How romantic....

We had a wonderful weekend - thanks to Nana & Pappy for watching the girls while we enjoyed a kid-free weekend for our wedding anniversary. Hubby took me out to eat Friday night to The Melting Pot. YUM! Some say you pay to cook your own food there, but I beg to differ. We paid to cook our own food without two 4-year-olds bugging the stew out of us through the whole meal. Well worth the money! Plus, we don't keep lobster and sirloin in the house so that was a treat.

We did some minor home improvements on Saturday and then went to a yummy Mexican restaurant and movie. Great date night!

On Sunday is when the real magic happened though - major landscaping work! In all seriousness, the two of us spent a great day (I'm not kidding) getting quite a bit accomplished in our own yard. We installed (not sure that is the right word) landscaping bricks along our back flower beds and they look AWESOME if we do say so ourselves. Check out the handywork!

My girls have the best Daddy in the World!

Now how many Daddy's would get all "dolled up" like this for their little girls? He is such a good sport. And - just to brag on him some more here is a conversation we had a while ago about the possibility of having more kids (don't send emails - I'm NOT pregnant!):

Me: Would you want to have a boy?
Chris: That would be fine, but - ya' know - I think I'm a "girl" Daddy.

So sweet!

Love ya honey - Happy Anniversary (six years tomorrow)

Manic Monday

We had a great weekend - at least a great Saturday. We decided to take the girls, their bikes, our rollerblades (to get a few laughs) and a few gazillion balls (soccer, basketball, football, etc.) to a park in Brentwood (fancy area south of Nashville) to enjoy the gorgeous weather we had.

The girls loved being able to ride their bikes without having to worry about cars and Chris and I were able to use the rollerblades we hadn't used since we were first married (6 years ago this Saturday - just a little reminder Chris - ha). Anna had a bit of a tumble over the side of the trail and almost into the creek, but she had her helmet on so she was fine. I'll never make fun of bike helmets again. You know - the whole, "I never wore a helmet growing up and I'm fine" argument. Anna would have conked her bare head on a rather large rock were it not for that helmet. Ok - jumping off that soapbox for now.

Friends of ours met us there after a little while and we proceeded to play soccer, eat our picnic lunch and then ride the bikes a little longer. The girls were pooped to say the least. They slept all the way home. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera (shocker as I carry it with me everywhere now) so I have zero pics from the day.

Sunday we went to church and as we were leaving after the morning service we heard and felt it, "roll, roll, thump - roll, roll, thump". A flat tire! It took us a while since, but we got the spare on there and coasted home as much as we could.

I took the minivan in this morning to have the tire fixed/replaced and spent the next 3 hours (AUGH) entertaining the girls, nursing a bloody nose (Anna), making visits to the potty (4 total) and thumbing through every outdated magazine in the place. We are now fixed and ready to go.

And - just to show you how sad my life is - I received the refurbished vacuum cleaner (rated #3 by Consumer Reports - I'm such a nerd!) from Amazon.com today. It works like a charm and looks brand new. I'm so excited - how very, very sad for me.

Here are a few random pics from our afternoon out in the sun yesterday in our subdivision. The first two were taken in our backyard while playing baseball. The next two were taken by the small pond at the entrance of our subdivision. Ann is in the yellow top and Ashlyn is in the white. Enjoy.

SPF: Framed

So Kristine has an interesting topic for this Friday's SPF - Framed. I debate the topic and then realized I know the perfect "frame" to present.

This is my DH's Grandfather's trumpet which "Papaw" played while in the military (he played it elsewhere I'm sure). DH inherited the trumpet in not-so-nice condition as it had been sitting in Papaw's attic/garage/shed (not sure which) for quite some time. A few Christmases ago I decided to take it out of our garage and do something memorable with it.

DH and his Papaw were VERY close. Papaw was the best man in our wedding which should give you an idea of how close they were. He was a wonderful man. Made me feel instantly welcomed to the family when I met him while DH and I were dating. There was no question as to why DH felt so close to him.

I took the VERY tarnished trumpet out of it's worn case and spent over a week trying to get it cleaned and polished. It was a true labor of love and I couldn't wait to give it to DH for Christmas. After polishing it to the best of my ability I had it professionally framed.

By far my favorite Christmas gift I've ever given.

10 on Tuesday

1. I get this AWFUL bandage off my hand today! I can't wait. It is driving me crazy and is - frankly - pretty disgusting. ICK!

2. My thumb feels better - at least better enough for me to type without hunting and pecking too much. Can't wait to see what it looks like under that bandage. I'll take another picture of it when I get home so you can all see the progress. Because I know how much you are (NOT) interested in the status of my bionic thumb.

3. I had an interesting email conversation with a prostitute in Knoxville yesterday as well as a few of her suitors. That is a story that I'll have to type out when I get this "thing" off my hand because it is a bit long, but SO worth the read. I promise.

4. The girls are going to preschool today for one of the last three times before summer. I'm already starting to have panic attacks over losing those 4 1/2 hours, 2 days a week.

5. Had to take Anna to the doctor yesterday to find out she - like Ashlyn - has an ear infection in both ears. Lovely. I just hope these infections don't lead to another set of tubes for both of them.

6. I'm afraid that my bandages being taken off will mean that I have to start doing the dishes and giving the girls their baths again. Crap!

7. I'm showered, dressed and my hair is done all before 8am. Hallelujah! It is truly a miracle.

8. I've been getting back into exercise - finally - after a couple week break. I feel SO much better when I work out.

9. I'm going to order a vacuum off amazon.com today. I know - it is hard to contain your excitement. But - for me - this is a huge deal! I'm very excited about it and have done all the consumer reports research to find out what works best for us for the cheapest price. Yep - we're all about cheap!

10. We took the girls to the Country Music Hall of Fame on Saturday because they were doing a free Jerk & Jive Dance Lesson. It was pretty hysterical. Here a few pics from that. Ash is in the pink top/pink pants and Anna is in the denim top and pink/navy top.

SPF: Handful of Something

Well - since this is the only thing that has been in/on my right hand for 5 days I thought this was appropriate for this week's SPF assignment: a handful of something. Lovely, huh? My hand is pretty swollen here as my hubby took the pic as soon as I got home, but I think it captures the beauty of the moment.

Workin' at the Carwash!

Here's what the girls and Grandpa got into this afternoon. I just had to take some pics. Ash is in the all pink bikini and Anna's in the white one with flowers. Enjoy!

Cryptic Much?

Lots of one-word sentences here...

Me. Surgery. Thumb. Monday. Typing hard. Hence short post.

Pain pills = GOOD!!! Ha! Now only on Ibuprofen = boo.

My Dad here to help while Chris at work. Mom in Mississippi with her mom. Broken arm. Injury prone family obviously.

Pics because it has been so long. Will post more later. This is my Dad with Anna (L) and Ash (R).