Cowboy Sam's Party

We had such a great time at Sam's 5th birthday. He loves country music and cowboy anything so we rode horses, sang country music and wore cowboy hats. Bryant loved getting on the stage and dancing and of course loved the horses. Lucy Kate was a little more clingy to say the least.

The Birthday Boy

His FABULOUS birthday cake and yes it is all edible!



Paxton, Luke, and Sam putting on a show


He was too cute but would not keep it on



My little cowgirl

Singing a little tune

I think he is going to be like his daddy and love to show off

Checking out the horse

A little closer

Screaming to get off!

Bryant riding with Stoney and loving it


Thank goodness Daddy could go because I can't keep up with both of them

Thanks to Mr. Neal

I found a table that I fell in love with for our kitchen, but the price tag did not love me. I snapped photos and figured I would just dream about it. Thanks to Mr. Charles Neal at Neal's antiques here in Clarksdale he made me exactly what I wanted. I showed him the pictures and picked out my colors and now I have a great kitchen table. I am still waiting to pick out chairs but we can make due for now.

Part of the one I could not afford

The one in my kitchen

Seriously

The sink has been an issue the past few days. Charles had to come home from work Thursday because it was all stopped up and I could not function all day without a sink. He fixed the problem and them I noticed Friday the disposal was making a strange sound. Charles' hand is too large to fit in the drain, so guess who had to stick there hand in the drain! Me...... I was gagging but pulled out something that my little helpers put in there. They love to cleanup and drop things over in the sink and this is what I found.......

Yes, a Benjamin Moore color sample. I have a lot of these from when we were trying to decide on paint colors and one found its way in my sink.

Madelyn's Birthday

Sunday we headed to Jackson to celebrate Madelyn's 2nd birthday at the Mississippi Natural Museum of Science. Since Charles was working on the locker system my dad went with us. The weather turned very cold but we were not outside for long. Madelyn is so precious and her birthday was so much fun. After cake and opening gifts we headed inside into the museum and the kids loved it. Lucy Kate wanted Papa D to hold her the whole time but she was very interested in all the animals and loved the fish. Bryant was a bit annoyed with me since he was not feeling well and I was dragging him all over the place. After the party we went to Ichabod to eat and it was delicious. My dad is such a good sport because this is not exactly his type of place. I was thinking the kids would love to see the chef cooking the food for us. Truth be told they were tired and we should have grabbed something quick and headed back to Lyon!

Such a cute cake for the birthday girl!

Papa D helping Lucy Kate out with her cake

Bryant and Lucy Kate just couldn't keep out of the gifts

At the museum

Climbing in the tree trunk

Too HOT! Dinner at Ichabod

Weekend Project

I love a project and I have been wanting to make the laundry room a mudroom as well. I love the locker system that you see in pottery barn and Ballard designs so that is what we did. Charles great friend Jason (Lucy Kate loves him) came down for the weekend and built exactly what I wanted. It has storage on top, cubbies for each child, hooks to hang backpacks and jackets, and a big drawer to put shoes in! I love it and Charles has to finish the second coat of paint so I can move things back into the laundry/mudroom.

Before

Midway

You Never Know

The babies are very busy and I never know what to expect when I go in to get them from naps or clear them from a room they are not supposed to be in. Here are a few things from the past week....

After listening to Lucy Kate cry and cry, went in to get her and she had taken everything off the bottom half and was having a fit. The solution........

Duck tape and our first attempt at potty training. The potty training not so successful but we will try again later, but the duck tape was a great success.

Lucy Kate sleeps in the pak-n-play in the guest room for naps and I have tons of stuff in there from working on the house. Her bed was moved over and this is what I found when I got her up from her nap. She had pulled my arrangements all apart and I am pretty sure she snacked on a little bit of it.

Just enjoying a little piano time!

Not sure who was the guilty party, but Bryant seems to be the one obsessed with bathrooms! Two full rolls of toilet paper down the drain!

Watching it Snow

Fun Times

Bryant and Lucy Kate love when Warner comes over to play!

I guess a man always loves his recliner...

He loves to sit in the recliner and watch over things!

I think I am on the right track

I really have been putting a lot of thought and time into Bryant and Lucy Kate's new room. I will be moving them to twin beds May 1st and setting up the nursery for Emma! Since Bryant and Lucy Kate will continue to share a room I want to make it too cute but unisex. I have searched and searched and I think I have figured out some parts of the room. I found very inexpensive duvet covers in a light turquoise and I am going to mix some light linen fabrics and a brown cow print with it. The bed skirts and drapes are going to be the linen in a burlap color and some of the pillows and bench cushion will be the cow print. I have two ideas for the headboards, old doors in a cream color or upholstered headboards in a cream color. I also plan to take an old table and refinish it to use as the bench. I have never attepmped anything like this before so I am hoping for the best!

