Where You Live Friday - Yard & Garages

Wow, it's only Sunday and I'm already doing Where You Live Friday at Kelly's Korner! What an improvement! ;) This week is yards & garages.... This is the 2nd house that my hubby has built us - and my, how we love it!

We lost a beautiful crape myrtle tree during a storm this year, and replaced it with a gorgeous magnolia tree (don't you know you're in the South, now?!) It's looking a little sad right now, with the temps around 105 lately... but we're giving her a little more tlc going fwd so she'll recover!


I love begonias..... you can see our O-state stone here.... We are THE hugest fans and totally bleed orange & black...

Here is our garage! Inside, it's filled with strollers, a bow flex, my car, bikes, and lots and lots of tools (they don't call him Mr. Fix-It for nothing!)

Moving on to the back yard!

It's the typical suburban back yard, huh? ;) That's Big Sister's weeee (that's Big Sis-speak for playset!) And G-man's is to the right... although they have the most fun when he's on the red baby swing next to her big girl swing.... and now that she can pump herself, it's even more enjoyable for momma. ;)
We've never had a back yard that I've enjoyed as much as this one....There's plenty for the kiddos to do, a huge covered area for dinners and entertaining, a patio for bike riding, a fireplace for s'mores making... you name it!


That patio furniture was our gift to ourselves for our 5th wedding anniversary! And I love the pair of outdoor wall hanging we have on that far wall (you can only see one in the pic)..


Do you see the bird flying over the fireplace? I hadn't noticed him and I guess my camera scared him into flight! That was a project after we moved in.... and if we get around to it, we're going to build a matching outdoor kitchen on the other side of the patio.


My patriotic cuties in front of the (unlit) fireplace on the 4th of July! No s'more making lately... it has been way TOO hot!

We're not going to build a pool until the kiddos get a bit older (and until we plan to stay in a house for longer than a couple yrs!) So, until then, we're living in a neighborhood with great amenities! This is the beach club, which is pretty cool when you live landlocked in the middle of TX! This is Big Sis last June.... I haven't managed to get the camera there yet this year! (And probably won't until G-man's 1st birthday party there!)

Big Sis loves the splash pad.... and G-man is learning to tolerate it. ;)


And another pic from last summer, this time the aquatic center.... the kiddie pool has a beach enrtrance with fountains which is great for the mommas...

Thanks for checking out our outdoor living! If you're interested in seeing the rest of the house - my husband is THE best builder and I love to decorate! - check it out here.

We heart America!

I was hoping to have our 4th of July card and a few pics from yesterday's Patriotic Parade ready to share with y'all, but.... we've been having so much fun enjoying our extra day off together (and getting ready for all of tomorrow's fun!) that I didn't get a chance to pull it off....

But here is G-man and Big Sis before they went to school yesterday, dressed in what little red, white, & blue mommy could pull together last second!

And I'll be back with the wrap up of our weekend BBQ with the Everythings and some of my assorted family.... I love summer!!

Where You Live Friday: Master Bedroom

Y'all, it seems I'm just getting worse at these as we go along. It's almost time for the next Where you Live Friday and I'm just now doing last week's. Oops! At least this week is yards and I think I can handle to get that one up in a more timely fashion. (But I'm not gonna promise...)

For those of you who don't know, my hubby Mr. Fix-It is a builder and homes are our biggest hobby. We move often and we love, love picking out new floorplans, granite countertops, flooring, you name it. And I love to decorate!

This is the entry into our room....


One day I'm going to learn to sew.... like my mom, who made these amazing brown velevet curtains that pool on the floor.

I'd prob spend more time in my room, if I had the time... to relax and watch tv:

... or read... this is what's on my nightstand! Kimmie recommended Jen Lancaster's book and I'm starting with Bitter is the New Black and I love it! I just finished the next book, The Sweet Potato Queens Big Ass Novel. If you've never read any of the SPQ books by Jill Connor Browne, you don't know what you're missing! The next book is one of my child's Birthday Books. I love these! It's a way to document what you do to celebrate each birthday for your child. You know how much I love entertaining... this is perfect to document all those details! Also has room for funny interviews of your kiddo. Then my new Semi-Homemade Cookbook by Sandra Lee (all healthy recipes!) and my collection of InStyle mags...

Right above our dresser, you can start to see our beautiful ceiling...


