Spring Mantle (or is it mantel??) and Fun Finds

Hi chickies! Life has been busy lately, but the fun sort of busy. Know what I mean? I've been playing in the flower beds, planting all sorts of pretty things. Our weather has just been beautiful and we are taking full advantage of the nice days!

So, I thought I'd let you know what my mantel looks like nowadays. I wanted to keep it fresh and simple for spring...


The French sign is inspired by this post. I had an old piece of wood that I painted white, and traced the lettering onto the wood. Then filled it in with a black marker. I like how it turned out. Easy peasy!


Now onto my recent yard sale finds...

Hubs saw these lamps and said "WHAT?". He just doesn't see the potential, but I think they are just so cool, funky and retro! I do need to change the shades because they are damaged, but for $1 each, how can you turn these down??


I bought this old green suitcase and thought it would look great by the front door. It holds gloves, scarves, and wintery things. I loved the color and shape!


Here is a wooden Coke bottle box and an old thermos that I set on the porch...


I LOVED this glass milk jug holder! And the lady at the yard sale GAVE it to me! Whoopee! I thought I'd use the bottles as vases for my tulips.


Found a whole stack of Country Living, Southern Living, and Travel & Leisure mags. I'm spending my evenings reading and getting inspired!


And, finally, I bought a stack of old photos, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. Just thought they were too irresistible to pass up. Any ideas?

Hope the weather is beautiful wherever you are too!

Doing the spring thing

Girls, it's time to get out the old gardening gloves and polishing off your green thumbs!

Avery was trying to "help" plant some flowers and, in the process, discovered the joy of mixing water and dirt.

Here she is finding out that there is water in the watering can...


Am I going to get in trouble for this, mom? (notice the dirt around her mouth - yes, she was indeed eating it. I just don't understand.)



Dirty from head to toe!


More to come!

Our Weekend

We spent this past weekend at a cabin in the mountains with a group of friends from our church. We had the most beautiful spring weather!

Little lovey gettin' dirty (and I'm learning to just chill out and let her be messy when she's outside)...

The beautiful pond in front of the cabin...

The cabin where we stayed...

Hope you enjoyed your weekend too!

Happy Weekend!

Summer is just around the corner!

I can feel it, I can smell it, I can taste it!

Welcome Back!!

Don't forget to catch The Office! It's on at Thursday at 9pm.

If you miss it, you'll be in soooo much trouble!

This n That

So I don't have a whole lot to say, so I'll just say a whole lot of nothing...

1. Time for the winter wreath to GO!! Am I pathetic or what? I still have my Christmasy/wintery wreath up on the front door, but since I don't have anything to replace it, I just never bothered to take it down. Until now. Finally.

And joke's on me - a robin just started building a nest on it. Robins + Christmas wreaths = lazy decorator.


2. Isn't Springtime so EXCITING! I just planted some herbs to put in the kitchen windowsill. Cross your fingers that we'll have some yummy herbs to eat before they get dumped by the little hands of a toddler...


3. New shelf from Ross (our favorite!) for the bathroom. It was banged up, the paint was peeling, and I got it for 3 bucks in the clearance aisle. I just painted it and distressed it a little and it's good as new.


4. If you said "uh-oh", you are correct. It is the dreaded little potty. And it looks like it may be time to start the training (anyone want to take my place?).

And it's time to say good night, so I'll let Avery blow the kisses for me...

Reese has got TASTE!

Check out Reese Witherspoon's new $5.8 million vacation digs in Ojai, California. I'm very, very impressed! This house has loads of character and warmth - something that most humongous, movie-star houses usually lack.

Here's a description of the house according to Realestalker.

SIZE: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: A one of a kind Wallace Neff architectural masterpiece. Amazing equestrian compound. Perfect 6+ acre hideaway nestled in fabulous Ojai Valley, a short drive to one of LA's most sought after vacation spots. Beautifully re-designed by Kathryn Ireland. Fabulous new master suite. Incredible privacy. Fantastic opportunity.

Love that fireplace!


The stable for horses - how perfect!

Again, according to the Realestalker...

There are also two detached guest cottages, each with private bath and fireplace, a stable block for the equine inclined, a gatekeepers cottage, a four car carriage house garage, a stunning walled and private swimming pool...

What a beautiful property!

Friendship

I am so blessed to have these girls in my life!

left to right: Mary Beth, Jodi, me, Julie (Angie is missing)

We've known each other since the 8th grade (some even before that) when we found refuge in each other in the middle school cafeteria.

We got each other through all sorts of stuff: lousy boyfriends, acne, parental issues, tests, nervousness at talking to cute boys, dorky clothes, watching Tom Cruise movies (he was the ultimate!), graduation, and all that teenage angst!

Then we graduated and somehow we managed to stick together through our girls night outs. And we again helped each other through all the drama of our 20's: some of us went to college, some of us worked, we all got married, we helped each other through miscarriages, fertility issues, the death of a child (we've lost six babies between the five of us) and death of a parent, birth of children, one of us moved to a different state, and now we are all trying to raise kids who aren't bratty!

And, here we are, all turning 30 in the next year! There's just nothing like the friendship of girls who've known you almost all your life and love to still hang out and eat pizza and ice cream...and gab! And I'm sure we'll stick together through our 30's and beyond!

Love you all!