Cute Pic Of The Day

I don't know where I found this- but I'm betting it's Etsy!

And I think we often need reminders:

I feel fairly certain that I found this a few years back on  Thrifty Decor Chick's blog!





One of my sweet babies:

And my other little babushka!

Am about to head out to the pool with them now! We "close" the pool at night so it can filter out garbage, etc. We put the cover on. Daisy gets upset and we always say "Sorry folks, pool is closed. Moose out front should have told you so!"

Photo credit: http://mtimages.cstv.com/extrainnings/JohnCandyVacation.jpg



Recall? John Candy in Vacation as Wally World security!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwVpSBKzQYo

Happy Wednesday, Yo!

xo

T

Royal Baby Budgie Is Here!

Gotcha!

My friend Shannan at http://flowerpatchfarmgirl.blogspot.com/ recently watched part of "Identity Thief" (or was it Theft?) with Melissa McCarthy recently. I was super excited as I LOVED the movie!

Late one evening, after I saw her FB post saying she was watching it, I sent a message saying "Dawn Budgie! That's a terrible name!"  She was perplexed and thought the Royal BeeBee (Baby) had been born..as according to her it seemed like a british name! LOL. So now it's kind of an on-going joke. Why is this funny? She never watched the whole movie, so the whole Dawn Budgie name meant nothing to her!

Not to be confused with DAWN BUDGIE! Love her. She is so funny to me!




On to another DAWN..my little sister. Here we are in our sweet (and desert-like backyard!) pool in the 70's. I think it must have been chilly, water-wise. I look uncomfy.

Beyond watching Food Network Star, HGTV Star and Dexter, we have seen lots of nieces, nephews and very close friend's babies recently. Super fun! We've swam...I've eaten a lot. My tomatoes are growing. None have een stolen by squirrels in the last few days..and my strawberries aren't doing much growing.

Put a bird on it. Cake toppers in my Etsy shop. Makes me feel like I should make myself a cake so as to appreciate them fully. No?

Damned stye! On my right eye..your left. This is like day 29? Better..but still there. I've gotten used to not wearing mascara anymore. At first I felt very pale and albino-like.  Now I'm just used to it.

Brad found me/us some faux meatballs (it may also be made by the Quorn people, no guarantees) and has made delicious meals for the past few nights! RARRR!! It's very exciting to know I can make and eat things like chili and such, be full but without meat. Thank you "meatless section" at Target! I HEART you!

I think I'm off to get a McD's cone. It's what I did last summer. I'm feeling I may start up again.

Keepin' it Real~

xo

T

Nerd Alert- Floral Variety!

I think I've made it a bit clear that I am obsessed/enchanted with all of the gardening that went on at this house prior to our living here. Mature 50++ year old trees and a woman who had mad gardening skillZ!

Everyday something different pops up. I'm out there watering, taking photos and staring. I wonder if my  neighbors think I'm a bit nutty. No matter. Opinions vary!! I don't know what these are above- wildflower? I only know they just popped up after our peonies had started to fade. Then we suddenly received the gift of rows and rows of hostas, annabelle hydrangeas and a variety of lilies. One day they were just yellow. The next, we had a beautiful red. Just yesterday I noticed white popping up!  Free flowers daily!

I also have two raised gardens. In one we have tomatoes, roma tomatoes and strawberries. In the other, forsythia, catmint, silver aster (I think!) and some other pretty flowers. Yesterday as I returned home and opened the back door, I saw a squirrel running the length of the fence with something reddish/green in its mouth.

Sure enough, it was our first nearly ripe tomato! It was honestly hilarious and so cute. I felt happy for him or her.

My niece Madison also informed me that "Your strawberries probably won't make it." ??? She says the animals steal hers every year. She's almost 13 but has been gardening for years. This year she's planted cilantro among other things. But she doesn't like any of what she plants (food wise) she just likes to garden. Too cute.

Bliss!

This girl is a swimming fool! This is after she jumped out of the pool. She gets out to go to the bathroom! Such a good dog! The only drawback? She's spooked about getting IN the pool so that's a whole other issue. But it's heartwarming to watch her do laps. She did clockwise and then counter clockwise laps the other night for a good half hour. Then she comes inside, shivers, I wrap her in warm towels and she passes out. She's 13+ so seeing her happy makes me happy.

I'm off to work!

Have I said how much I LOVE summer!

Have a great week!

xo-

T

Tuesday Funny..or Tuesday Rage..YOU decide!

This image is thanks to my friend Tina (a.k.a. TOT) from What We Keep.
http://www.tinacarlson.com/

She posted this a few months back on her lovely blog and I loved it so much!

Who hasn't felt this way?!

