cuteness

So how darn cute is that bag??? Yea I have a thing for big bags... I always have... as a teenager I carried huge Space Bags, and have carried backpacks, beach bags, hobo purses you know name ever since... ohh I have tried going smaller... my daughter has shamed me into carrying cute little handbags (which I love) but I always end up reverting back...
This one is handmade... I could do that... so could you! Tutorial here!

thought of the day

Things I am thinking about right now:

• Furniture-- I wonder if I bought a bookshelf for the office if I would end up with better flow of the millions of papers that pass through my life..
• If I dig up most of the Lirope in the back yard and divide it will have holes to fill??? meaning having to buy dirt??? Who buys dirt???
• Should I even bother moving my summer clothes into my closet??? 65 degree days don't inspire short sleeve shirts.
• Can I convince Mike that a Chandelier in the office would be cute?
• That I really need to find a container for the chair covers on the deck... I don't like throwing them in a heap when we use the chairs.

BIG

We have complained about the rain now for 2 weeks straight-- but despite the lack of sunshine its amazing whats been happening in the garden... My hostas have turned into gigantic mounds... waist high in some places and take a look at these babys!! Are these not the largest Clemtis flowers you have ever seen??? While the vine isn't but knee high the added rain seems to have enlarged the flowers-- they almost don't look real as you walk by them they are so big.
Looking forward to see what happens when we actually get some sun!!

weekend update..nascar

Its taken me a couple days to recover from the weekend... Lots of Nascar fun-- lots of late nights and we even through a move in there for good measure just to ensure that Monday morning felt like a monday morning...

It was great to see friends and family over the weekend. Its funny because some of the people we tailgate with we rarely see other than the twice a year journey to Richmond. But each year the more and more people we know either join us or stop by to visit our lil tent city. With lots of Rain on Saturday we were happy to have 3 tents this year -- kept us dry in the rain and cool in the sun.

Probably the most remarkable thing about going to the race is the choreography that takes place prior to the race... we leave the house as one car and by the time we enter the gates we are a caravan of 9 cars... and we do this with only one stop and a quick pull through a parking lot... we seem to be able to time lights perfectly to get all 9 cars in a row for the perfect tailgate....

Veggie time

My dad always had the best gardens... weather it was a rose garden or a veggie garden... even when we lived in an apartment he found a way to garden. Last year we tried our hand planting veggies in pots. Due to our lack of sunshine areas pots were our answer. The tomatoes worked... the beans not so much... This year we are at it again... instead of 2 tomato plants we have 9!! and one of them is an upside down planter... who knows if that will work!! But they are all in snug in their pots watered, fertilized and ready for Sunshine!!

Happy Birthday Maizy!

Oh yes our girl is a year old today!! And to celebrate in style we let her Mulch the front flower beds and plant a Magnolia tree that Amanda brought home this weekend!! A whole day out of doors makes for one darn happy Maizy (and hopefully one tired Maizy tonight) -- But in true birthday style we are cooking steaks on the grill (boned steaks for the birthday girl) and Mike even baked a birthday cake!!

and we she even got a present!! Another RED BALL!!!

Its Tax Day--

Its tax day and yes I sent in my tax returns... not happily but I did it.. and for the first time I sent them an IOU-- this probably will put me on the top of the list for an audit... but I refused to borrow money from a credit card to pay them... perhaps if they had their spending in order I wouldn't have to pay so much..

Easter at the shore!

So we spent Easter at the shore this year--- the Jersey Shore that is!! I would have never imagined myself going that far north for anything never the less a holiday-- but I wanted to see where Amanda lived before she moved yet again.. and it was worth it. From her front porch you can see the ocean.. yes she is that close! And While I wasn't getting in --the dogs sure loved running the beach! Maizy thought the sand was grand but still showed no interest in swimming like Cooper and Madison!!

We got to Jersey on Friday afternoon and we spent the rainy Saturday helping Amanda look for a new place that was centrally located between Corey's new job and hers and would take the dogs... Corey and Cooper arrived Saturday night... it didn't take Maizy long figure out that cooper would hold the bone while she chewed.

And while Amanda's fridge may have been bare-- part of the master plan so we could try all the cool resturants in town--she did ensure she had eggs for dying!!

I didn't think I would like the shore much-- but after driving around, and walking the boardwalk and seeing the beach I realized it was really a nice place. Their next house won't be on the beach like this one but they will still be really really close which means our next visit might actually be warm enough to hit the waves... but before that I think a trip south is in order because we have not one but two kids living near the waves... I see another weekend trip in my future!!

Bonnie

She wasn't one for baths...

