New friends

We put a yellow finch feeder outside our

window. We especially love it because, on the lower level of the house,

you look right out at it. We've had quite a few new friends visit and settle in. They sit in this tree and watch the feeder. If it's clear, they'll

fly to it and eat. If it's not clear, they'll divebomb the

bird already there and then enjoy a bit of breakfast. Emma and Ryan

love to watch them fight over the feeder.

This is one of our resident doves.

I love to listen to them as I go about my day.

This is where I find Emma most mornings,

watching the action.

Crafternoon

I was priviledged to spend Saturday in the country at

Dandelion Bone's home. She invited a large group of ladies to her house

for a Crafternoon.

It was so neat to see that each person brought something different to work on. There was sewing, card making, bookcovering, knitting,

jewelry making, cookbook making, reading, and birthday gift making.

There was laughing, chatting, and ideas flowing around the room.

As always when we get together, there was no shortage of

delicious food to enjoy.

~~

Cassie...thanks so much for a wonderful afternoon.

Lookin' like a little lady as she battles on her GameGirl

(she renamed it from GameBoy once Ryan handed it down to her)

Our weekend

We enjoyed beautiful weather this past weekend.

Our dear little friend, Clara, came for the afternoon,

and Bob's parents came for the weekend.

Getting some throwing arm practice.

Emma took a few minutes to teach Clara how

to bit with a bat. They are so patient with each other.

Lunch outside in the beautiful sunshine.

Batter up!

One happy family!

(Photo taken 4/15/10)

Tax Season Is Over!

Welcome home, Bob.

Emma's canopy

her own little space

last night as the sun was setting through her window..

It's been a delight to see what we purchased along with the house as spring brings forth it's beauty.

Does anyone recognize this tree?

We can't seem to identify it.

We thought we were going to cut it down because of it's

location, but it's too beautiful! It's looked like this for weeks.

Ten things...

You know it's time to update your blog when your husband comes home and makes the comment that there hasn't been anything new for awhile.
So, here goes...ten things I'm loving right now
~
1. The end of tax season in roughly 43 hours!!
2. Volleyball...there's nothing quite like a well-matched, 45 minute game...sweat pouring off of you and a grin on your face.
3. Report cards that confirm you're doing what you need to be doing.
4. When your five-year-old uses words like "deduce" and "conveniently" in a sentence and it actually makes sense.
5. The end of tax seaon in roughly 42 hours and 45 minutes!!
6. Mornings when the sun is pouring in the eastern window with the promise of a beautiful day.
7. Looking out the kitchen window at our newly mowed lawn...with flowers and trees a-blooming!
8. Quality time between grandparents and grandchildren...times that they'll remember forever...not because it was something exciting but because of who it was with.
9. The feeling of accomplishment achieved when I FINALLY finished the downstairs today.
10. Yep...the end of tax season in roughly42 hours and 41 minutes!
~
I think I may have cheated. :)

Facelift

This is our living room with a sad, poor paint job.

When we moved in, this wall had three very large, very dark brown shelves running the length of the wall. Personally, I think that they looked terrible. We took them down and had roughly thirty new holes to fill.

If you look closely at this wall, you can see where the prior owners
did some touch up with a different shade of white. When we first moved in, I spent
a bit of time scrubbing this before I realized that it wasn't dirty...just a different color.

I enjoy painting, but I had neither the desire, the tools or the experience to tackle these walls.
This is looking down near the entry way into the house. The wall that's over the stairs as you come in is very high. I tried to photograph it to show the height, but it took two and 1/2 verticle photos to get it all in. So, we hired a painter and, for a very reasonable price and "green" paint with very little smell, we had a face-lifted living room in one day.

This is looking from the living room into the eating area.

We love the new color and the cleanliness of the

"alabaster" on the other walls.

Looking towards the kitchen from the far corner of the room.

I love how it looks now looking into the kitchen.

This is the view now as you come in the front door.

"Welcome!"