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.

Riding Without Training Wheels

Pres on old bike

We have never had good circumstances for our children from a bike-riding perspective....a gravel driveway, no sidewalks, busier street....so we have been forced to ride in the library parking lot.  Unfortunately it is not very flat, so Bennett has never enjoyed riding because she doesn't like to feel out of control.  Preston, on the other hand, has always enjoyed going as fast as he can down
the hills there.

However, things are changing for us...we now have great sidewalks and we are about to pave our driveway.  Since we have had mild weather, Preston has been asking to ride more often.  He has always loved his little spiderman bike (with 12 inch wheels), but Steve and I have thought about getting him a bigger bike too.  We decided to ultimately hold off on a new purchase until he can ride without training wheels. 

Preston's new bike!

After booking two beach trips in the coming months, where we all bike ride often for our transportation, he got motivated to learn to ride without training wheels.  So over the Christmas break, I decided to take on the challenge of teaching him.  We took them off, and went over to practice on a neighbor's driveway.  I was shocked when after 15 minutes of instruction, he just took off riding!  By that afternoon, he was riding in circles in the library lot.

Over the past several weeks, he has asked to go riding more often.  We ride all over our neighborhood (well, he rides and I run behind him).  You see, he hasn't been able to start by himself, so it made more sense for me to not be on a bike.  However, after spending the last two weekends bike riding at the park on all of the sidewalk trails, Steve thought he was ready for a bigger bike.  He took him to a local bike shop to see what they had Saturday, and Preston sampled a few of the bikes.  They had a great used bike that was the perfect size, but Pres eyed a brand new red bike that he really wanted (shocker, right?).

They ultimately left with nothing, and Pres was very upset with Steve.  So Steve did what any parent would do...blame it on the other parent! I tried to reason with Preston on our decision making, but he wasn't happy.  So, I suggested we go riding and he learn to start and stop himself, and then I would consider buying him a bike.  He taught himself at the park, and then asked to ride over to the store.  He is so stinking cute, so I couldn't resist.

Thankfully, he listened to his mommy's reasoning more than his Daddy's and agreed to get the used bike (thank goodness).  Since we left the bike shop, he has ridden his new bike daily....continually getting better!  Next job.....getting Bennett to follow suit!  30A paths here we come!!

Winter Wonderland!

Traffic...UGH!

For those of us who live in the South, we know that we have entered our rainy season.  When the temperatures drop and the snow starts to fall up North...the temperatures drop here and the rain falls, and falls, and falls....  It has been a LONG week with a lot of rain, but we are prepared with our raincoats, rain boots and umbrellas.  However, when the weatherman says it is going to snow, we all wonder..."Will it really?"  

Making a snowman!

When we told the kids that there was a chance, they were so excited.  Pres still recalls the time it snowed two years ago when he was two years old and we had a snowball fight in our front yard with Maria and Sara.  So he was hopeful that there would be a rematch.  The morning started off like every other day that week, rainy and cold.  I dropped Bennett off at school, and Pres off at my in-laws (he had a playdate with his Mimi), while I tried to honker down and work.  I was shocked when I saw snow flurries midday.  However, what was more shocking were the huge snowflakes that started falling shortly thereafter.  Our weatherman predicted a little accumulation, but didn't think it would cause problems on the road since the temperatures hadn't been that cold.

I guess he failed to account for the poor driving skills of southerns, and the fact that the snow did actually stick to the roads.  When I elected to get in my car to get Preston at 2pm, and drive the 2 miles to my in-law's house, I couldn't believe that I actually slid some in my big car, and that it took me over 45 minutes to get there!!!  My neighbor, Christie, checked Bennett and her daughter, Caroline, out of school a little early so we could all meet up and enjoy the afternoon, so I was anxious to get back home.

Spencer sneaking a tomato from Bennett

Pres and I went a different way home, and made it back in about 10 minutes (thank goodness)!  He immediately changed clothes, got bundled up and we headed out to make snowmen.  He quickly learned how to make big snowballs by rolling them in the grass!  After using all of the snow in the Crigger's front yard making several snowmen, the kids moved to our neighbor's yard to make snow angels, then onto our small yard for a snowball fight.  After two hours of enjoyment, Bennett was sick of it, and Preston and Caroline were soaking wet and ready to get in warm, dry clothes!  Spencer was happy, as he ate all of the veggies off the snowmen (no carrot noses, or tomato smiles for our snowmen).

Shortly thereafter we heard from our school district that the schools would have two hour delay in the morning, so we started our snow party!  The parents hung out, while the kids played.  Since none of us had planned much for dinner, we all just pitched in and made breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon and biscuits and gravy!  What a great way to spend the night!

So proud of their little snowman!

This morning we enjoyed getting ready slowly before heading off to school.  And by the time the girls were out of school, all of the snow was melted, and all we were left with were dirty cars and muddy lawns.  Thank goodness the snow doesn't last too long here!