Tennessee Aquarium

Eleonora took her first trip to the Tennessee Aquarium last week with her good buddy Evelyn. We didn't realize that the aquarium didn't open until 10,so we had to spend a little time in this coffee shop to get out of the cold drizzly rain. 

The girls loved it!  We got to be the very first people walking down through the main part of the aquarium, and that was a neat experience. 

The butterflies made Eleonora a little nervous, but not Evelyn. 

Thanks to our good friends for the fantastic day!

Happy Birthday to Eleonora!

 We recently celebrated Eleonora's 2nd birthday.

She was so excited to help clean the house to get ready for her party.

 These brothers love a good party.

E was suffering with a bit of a cold, so she wasn't quite her smiley self.

 We started with a rousing game of 'What Time is it, Mr. Fox?' - the ultimate toddler activity.

We also sang Eleonora's current favorite song, "Way Up in the Sky" with motions.

The menfolk were thrilled, I'm sure.

 Eleonora and her cousins loved the present-opening.

 Then it was on to brownies and fruit.

 Thanks to Aunt Terry for the fruit - delish!

 This doll stroller was a huge hit!

 Chris got excited and took over the dinner planning and preparation.

We had brisket and salad and baked potatoes with all sorts of trimmings.

Tasty!

 Best cousins since 1982.

 And here's a flashback to Eleonora at her first birthday party.

What a great year it has been!

We are so thankful for Eleonora!

And in other news, 

I was featured on another blog yesterday.

http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/tips-and-tricks-on-saving-money-jessicas-personal-saving-story/

I was on there once before with my Moby Dick painting.

http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/repurposing-thrift-store-finds-old-paintings-made-new-again/

Happy Friday!

The Dog Rose

My sister, Jennifer, spotted a magazine article about a bedroom that just happened to feature 

the same bedspread that I have.

I had been looking for a bit of art to hang in my room, 

and two of the pictures hanging on the walls of the magazine bedroom were speaking to me, 

so I thought I would try to recreate them myself.

I found the botanical print online and discovered that the flower that matches my bedspread so neatly is called a 'dog rose' and you can buy a poster of it for the low, low price of $219.

 The number one lesson that I learned from this experience is as follows - 

never try to create beautiful works of art with craft paint.

It kept drying up too fast on my pallete paper plate.

At least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

These paintings didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned, 

but I kept the craft night ladies entertained for a couple weeks,

and I saved $219!

February 2013

 Today, I bring you pictures from three years ago.

When the boys loved to make Lydia volcanoes.

 And dressing up like Woody the Cowboy.

 And bandaids.

(Eleonora still carries that sippy cup to church sometimes - I think maybe it's expired!)

(Although, come to think of it, my mom still uses the sippy cups from my childhood, so maybe it's just getting started.)

And dress-up.

If they look like they were a good time back then, 

they are even more fun now!

100th Day

The boys celebrated their 100th day of school last week.

Now they are on the hunt for the perfect Valentines for their classmates.

Here we have Josiah as a kindergartner in 2014,

displaying his lovely snorkeler-eating-shark Valentine's box.

I'm interested to see what Caleb will come up with this year for his box.

I wonder if he can stray from orange and monkeys for a day.

Happy Wednesday!

Bulbs

I don't think that I ever showed you a bulb experiment that Caleb and I tried at this time last year.

I had asked for bulbs for my birthday and never got around to planting the last few, 

so we decided to see how they would like growing inside-like an amaryllis.

These big ones (hyacinths?) were not very happy inside.

They got stinky and slimy.

But then I planted them outside in the spring and they bloomed.

These little ones (paperwhites?) grew happily in their little broken teacup.

When they were finished blooming, I planted them outside as well.

I can't wait to see what bulbs come up and bloom this year.

The daffodils are starting to poke up their heads, so it won't be too long now.

This picture is from the spring of 2012 when our strawberry plans still lived at camp.

I weeded the great-great-great-grandchildren of this plant at our house yesterday, 

and I am also so excited to see how the strawberries do in their new home this year!