Don't All Cowgirls Wear Big Bows?

Claire's preschool class went on a field trip to a horse arena. Here they are waiting for the festivities to begin. Claire and Ruthie

Claire got a roping lesson. She actually roped that cowboy's hat!

Claire's first experience riding a horse. She loved it and wasn't scared at all!

The whole gang posing for a picture

We ended the day with a hay ride (Glenda the Good Witch joined us).

I Liked It, I Loved It...

Lisa and I went to the Tim McGraw & Lady Antebellum concert in Knoxville the other night. We had so much fun, and the concert was wonderful!!!

Going To The Chapel

Megan's wedding is almost here! We had her wedding shower at church yesterday. Emily, Megan, Amanda, & Miriam

Megan & Karen

We are so excited for Megan and Tyler!

Feeding My Addiction

I just can't help myself! (I did NOT eat all of those, but I could have because I love them so much.) My handsome date

It's about time!

We're making a few changes around our house. I'm posting some pictures to show the progress to my family and local friends who have listened to me complain about my kitchen for nine years (shout out to Lisa, Staci, & Rachael ~ thanks for all the Wednesday mornings you listened to me whine). Also, I have an obsessive-compulsive need to record every part of our lives. So here you go...

The cabinets to the right are new. That's where our refrigerator used to sit. The counter top is new too. The floor hasn't been put in yet. Big changes happening over our sink. For lo, there is a hole in the wall now. We really wanted to open up the kitchen to the family room. We had to leave some of the wall on either side because of pipes and electrical stuff (that's the technical terms).

Here is our new doorway from the family room into the living room/office. Again, we wanted to open up the rooms and improve the flow of the house.

Looking at the new doorway from the other room.

Even though it will be several more days before it's all finished, I'm happy with the progress so far.

Lastly, here's our little Lowe's helpers!

I got a little ahead of myself...

Here are a few pictures from around our house. We are really enjoying this beautiful spring weather.

I think I may be stretching it a little putting out this "Summertime" flag already, but it is cute and matches my flowers.

Hope you're enjoying this weather too!

Spring Breakapalooza: Saturday Edition

What a beautiful day!!! We spent almost all day outside. Of course, we took our weekly trip to Sam's to eat lunch, otherwise known as taste every sample in the store and call it lunch. Then we went out on the lake for the first time this year.

After the lake, the playground was just calling our name.

Down by the water

Handsome Boy

More outside time at home

So thankful for a fun day with my family!

Spring Breakapalooza: Knoxville Edition

We spent Friday in Knoxville shopping and visiting with my cousin and her little boy. Enjoy the pictures!

Spring Breakapalooza: It Rained

Today was supposed to be "outdoor family picture day". Guess what? Yep, it rained. It's been so incredibly beautiful all week and the pictures had been planned for months. I was disappointed, but we rescheduled for a couple of weeks from now.


We found ourselves at home all day. It was truly a spring break miracle! I am so NOT a homebody probably because I feel like I should be cleaning when I'm home. It turned out to be a very productive day. Parker and Claire enjoyed resting and playing at home while I did four loads of laundry, dusted our WAY too dusty ceiling fan, and cleaned out my ridiculous closet.


WARNING: If you have a weak stomach, you should look away now. Seriously. It's scary.


(I am truly embarrassed to show you what my closet looked like before I attacked it. I usually clean it out and organize it at least twice a year, but I've been overwhelmed with work so...)


Ok


Here it is:

(Yes, I have giant feet.)

(Yes, I enjoy parenthesis.)

(No, the shirt on the floor is totally unacceptable and just fell down there this morning.)

(No, that doesn't make this mess any less embarrassing.)

Here is the mostly finished product.

This is actually only half of my closet (the summer section). The winter section is over to the right and also got an overhaul.

Catastrophe of the Day (maybe I should start a new blog just devoted to our little catastrophes).

What's that? You can't make out what that is? That, my friend, would be the work of a Clairewolf. It is in fact a clump of gum entangled red hair. For apparently no reason at all, Claire stuck a piece of gum in Parker's hair. It was certainly an adventure trying to get that nasty mess out, but we were successful with minimal hair loss. It looks like some kind of bug with a gum body and hairy legs.

That's all folks.

Spring Breakapalooza Day 3

We've had another wonderful day! This morning we spent some time with my dad. Then Parker had to get fitted for his tux for Megan's wedding. I don't think she will mind if he wears that Popeye shirt for the ceremony. I think it really dresses the whole look up a little. (I did wash that Popeye shirt last night ~ for the record.) Tonight we loved being outside playing with our friends Emme and Sarah Cate.

And Amy and Case

Here they all are (Plus another little neighborhood friend)