And - of course - some special pictures hang out on our dresser... oldies but goodies... the top one is one of Mr. Fix-It and I's engagement pics from 2001 during my former life as a blonde. The bottom right is a wedding photo... and the left is a family pic with my parents and sibs.


It's also where I keep my amazing photo album from my maternity photo session with Kristie. Check out her work here! Funny, Big Sis is wearing this same top today...

Man, I got HUGE with baby G-man.... but these are a few of my fav shots in the album:

I pictured the master bath in the Bathroom Tour, so check it out!

And on to the master closet. In our last house, we had his & hers closets off the master bathroom.... so you can imagine my hesitation when I was told this floorplan had us sharing closets again. ;) But there's a divider down the middle (where my dresses are hanging) that keeps us separated. And it houses the full length mirror that Big Sis uses every morning to inspect her outfit and her 'do before school.

As a huge shoe fan (and someone who was formerly in the shoe business), Mr. Fix-It knows by now how to make me happy when it comes to closet space.... he and I worked on this shoe storage in our closet, and it's perfect! At least for displaying all my in season shoes. ;)

One thing on my agenda at home is to CLEAN this crazy closet. I can tell you that I don't wear 1/2 the things in here.... I have a huge range of sizes in here, from 6-16 (yep, I was a 16 when I went back to work after having Big Sis!) But I maintain the same size (when not pg)... so why do I need all these clothes?! I don't!

Thanks for visiting! In 2 short days, we'll be touring yards and garages! I love our backyard in this house - room for lots of fun.

Be sure to check out the rest of the house here! Happy 4th, y'all!

Semi-Homemade Pirate Nursery - in the news again!

It seems so many people are interested in G's pirate nursery - it's so exciting! We had so much fun with his room.... I think that really shows through.

Anyway, you've just got to check out this site - Baby Cove is such a cool site, full of stuff that moms and moms-to-be need to know! They have a group of mommy authors who weigh in on everything from home births to cute maternity clothes and from maternity photos to sono pics. Each momma has a cute name that keeps in the theme, like Momma Starfish.

They've done such a great job at profiling G's room - even better than I did! Be sure to visit G's room on the Baby Cove and I promise you'll love this site!

Birthdays, bowling and bang!

Y'all, a weekend at the in-laws' was exactly what I needed. And no, I'm not kidding.... I was very possibly blessed with THE. best inlaws. Ever. And with work bearing down on me like it has... I needed the mental escape.

Anyway, we traveled up to NE Oklahoma for Mr. Fix-It's dad's 70th!! birthday. It was supposed to be a pool party, but have y'all read about the oppressive heat in the south lately? It's bad when it's too hot for a pool party. So we switched to a bowling party and that was a super smart move. It just so happened to be Big Sister's first bowling trip. Check her out above (in her little bermuda short ensemble) - isn't she cute? She used the ramp-thing for little kids once... and then insisted on doing it herself. That's so Big Sis...

This is me and Mr. Fix-It.....I have to note that I scored what might be a personal best at 111!!!!!! Mr. Fix-It beat everyone with a 118... I don't think either of us has bowled in years, but we're competitive. ;) The middle picture has the birthday boy as well as Mr. Fix-It's mom and the kids.



Then on to buy the fireworks! One of the benefits of being in the country, because around here... it's all illegal! This is a crappy picture, that yes, I took THRU the dirty windshield of our truck because it was too hot to get out and take an actual picture. This fireworks stand was run by the local cheerleaders, something Mr. Fix-It swears he knew nothing about when deciding to stop at this particular stand.... um, right... ;)


This picture cracks me up and pretty much sums it up. Big Sis loved it! But hated the noise. We call her the 'noise police' at home anyway, because she's the first to boss you into turning down the tv if it gets too loud...

We didn't do anything too over-the-top.... they had a girly backpack full of stuff perfect for little kids, so that's what they got. Took out all the guess work... Too bad, Big Sis wanted to carry around a backpack full of explosives all afternoon....

Here is Big Sis in action, watching her daddy and grandpa light some snakes!

I was impressed she was so calm....

This shows a little of her fear.... but we obviously had her step back for smoke bombs...

and WAY back for the bigger stuff!

"Daddy, I'm good at this!" That's what she kept saying as she threw down the snaps as hard as she could.

