Good-bye Cricket

Now that the warmer weather is here (hopefully to stay), I finally convinced the kids to let the lizard go!  Everyone has lost interest in him, and I was the only one taking care of him, and I didn't want him in the first place.

Both kids wanted to hold him before we released him, and surprisingly Bennett was the brave one.  She reached right in and tried to grab him.  The little guy was so fast though, so Steve had to catch him initially.

 

Passing "Cricket"

Releasing him in our Japanese maple tree in our backyard

Cricket was so happy soaking in the sun and fresh air!


Though the kids were a little sad to see him go, we all know he is much happier, and will do better in his natural habitat.  It is also nice to know that he is living in our backyard somewhere.  Good-bye buddy! 

Preston's Derby Race

Every year the three year old class at Preston's school does a Derby Day where the daddy is supposed to create a "race car" for their child. After discussing options with Pres, he decided on Lightening McQueen. He is the star of the movie "Cars," and Pres just loves all of those movies!

The school provides a page with a couple of photos on how to make it easy for the kids to run while carrying a box.  We didn't adhere to it that much when we made Bennett's car a couple of years ago, and she did have a few problems.  So we definitely stuck to their suggestions of using a computer paper box this time.  Steve brought a couple of empty ones home from work, and then brainstormed about how he wanted to make it.  Pres and I were in charge of buying some spray paint.  Since cardboard absorbs so much paint, we bought primer this time...which made the red paint that Pres chose look MUCH better.

A couple of days passed, but then Steve came home with tons of colorful pages that he printed.  He began cutting them out, and I realized that they were exact replicas of Lightening McQueen's decals.  After gluing them on, the car was really taking shape.  Steve said it needed the spoiler too, so he cut out some more cardboard and shaped it up before attaching.  When he finally finished, we were all thrilled!  It was just darling, and fit Pres perfectly.

Race day was a success, as Pres was ready to run "super fast" and really only competed with one friend in his class.  The other kids either didn't have any interest in winning, or couldn't because their cars were too big, so there wasn't much competition.  Pres and his buddy, Banks, were side by side racing the whole time....just smiling.

Look at that cute boy and car!

Pres with Ms Ginny

Pres and his proud Daddy

Pres and Banks

I hate that Steve had to work so hard to make the car, all for a 2 minute race.  But it made Preston happy, and the car received a lot of compliments! 

Daddy-Daughter Dance!

Steve and I have always joked about the day when Bennett will be old enough to date, and how difficult that will be for us (when the time comes).  What we didn't expect was that Bennett would have her first date at the mere age of 5.5!  Thankfully, it was with her Daddy....and what a high standard he set for her!

One of Homewood's Girl Scout troops hosts a daddy-daughter dance each year, and since this is Bennett's first year being a scout, she had her inaugural dance date.  We decided to make this a special night for her, so Bennett and I went shopping for a new dress.  She selected several to try on, and ultimately chose a turquoise and white dress that looked beautiful on her (especially with her blue eyes).

After school on Friday, she came home and rested up for her big night.  Then she showered so I could do her hair and make-up.  We started the process by painting her nails a pretty shade of gray-blue, then I put some mascara and lip gloss on her, and did her hair.  When she was finally dressed, Steve presented her with a pretty white wrist corsage.  Of course, he had to have a matching boutonniere.

Bennett straightening his boutonniere

Daddy putting on her corsage

All dolled up for her first date

My pretty little girl!

Right before they headed to dinner

Steve said they had fun chatting it up at dinner!  He took her to a nice restaurant, that she had never been to before, and ordered her a Shirley Temple with extra cherries.  She gobbled down the cherries!  Then they were off to the dance!  They met up with many of her friends and fathers, and supposedly had a ball dancing.  But after an hour, Bennett was ready to move on...and her daddy had promised her ice cream.



Enjoying blue ice cream (to match her dress)!

Saturday morning when Bennett woke up, she kissed us good morning, and told Steve that she had such a great time with him at the dance.  Of course this made his day, but it warmed my heart too.  I couldn't be happier that our kids have such a wonderful father in their lives, and one that does all that he can to make special memories.  He set the bar high for Bennett's future boyfriends, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

New Yard & Driveway!

"Before" driveway and landscaping

Steve and I have several projects that we want to tackle for the new year, and we are thrilled that we have two of those behind us!  Our latest job was to completely re-landscape our front yard. 

