A Month in Photos - January

This was a great month! So many things in this month happened! Snow days, flip flop days, bff days, farm days, and even elephant days. WOW!

If you would like a larger view, click on the picture! Also, if you click the linked words below, you get the story to go with the picture. :)

Top row: Elephants marched downtown to get ready for the "Greatest Show on Earth!"

Middle row: Our Packers are headed to the Super Bowl!! GO PACK GO! Earlier this month, Kelly came to visit!! We haven't seen each other since...I'm not sure...last year maybe? Good times!!

Bottom row: Snow Days and then flip flop days at the farm?! That's the South for ya! 

I am participating with Simple as That's A Month in Photos. If you would like to play along, click the button below.

The Simple Things

It's that time again! What made you smile this week?

Are you ready for the Super Bowl? Oh yes, this House is definitely ready! These boys were ready as soon as the last points were scored:

Andrew is a bit blurry because he is dancing. They are so funny!! Glad I caught this picture!

GO PACK GO!!!!

Oak Mountain

Warning: There are a LOT of pictures in this post!

Yesterday, the weather was so gorgeous and Andrew was feeling back to normal (he just got over a stomach virus - but was amazingly better after going to the doc...hmmm), so we headed out to Oak Mountain. We have been dying to take Andy to see the little Farm. He is definitely a farm guy. Can you guess which animal he loved the most? It may surprise you :)

This sign cracks me up. It is pretty cute :) When we used to come here before we had Andrew, no one was allowed to feed the animals. But, the rules have changed. We didn't do this though. Maybe next time.

Andrew pointing to the goat and wanting to get a closer look.

Seeing if they can get closer. Look! They are walking the same! Cute.

The little stable with the little lambs.

How cute is this little pony? Love him!

The goose. Andrew liked how he honked at us. He even said "quack, quack!" back to him. He called him a duck, though. LOL.

Trying to get closer to the goose.

Going to see the pony.

They went to pet the pony. My goofy camera didn't grab that pic... But, he didn't really like to pet him anyway. 

The goose. He seems to be keeping an eye on us. Haha!

Really excited about this goat. 

Andrew liked him more than the pony, I think. He thought that his horns were pretty cool, too. 

I had to take a pic of this guy. He looks like our dog, Max. Beard. Stance. Everything but the color and the horns. Pretty crazy. He also has his personality..."don't mess with me right now."

The pretty running horses! 

Getting up close with a goat. Yes, it did scare me a bit. But, these animals really were friendly and are very used to people. So, I got over it quickly. :)

Taking a bridge to see the bigger horses. 

Andrew liked this horse better than the pony. I thought it would have been the other way around because of their size. Guess not.

How cute are these lambs? They were born on the 27th. 2 days before we came to visit. They are 2 days old. 2 days! Look how adorable they are. 3 little boys :) The mommy looks like she is smiling, doesn't she?

Yep, I gave in a let a pic of me be taken with 10 weeks to go. UGH! Anyhoo, my little guy loved the farm. I am so glad we took him on such a beautiful day! So, did you guess which animal was his favorite?

The goose. If he heard the goose, he let go of us and run to find the goose. If he saw the goose, he followed it. He loved the goose. Out of all the animals we saw, that really surprised me that he liked that one most of all.

Picnic time! We drove over to one of the lakes just a few minutes down from the barnyard. Just like a boy...squirming away! Humph!

"Ok, you took my pic and I ate lunch. Can I go play now?"

Time for some football!

He gave it all he had. LOL

Trying to play catch is a little difficult to do when there are so many cool things around. 

It was a great day!!

Fabulous New Wreath

YAY! I have never made a wreath before. I always figured I wasn't that talented in that department... But, the one I saw over at Little Big Nest changed my mind. And her's has a "W" just like mine would need. That was a winning factor, too! Gotta have my W! You can go here to see her wreath that inspired me to make one for our door.

That grapevine wreath was only $5 at Hobby Lobby. I know, I couldn't believe it either... The W was $2, and the branches that I cut up and wove into the wreath were on sale for $1/each (and maybe some change). I had the paint from all of the other projects I do around here :) So, what? $10 for an awesome wreath. Yay me!

Nice Day Out

Yesterday it was nice out (almost 60!!) so we headed out to the playground. I was told of another place that is better for little guys - more things for them to do on their own and more things to play on. It's a little old, but it is a lot of fun!

This is Pipe Guy. Andrew says hi to him every time we go. We also have to say goodbye. 

This is one of the spots that Andrew like the most. He's very much a tunnel guy and sat in there for a little bit watching the big kids play on the other things.

One of his other favorite things to do it swing, swing, swing!

And, here is my little slider guy in action. I've had some grands asking me about this one :)

If you have trouble viewing, click here.

A Tiny Closet for 2 Tiny Boys

It's done. It is FINALLY done. After MONTHS of insanity lurking behind a closed door...it is done.

Before I found out what we were having this time, I started with this... (please don't scream)

O M G

Everything is thrown in there. 

Boxes from diapers are being used to hold toys and clothes for Andy's new baby. 

Andy's stuff is SO not organized. 

Extra bedding...good luck. That's lost in the depths of that monster's home...

Then, we found out what we were blessed with another boy (YAY!). So, that became this:

I mean...really?

This is such a crappy try. Seriously. Yes, clothes are organized on the top shelf by size (since we knew we were having another boy it was easier to go through this stuff). Toys for Alex from and Andy are bagged below and toys are Andy to use later are there, too. But, really? UGH!