A storm blew in out of nowhere, but we were able to get in a few sparklers first.... and we left the rest to do when we're back over Labor Day (for Mr. Fix-It's grandmother's 85th bday!)

And where was baby G this whole time? He came outside for parts of it, but he was way more interested in playing under the table..

and gardening. Ha! Just kidding, but he wanted to eat the baby potatoes right out of the baskets!

What a sweet weekend.... I love this kind of family time. And the country is so.... slow. I love it, such a good break from this grind.

Feel your.... boobies!

Ha! This morning I had the pleasure of having my 4th mammogram... I'm only 31. But my mom was diagnosed at age 36 - super young! My dr. is super proactive (yea!) and she ordered up a 'benchmark' mammogram for me at age 25. Then I've been measured against that benchmark every 2 years. I'm pretty sure that I'll now be going EVERY year, but it's something to check with my dr. when I see her next in Sept.

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I'll never forget the day my mom was diagnosed... I was 10. (Which means my mom has been a SURVIVOR for over 20 years! For her 20 year anniversary, my siblings and I got her a PINK ipod to use while walking!) Anyway, I was at a friend's house for the afternoon.... but oddly, my grandmother - who lived 4 hours away in KS - unexpectedly came to pick me up. That set the alarms off, immediately.... At home, my dad was crying. I'd never, ever seen him cry before. They gave me the news that mom was sick... would be in/out of the hospital... that my 2 youngest siblings (age 6 and 4) would be going to KS for awhile to stay with grandparents while dad took care of me and my 8 yr old sister at home. That's the first time in my life that I've felt the fear of uncertainty. That fear is probably what keeps the day so fresh in my mind, even 21 years later.

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My mom is an amazing lady and went thru chemo, a masectomy, and more. Luckily, the advances that have been made since she went through everything are remarkable. I'm thankful that my risks are as low as they possibly could be, based on the preventitve screenings we're doing. I'm hoping for the best, but the truth is.... even if one of these screenings turns up with something, it'll be caught so much earlier than ever before, increasing the chances of successful treatment.

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That was the conversations the tech was having with me this morning. Btw, the ladies where I get my mammograms are SO sweet that you just WANT to go! I'm serious! They're the most pleasant, compassionate women.... I almost considered asking them if they were hiring - who wouldn't want to work in that kind of environment?

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So, as my PSA..... check your boobies! (You can click on the pic above to go to feelyourboobies.com and see what they're doing to raise awareness.)

From the Semi-Homemade Cookbook: Cowboy Ribeyes!

Nothing says 'Happy Father's Day' like a nice ribeye... At least, that's what Mr. Fix-It would tell ya! So.... after a fun filled family day..... Mr. Fix-It's famous omelets in the morning... a trip to the beach club (I forgot my camera!).... and a family lunch.... we had planned to make dinner together, a recipe we'd seen on Food Network that looked yummy and right up Mr. Fix-It's alley.

Oh.mi.god. Y'all. It was amazing. I felt like a steakhouse chef had come over and made us dinner. Except that we made it! The recipe is Pan Roasted Cowboy Ribeye with Creamed Swiss Chard (we did spinach)... from the show Tyler's Ultimate.

The basic idea.... is that you infuse heated olive oil with fresh rosemary and thyme. In a cast iron skillet. This made the house smell amazing! And now that I have these fresh herbs in my house, I'm looking for millions of other ways to use them! Anyway, then you sear the ribeye by cooking it a few minutes on each side in the olive oil. Then it goes into the oven to bake!

It's topped with the creamed spinach..... heavy cream and more fresh herbs..... and then on top of that, breadcrumbs that you season and toast yourself.

We took a few pics, but they don't do it any justice....

The cream actually thickened up a bit after I dished mine up, but....

Then it was on to dessert - s'mores! Big Sis loooooved them....

After dessert, we headed up to the movie room for Little Mermaid (Big Sister's pick, not Mr. Fix-It's!) Today was just one of those days where you can't believe how sweet life is.

I took this picture today, on Mr. Fix-It's 4th Father's Day as a daddy.

Funny how similar it looks to one of my fav pics of all time.... Mr. Fix-It with Big Sis on his first father's day as a dad.... in 2006.

Happy Father's Day to the sweetest daddy, Mr. Fix-It.... and all the daddies! Here's a picture of my crew from today... Big Sis was pouting because she wanted to be on daddy's shoulders - ha!