How sweet

Sunday (yes, I'm that far behind in posting) my Dad came over and mowed my yard for me. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.

I'm so thankful that he did! With the rainy, dreary weather throughout Spring Break, I didn't get a chance to mow it myself. It was very tall and thick. I'm not sure my push mower would have made it.

Here he is making sure my lawn mower is in tip-top working condition for the summer.

Dad, it was the best feeling in the world to come home from work Monday and look at my beautiful, freshly cut lawn. Thank you for always taking such good care of me! You'll never know how much your random acts of kindness mean to me. You are such a blessing!

Amazing Race

This afternoon our church held an Amazing Race. I partnered with my mom, my nephew (Chase), and two of his buddies. We traveled around Springfield for 2 hours following clues, solving riddles, and completing 3 road blocks. We had a great time! We were the first team back by about 20 minutes!

This is a picture of one of the road blocks. We had to replicate a floral arrangement at a flower shop.
And here's the finished product!

It was a blast!!! I think the church is going to do another Amazing Race again in the fall. Maybe some of you will want to join in the fun!

Together again!

Tonight I got to spend the evening with four of my favorite people! Alysia, Cara, Jen, Leslie and I all went to Firehouse Pottery and then out to dinner. We got to spend more than 4 glorious hours together laughing and catching up! I don't see these precious ladies as often as I'd like. We all used to teach fourth grade together, and was able to spend every weekday together learning, working, and becoming the closest of friends. Since then life has moved us to different places, but I feel so blessed to be able to say that we have not grown apart. Within minutes, we were right back to the familiarity of the "golden days" when we shared the daily happenings of our lives. Girls, I miss seeing you every day, but am so glad that our friendship is healthy and strong. Thanks for a wonderful evening! Your friendship is one of my favorite blessings!

Here we are, hard at work on our pottery pieces!

We had so much fun! Can't you tell?

Pictures could never quite capture the fun we have together or the bond that we share! I love you, Girls! You are my "chosen" family!

New Stickers!

Here are my new Uppercase Living Stickers! I'm so glad that they're here and already put up.

This is in my freshly painted hallway. I've always loved this saying and thought it would go perfectly above the pictures of our trip to Colorado.

This is hanging in my guest bathroom. Love the message!

Finally, a friend suggested that I put these on both sides of the picture above my bed. Who would have thought that two little pictures would add so much?

I think I'm addicted to them!

If you paint it, they will come!

So many sweet people stopped in to see how the painting was going. I thought I'd show you who came by for a peek!

**Both Matt, my brother-in-law, and Amber stopped in on Monday. Unfortunately I didn't get their pictures.

Be sure to check out Ethan's "designer original" t-shirt. As you can see, he had a little trouble staying away from the walls.

In case you're wondering, Tina is ordering a Nike Presto watch online. Tina, Tonya, and Mom all got one. (Jen, you're such a trend setter!)

Carson even took the time to take Chloe for a little walk while he was here! This was taken at 7:40. It was the first time my mom sat down all day!

Do we look tired? We were! Thanks, Mom, for everything!

Thank you to everyone who came to see the improvements. I love that you care about the little things in my life!

Success!

We're all finished painting and I couldn't be more be happy! It's looks exactly like I wanted it to. I feel like I'm sitting in a completely different place! (And it didn't take working summer school to make it happen! All the improvements cost right at $100.) I absolutely love the new curtains, too!

I'm going to post before and after pictures so you can get the full effect.

So far so good!

Here are some pictures to keep you posted on our progress:

We took everything off the walls, moved what furniture that we could to the back bedrooms, and moved the rest to the center of the room.

We had an extra "helper" today. Chloe had to be wherever the blanket was, but she had trouble staying away from the walls. Her tail is proof of this!

This is Mom painting the highest part of the wall. We are hoping this part won't need a second coat.

Here's the first peak!

What do you think?

I'm very pleased! It made the room look even bigger. I guess that's because the white ceilings really "pop" now, cause you to look up, and therefore, make the room seem more spacious. Some walls still need a second coat and the trim needs to be finished, but then we can put everything back! I can't wait to see the finished product!!

Painting the Living Room: Take 1

Here are the before pictures of my living room and hallway. Mom will be here at 9:00 to start painting. (Thanks Mom for giving me some time to sleep in!)

I'll keep you posted on the project!

A Visit to the Past

If you know me very well, then you know I'm a planner. There's not a day that goes by that I don't get up in the morning with the entire day planned out. I think that was the nicest thing about this weekend get-away. Kelly and I made sure that we didn't plan out every detail. In fact, when we got up this morning, we only had one thing on the agenda. We had decided to take the short drive over to Independence, MO to check out the Frontier Museum. We just got done teaching a unit on Westward Expansion. We love teaching about it, so we thought we'd go and gather a little more information.

We made great time getting over there, so we had a 30 minute wait for the museum to open. We saw several signs about the historical downtown, so we headed over there to check things out. Our first stop was of one the area's first courthouses built in the 1840's. It wasn't open, but we were able to peak inside.

After that, we headed over to the visitor's information center. There, we found lots of information on Harry S. Truman, of course. The man working there asked us if we were going to tour the house. We looked at each other and thought, "Why not? We have no time schedule and we're already here." The tour didn't start until 3:00, so we headed back over the Frontier Museum while we waited.

I love learning about the history of our country. I had read a little about how difficult the journey was for those pioneers heading west the 2,000 miles to Oregon, but I really had no idea how hard until I read about in their own words. I don't know if I would have had to courage to take on this seemingly insurmountable task.

Across the street from the museum was the home of George Caleb Bingham, a famous Missouri painter. (Each year we have our students write a report on famous Missourians, so we're so excited to visit and take pictures of these places to show our students.) Unfortunately, this one wasn't open either.

After grabbing a quick bite of lunch, it was time for our tour of President Truman's home. We really enjoyed this! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and was interesting to listen to. I had no idea Truman was such a family man with such an amazing work ethic. (His home is in the top five best of American Presidents. If you're ever in Independence, you should go!)

Upon leaving the home, we just had to see the Truman Library and Museum. I had no idea all that Truman faced during his years in office. He may now be one of my favorite Presidents. The museum was full of interactive displays, authentic artifacts, and memorabilia. We were there over an hour and still didn't get to the bottom floor because the museum closed at 5:00. We needed at least another hour to take it all in.

On our way out, we drove by the Valle (sp?) mansion. Talk about a mansion! This place was huge! It wasn't open either, but we want to go back and check it out when it is. (We both thought it looked a little haunted.)

That was our last stop. We were headed home! I dropped Kelly off at her home around 8:00. We can definitely say that we took advantage of every minute of the weekend.

Kelly, thanks for going with me! I had a great time! I hope we can do it again soon!!