Mother's Day (and a Porch Feature)

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there reading this.  I hope you had a great one and celebrated the woman who gave you life (whether that be biologically or emotionally and maturationally, or all of the above).

We had a nice Mother's Day that began with church and ended at my brother and sister-in-law David and Mary's house for dinner.  Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

I am so blessed to be a mother.  I always knew I wanted children, but no amount of pretending with my Cabbage Patch Kids and American Girls prepared me for this life changing moment:

...or this one below:

Woof!  Luckily I'm much better at parenting than I am at being pregnant.  My face becomes all-kinds-of distorted!  But those are 2 of the 3 happiest days of my life!  The third being my wedding day, but that's for another post!

So Bobby surprised me with this for my Mother's Day present and I am so excited to find the perfect hanging spot for it on my back porch:

This beauty holds candles and will eventually hang from my back porch rafters.  Our back porch waffles between man-cave and outdoor living space.  I want to cozy it up with some burlap curtains similar to these.  I have been doing some gentle landscaping and re-organizing of the space.  However, during the fall, my husband claims it.  We currently have not one but three grills out back along with a huuuuge TV for football game watching. 

Back to Mother's Day.  Like I said, we ended the day at David and Mary's house, and she has recently transformed her back porch into another whole living space.  They live in a typical 3 BR, 2 story house that I can remember used to be refered to as "salt shaker" style.  They have a wrap-around porch that literally wraps around the entire house!  We spend the majority of the evening here:

Okay, now I realize that isn't the best picture afterall.  She has taken a corner of her deck and covered it with this beautiful gazebo.  There are curtains hung for the occasional need of privacy.  Secret: she incorporated shower curtains!  Totally rain-proof!  Below are better shots of the little settee and a curtained corner:

FYI: That column above was just a white, concrete column that can be purchased from just about any lawn and garden shop.  Mary marbelized it herself.  Isn't it gorg?  She has a little side business called Faux Fantastic.  If you don't remember, I'll remind you of the little project she did to my house.

There's a water feature that my li'l booger really loved!  Personally, I find almost nothing as soothing as the sound of trickling water. Below is my beautiful niece Lauren and her best pal Bella.  If you notice the mighty grill in the background, that was the source of our dinner.

I made mention to my brother and step-father that they were behaving as typical men who like to play with fire.  "Do you guys even know how to work that thing?" This shot below was their response:

Ha!  Again, typical men.  Well, it wouldn't be a Mother's Day post without a shot of our Majestic Matriarch.  She hates, hates, hates having her picture made, which is crazy because look how beautiful she is!  OMG if I age half as gracefully as she has, I will be so proud of myself. 

Finally those men finished our dinner.  Mary's porch features a darlingly appetizing place for us to eat:

Thrifty Mary that she is, she found this dining set at a Goodwill!  Can you believe it?  It is in perfect condition!  She added the umbrella and cushions which were all purchased on sale.  If you look closely, there are LCD lights hanging from the underside of the umbrella, so after we enjoyed our sunset dinner, we remained outside for some delicious (homemade) strawberry cake!  Gosh, Mary is making it hard on Martha Stewart!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

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.