What A Great Day!

Today has been the best day!  For starters, it's mine and Lloyd's eighth anniversary!  We started the day by going with Lauryn to her school and watching her and her classmates do a parade with their Halloween costumes.  Then we were surprised to see them all sing a few songs together.  It was adorable!





After that, Lloyd headed to work and Lucas and I headed to Greenville to get gifts and party supplies for Lauryn's birthday.  We got back into town just in time to pick up Lauryn and then we headed home.  I wanted to do some major cleaning since we're having friends over tomorrow and I won't have any time to do it then.  I stalled though and didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to.  I got a surprise delivery shortly after we got back.  Lloyd sent me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers!  I was surprised because I thought getting my tattoo this Friday was my anniversary gift.



Lauryn and I made some of my pizza sauce and when Lloyd came home from work, we had homemade French bread pizza with chips and guacamole for dinner.  I did a little more cleaning, we got the kids into bed and now we're relaxing for the rest of the night.  :)

Coupons

I generally don't use coupons unless they're a really good deal.  If it's just a few cents off, I don't even bother with them.  I just got some 1800 Flowers, FTD & ProFlowers coupons and I think I might use them.  I have always just gone to the local flower shop to get flowers for someone but I've often wondered about 1 800 Flowers and thought they might have a much bigger selection on bouquets and arrangements.  I've never used them before but with the coupons it seems like a pretty good deal.

Stuffed!

Oh my goodness, I am so stuffed!  We went to dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousins tonight and had a great time!  We went to Rio Grande, a place I've never been to before, and we all got stuffed.  Even Lauryn ate a little bit better than I thought she would!  Everything from the bread and salad to the steak and garlic mashed potatoes was delicious!  That's definitely a restaurant I'd like to go back to!

Last Father's day, Lauryn and I got Lloyd a heavy duty wagon to pull around the yard.  It was meant for leaves and sticks and stuff like that but I think he ended up using it to pull Lauryn around more :)  He was just telling me that his cousin is going to take off the handle and use some welding cable to add a hitch to it so he cause use it on the tractor....or to have a different way to haul Lauryn around! :)  I might actually get some use out of it this year too.  Since we moved into this house at the end of October, I'm not sure what kinds of flowers are planted around the yard and I'll probably clean up the garden beds and add some new flowers.  I can't wait for Spring :)

Flowers

I was outside a little bit ago and I noticed that my flowers in the back yard are really beautiful right now.  I think I'm going to have to go back out and cut a few to bring in the house.  Brighten it up in here a bit.  I think working in a floral shop would be so much fun!  Using custom flowers and making beautiful arrangements all day sounds like a great job to me!  Especially when making them for special occasions, like birthdays and anniverseries, and knowing how happy that arrangement is going to make someone.  Anyway, I think next year I'm going to have to plant a lot more so I'll have more of a variety to choose from. :)

A Good Monday

After having a pretty relaxed morning, Lauryn and I got ready and went dollar store shopping to pick up a few things for the camper.  It was about lunch time when we finished so we went to Big Boy and both had the salad bar.  Lauryn had a good time there.  We had a really sweet waitress who kept talking to her and she loved it!  Afterward, we came home and Lauryn colored for a little bit while I read my book.  Then it was nap time.  It took her a little while to wind down but when she finally did, I thought I might get a little nap too.  At first I couldn't fall asleep so I called my mom and talked for a bit, read more of my book, then dozed on the couch for a little while.  When we got up, it was close to dinner time.  Since Lloyd was going to be home late, I made myself a french bread pizza and Lauryn had a sandwich, string cheese and a juice box.  After dinner we went out in the backyard and I weeded the garden and my flower bed, took care of my three flower baskets, replanted some cucumbers and melons and then Lauryn helped me water everything.  She REALLY loves watering everything :)  I LOVE getting work done in the garden and being able to look at it after and see how nice it looks!  When we came in, we were both a little dirty so we took a quick shower.  Lloyd came home a little bit later and now we're relaxing before bed time.

Yawning, Yawning, Yawning

I can't stop yawning today!  Yesterday, I cleaned out my flower bed and filled it with new flowers.  I addressed 200 envelopes for Lloyd, to send his newsletter out in, then Lauryn and I went back outside and I weeded the garden and got it ready for Lloyd to till again when he got home.  We were outside quite a bit yesterday and all that fresh air made me very sleepy!  By 10:30 pm, I was fighting to stay awake so I could watch the season finale of "The Good Wife" but I lost the battle and went to bed.  I slept for about four hours and woke up when I heard Lauryn awake and upset in her room.  After calming her down and getting her back to sleep, I was wide awake!  Now I feel like I could fall asleep at any moment.  As soon as Lauryn goes down for her nap, I'm going to try to get one too!