So, last night, on our (me and my bff Rachel!) outing to Target/Lowes (oh that should be a post all on it's own...Lowes...hahahaha!), I finally got all the things needed to tame the monster. And those 2 horrible pictures above turned into this:

Can you hear the angels singing?! I even turned on the closet light to make it look like Heaven finally gave this closet some peace. LOL! The closet opening is obviously smaller than the actual closet (there's about a foot of space on each side of the door frame). I'm definitely at peace with with closet now. 

 

The top shelf has extra diapers/wipes for Andy in one, Alex in another (yes, I've begun stocking up there was a sale and I got a few Target gift cards from those purchases!), and seasonal/holiday items in the bins which were only $3 each :)

 

The next shelf holds all the extra creams/powders/meds/etc in those bins. With some extra diapers for Andy on standby - haha!

 

Then the bottom is the toy organization. There are 2 of those 3 drawer towers. The other is hiding in that foot of space. Anyway, one is for Alex and the other is for Andy. He makes me laugh. I kept telling him that those were baby toys for Alex and he laughed and put them back...only to pull out a different rattle of some sort and giggle about it. He is such a Mr. Sillypants!

There are a few things missing, though. I am adding labels with pictures on the drawers for Andrew later this week. And for the clothes - yes, all of the clothes are hanging up. Pants and shorts are in the dresser (another day for that post) by size, too. Everything is out and put in it's place. But, I ordered these to help me see what is what size. Aren't they fabulous?!

They are from a great shop on Etsy called His Glory. I got them customized for the sizes I needed, but the colors are perfectly coordinated with their room (oh, i meant to post about how I changed the plan of their room - I had to...) So much that I am doing this Safari look on that top left circle. Cute, huh?

Ok, see what happened was, I checked out the bedding (see this post if you want to) and it was always a different color in pictures. It was weird. And it wasn't like I could go to the store to see it for myself - online only. I didn't want to go through buying it and then sending it back either. So, I went with the fabulous Dwell Studio for Target Dot Fun Blue:

See, fab, right? I know :) The colors really aren't that bold as they show in the pic.

Anyhoo! I think this post got a bit longer than intended! But, I'm just so happy that it is all finally coming together! I only have 10 weeks left! :)

It's On!

After the 21 Day Challenge with A Bowl Full of Lemons, a new challenge has been born: The Weekly Challenge :) And after the amazing transformation of the organization in my house, I am SO in. How about you? You know you want your home to continue looking great!

Post from the fabulous Toni: 

You all rocked the 21 day challenge & we had almost 300 blogs participating! I pray that the new weekly challenge will surpass the last one.  We shall see! I have been anxiously awaiting to reveal my new blog challenge to you. It will start on Sunday, January 30th.  I will post an assignment every Sunday night and we will have the entire week to complete it. 

A few examples of assignments will be:

Organizing your craft room
Creating a recipe binder
Organizing your bookshelves
Cleaning out (and organizing) the garage
Making a Home Management Binder  
 Menu planning
and LOTS more!

Tool Belt Man

Or maybe an apron...since I have yet to get some tools. LOL!

I saw this pattern on Make It & Love It and have had this on my list of things to do for a few months. Finally go around to it last night. Funny how when he goes out of town I get all crafty - haha! But I did it! It is so cute, too!! Andrew seems to enjoy having a place for his cooking things, too. He has a hammer, but the other tools... I just cant find any just yet. Ok, I have. I just haven't gone to Toys R Us to get them (they are only $1.99 each. nice). I need to get with it, huh? For now, he can help me in the kitchen. But, I'm a little jealous. I don't have an apron. You think I would with all the baking I do... No worries. That pattern is on the list, too. :)

Pretty excited as you can tell from the blurry picture. He's dancing LOL

Making sure he has his cooking tools. 

Just got a phone call from Food Network :)

He looks just like Jason here. Exactly like him.


I am linking this crafty energy of mine with Simple as That's Friday Craft Day! Come and join them, if you made something fun :)

Elephants!!

The Circus is in town!!

This morning was very cold and very rainy and very icky out. And we weren't going to even attempt going to the elephant parade for the "Greatest Show on Earth." But, we did and I am so happy that I changed our plans. Instead of going home, we saw this:

ELEPHANTS!!! Ok, yes, I am still very excited that we got to see them. I love elephants. They are my favorite animal, and with Andy's collection (he has about 7 or 8 now) he loves them just as much!

 How cute are they?! They are holding each others' tails and everything :D This one even looks like he is smiling! CUTE!!!

 I love them! I want to take one home... I don't know where I'd keep him though. 

(Maybe in my neighbor's grass - hahahaha! Inside joke...)

Look at him! He is so amazed by the elephants. I asked him before we got out of the car if he wanted to see if we could find them. He said, "Yes" and nodded his head, too. Then instantly looked out the window for them. Silly boy, though I did say they were going to be on the road... HA!

We even go to see some of their horses, too. I love how their manes have been done! Very pretty.

We had a great time out there! Best 2 minutes this year! LOL! :D

Glad I keep an extra umbrella, scarf, jacket, and hat in the car. It was really cold. But, I didn't care. I did this for that little guy in the picture. And the look on his face when he saw those elephants walking the streets of the "Big City" was enough to keep me warm!

OH! Just a bit of info for those with little kids. I never knew about this for Andrew, but for Alex I am going to register him with Ringling for the "Baby's First Circus." I have to get this done before he turns 1 and he will get a Circus ticket voucher to be used for any day, any time and it has no expiration. He also gets a certificate for going to his first circus.

For Andrew, since we missed out knowing that info, I will be getting him a Commemorative Certificate. This I'll get for him once we go to the circus for the first time.

And one day, I plan on taking both of them to the Elephant Conservation Center in Florida. I can't wait!