But she was always first in line for a hug

She tolerated all the puppies we brought into her life...

And you could never get her out of the snow...

And from day one she always liked to garden, or smell the flowers alittle too closely, or just be there to help you dig up what you just planted... This was her favorite look-- you knew she had a good day if she was covered in dirt...

We took her for granted sometimes.. but at the end of the day she was always there for us. And we will miss her terribly.... our bonnie girl...

photos

http://blog.kimberliphotography.com

This is the photographers blog --- just a few sample pictures while we wait for all the others to arrive... enjoy!

spring

My day really started out well, for the second day in a row the girls (Maizy and Madison) slept in... ohh how I love to see the clock hit 8:30 and realize my feet haven't touched the ground. And if that wasn't enough they both were quite content to go back to bed after a quick trip outside.

When we finally did get up the day started slowly... on the list for the day was cleaning out the scraproom... after a year of wedding planning there haven't been many pages created but the room was well used with all our "projects"... well that gave way to opening the windows and realizing Spring finally came. So the indoor projects gave way to outside projects... raking leaves out of the gardens, having Mike cut down the ornamental grass and cleaning out the pots on the deck.

The spring sun felt nice... and then I realized that drinking wine on the deck with the BBQ blazing just wasn't going to be the same. Its official we have been left behind. Yes I have thought about it many times as Corey and Amanda tried to figure out where to live... and my brain always gave out sensible advice.. but today the realization hit me.. I will pick her up from the airport tonight and her obligation to entertain me is over. She's grown up and she has moved away. And we are left here.

Spring is about new beginnings-- fresh starts and I guess thats whats in store for all of us as we try hard to find our new selves in our new lives.

At the wedding people kept asking me what I was going to do now that the wedding was over... it seemed like a silly question--I have tons of magazines waiting to be read, I have a garden that needs alot of TLC , a DVR with over 90 tv shows waiting to be watched and a whole year of stories and photos waiting to be documented... I already know I don't have enough time --being bored isn't going to be a problem... its just those snippets of time that I will miss--the craziness that happens late on a Friday night like when the temprature got above freezing and Corey put up the umbrella on the deck lit the tiki torches and encouraged us all to eat outside "pretending it was summer" I am not sure how to replace that? I've teased Christopher that we will have to focus our new found time on him... needless to say he wasn't thrilled with that idea. But I do see alittle more travel in our future afterall everyone lives at the beach now except us... and maybe a book???

We survived

The wedding was wonderful.... From the beginning of the day to when we rolled in at 2:30am--- So many stories I know we will be talking about for years to come... The bride was beautiful, the groom was happy--- and it was made so special having the entire family in one location. I am sure I will be sharing pictures for weeks to come... but today I give you a quick photo that our wonderful coordinator Vicki sent over.

slave labor

This is what happens when you visit the brides family a few days before a wedding... instead of fun and frivolity its slave wedding labor!! After dinner no one was permitted to leave the table until 100 wedding programs were punched, ribbons inserted and bowed!! And yes it took all four of us to accomplish the task... apparently in wedding boot camp there are no breaks even for injuries... My dad insists he deserves a purple heart for his scissor injuries!! And after waiting soo long to own a cropodile (the hole punching tool) I finally found a good excuse to buy one-- shove that expenditure right under the paper goods on the wedding budget and no one was the wiser. But did I get to play with it??? nooo one mention that it was a tool and Mike took over that job... because my bow tying skills were so poor I got stuck inserting ribbons... oh well at least the job is checked off the list!!

6 days and counting

So many last minute details... Yesterday Amanda and I headed out to Herndon for her last hair trial.. and somehow I got a haircut too... Kristen her hairstylist and friend did a wonderful job on Amandas hair--
Nothing brings out ohh and ahhs in a salon like pulling out a veil! I can't wait to see it on her wedding day.

And Last night was Amandas Bachelorette Party! Toni and I went down for to Arlington with Amanda and joined the girls for dinner and drinks and then left them as they jumped into a Cab for a wild night of celebrating Amandas last weekend of a single gal. The girls all looked so beautiful in their "party" dresses and they were definately ready for a night of fun. Boas and a scavenger hunt list... I pity anyone who got near them they were giddy and loud ready to hit the town.

I can shop

I am not a shopper, my mother would tell you that I am just missing the all important shopping gene... my daughter just shakes her head... and when I do shop I don't always make the best decisions--especially when it comes to clothes... I usually buy what I like and not necessarily what looks good on me, or what is fashionable... comfort plays a big part in my choices as does the "happy quotent", yes I buy things that look happy to me.... don't ask its hard to explain, but even when shopping for my couch I told the salesman I wanted a happy couch... try explaining what that looks like...