Whew!

Lauryn and I ran a few errands this morning and ended up going to a nursery nearby to get some flowers and things for the garden.  It's pretty nice and warm today but being in those greenhouses was fricken hot!!!  We both left a little sweaty and red-faced but we got some very pretty flowers and some peppers, cucumbers, melons and herbs for the garden.  I let Lauryn pick out some flowers to plant and she was thrilled!  I told her she could pick anything she wanted and she went for some pink ones, which made me very happy because they will compliment the flowers that have already been planted.  She's very much her mama's girl, picking out the pink :)

Mom will be coming over for our usual Friday visit.  I'm going to be making chicken breasts on the grill, rice and watermelon.  I picked one up yesterday and it was delicious!  Perfectly sweet!

I'm almost done with my Pay It Forward crafts.  I've made four different things, that I've never done before, and the five recipients will receive one of each.  Once I know that the gifts have been received, I'll be posting pictures of each projects.  They were all little things but since they were new things I'd never made before, it was fun and I can't wait to show them off!

April Fool's Day Success!

I usually don't get into the April Fool's Day pranks but this year, I couldn't help myself.  Since Lloyd was working all day and Lauryn doesn't understand pranks yet, my mom was my "victim."  I'm all for the pranks and jokes that are harmless and funny, not the ones that get people upset and make them think something is wrong.  Luckily, mom is a very good sport and has a great sense of humor so she thought the pranks were as funny as I did :) 

I am so ready for this weather to warm up!  I want to get out and go for long walks, take Lauryn to different parks, get my vegetable garden going and plant some more flowers around the house.  With all the plans I have this year, I'll probably have to get a couple of cash advance payday loans to make it all happen :)  Come on spring!  We're waiting!!!

Next Summer

I know we are just getting past this summer but I'm already thinking of what I'd like to do in the yard for next spring/summer.  I can't wait to do my garden again.  I love planting different things each year!  Next year I want to plant some romaine lettuce and potatoes.  I'll want to do much more but I haven't figured that all out yet :)  I can't wait to add some more flowers too!  And figure out what to do about the empty spaces in front of the house where those awful bushes used to be!  I also want to get some rustic furniture for the backyard.  Some for around the fire pit and up by the grill and tables.  I'm so looking forward to next summer!

Not Ready

After such a long weekend, I was not ready to fall back into our regular routines today.  I woke up feeling tired and coffee was not helping one bit.  Still managed to go to the store for some groceries, sweep, vacuum and do the dishes.  After dinner we went outside and watered the garden, the strawberry patch and the flowers.  I was very happy to see that some strawberries are starting to grow, my herbs are all doing very well, one of the Miss Tilly blue balloon flowers had started to bloom and so had the English daisy's.  Who knew I'd get so into this?

I think I need to add some vitamins into my diet.  People always tell me that I should take them but recently, even when I'm feeling great, I still don't feel like I have as much energy as I should.  I'm reading a few supplement reviews to figure out what will be best for me.  I figure it'll help me feel more energized and will be good for me in other ways, so I might as well do it :)

Long Night

Lauryn and I had a VERY long night last night. She's teething right now and she's been waking up quite a few times during the night lately. My poor girl! We are both a little wiped out today. I'm glad the sun finally decided to pop up because that always help perk me up a little....that and a few cups of coffee :)

I'm going to try a new cinnamon raisin bread recipe I found. It sounded good and I have everything for it so I thought I'd give it a whirl. If it turns out, I'll post the recipe for it later.

We did get the garden in yesterday and although I so hate getting my hands dirty, I had fun getting it started. Besides the other things I mentioned in the last post, we also planted some marigolds and dahlia's. If it all goes well, I'd like to try expanding it next year and getting more veggies and some herbs in there. I'm hoping that the bunnies that have been hanging around stay out of it.

*UPDATE*



The bread turned out great! Here's the recipe:

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 1/4 c. warm (105 - 115 degrees

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. salt

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 c. raisins

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in honey. Add butter, salt and only 2 cups of flour. Beat on low speed with mixer, until blended. Increase speed to high and beat 1 minute. Scrape bowl and beat 1 minute longer. Add remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. "Punch" batter down by stirring 30 strokes with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cinnamon and raisins. Spoon into loaf pan.

Let rise, covered, in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until batter rises to the edge of the pan (not over). Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Glaze:

Mix 1/2 c. confectioners sugar, 1 tbsp. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract until smooth. Spread on cooled bread.