Blogging World

I have been quite lazy today, as Emma and I have needed some down time. Charles kept Lucy Kate and Bryant entertained and I sat in the recliner and became lost in blogging world. I am really into the house since we are trying to get ready for the arrival of Emma in July. We are finished with the painting and I am having a kitchen table made! I am in the process of trying to find a chandelier and pick out drapes. The new den/dining room is great and I am taking my time to complete it so it is just right. Back to blogging world, I found so many blogs today that are dedicated to your home and full of great projects. I probable looked at 75 blogs that were so interesting and had great ideas for design, thrift shopping, home projects, and decorating. I am also trying to find bedding for Bryant and Lucy Kate as they will be moving to big beds in May. It is hard to find bedding for a unisex room that is appropriate. I can always go with white and do a great bed skirt and pillows but I am just not sure about white with two year olds. If you have any ideas for great sites with bedding let me know. I will post some of the great blogs that I found

A few stories to share

Bryant and Lucy Kate are into everything these days and I just can't keep up. One new thing is the interest to venture off into rooms without adults and explore. They have been busy digging around in there room and apparently they were under the beds. This became apparent when Lucy Kate came running into the kitchen wanting me to get the sticky pad off her arm! I was so sad I did not have my camera handy because it was too funny.

They have runny noses again so I asked Lucy Kate to go in the bathroom and get some tissue. I noticed it was taking a little to long so I began to count.......1...2...3 and out she comes with the entire roll all in her arms. It was hilarious and she was so proud of herself.

Bryant and Lucy Kate are really talking so much and Lucy Kate repeats everything. The cutest thing is when she hears me call Charles and she runs down the hall yelling "Charles" Bryant is so interested in what everything is that I spend most of the day labeling things. I feel like I need a million post it notes to stick around the house.

Discipline is quite the job and we are trying our best. We count, go to time out and eventually the spoon comes out! When Lucy Kate gets in trouble for something she finds Bryant and gets him to do it for her. You tell her not to touch the garbage she grabs Bryant and puts his hand to the garbage can. Then she proceeds to tell him "no Bryant". She is very motherly and loves to tell him what to do.

They also love to look at my belly and they both say "Emma". We talk about it all the time and they give baby Emma kisses but I am not sure how much they are going to love her when she arrives.

What were we thinking

It was going to be simple, paint the office which will soon be the nursery but it turned into more. I just figured since we were going to hire someone to do that why not go ahead and have a few other rooms painted. The kitchen, den, hall and the office are all having a face lift. From ceiling to floor and all the cabinets in the kitchen as well. It is looking great but I could go crazy at any given moment. I had planned on us moving to the Lodge during this process but Charles insisted that we stay here, big mistake! We are going crazy with all the mess and the babies are trapped in a very small area to stay out of the paint. Bryant and Lucy Kate follow the painter around the house and Lucy Kate says "hey Thomas" and Bryant is pointing and talking away just not sure exactly what he is saying. He is planning on finishing up next week and I am so excited. A few more touches and a few things to buy and it will be a nice facelift.

The office before, excuse the table of scrapbooking.

Pink is all the rage at our house with a little girl on the way!

The hallway

All the walls are painted a great philadelphia cream and the trim will be painted next.

I forgot to take pics of the kitchen before so I found this one that shows the color

Wall color is monroe bisque and the cabinets will soon be painted

Forgot to get a snapshot of the den too, so this one will do

Philadelphia cream in the den too and I am making it into two rooms. The dining room in the back and a sitting area in the front.

Heading into the kitchen

Could it be Rush.........but for your preschooler?

One thing about Clarksdale is that it has too many schools, making the decision on where to send your child very difficult. Bryant and Lucy Kate will be two in March so they will head off to Pre-3 next January. All the open houses are held in January so off we went to check them out. Lee Academy, PDS, St. Elizabeth, and St. Georges are all the schools that we have to pick from. They are all great and we are going to have the most difficult time choosing the perfect school for our precious angels. We are so blessed to have so many great schools, it just makes it hard!

Children's Benefit Ball

Clarksdale Junior Auxiliary means so much to me and it is such a great organization. On January 23rd we had our Children's Benefit Ball and it was great. After much planning and a couple of days of hard work we pulled it off and everyone had a great time. Knowing that we are able to help the children in Coahoma county is such a blessing and is so rewarding, you forget about all the hard work and the exhaustion. I love these women and I am truly sad that my JA time is coming to an end.

Me, Julie, Ginger, Kate, and Mary Evelyn

Brad, Jason, and Charles

Date Night for us!

I love these ladies.

Anna, Mary Kate, Katie, and Celia

Finally the Park

A few weeks ago we were actually able to go outside and play. Daddy was home and his friend Mack so we headed to the park in Lyon. It is perfect and Lucy Kate and Bryant are really getting into it. Bryant has no fear and heads down the slide head first! We are going to have so much fun this spring!