Prince of Peace Will Rock You!

  
Rob's 4th (and final) musical show was last Thursday at Prince of Peace.  In the fall, they always do a Thanksgiving-themed show (read about them here).  In the spring it varies.  This year's theme was Rock and Roll.  It was so cute!  The show was followed by an art show in their classrooms where their art was on display.

 All of the kids carried inflatable guitars.  Clearly (above) nerves were not affecting him at all.

 In the picture above, that's Rob not looking at me...arg!

Photo below, how cute is the gym with its Rock-N-Roll decorations?

For the 4s' "Finale" song, they sang the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".  I love this shot above.  Ah, the innocence of young friendships!

Rob standing proudly amidst his art.

Rob and Ms. Dana.  We have been so blessed by her as a teacher this year!

Buddies Rob and Carson!

My Mother's Day DON'T...

Where are you, Muse of Creativity?  Why do you avoid me so?  Case-in-point: My attempt at Mother's Day Creativity.

Why do I stress over the perfect Mother's Day present?  It couldn't be because God has blessed me with the most amazing mother and mothers-in-law a girl could ever want...it certainly is not because my children have the most aMAYzing grandmothers ever imagined.  So I definitely do not stress over Mother's Day in attempt to give my mothers what they deserve--the best.  Nah.Nope.Not one of those reasons.

I've given some pretty decent gifts in the past.  Yet I take credit for no originality.  I am the take-and-run kind of crafter.  That's why I read all my blogs.daily.first thing. There...I have confessed. I'm obsessed. This year's inspiration came from this little bit o'goodness to the right -- my latest issue of the Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine I receive quarterly.

I decided I would make DIY windchimes for all my moms.  I needed about 1 million pint sized terra cotta pots which I found for next to nothing at a yard sale.  DIY and thrifty?  SCORE!  I was hooked.  Oh, if only...

The first step was the 2-color process.  I already had both colors I wanted to use.  Again...SCORE!  First problem?  When I applied the painter's tape to the pot-rims, I didn't smoothe it down using rocket science methodology, so paint color #2 ran onto the white.  I should have known then I was in over my head.

 

Yep, what was supposed to be a quick-dry spray paint process quickly turned into a sanding and hand-painting touch up.  Again, perhaps I should have just punted, yet in my mind the end result was going to be fantastic and homemade.

Now, about the details.  There are supposed to be 3 pots per windchime, strung together by clothesline.  So each pot must be wonderfully and artistically personalized. Check. I have nice handwriting.  I'll just paint everyone's grandmotherly moniker along the rim. And I'll use the kids' thumbprints as the base of some outdoorsy-insect-motif. Wait...did I just consider kids and paint? Apparently I didn't consider it and my artistic abilities enough. How do you paint a ladybug, anyway? (Confession time: I actually had to ask/double check. Are they red with black spots or black with red spots? Answer: the latter.)

Well, below are some images of what I have done so far.  Rob's thumbprints became my pitiful ladybugs.  Caroline's smeared thumbprints made the "perfect" body for my dragonflies.  The project is not finished yet.  Because I have 48 hours left and I hope I can redeem this, I am posting it now. I'll update with the finished look in time. Comments? Suggestions? Feel free.

In the good news section of this post, if y'all have some good suggestions, I have extra terra cotta pots.  Remember, I bought a million of them for pennies.  Also, please don't tell my Mothers about this just yet.

'til then folks! Bye.

Why the Radio Silence?

Hey there folks!  Golly, geez I've been gone from this blog for over a month now!  Why the radio silence?

Spring has sprung around here!  We have been so busy! Here is a quick sampling of what life has been like around the Morris house.  First up, I really got the gardening bug this season.  That's a problem for multiple reasons.  Primarily because I am totally an "end result" kind of dreamer.  I know what I want before I know how much work and/or financial responsibility will go into producing said result.  It is also a problem because I have a HUGE, VAST list of allergies most of which are Spring-related.  Pine pollen, Bradford Pear tree blooms, etc.  So this is what I have been doing while working in my yard:

Oh yeah.  I am in full-fledged take-no-prisoners, war-against-weeds, pollen-proof mode here, folks!

On a side note, if you remember my post here about redoing my front porch bench, I finally got around to accessorizing it this spring (yes, almost a yr later).  Have a look:

What else have I been up to?  Well, I got together with one of my besties, Lorie.  She came in town and we had a blast going out for a girls' night out right here in Pelham.  If you haven't been by Tyler Navarre's, you should check it out.  It's a fun li'l place. Here we are (from L-R Lorie, Jenny and me pulling our best "Cheeeese")

Rob has had a great Spring! He is still loving his 4K program at school.  But recently he got to play hookie so he could attend a very exciting event: He went with his Mimi and Rocky to Talladega so Rocky and their next door neighbor could do the Dale Jarrett Driving Experience.  Rob also got to do the coveted "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" call!

