Life - How Beautiful

Jamie and I have been noticing lately that every time we walk out the front door that a bird flies out of our hanging plant. "Can't be" we both comment, "must be some kind of fluke." Well today Jamie watered the plant before he left for work and the bird came flying out and hit him in the side of the head and was going crazy. We were talking about it tonight and decided to investigate. Sure enough - there's a nest in our hanging plant. How wonderful! I've never seen this before. What a wonderful thing to experience. For the past several years, they have been building nests in our arbor vidies but the crows have also been watching and have killed all the eggs. This year one bird was a little smarter! I hope they hatch. A new life born right on our porch! Luckily, it's over to the very edge so now we know where not to water!
 

Construction Zone

Here's Jamie and Randy starting the first post. They were able to put all 11 posts in on Saturday. Yes, I did help. It was rough standing out there in the cold (50 degrees with winds up to 25 mph) but I moved that tape measure all over the place while they measured, remeasured and one last measure before the stone went in the holes! LOL Although the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler for what it should be here at this time of year, it's perfect deck building weather! 

How Funny is This?

Isn't this the cutest picture? Michael went to dinner with Moriah, Jimmy, Mason and Coop the other night and they went to the park too. Bubba found these glasses at the playground. I just have to smile every time I see it. Moriah said it the best in her blog entry "it's about being 3, seeing the world in new cool glasses and seeing the world all tinted blue. Small things. Big laughs." Thanks Moriah for the use of the picture!!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to ME! Today is my 5th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe that we have been married 5 years already. Time has gone by so fast and then again, it seems like yesterday. We've actually been together for 17 years and even as I reflect back on that it doesn't seem like it's been that long. We've raised 6 children between us and are now enjoying the empty nest although I wish they didn't all live so far away. So, what are we going to do for our anniversary? Build a deck!! What could be more romantic than that? LOL

Jamie and Randy are going to the gravel pit and buy more stone for the posts. The lumber is supposed to be delivered this afternoon and by tonight, hopefully, we'll have a least a few of the posts in. On Sunday, Randy is coming back and we'll continue on. It's supposed to be rain-free for most of this week which will allow Jamie (and me?) to continue building. I don't think I ever envisioned myself building a deck but I think I'll be learning how this week. After all, the birthday bash is just in a few weeks!

Mimi Again??

Yes again!! Grandchild #7 on the way. Congratulations to Jamie and Jessica!! They found out recently that they were expecting around December 5th. They will, unfortunately, miss our gathering at Christmas time in NC, but Jamie and I will head to Texas in January to see the newest one. I can't believe that both Marchelle and Jess are pregnant and due within 3 weeks of each other.

So, I will go to NC for the birth of Marchelle and Tyler's baby, then Jamie and I will head to NC for Christmas and then Texas in January. This is going to be a hectic end of the year!!

I think these kids are costing me more money now that they all grew up and moved away!!

It's So Exciting!

Last night friends of ours came over from out of town. We met at the house then went out to dinner. Can I tell how exciting it was for me to show off all the work that we've been doing over the last few months?? I was so proud for someone to see it. It made me realize just how happy all these little changes have made and how much I love my house and yard!

Jamie and Randy dug the holes for the deck this week. Course, it's rained ever since but the deck is started!! Our pool cover broke this winter when a bad wind storm snapped the cable that holds it to the pool. Jamie was able to fix it enough to get us through the winter but that turned out to be a good thing. We had it all ready for the garbage pickup when Randy came up with the idea to use it to cover the holes they had dug. They were able to place it over the entire area that the deck is going so there's only a small amount of water in some of the holes. There are 11 holes and each are 42" deep. Can you imagine if they were all filled with water???

I can't wait for the deck to be finished. It's going to be tight to get it all done before July 4th but I know Jamie will have it done. Today we went to the store and purchased some chairs for the deck. Four of them are just your basic high-back plastic chairs and four are fabric folding chairs. With the patio set we already have, that gives a total of 12 chairs for the deck. And YES, they will all fit as the deck is 20' x 22' - it's huge!!

July 4th is going to be a fun day for us! We are throwing a 75th birthday party for my father-in-law Bob. Shirley and Bob are coming in from AZ. Jamie's brother Mark and boys (Tommy and Danny) are coming from FL. Jamie & Jessica are coming in from TX and Jeana plans on coming in from Buffalo. I can't wait!! I just wish all the other kids could come home too!