Happy Birthday Kerren!!!!

Tonight about 9 of us went out to celebrate Kerren's Birthday. We met the same wine bar we met at last year. Her wish last year came true, and I hope her wish this year does too!!!

When I met Kerren I knew I liked her. I liked her so much I sent her an email like it was 4th grade and it said "Kerren, I think you are really nice, and I would love to be friends, do you want to hang out?" She checked yes and sent the note back.

Boy am I glad I am that lame, and boy am I glad Kerren likes lame! Kerren has been a true, raw, real friend ever since then. We have been through weddings, and babies, and sleepless nights, work drama, many many many bottles of wine, and laughter to stretch the world round.

Kerren I love you for the honest woman you are, your openness to the world, and the woman you help me to be! Thanks for always making it feel okay to be flawed, its okay to ask for help, and most of all, that you are always there for me!

Happy Birthday, and I hope your wish comes true ;-)

Back Yard- Not Done, But Begun!

So first things first. Work goes much slower without Uncle Todd. Outside of that we had a great Sunday, the 3 of us working in the yard. The back yard is much easier to work in because Annie can just run and do her thing. Today was hard work, we were either digging through rock, or clay. The amount of soil we had to add and the amount of rocks we had to move was more than we would have liked. But hopefully we created a nice healthy home for our new bushes. Time will tell!


Our timing couldn't have been better as the purple roses (not sure of the type) all bloomed this week, and they look great. I wish the original owners had planted them on the entire wall. We just need our replacement fountain!



Splash of color around some of the trees. Tomorrow Adam gets to do redo the drip system to hit the right plants. I love how much we have learned in such a short time.


Bushes will flower with purple fuzzy flowers, assuming they live of course ;-)

The bed is coming together.




Adam hard at work planting.



Purple flowering bushes planted around the roses. These will be long lasting blooms that we wont ever have to remove. That's my kind of flower.Bed number 2 under the red rose bushes. I like the contrast of the purple and the red.


The Snapdragon bed. My favorite!



The missing pieces from Annie's sandbox finally came. Now she can play in the shade! I have to say, like cooking, I am finding I am very much enjoying gardening. In a few years this place is going to look fabulous! My only question is this? When does the weekend start? Friday we had family night, Sat morning we had Kiera's party, Sat afternoon we decorated, Sat night dinner at the neighbors, Sunday planting all day. How can it be Monday!!!

Old Friends, New Friends, Red Fins, Blue Fins

Today was a BUSY day. After I got finished with my decorating the door bell rang and the neighbors, Mark and Jenny, invited all of us over to dinner. They had also invited another couple from the neighborhood we hadn't met yet, Jen and Rick, so it was great. They have four boys, all with X in their name, Max, Paxton, Rex, Calex, so they are the X-men and we are the A-Team. They are just about the nicest, helpful neighbors we could ever hope to have. I feel so lucky.

Then, this am, I met another new friend/ mom from the Iron Horse Mothers Group. She was fab! A wealth of information on the community, and Jewish to boot! Her daughter, Sarah, was darling. I got some beautiful produce and some darling hats for Annie.

This place is really starting to feel like, well, home.

Kiera turns 4.

Today we headed out for Kiera's 4th birthday party. Where on earth did the time go? I remember doing my first ever night duty over at Lisa's house with her when she was the smallest thing you had ever seen. Cutest little peanut. Now she is a beautiful, articulate, loving little girl, and The Hellers are so happy to get to see her grow up!

Annie all dressed and ready to go. This was my dress 32 years ago! Well, probably 30 years ago, but I have been DYING for Annie to wear it. Maybe one day her daughter will wear it too!

Oof. So girly and cute.
Whatcho' looking at?



Why I am I all dressed up? Where is the party??

It breaks my heart when Annie stops to smell the flowers.

Birthday girl Kiera.
Getting ready to play lady bug dot musical chairs.


Kerren and number 94, Nate.

Annie getting front and center for the story.


The beautiful Anaya.

Annie playing with the train table.

Annie and Nate constructing a super highway.


Walking to the park for bubbles! What a great party.

Birthday girl and BFF Anaya.

Annie's first organized craft. She did great, especially given she was the youngest one there!

Cutie pie Kellen. Look at the those beautiful locks!

Best find ever. Hebrew blocks. They had them at the book store where the party was. I can't wait to start to teach Annie.

Boo. And other fun stuff.

I love to decorate for the holidays, for me, after Labor Day, Game ON. I got out the Halloween stuff for the inside today, just did the mantle and the counter and I think that's plenty. The best part? Annie's face when she woke up for her nap. I will do the outside of the house in October, beautiful pumpkins, wreaths, and fall garland for around the front the pots. I can't wait!

We also got our new couch this week. I love it. Its a tad bit bigger than the last, but not as deep, and yes, it's the exact same color. When something works, why mess with it? Lori and I were talking about how sad we were to see our green couch go. It was nearly 10 years old and had been through a lot with us girls! At least 2 people lived on it (Lisa and Adrienne) I'm excited to see how different life is 10 years from now when we get the next one!

Hope everyone had a great weekend so far. Tomorrow just planting and me resisting putting out my wreaths. Enjoy!

Adam, love of my life, enjoying his new throne. (The new couch ;-))

Some fun decorations for the kitchen. I love Annie giving the nutcrackers a very suspicious look.

Spooky candelabra. This is one of my favorite Halloween decorations.



Annie's face when she woke up and saw the fun new stuff!

Annie checking out the decor. She thought it was pretty cool, which made me so happy.



The new couch with our Fall throw pillows.

Whoa!

Exploring Houses Big and Small

What's Better Than Being a Toddler?

(Uncle Todd took this last video)