My biggest complaint about this house since we bought it was the pea gravel driveway.  Those darn rocks were everywhere!!  In our cars, stuck in the grooves of our shoes (which then scratched our floors), and in Preston's pant pockets (which then ended up in our washing machine).  I can't believe we lasted over 5 years with it!  One of Steve's biggest peeves was the way the front yard was landscaped.  He hated how bushes weren't planted in a straight line, and how the azaleas just circled one of the trees.



"Before" front

So after meeting with several landscape companies and having plans drawn, we finally pulled the trigger! Unfortunately, we picked our rainy season to begin, so we kept getting postponed.


Our muddy front with some forming



1st Concrete Truck Arrives!





Love their handprints!!

Driveway is finally concrete, YES!

Saw cut apron and border

So after several days of working in between rain, the big stuff was finished!  Then the irrigation system went in and the forming was removed.  We waited for more rain to pass, and then we got started on the grading.  When we were ready for more top soil, none was to be found.  We had to postpone another day until Fletcher (the owner of Curb Appeal, Inc) came up with the plan to mix some top soil (he finally found a little) with sand and compost.  It cost a little more and required more labor to hand mix it all together, but they ate the fee and it worked out great.



New mortar rub on retaining wall, and reshaped at front

Then it was time for the shrubs and trees to be planted!!  While Steve was at work, I acted as project manager (and I must say it was quite fun)!  I even got to run the skid steer with the auger on it to dig one of the holes for the trees.  After an entire day of digging and measuring, we got all of the trees in the ground (5 in total) and all of the shrubs positioned.  Since the sod was so wet from all of the rain, they couldn't cut it right away. 

Completed, side view

Love the copper light fixtures!

So we took another day off, and then Curb Appeal arrived bright and early today to touch up some of the irrigation issues, plant all of the shrubs, finish the mortar rub on the retaining wall, lay the sod, spread the pine straw and install all of the lighting!  At 6:30 PM, we had the initial lighting of the house!  I was as excited as a 4 year old at Disney when they light the castle for the first time!  It was just awesome, and I couldn't be more pleased with the finished product!

 

Spring T-Ball Here We Come!

We decided to take the plunge this spring and register Preston for two sports!  I know we will probably regret this (I mean he is only 4 years old), but I want to give him exposure to different sports.  We switched soccer leagues - moved him over to Homewood's league so he could play with kids his own age (instead of playing up a grade and being the youngest on the team).  He is looking forward to returning to soccer!

We also elected to introduce him to baseball, well t-ball for his age.  We hope he likes it, but we have no idea until we try.  When we were over at Brian's house today, and he heard Pres was going to play, he gave Preston Christian's old helmet and glove.  He was so excited to receive the new gear, he insisted on wearing it home.  Of course, in typical Preston fashion...he fell asleep on the way home so here is what entertained us on the ride:

He seriously was like a bobble head the whole way home, with his entire upper body lunging forward due to the weight of the helmet.  Then he would sit back up, and fall back down.  I literally was crying I was laughing so hard at the sight!  Just before we got home, he fell forward so quickly his helmet fell off (but he caught it and fell back to sleep).  If that is a sign of his eye-hand coordination, then he may be a stellar t-ball player!  It was truly complete entertainment!

Another Project Completed!

Though our house has always offered us a ton of storage with closets, attics and a full basement....it has never been organized.  We moved into this house during the holidays and were in a mad dash to just get it in the house.  Well fast forward five years, and all we have done is add to the chaos in the closets, attics and basement.  After tripping on multiple things, and rebuying items that I didn't know I had (or couldn't find), I decided it was time to do something about it!

Basement Before

So back in January, Steve and I went through our closets and did some major purging!  When the Lovelady Center took it all away, I felt a huge weight lifted.  I am still amazed at how much better our closets look!  I wanted that feeling to last, so I started reorganizing our pantry, mainly throwing away expired food.  Sadly I just couldn't fit everything we need in one simple closet, so I begged Steve to build me a huge walk-in pantry for overflow.  Thankfully he agreed, as long as we could build some additional shelves and walls in our basement to separate our "garage items" from our "household items,"....oh, and we had to hire someone else to do the work!  We called our favorite builder, and he agreed to start the job the following week.

Within 9 days, our cluttered basement was separated into two distinct areas, along with my pantry!  We spent one weekend getting things dusted (everything was coated in sheet rock dust), and put away.  Along the way, we have thrown items away, created another donation pile and have sold many items via Facebook.  It is not fully finished yet, but we have made a lot of progress and couldn't be happier!

Left side of my pantry

Right side of pantry

The less cluttered storage space of household things

Much more organized "garage space"

The builder created a wall between the "garage space" and the rest of the basement with a door, so it is truly separated.  Every time I look it, I can't help but to smile.