4th of July festivities

July 4th is, by far, my most favorite holiday. I consider myself to be a very patriotic person and of course I love any chance to eat good food, hang out with family and friends and watch fireworks! This year as we have the past few years, we went to Blowing Rock/Boone NC mountains. We enjoyed time in the Blowing Rock park on Friday evening.  And on Saturday we went to my parents neighborhood picnic complete with Woodlands BBQ. That evening we went to watch the Blowing Rock Country Club fireworks. It is seriously the best place for families to watch fireworks. It is free and the kids can run around the golf course to work out their wiggles while waiting for the big show. 

On Sunday morning, the dads, minus my dad, went to play golf and the rest of us took a little hike around the river. Afterwords, we took the kids to play at the Valle Crucis park which is such a lovely park! 

On Monday, Paul and I took the kids to the Carolinas Aviation Museum. It is such a hidden Charlotte gem. We had never been and I've always wanted to take the kids, especially Graham since he really loves airplanes. I highly recommend visiting if you are ever in the area. Kids are free under age 5. The 'Miracle on Hudson' display was so interesting. The fighter jets were pretty cool too!

That evening, we grilled steaks and had a nice dinner at home. We ended our night with sparklers! What a wonderful weekend it was celebrating the USA and those that have fought and continue to fight for our freedom!

bringing pelmet boxes back

I am bringing pelmet boxes back in this house. I first made them in our previous home in 2009 here and then again in Georgia's nursery here. They are just so practical for places that need some color and pattern, but do not need to hide the light. It is perfect for our master bathroom. I only spent $20 on fabric, batting, and foam board. It adds so much to this space. 

2 year pictures

I finally got my real camera in front of our little man or little Paul as many call him. He is ALL boy and we love him dearly! 

gold leaf frame deal

I always love art in gold leaf frames, but it is hard to find a pretty one without going the custom route which typically comes with a higher price tag. I found this gold leaf frame from Utrecht. The frame is still on sale. I bought the 11X14 for my Emily Jeffords print. It literally is just the frame. I paid $17.99 for mine. I took it to Hobby Lobby and they added glass, matting ($2.99 pre-cut, not custom), backing and hardware for $26. They did it right on the spot too which was a plus! I was really pleased with the price and how it turned out. 

I am slowly getting around to updating our master bedroom. I need more serenity in my life :) so I am going with a more serene feel in our room this time around. I still have lots to add to our room, but I am taking my time.

perfectly pink

Since we moved several months ago, Georgia has been requesting that her room be pink. I have never been a huge fan of pink rooms and honestly I thought with her pink bedding it might be too much pink, but how many times in your life can you have a pink room? So we obliged and I found a beautiful shade of pink that I think works well. We used 75% Benjamin Moore's Love and Happiness. It is a nice, warm dusting of pink. Eventually we may change up her bedding, but for now Georgia's room is feeling perfectly pink! 

Graham Central Station

We celebrated Graham's second birthday over the weekend. It was a wonderful cookout with cousins  in the backyard kind of party complete with some trains! Graham loves anything on wheels, especially trains, so it was Graham Central Station over at our house. 

He is such a sweet and loving little boy. We love you Graham Carter! 

strawberry fields

We had a fun little family afternoon of strawberry picking this week.  I even had my real camera and took some pictures. This was our second time going to pick strawberries and we had such a good time. If you are local, Hall Family Farm is a great place to visit!