be sometime in the future for sure. 

The chairs on the porch were given to us by Grandma and I have refinished them in red with cute new cushions of red flowers. Those hanging baskets will eventually sport cascading ferns and flowers. I imagine next year this garden will be beyond awesome. For now I am just thrilled to work in it and wait patiently for the pay off.

Oh and I am a expert at drip systems and sprinkler systems now if you have questions! 

Glad to be back! Until next time!

 

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Between Naps on the Porch

Fishtail Cottage

Long Time No Talk

Well its been too long! I am alive and well...just doing less than exciting or completed projects lately. We have been seeding our front lawn...yawn...painting but not finishing Megan's room...we have 1 million paint swatches in the master bedroom...the office is not organized...oh and I decided to start painting art work again. 

So yeah plenty going on but not much motivation to blog about it. Maybe once I have a actual complete project I'll blog again...until then sorry for the lack of blog...there are tons of wonderful blogs to fill your computer time reading however...be back soon!

Produce Co-op Wonderfulness!

Can you say yummm! 

This is what we got for our first week in the produce co-op from Megan's school! 15 dollars a week and we get all of this! Now I need to figure out what to use the eggplant for. I guess I am going to get a larger recipe file now. I am excited to have farm fresh organic produce and eggs for so cheap. 

Does anyone have any yummy eggplant recipes to share? 

The Joy of LOVE 01: what they do

I am participating in the joy of LOVE over at www.willettedesigns.com this month. Its a 28 day free class. I hope to get some great pictures of those I love as well as improve my skills! Please join me!

01: what they do

This is James, he does a lot...but his most favorite today was pushing big toys to the sofa so he could climb on them and then climb on the sofa to look out the window. Not only do I worry about him falling off the sofa, I am also concerned about the blinds that he joyously hits repeatedly. He loves to see the neighborhood cats in our yard and is fasintated by the cars that drive by. So for today this is what he does!

I am not sure if I like the color or b&w better. I like the light in his eyes however and his sweet little hand getting ready to do some damage.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Whoop Whoop! Chair Feature!

Well I am super jazzed and honored to have been featured on Better After today! Can you belive it! 

I find myself checking this blog throughout the day just for inspiration. I can not believe I am now a part of this amazing collection of projects! Super huge thank you to Better After! 

Here is the post including my Kitchen Chair Update.

Chairleaders 

If you want the entire tutorial you can check it out here. 

Thanks for the blog love...this reminds me that I should have done at least two projects this week...what a slacker! Enter excuse...busy family...5 shots for my little boy and pure TV addiction! There you have it!

I have a ton of plans...plenty of time to make them happen...and plenty of laziness getting in my way!

1 Year Old James...What a Big Boy!

James got a healthy report at the Dr. today. We had to do some allergy testing to see why little man can't seem to have eggs, cows milk or meat. Hopefully we get some answers and feeding him becomes easier soon. Developmentally James is right on track and his growth has caught up after his little stall at 9 months. 

Tall and skinny is my boy...just like his Daddy. 

2 feet 7.5 inches tall (93%)

21 pounds 13.6 ounces (32%)

On more fun details. He is walking holding on to things, he claps his hands and nods his head. His dancing is completely adorable, he seems to like all music but really dances to anything upbeat. His temper is quite entertaining and worrisome for me, he is only 1...I thought that didn't start until 2!!! We are ignoring fits now and doing our best to not laugh at some of his naughty antics. He has hands down the best reactions when his Daddy gets home. I love that time of day for many reasons (back up arriving is always great) but the main reason is its my daily reminder of what a wonderful family I have. My husband is a amazing Dad and Step Dad, proof being in the kids excitement when he gets home.

Here is a little picture overload the kiddos.

There is no saying these two are not related!

Two handsome boys in blue.

Best little lips ever!

I am so blessed to have two happy and healthy children! 

This coming weekend we will be starting on Megan's room. We have a pretty pale pink for the walls...details and pictures will be up soon!

Baseball Birthday for James

Well my son turned 1 this past weekend...I am amazed how time can fly by with children. We had a wonderful party for him and here are a few of the budget friendly details along with plenty of cake in the face pictures.

I designed this invitation on my killer Scrapbooking Max program and had it printed through the same company that does my printing for CK Photography. Cost about $1.00 each.

Cake! I was planning on doing a totally awesome baseball diamond big cake to go with James' baseball cake but decided the cupcakes would be cute too and same me some stress. I think they came out great and the pennants were made using my program as well. They were free since I designed and printed them. I used leftover appetizer skewers instead of toothpicks. Cakes and cupcakes were about 4 dollars I would guess...I had everything and made the frosting from scratch.

Favors were $ Store Coca-Cola glasses, socks from the Target dollar bins, erasers, pencils and note pads from the Target Valentines day goodies ($1.99 for a pack of 24). I tossed some peanuts in a zip bag and created a little label for those and we were good to go. OH...and I made little baseball thank yous for the favors as well. We actually did have two little ones included in the festivities so they were more baby friendly with rice snacks and baby sunglasses.

On to the yummy cake and fun gift opening. Its safe to say James likes to savor his sweets. He took his time picking off the red frosting until Mom helped him out a little bit. He loved his cake but was willing to share with sister. What a sweet boy!

Sorry for the picture overload.

 He was a little grumpy before the cake showed up. But I made this birthday boy sign as well! Love free cute decorations!

Are those pretty eyes or what! He is such a adorable boy! 

I was able to take the cake away 1/4 of the way eaten and had to spend a bit of time cleaning him up.

James was the best 1 year old gift opener I have seen. He sat and watched and then helped tear paper and pull tissue out. It was great. He got some wonderful gifts from our family and friends. Tomorrow I'll be designing the thank yous to send out.

Here is a shot of one of his favorite gifts, Mickey Mouse rocks! He got three of these so we will be taking back a few of them. Big Thank you to the Burnett family, Pappa Rich, Cheryl and Suzanne!

Here are all the big kids (sister, cousins, and friends) enjoying Giant's Dog's and homemade french frys. I am guessing we spent about 20 dollars on food and Capri Suns and 60 dollars on plates, napkins, balloons and a few other decorations. We had 90 balloons so it was really festive. 

My darling husband came up to me at the end of the day and sweetly asked for at least one picture of him and his son on his first birthday. How sweet is that...big fail on my part being the budding photographer though! 

I love them so much!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Monday!

I'm linking this up to all my favorite link parties...check out my party page.