three-ooo

We celebrated Graham's 3rd birthday last Saturday. He really loves fire trucks so I asked the fire department to come to the house to celebrate with us. They were so great and even brought Sparky the Fire Dog! We had a casual, but super fun cookout to celebrate the big Three-ooo! 

mother's day baby

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet, joy-filled little boy! Graham, you are such a happy little fella and we love you dearly. I cannot think of a better Mother's Day gift! 

art in my room

I am sure that I am not alone in that my master bedroom gets the least decorating attention. In my house, it tends to be where everything lands. The rest of my house may seem picked up, but don't venture into our room. That is where the mess hides:). I am slowly and I mean slowly adding and updating our room. We have lived in our house almost two years and I finally hung more art in our room. I have debated what to put on our walls. After lots of contemplating, I decided that we have so many wonderful pictures of our family, so I wanted to use those mixed in with some simple abstract art. I hung a gallery wall with antique gold frames above my dresser. It makes me happy to see these pictures every time I walk in our room now! I also hung the kids' silhouettes with some abstract art that I created. I have something else in mind to replace my handmade art, but this will work for now. My mantra is some progress is better than none. 

galvanized bar cart

I have been on the hunt for the right bar cart for our covered front porch. They are such great pieces for entertaining.  I knew I needed something fairly small and I specifically wanted it to be galvanized which was harder to find than I thought. I was leaning towards purchasing this one from Pottery Barn until I stumbled upon ours that I found at Hobby Lobby. They actually had two or three galvanized carts to choose from. The look and price were just what I wanted! I always forget that Hobby Lobby carries furniture and it is almost always on sale. I think with tax and everything I scored it for $85 which was really the best price I could find for the look I was going for. Here are some other options for you if you are in the market for one!  Hopefully we can enjoy some time on our porch this weekend! 

here

here

here

simple spring mantle

I always prefer simple mantle decor. Let a large mirror or piece of art be the anchor and add two to four more smaller elements around it. I have been wanting to add some wall sconces on either side of our mirror for a while and I finally pulled the trigger. It really helps to balance the space nicely. I even took a stab at some abstract art (insert gritting teeth emoji :) I am on the hunt for a similar abstract piece to balance the traditional mirror and sconces, but I haven't found it yet, so for now this will work! 

two weeks

We have been on the move the past two weeks and packed them full of fun. I hope to be better about blogging a few personal posts here and there. 

Paul and I attended a wedding of a friend of mine in Beaufort, SC. The wedding was gorgeous and we enjoyed seeing beautiful Beaufort. We hope to go back and spend more time there soon. 

We enjoyed breakfast at LowCountry Produce Market. I of course had to ask them what the shade of green paint was and they told me it is a Sherwin Williams paint that they created called LowCountry Produce. 

We came home and immediately went to a super fun Easter Egg Hunt. 

Field Day was that week too!

Graham's preschool Easter party. 

The next day, we left for Wilmington to enjoy a few days away during Georgia's Spring Break. We toured the Battleship, spent time at the beach and park and enjoyed eating outdoors. 

 Wrightsville Beach 

As with anything, all good things must come to an end. Graham ended up in the ER  for dehydration when we got home after battling a stomach bug. 

Easter Morning. No family Easter pics here since Graham was sick, but the Easter bunny did visit. 

I took off two days of work during Spring Break to spend some quality time with the kids. We visited the library, Billy Graham Library and the Schiele Museum. 

Happy 9 years to us. 

A rare of photo of us on our anniversary, courtesy of our 5 year old. 

Now it is back to getting in the groove for the remainder of the school year! Happy Weekend! 

peace in the valley

I started this blog 8 years ago and the main purpose was to document home projects and the day to day aspect of our lives. I have slowly included less and less personal posts, but I cannot help but at least pay tribute to my papa that went home to be with Jesus at the end of March. He was 91 years old and lived a full and rich life. He was a World War II Veteran, Husband to my Grandma Faye for 68 years, Semi-pro baseball player, Professional Bowler,  Author, Avid reader and sports fan, Father of five, Grandfather to 9 and Great-grandfather to 5. We celebrated his life on April 7. It was an honorable service. My sister and I had the privilege of singing How Great Thou Art together and my papa also requested that the song Peace in the Valley be sung. I was honored to sing it.  I had never heard Peace in the Valley, but it is a song that he loved and grew up with. 

I feel so fortunate that he was able to be at my wedding and meet both of my children. We will miss him dearly, but know that he is in the presence of Jesus! 

There will be peace in the valley for me, some day

There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord I pray

There'll be no sadness, no sorrow

No trouble, trouble I see

There will be peace in the valley for me.