But the weather was not pretty.

And the boys were bored.

We did a lot of lounging around.

And watching tv and movies.

But, sometimes, we all need to learn to relax a little.

We should all take a cue from Dino…

We came home early Sunday….which also happened to be our 18th wedding anniversary. 

“Love Song”

• My Minds Eye Dilly Dally Miss Caroline pattern papers and bling
• Prima flowers
• American Crafts Thickers
• Lily Bee ABC stickers
• K&Co Smashbox Date stamp

Top 10 of 2011

• Simple Stories pattern papers and stickers
• Making Memories sequins and brads
• Lily Bee ABC stickers (2011)

“Merry & Bright”

• My Minds Eye patter papers, die cuts, stickers, chipboard
• Layout inspired by a layout by Elizabeth Kartchner is a CK magazine

“Creepy Pumpkin”

• Bella Blvd Too Cute to Spook pattern papers and stickers
• Love this layout because Andrew journaled…

There was Easter….at Grammie’s house.

We kicked off 2012 camping season and went camping at Zooland Campground  in Asheboro.  It rained and rained Friday night.  Thankfully, it cleared up for an afternoon of fishing and relaxing.

Mike and I had been enjoying Saturday and Sunday morning jogs together.  But, one Saturday morning, he and I were out jogging on a ‘new’ trail and I tripped over a tree root.  I fell hard and have injured my shoulder/rotator cuff area badly.  It has actually taken me 3 weeks to finally start feeling semi-normal again.  Lots of drugs and ongoing physical therapy are helping me get by…

We did go camping again.  We went to Camp Clearwater.  It was a huge campground.  The boys LOVED it.  They rode on their bikes, rode on golf carts with friends, drove RC trucks, swam in the lake, and stayed out late playing with friends.  All while I rested my shoulder with my never-leave-my-side-buddy Dino.

May in review coming soon……..

We rented this fabulous log cabin just outside Banner Elk, NC.

;

It was so adorable.  So adorable!  The main logs are from the trees from right on this land.  They must have been huge huge huge trees.  The home was decorated in antiques and full of lots of charm.

When we weren’t enjoying the comforts of the cabin, we were gallavanting around.

Friday:

• Come Back Burgers for lunch (hmmm…we both ate grilled chicken sandwiches…LOL)
• Mast General Store in Valle Crucis.  I bought a pair of brown cordouroy pants for super cheap and a new winter hat (to replace my winter hat that Mike does not like).
• Mast General Store in downtown Boone.  I bought a pair of brown cowboyish boots for super cheap.  Mike bought a ‘Life is Good’ long sleeved t-shirt because our life really truly is good.
• Macado’s for dinner.  Their sandwiches are fantastic!  The pretzel appetizer was just right too.
• Marble Slab Creamery for dessert.  My frozen birthday cake yogurt with Oreos was divine!

Saturday:

• We shopped in downtown Boone and went in every antique and art store; we bought two little cake pots, one for us and one for my mom, in which you supposedly can make a small cake in them using the microwave.  We ventured into a cowboy store that sold boots way out of our price range (Mike found one pair that was $999); I reckon if we were real cowboys, we would pay that much for a pair of boots…LOL!  We stopped in a hole-in-the-wall shoe store and I bought 2 new pairs of black work shoes for $5 each…yes $5 each!
• Macado’s for lunch.  It was so good, we decided to go again.
• Then we headed toward Grandfather Mountain for some trail hiking.  We hiked for about 2 hours total.  Whew!   That was a workout…a super super fun workout.

Photos from the top of the trail:

Photo of us after the hike:

After the hike, we were hungry!!!  We headed back to Boone and ate at The Peddler Steakhouse.

Sunday:  It was time to say good-bye to the cabin and drive home.

The perfect weekend getaway!

February 22nd – He graduated to Purple Belt Decided (which is the 2nd level of purple belt.  Next belt graduatino will be Blue Belt.

Way to go Andrew!

I am looking forward to the day when I get creat one big scrapbook layout with all of his belt graduation photos. 

But I decided to hang a grouping of his baby-ish photos and art (made by him at Ms Lisa’s house one year) on the wall outside his bedroom.  It’s a mish-mash of stuff…but oh do I love to look at this wall now.

Smile!

Here are a few of my faves:

“JOY”

• Nothing says ‘JOY’ like a little boy holding a gun, huh?  LOL.
• Little Yellow Bicycle Wonder Wishes pattern paper, die cut, and paper flower

“Trick or Treat”

• My favorite part of this layout…….the cute photos of Dino. 
• American Crafts Nightfall collection – pattern papers, flowers

“Merry & Bright”

• This layout was inspired by a layout by Gretchen McElveen.
• A few of the snowflakes are pop-dotted.
• My Mind’s Eye 12 Days of Christmas collection – pattern papers, die cuts, and chipboard

“Merry Christmas”

• Our Christmas card photos
• Little Yellow Bicycle Wonder Wishes pattern papers, die cuts, flowers

Thanks for looking!

After being in our home for 2 1/2 years, the rooms are finally coming together and getting all decorated.

My new favorite room is our living/family room.

We bought a huge new sectional.  And yes, it is green!  We can all fit on this couch and it is super  super comfortable.  So comfortable that you will easily fall asleep on it and miss whatever tv show you are watching.  LOL.

I am trying to decorate without being too matchy matchy.  But that is hard for me.

I did find these cute new pillows.  Stripe pillow from JC Penney.  Floral pillow from Sears.

And the pictures hanging over the couch….I saw the idea for lining up the photos on Pinterest.  I purchased a frame or two ever week and finally printed the photos.  The photos are all landscape photos from places we have traveled.  And I love it!

Mike loved hanging those.  LOL.

Thanks for peeking!

And for his birthday, we said goodbye to the babyish bunk beds and trains and bought him a brand new bedroom set.

He picked out the comforter set…which just happened to match a chair we weren’t using anymore.  Perfect!

He has tons of space for his clothes now!

And a perfect place to display his favorite Christmas gift…the iPod stereo.

A few weekends ago, we went on a mission to find teen decorations. Boy that is hard.  We ended up with a few posters.  The Led Zeppelin poster is the best and hangs over his bed.

Pretty cool room, huh?

But on Valentine’s Day, I did find some energy….Mike and I did go out to dinner.  We went to Daniel’s and had yummy Italian.  And then off to Baskin Robbin’s for some ice cream.  Now that our boys are older, it is so nice to be able to go out alone without having to get a babysitter.  :)  (no photos)

I dragged the rest of the week.  (no photos)

Then Andrew got the sickies.  And when he gets sick, he is pitiful.  I pity his future wife.   (no photos)

Then Mike got the sickies.  He toughed it out like a ‘real man’ and didn’t miss any work.  (no photos)

And the month just got away from us.

I did try to shine with extra love and compassion at work.  Not sure if it worked..but I tried.

One of the good parts of being home…….was spending extra time with this cutie:

So there’s the rest of my Love Month!  Hope your Love Month was lovely!