I'm working, paying bills and have had a STYE on my right eye for over 20 days now! Yes, I went to the doctor. I have drops. It's getting old. But at the same time, I don't want to "rush it" and have to get my eyelid cut open (that's the next step, friends. Yep and no thank you!) so for future reference- Stye Gate.

We bought the doggies a pool. It's a 10 foot by 3 foot and it was totally worth the very little cash we spent on it ($25 on Craigslist! Can you say SCORE?) as Daisy our 13++ year old springer spaniel is in heaven. She LOVES to swim! Curtis= not so much. He's a bit nervous, will jump in for a ball and is OUT. Daisy swam laps for a good hour yesterday. First in a clockwise manner, then she switched it up counter clockwise. Then..before ending her time in the pool..she barked at Emerson swimming and cut through the middle. We act like she has a Clint Eastwood accent and imitate her yelling at us "GET OFF MY LAWN!" from that one movie. You know the one..?

Have a great Tuesday, Peeps!

xo

T

Summer Bonanza!

We have been blessed (insert a bit of sarcasm considering it snowed off and on and on again, in MAY!) with  summer for around a month now. I don't think I've swam this much or been in a bathing suit as much since I was age 10 or so and was completely without body consciousness. I've decided that now that I'm 4.1 (or 41 to some) that I'm just fed up and tired with being worried about how I look in a suit, how I feel, etc. So I've spent the summer thus far- enjoying swimming again. It has been lovely. We have a community pool just a few blocks away from our house. I think we've been there a good four times now.

This is Como Pool. It has a saltwater feature so there's a lot less chlorine, which is nice. This is the zipline, which I have no desire to do. However, it is fun to watch and be splashed. The most fun are the adults as they have soo much more weight to hold up with their arms than the kids do. There's a rock wall to climb, two cliff jumping areas, a lazy river, kiddie pool, snack bar and everything you could want. Oddly enough, my nephews very favorite area (after jumping and ziplining) is hanging out in the kiddie pool! Who knew? 2 feet of pure bliss, I guess. They say "it's warmer in here." Too cute.


My nephew Andrew turned 11 at the end of June. His pool party was yesterday.

Andrew and Ava and his bday cupcakes.




It was a stifling 92 degrees, so we all got in the pool. Well, most of us anyway. Yes, I was in there too. I opted out of the HUGE BALL game and swam in the deep end with Emerson. He has turned into such a good swimmer! He used to be a bit nervous, now he's pretending to be a lifeguard while I act "dead" as he saves me. The other super cute thing about him? He thinks I'm good at EVERYTHING. Ball games, swimming, swimming rescues...it's quite sweet.

Andrew and Emerson got sweet new summer cuts:

Me and Emerson- 4th of July parade. My sister's husband-to-be is a firefighter. The kids got to ride atop the firetruck and were in the parade. Brad and I were adult supervision. They seemed to have fun and in the end, threw all of their patriotic garb to little ones watching the parade. It was very sweet. Emerson would pick out a little kid by him or herself (with parent, but no siblings so there would be no fighting over necklaces or hat) and I think we made a few kids really happy. We also had some men and women from the Army riding in the back. It was nice to see them get thank you's from the crowd, cheers and clapping.

Brad and Em on the firetruck. Re enactment of a cute photo of the two of them from years back.

Word.

The kids on the truck.  Emerson, Ava, Andrew and their friend Evan in the back. Evan knew everyone in town and was heard yelling from atop the truck "Where is so and so?" and then I'd hear a "He's not home right now!" He's adorable and a possible politician in the making. In the best sense of the word. I was honestly waiting to see if he'd find a baby to kiss. He also talked the two Army guys into arm wrestling him and then he took photos making it look like he'd won.

Andrew, Emerson, Me, Brad and Ava. I think Evan must have been arm wrestling at this point!

We hit the Carnie afterward for some huge fries, a jumbo hot dog for Brad and his obsession with finding elephant ears at any and all carnivals. He often leaves upset. Of note: I'm a vegetarian these days. Carnivals are not a great place for veggie fare. Just sayin'.

This is what I get to see when I hit the post office to mail various Etsy items. This neighborhood is so beautiful. I feel grateful to live here everyday!

Finally..I am still eating cake and thrifting. I've even got before and afters to share. I am just busy in the pool, walking dogs..and living life since summer is so short here. I am committed to squeezing every last drop of summer fun into these next few months! I found this thrifting last week and was very happy. TWO DOLLARS, people! This wire basket is currently housing the dogs Kong Balls. If you don't have these, buy them! You put peanut butter and dog food or treats in them, freeze them. It keeps them busy for at least an hour and QUIET.

Please ignore grout here. It needs to be redone and resealed. It's a rental so we're probably not going to reinstall something new.

Have a great Monday, Peeps!

Living Large~

xo~

T