But this past week I shopped... alone... and I think I did pretty darn good. I wanted a dress for the rehersal dinner..not because I really really needed one but more because I wanted one. My wardrobe sorely lacks dresses and my only real choice was one had worn to several weddings recently... I could have worn dress pants but in my mind I wanted a dress... so a dress it was! I really am quite proud of myself... I found a dress that looks good on the hanger and looks good on me. I bought two other dresses too... its ok you can gasp-- but I was on such a roll and figured they were on sale and I could use one for the bachelorette party and for a dinner party- that has since been cancelled... In all my excitement about this dress... I pulled the bow on it... and of course now I can't get it to bow right anymore... someones gonna have to redo it for me...

Last month at bonco I let everyone know that I needed a sub for March Bonco... I knew these last couple of weeks would be busy.. but Thursday I decided to head over to Robins anyway.. because this girl needed a girls night out! Even it meant chit chatting from the sidelines... but as things turned out my spot was still open--- and it was a good decision... they all told me last month I would need my night out with bonco and they were sooo right..
A couple of the girls have already married off their children -- so they reassured me I wasn't going crazy, and warned me that it could get worse. And being the friends that they are offered extra beds, cooking skills and shoulder to cry on should things get worse... It was nice to share the details of Amandas big day and be greeted with enthusiasm.
As I worry about the little things I keep reminding myself of the big things... In two weeks my baby is getting married.

Breathe

Its all about breathing at this point.. my co-worker informed me that we were 16 days away.... not sure when that happened... I remember cheering at 50 days...

I finally made my decision about what dress I'm buying--keeping--wearing.... and I took it in to be altered today... and for the first time I think I might actually be able to pull this off.. the seamstress assured me I do have a waist.. So tonight (after Bonco of course) I will pack up all the other lovelies and send them back...

Last night Mike and I worked until midnight cutting the pages for the ceremony programs --tomorrow we will finish up with the cardstock and then its on to ribbon cutting!! After that I think my list is down to 5 items... although maybe I should check with the bride and see how her list is coming along..I am hoping that when she comes home next weekend (bacholorette party !! ) that we are done done done....

Helpful Maizy

The caption could read "really I don't remember licking the wall" or perhaps " my ball may have fallen in the paint bucket" or even "aren't you glad I was here to help".....

Yup in between our wedding to do lists we painted Amanda and Christophers old room.. Its officially another guest bedroom. And like the many dogs who have come before her Maizy was intent to help. Thinking back on all of our painting endevors it seems every dog has come out of the project with alittle paint on the tail or maybe alittle on their side as they brushed up against the wall.. But none that I can remember came out of the project with paint on their noses and ears and paws with the gusto that maizy had!! To say the project lasted alittle longer than we thought it would due to Maizy wouldn't be wrong... You see she loves to hide her ball under blankets, rugs, clothes whatever --- to the point that she will drag the cover around the room-- and then she pounces on it (think hopping bunnies) and then uncovers it and does it again and again and again... unfortunately this game was played under the paint tarp... and what we didn't know at the time was "somehow" her ball had paint on it... so the floor under the tarp had little paint spots from the ball ALL over it!! So on my hands and knees I removed the spots one at a time with alittle soap and water...

And the room which started like this . (those white spots are just a few of the zillion holes Mike spackled) and ended up looking lovely... maybe I will find time to take pictures tonight???

If the amount of stuff your child hangs on thier wall has any collation to the happiness they experinced during childhood I think my daughter was an extremely happy child.... This is room number two that she occupied in our house and both of them after she left required a whole jar of spackle... Lucky for her-- her daddy loves her lots... but he did make a note to get Corey his own spackle jar for the wedding...

Speaking of the wedding... the list gets smaller and smaller... This weekend.. Final walkthrough with the officers club, final dress fitting, they picked up the rings and Amanda got her hair done - moving right along!!!

SNOW DAY!

SNOW SNOW SNOW!! After being promised yesterday that the snow was coming we finally got it!!!

So I signed a petition today requesting that the American public be told what has actually happened to the Bail out money... specifically the banking money... but truth be told I could hear from the auto manufactures too... I don't understand how our government has chosen two industries... with multiple businesses to bail out .... what about the local restaurant down the street that just closed? or people at circuit city or the hundreds of other companies that have failed?? What about all the companies forced to lay off workers? Why didn't the government address them? were their business models in worse shape than anyone else??? Seems to me our government needs to rethink helping out businesses that choose to lend money to people they knew couldn't pay it back... who choose not to change the way they developed new products. Who felt that their executives needed more money then they could possibly spend....