Sunday Drive

This past weekend was beautiful here in the Upstate of SC, so I decided that we needed to do a little Sunday drive to get out & see the beautiful fall scenery.

Come along and I'll show you where we ended up.......

(warning: lots of pictures to follow)

Look where we ended up........isn't it beautiful?

The Biltmore House, Asheville NC

Since I couldn't take any pictures inside the house - I'll show you some of the architectual details outside. You'll have to check out the Biltmore's website to see interior shots.

This is the view from where the kids are standing - just beautiful.

Every other copper square lining the top has his initials embossed on them.

The workmanship on this estate is unbelievable. That's all I can show you for now.

Hope you enjoyed an up close look at some of the wonderful detail on Vanderbilt's "summer house".

Stay tuned throughout the week....we've still got to visit River Bend Farm & the Biltmore Winery all located on the estate.

Backyard Visitors

I know these probably look like visitors that you'd see in the springtime but I promise, I just took these photos yesterday.

They're beautiful to see no matter what time of year it is.

This is what they came for.

Can you see the bee & the butterfly on the one limb - so cute.

Hopefully they'll stick around for a while. They make sitting out back a lot more enjoyable.

I've trained him well.

The other night, the hubby and I were watching a little Monday Night Football. The kids were all tucked in bed and we were actually having an uninterupted conversation. (Unusual in our house.)

I was commenting on the uniforms and the field designs of the New Orleans Saints. I said that I thought they had the best looking uniforms in the NFL......it has a fleur de lis on it for crying out loud. It has to be stylin'.

Just in case you're not familiar with them - here they are, in all of their black, white & gold glory.

We debated this uniform subject & I stuck to my guns & stressed my points.....

black, white, gold & fleur de lis

What other team could look better?

And, at that moment, he looks over at me and says......

"All they need are some toile socks."

I would have never guessed that he even realized what toile was.

I was so proud.

He has been paying attention.

(Maybe I could put that in their suggestion box.)

Mountain views

Since a lot of our family and friends haven't been down for a visit, yet, I thought I'd show them some of our lovely mountian views.

The fall colors hadn't started when I took these pictures but they're slowly starting to turn. I'll get some good fall pictures in a couple of weeks (I hope).

This is the little lane that leads to our neighborhood. I love driving it everyday.

More views from the lane.

Isn't this house beautiful?

That's a little look around our neck of the woods.

I can't wait for all of the lovely fall foliage and I'll let you see it as soon as I can.

Great Bathroom Redo

Ok ladies, since I don't have one thing that's of any interest to blog about, I'm sending y'all over to visit a real-life friend of mine.

Her name is Jodie and she & her hubby have been working some magic in their home.

Stop by & take a look at this lovely bathroom redo that they completed not too long ago.
The before's and after's are fun to look at.

Jodie's Bathroom Renovation

While you're there browse around & check out her wonderful photos - there are more on her photography blog.

Be sure to leave her a note saying you stopped by.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Swap Time

My friend Wendi over at Because Wendi Said So hosted a Favorite Things swap last month. It's my first one and I must admit, it was quite fun. I love receiving gifts. What girl doesn't?

My partner was a great girl - Erica from Butterfly Kisses. If you don't already know her, go over & check out her cute blog. She's a busy mom who always keeps her focus on where it needs to be.

Now, let's get to the goodies.

Just look at all of that wonderful stuff.

We have chocolates, a cd, a Nicholas Sparks book, scrapbooking goodies, soaps,

& cute little post its.

Erica put together a great package & I want to send her oodles of "thank you's!"

Can you see anything different in this picture from the one above? (look carefully)

I just had to try it.....it was delicious. Thanks again Erica!!

Thanks for hosting Wendi - it was fun.

Monday Night Football

I think the directors of the youth football programs around here take this Monday Night Football a little too seriously. All of B's games are on Monday nights.....at 8:00pm. yea.

Oh well, what can ya do?

The boys have had three games so far and I finally remembered to take my camera last night.

So sit back & enjoy a little football.

(B is #21 - just for reference.)

Daddy helped out with the chains.

B is the second one standing in the back.

Time-out for a little huddle.

The coaches - discussing their loss. (Blah, blah, blah)

Our team motto: Maybe next game.

I should have known better.

Most of you probably read my last post about going to the pumpkin patch. If you read carefully, you probably also noticed that I might have referred to the word "drag" in that post.

Well, the truth is that when I mentioned my "big plan" to my family on Saturday morning, two of them looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"What do you mean....pumpkin patch?" "But aren't they too old for that?" one said.

"But we'll miss the football games & I want to play with my friends." the other whined.

Ok. Ok. I surrender.

Let's compromise.

"If you'll go pick up my new rocking chairs for the front porch (and some pumpkins & mums).....we don't have to go to the pumpkin farm."

Looks like we came to an agreement....new rocking chairs, pumpkins & mums.

At least I was able to deliver on one thing I mentioned.......pictures.

This is the best I could do. Sorry it's not the pumpkin farm.

But they do have pumpkins & some pretty fall flowers.

Notice - the white pumpkin.....I didn't even have to paint it.

When I told G that I wanted to take some pictures of her, she had to run upstairs & put on a "fallish" outfit, comb her hair & brush her teeth. (This girl & a camera - BFF)

This is the only way I could get a picture of B - they travel in a pack on weekends. Guess I'll have to take what I can get. (Mine is the top right.)

Sorry if you came looking for pumpkin farm pictures. I was a little disappointed at first too but hey, I've still got the whole month of October to drag encourage them to go.