I am getting really busy with upcoming Relay For Life of North Shelby.  This charity and this event has captured my heart.  Yes, I have watched friends and loved ones become Survivors and I have also lost friends and loved ones too soon.  But there is just something so powerfully hopeful and so emotionally moving about the whole Relay experience.  Our Relay will be at Pelham High School on Friday, May 20th at 6:00 PM.  I am the Ceremonies Chairperson which -- if you ask me -- is the, ahem, most important.job.ever.  Nah, I'm just giving a selfish plug there.  But I am the one responsible for writing the night's ceremonies and scripts and coordinating with the Entertainment Chair for speakers, emcees, etc.  In addition to my role on the committee, I have been raising funds for my own team.  We recently sold knockout roses as living memorials.

I would be so honored if you would take the time to go here to check out my team's page.  If you find it in your heart to donate, remember it is tax deductible.  You can even use your debit/credit card and securely donate online here.

Rob has been playing his 2nd season of T-Ball.  We have a totally new team this year.  It is wild that Rob is considered a "veteran" but I can tell he has so much more confidence in the batter's box and just overall.  It may help that Rob's daddy is our Head Coach, too!  I have no pictures loaded right now, so I sense a separate post solely T-Ball related coming soon!

I've been squeezing in family time whenever possible! Squeezies!  Love you Laura Jean!

Wow, the above is a rough shot of me!

Ahh.  That's much, much better!  'Cause, you know...it's all about me, right?

Lastly, we have realized that Miss Caroline is quite the Miss Priss!  She is a hot mess, I'm tellin' ya!  Don't believe me?  Well...

...believe me now?

...or now?

Well, I guess that is it for now.  I am so very lazy sorry for the Radio Silence.  Hey, how did that error get in my sentence?  Anyhoo, hopefully I am back.  I have been following all of you religously.  Reading my blog family pages is definitely a guildy pleasure of mine that I cannot give up.  I'll try to be returning the favor more often!

What's More Springy Than a Trip to the Zoo?

Hiya folks!  Are you as excited about the Spring thaw as I am?  When I woke up this morning, the day's outlook was leisurely.  As I was getting ready for church, my wonderful Sister-In-Law called asking if we wanted to take an afternoon trip to the zoo. Well, I'll just say she needn't ask me twice!

HOLLA!!!

So, Kristy and Josh joined Rob, Caroline and me at The Birmingham Zoo.  I know there are waaaay better zoos out there.  As someone who loves to visit a zoo, I plan to see a couple of the "great ones" before I complete my bucket list.  But I am so proud to be a resident of the 'Ham (okay a ham-suburb) so I just love TBZ!

Apparently, so do the kiddos!

The Bham Zoo is proudly hyping up the upcoming grand opening of their new Trails of Africa exhibit.  It has been years since TBZ has had an elephant.  New waterfalls and wading ponds, as well as a 14-acre recreational area, will welcome the pachyderm.  For now you can just enjoy this:

Can I get a "What, What"?  Can I get a "Roll Tide"?

One of my favorite areas is the Social Animals (i.e. the Monkeys and Primates).  They did not disappoint us today.  In fact, the male gorilla was very active.  He was just walking back and forth, posing for pictures, etc.

At one point, I asked Rob to say "cheese".  This is the face I got instead:

I think he likes the monkeys, too!

Because the Zoo's layout doesn't exactly follow the layout of God's great earth, right across from the Savannah is the Middle East.  Once we saw this:

...we decided the boys simply had to do this:

Fun times!

The Zoo recently lost its beautiful white tiger.  It does still have lions and a Bengal tiger.  I'm a little worried about the tiger.  He looked so thin.  Someone throw that cat a nice steak!

Rob, who loves Madagascar, was super excited because first we saw Alex (the lion).  We had previously seen Gloria (an unphotographed hippopotamus) and Melman (the giraffe).  Once we rounded a corner, here was Marty!

Awesome! 

Have I mentioned how much fun Caroline was having? The day was almost done; however, no trip to the zoo would be complete without this:

Train Time!

On our way out, we passed a large gaggle of gorgeous flamingos.  Question: do they really, always prefer standing on one leg?  Looking back to my cheerleading days, they reminded me of bright pink liberty-performing gals.  Gosh, that standing leg must have a strong quadricep!

Okay, that's all for now.  I had a great time.  Hopefully you will take the time to support your local zoo.  They are great educational outlets.  Many of the species are endangered and are treated wonderfully so that our children's children will be able to observe them for years to come.