Sunday Morning Visitors

As I was sitting in my kitchen on this beautiful Sunday morning enjoying my cup of coffee with the back door open, I noticed I was being serenaded by lots of happy little birds.

That in itself is not unusual, however, I didn't recognize the song.  I can normally tell what kinds of birds are around and since I couldn't, I headed out to the porch to investigate.

This is what I discovered........

They are so cute, but I'm not sure what kind they are.

I know we don't normally see them, so they might just be passing thru on the way to another location.

If you happen to know what kind they are, can you please leave me a comment & put my mind to rest?

Let's see if we have any bird watchers out there.

Thanks & enjoy your Sunday.

*Update: I've researched a little and do believe that they are Bobolinks. (Jodie, I think you were right.)  My bird book didn't show that they should be in this area, however when I looked online, the map did indicate that this is in their migratory pattern. I'm so excited that we got to see them as they were passing through.

Neither One

Gotcha!

We didn't end up using either of the colors that I teased you with last week.

They both turned out a little too "green" on our walls than I actually wanted, so we ended up choosing......

Cliveden Sandstone from Lowe's.

It's on their Historical Colors list and I've been real pleased with the results.

Here are some Before/During pictures:

You can see the difference when they're together but overall it's a subtle change, but one that makes a huge difference in the overall feel of the rooms.

(The darker color is the new one, BTW.)

Here are a few afters:

Ok, on my computer screen it doesn't seem much different but trust me - it is!

I'll post more pictures once I've gotten my rooms back to normal.

Hope you're having a good week & enjoying this beautiful Spring weather.

Finally painting

Well, we've been in this house a year and a half, and I have FINALLY gotten around to painting our ugly family room walls.

When we moved in, I realized that I could not stand the pinky-beige, flat, chalky paint that covered EVERY wall in this house. 

I've been busy, but patient, as I've waited for a time that I could remedy that situation.

The time finally came last week when I couldn't take it anymore and ran out, got some paint samples and threw them up on the wall to live with for a couple of days.

Hmmm. Which one did I choose?

You'll have to wait to see - I've still got accessorizing to do.

Hope you're having a great week.

Happy Early Mother's Day to me

Look what I got for my early Mother's Day gift........

I absolutely LOVE it!


At first I thought they were a total waste.  I mean, you have to buy each serving of coffee/tea/cocoa individually.  That would cost our family a fortune.


Well, I discovered that they also have a little filter thingy that you can buy and it actually allows you to use your own coffee. 


I was so excited to hear this so I ran right out and got one.


I got ours from one of those big box club stores that may start with S and end with an M's.  It was cheaper than my favorite store that starts and ends with a T, and it actually came with 72 little coffee things. 


Even the kids are excited about it, especially since you can get hot cocoa for it. 


I want to send a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to my wonderful family for knowing exactly what I wanted for Mother's Day.


Y'all are the best!!

Mom's Birthday

This past weekend we also celebrated my mother's birthday.

My sister had some family over to her house for a little birthday cookout and cake.

Little Miss Mallori was in attendence, so we all got to love on her.

I think Mimi & Mallori had a good time.

The boys didn't get to go with us due to some baseball & fishing obligations here at home, so they were missed.

Hope your birthday was great Mimi - we love you.

Trying to catch up

Happy Easter everyone!

Oh, wait.  That was yesterday, wasn't it?

That's the story of my life lately.....always trying to catch up.

The truth is, I've been too busy enjoying my family and all of the beautiful weather we've been having to keep my blog updated.

We're usually outside every afternoon after school and our weekends have been busy, busy.

For now, let's jump backwards a couple of weekends and take a look at my daughter's trip to TN to celebrate a friend's birthday.

After an overnight at their lake house on Douglas Lake in Dandridge, TN, the plan was to head to the Knoxville Zoo for the morning. 

Here we go......

The rhinos had been introduced to a new member of the community - the male was trying to meet the new female & those other girls were determined to keep him away. A fun little show took place.

The girls got to ride a camel.  They really enjoyed that.

After having a picnic lunch at the zoo and checking out all of the animals (and gift shops) we piled back in the car and headed on the three hour drive to Nashville, TN.

The birthday girl also wanted to celebrate with her friends at The Rainforest Cafe.  We had never been to one before and it was quite a treat.

Hope you had a great birthday, Lorin!!

Everybody had such a great time.  It really was a fun weekend.