Welcome, Spring!

Oh it's feeling like Spring here! I saw an entire orchard in bloom yesterday....all pink and lovely. And I'm HOPING the tulip tree in my parents' backyard is still in bloom when we go over there in a week or so. I just adore those big pink blooms. Maybe it's called a magnolia tree but we call it a tulip tree! I think I need at LEAST one of those lovely trees here. That and lots of rose bushes. Landscaping the yard is top priority right after the fence this Spring. My poor hubby...there is so much more work than there is time but we also know we'll live here forever so there is really NO RUSH at all.

Speaking of Spring and the yard, we've been outdoors quite a bit. It's been such great weather lately and the kids have been loving it. Andrew fusses at the back door to go outside and when he does get to go out, he heads straight for the dirt. And there's lots of it! I haven't talked a lot about it here on my blog, but we built a house right next door to my inlaws and for those of you who may have just started reading this blog, we have only lived here since right before Christmas. Hence the WIP yard! Our house is actually sitting on the very dirt where my husband played as a little boy! And not only do my inlaws live in the home my husband grew up in, they live in the home where my father-in-law grew up! So my children are the fourth generation to live on this property. There's even MORE history just down the road but that's for another day...

Here's my inlaws' house from our yard...

And here is the back of our house from my inlaws' driveway...

And lest you feel sorry for me that I live next door to my inlaws, let me assure you this was all MY IDEA! My inlaws are angels (literally) and being neighbors is just all of our dreams come true. You can see by these photos that even little Andrew understands that Grandma and Grandpa live right next door. He has barely set foot outside when he decides he's going to go visit Grandma and Grandpa.

He is temporarily distracted by Rachel's dirt play....But soon wanders over to where he KNOWS the real fun is to be had...

Finds a ball on the way....

But then remembers what he came here for!

"Where's the doorbell on this thing???"

This is standing at my sliding glass door, looking past my inlaws' driveway, at the school yard. That's where Miss Emily is! And her grandma (the one who lives next door) is her teacher this year!!!

And I can hardly believe it...Miss Rachel just had her fourth birthday this past week! It was so fun. Here she is first thing on the morning of her birthday. She got to "order" her birthday breakfast so of course she picked Barbie Pop Tarts. DUH! I made her a "tiara" to wear, which she immediately put on, of course. :)

She got to open ONE gift that morning and it was one her Daddy picked out for her. There is no explanation for how she felt about this gift better than the following pictures.... My mama surprised Rachel by stopping by for lunch and we had a lovely visit. Here's Mama (a.k.a. Grammy!) with Rachel.

And here's me with Rachel and Andrew!

After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa came from next door to join us for cake and ice cream. Pink cupckes, of COURSE! They could NOT come quick enough for Rachel, though....

Analise, do you recognize the heart-shaped box and rosey tissue paper I "repurposed" in a birthday emergency???? ;) I realized I had not purchased gift wrap and since we live a ways from any stores that carry gift wrap, I started to panic. WAIT, I thought....I AM A CRAFTY GIRL...SURELY I CAN WRAP GIFTS WITHOUT WRAPPING PAPER!!!

Here she is opening something from Grandma and Grandpa with Emily nearby to ooh and aah.
I really HAVE to show you one of Rachel's favorite gifts that just happens to be my favorite thing I gave her, as well. Just look at these delicious hair bobbles by Bobbleicious! They are really cute sitting in her etsy shoppe but let me tell you how utterly SCRUMPTIOUS they are in person! Each clip or hair tie is a work of art. Hand-stitching, hand-beading, details galore, yummy colors...perfection.

In the next photo, the "standing up" one is actually attached to a rubber band and the two in the foreground are attached to hair clips...the kind Rachel has in her hair in the photo above. Aren't they amazing??? I got her the ballet slipper clips and hair ties, as well, and those were also a big hit.

Well this has been a photo-filled entry, now hasn't it?? One of my goals for this year is to share a bit more of me and my life with you. I have been thinking about the blogs I like best and they are, without exception:

-well-written

-personal and thought-provoking

-tender and at times, tear-inducing

-full of beautiful photos

So that's what I'm going for this year. And this isn't easy for me, Sweet Bloggy Pals! Though I know in my head that I enjoy blogs like this as a reader, it is hard for me as a writer to assume that my readers want to know what we did, what we ate and what we thought about what we did and what we ate! And rest assured, I won't be photographing our lunch this year. That I DON'T appreciate in other's blogs!!!! I also really don't enjoy photos of other people's feet, shoes and trees. Just a funny quirky thing about me, I realize, but you won't find pictures of our feet or close-ups of the trees (or lack thereof) around my house this year! ;) I am, however, going to talk a bit more about my family, my "process" as I create what I create and the way my family thwarts the creative process! That's my life....and I think it's a lot of your lives, as well. And isn't connecting with others what this whole blogging thing is all about?