oh the madness!

what is it that rings in spring for you?  is it the flowers, the ladybugs, the extra sunshine and the playing outside?  for me it is that magical moment when march madness begins:)  first week of games is usually my favorite.  the games are amazing with upsets coming out your ears.  there have been some unbelievable games this year, the biggest one was when northern iown knocked off kansas, the number one overall team in the nation.  it was an amazing game.  i even had kansas picked as my championship team, but the excitement of seeing the little guys win was worth every point i lost to dave because of it.  he lost some to on that one though:)  dave stays home from work and we just lock ourselves in the house and watch hours of basketball.  the kids don't love it, but it only comes once a year, so they can deal right!  well, i hope that you are all having a great march.

megan

we had such a fun day at the zoo yesterday. aren't these peacocks cute. they're kissing and i love the way their bodies make a heart shape.


there was lots to do...


and lots to see... the kids loved watching the animals.


my favorite was the new baby elephant. here are baby, and momma.


the animals were all really active. the baby orangutang was swinging on the ropes, the giraffees were having some fun of their own, and this is the first time that i have really seen the red panda's face.


the kids had fun riding on the bronze animals...kate is on a rhino and bryce is on a tiger.


it was fun to be with grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins too:)


my very favorite part was the hand holding with my little ones:) gotta love the zoo!

golden surprise

this morning we woke up to shoes filled with gold! i love holidays. happy st. patrick's day!

loving spring

after searching blog land for some inspiration on spring decor, i decided that i didn't really want to use bunnies and chicks. i wanted to just add spring in subtley. so that's what i set out to do and i love the way it turned out. everything in the "after" photo is from the di except the plate and plate holder which cost me $8 altogether at tjmaxx and walmart. oh, and the branches are from a tree in my front yard.


the first and last photos are of the green candle sticks from yesterday - spray painted white of course and with spray painted easter eggs on top of them. in the second pic i put some seed balls that i made into the brown container i found. and in the third pic is the cute bird clock. i also painted the big picture frame black and put it up next to the other one i already had. decorating on a budget is more fun than i thought.


here are the yellow plates, also spray painted white. i am going to hang them on the wall in a diamond pattern, i just haven't decided which wall.


and these are the easter colored pots from a couple of days ago. i put ribbon through the holes and then put brown "grass" in them. they still need something else, i just don't know what that is yet. but for now they are a centerpiece on my kitchen table. it's been fun sharing with you. do you decorate for spring?

more befores

okay, so i know i promised you some after photos of what i did with my finds this weekend but....i went thrifting again today and got somemore great things. so here are some more befores...some frames - the big one looks like someone colored on it with white chalk which makes it very interesting looking, 4 yellow plates - i LOVE the decoration on them but them have some wierd brown lines and i don't like the yellow color either, and some ugly green candlesticks. what am i going to do with these you ask? well, i am working on a new configuration for the top of my bookshelves. i don't have a fireplace so it is kindof like my mantel. and this time i promise to show you some afters. happy tuesday!

sneak peek

my saturday trip to the di was very fruitful. i didn't find anything to give a big makeover to like i wanted, but i did find some fun things to decorate with. here's a peek at some of them...

this was my favorite find. tune in tomorrow to find out what i did with them all! have a great monday.

megs

game night

tonight we pulled out chutes and ladders. it started out great, but as you can see bryce ended up taking over the entire board.


he even started eating the people:) game over.

it is 5:30 in the morning and i can't sleep. i was reading some of my favorite blogs when i came across this wonderful post about loving yourself. susannah, at ink on my fingers , has such great insight. anyway, this is part of what she wrote.

"They say we must eat sensibly, exercise regularly and take time out to de-stress - I'd like to add 'fall in love with ourselves' to that list. To be able to cultivate our self-esteem and sense of worth we need to get to know ourselves - the soft tender places and the bold and powerful places. The hurts and fears, the joys and successes. We are worth this nurturing time - we deserve it! It keeps our heads and our hearts healthy and makes us better daughters*, sisters, mothers, partners, friends, employees, entrepreneurs, dreamers."

i thought that was so powerful. it is something that i struggle with a lot and i'm not sure exactly how to go about loving yourself more, except as she says earlier in her post, to spend some time with yourself and rediscover who you are and what you love and why certain things are important to you. i love things that lift my soul. what is lifting you today?

date night

last night was date night for the hubby and me. we rarley get a night just to ourselves so this was a treat. we ate mexican. i had a chimichanga that was delicious. we just talked and ate and enjoyed each other. it was so much fun. then we had a little time to kill, so we went to the only store in town - walmart - and just walked around and looked at our favorite things. i ended up with a book to read and we got some cookies to bring home for the kids. (i was having so much fun that i forgot to take many pictures.)

this morning we slept in and had toast for breakfast - a favorite around here. now i can either clean the house or go thrifting. hum...let me think about that. hopefully i can get some fun things to show you. so, i'm off. what are you doing this weekend?

glimpses of home

i am a homebody by nature.

home is my haven.

it is where i feel the most comfortable.

where i can completely be myself.

it's my place to refresh and think.

it's where i enjoy my family.

these are some glimpses into my home.


1. my "comfy" corner - where i keep my blanket, slippers, and a good book. it always soothes my soul.



2. i love frames. and they are even better with pictures of my kids in them. they make me smile.

join up with Emily from Chatting at the Sky and share a glimpse into your home:)