My Valentine Knows Me...

I am not a rose girl and my Valentine knows this.  He should after 18 Valentine days together. :) We are old...and he knows I like surprises so he gave them to me a day early.

 I am a daisy girl.  That is why our Daisy dog was Daisy...and lets face it, because it is a perfect Basset Hound name.

 They are "the happiest flower.  Don't you think they are the happiest flower?"  If you know what that quote is from than you are awesome.  If you know it is from one of my all time favorite movies than you know me well.  If you don't know than I am very sad for you because you are totally missing out! 

You've Got Mail.  Go watch it if you haven't.  You will thank me for it because it is "enchanting"!...Also from the movie...gosh go watch it so you will get all my references!

Scout Camp

It was so fun to go to Scout Camp and visit Jake!!!  When we got there and were looking for him, we spotted him bringing us plates of food.  Hot dogs for me and a burger and a hot dog for Aaron-he knows us so well.  I of course took pictures and then had fun with them on Instagram...

Doesn't Aaron just have the perfect shaped head?  He is lucky.  Some bald men have funny heads but his head was meant to be bald.  Jake's necklace is from his Indian Folklore merit badge class.

He has been so busy he hasn't even had a chance to swim!!!  My fish hasn't swam!  He is taking it so seriously and he even picked up and extra class to earn his merit badge for astronomy.  I love this kid...

...SO MUCH!!!!

Summer finely hit this week so they have had temps in the 90's and only cooling down just a little at night but Jake said he has been so tired he hasn't had any problem sleeping.  The Scout Master even had to wake him up one morning!  That almost never happens at home.

This is a picture of Aaron showing Jake a picture of Clive.  I couldn't show him because I erased the picture from my phone.  Jake was very impressed by my bravery. 

Look at that cute mug.

I mean seriously!!!

We brought him some snacks (Puff Corn, beef jerky, Pringles, and Gatorade) since they are "starving".  He has his own tent since our troop isn't that big so he could just keep his snacks to himself but he said he would share because "he is known for sharing".  We can't have his reputation tarnished and since I knew he would share, I brought 3 bags of the Puff Corn. :)

We had to rush to get to the program. 

On the way Jake picked me a daisy (my favorite) and held my hand to help me down the steep parts.  We should send him off more often!  Just kidding.  That is just Jake.

He got this sweet knife.  The initials are for Camp Bob Hardin and of course the Palmetto tree and crescent moon are for South Carolina's state flag,  This is the second knife he bought.  He bought one for $10 and another boy from his troop really wanted it but the camp store was sold out so the kid bought it from Jake for $15.  Jake then went back and bought this better knife.  Jake said the next day they had already restocked the other knife his friend had paid him more to buy.  Patience is a virtue!   He had to buy a cane fishing pole (he didn't know a head of time he would have to for one of his merit badges) so he only had a dollar left and couldn't go when the other guys were going to get a slushy.  I checked in my little purse I take when I go to the gym and found a $10 bill.  I never have cash-especially in that purse so Jake declared it a miracle! :) 

Before they started the tapping out for Order of the Arrow program they asked all the Scouts to sit on one side and parents to sit on the other.  Jake looked at me and said, "that is not fair!  You guys have to leave right after that and I want to sit with you." {tear}  I wanted to sit by him too, but we are rule followers.

Aaron is in the blue shirt.  It's like where's Waldo.  He didn't have time to change after work so he didn't have his Scout shirt on but when they asked all Scouts that had earned the Order of the Arrow in the past to come and congratulate the new scouts that would be going through the "ordeal" (that's what they call it!  I am glad Jake is a couple of years away from doing it because I will need to have time to wrap my mind around the thought that he has to go through the "ordeal"!!!!  But he says that is his goal which is pretty awesome.) to earn it in August.  Part of the "ordeal must be to die of heat stroke because camping out in August is torture in SC.  Aaron can still earn "brother of the Order of the Arrow" so their goal is to try and do it together. 

When it was over Jake rejoined us and walked us down to the road that lead back to our car.  This camp is huge by the way.  It was a hike just to get in!  Jake gave Aaron a couple of hugs and me about ten...He was a little bummed we were leaving and Aaron said sometimes it is better if parents don't come because it makes the boys (who are "starving", sweating, and working really hard) homesick.  Jake said it did make him homesick but he was so glad we came.  There is no way I wouldn't have gone!!!  He gave me a couple more hugs and told me to pet Sadie for him (who by the way is either acting crazy or sleeping since her favorite playmate isn't here).  It was so hard to leave him but I did.  Aaron is going to head back on Friday night and spend the night and bring the troop home on Saturday.  We are going to have a welcome home party by watching the Lego Movie that just came out this week on DVD and I am making him his favorite meal-creamy crockpot chicken. 

It is pretty cool that Jake is going to the same Scout camp that Aaron went to when he was Jake's age.  Life is good!

Our backyard...where I met Clive

This is our back door to the porch (..sun room...We haven't decided what to call it yet.  It is more than a porch...we are working on it). It's called a jealousy door. How cute is that?

This is our sun room (I am going to go with sun room for this post)...It needs some TLC.  We have eaten out here a couple of times and Jake has done Insanity (a really hard exercise video) out here...But other then that it hasn't seen much action yet.  In the fall we will probably LIVE out here.  Summer is in full affect in SC so it is too hot and humid to enjoy it right now.

Jake puts the puzzle mats down to exercise on.  Aaron found the screens for the windows under the house but they are in need of repair.  A few of them are ready to go in the windows and Aaron has the screen to fix the others.  But after working outside in the heat all day the last thing you want to do is come home and work in it!  The screens will probably be a project for the fall.  I have it on my to do list to get out here and sweep and arrange and make it pretty out here.

If you look up you can see our star lights and blue ceiling.  I love the prior owners of our vintage home (that is what I like to call it).  They left the lights for us.

This is the window (that was open but isn't now...) that I was throwing baseballs at Clive (if you don't know who Clive is you need to go back and read my last post first) from.  That black wire basket had 5 or 6 in it. 

Here are some of the things I threw at Clive the snake.  I have pretty good aim and hit her (I know the name is a boy name but I feel like the snake is a girl.  In my mind that makes her less dangerous) a couple of times and she didn't care.

Can you see the other balls that I threw?  Pretty much in the path Clive took...That playset was left by the prior owner and we had it out for Jaxson to play on.  It was out in the yard but Jake pulled it on the concrete pad to cut the grass.

You can see the top step in this shot (through the screen/glass door) where Sadie was laying, casually watching Clive. 

This is the storage area I was referring to in my last post.  Jake keeps his bike in there and the grill goes in there.  It actually goes in pretty deep and turns a corner and there is storage under the steps.  I don't go in there.  I did pull the grill out to use it the other day.  I will not be doing that again.  It is good to have a husband and son that will do it for you.  I have come to grips that Clive is our neighborhood watch snake against mice and copperheads but I don't want to come up close and personal with her.

This is our nice, big yard.  Sadie is retrieving the baseball I threw for her.  Now they will get some use.  The baseballs are actually better than tennis balls because you can see them in the yard.

By the way this is the back of our house.  Do you see the door kind in the bottom right corner?  That is the "studio".  It is were I will eventually paint some furniture.  That is where the ping pong table (that the prior owners-Jake's hero's-left) is and a work bench.  It is pretty cool.  I will take pictures another day.  I am just impressed that the day after the big black snake incident, I went into the backyard at all! The first window on the left is the laundry room that is off the carport (pictures to be taken another day), then the sun room.  The double windows to the right of the sun room is the dining room (which I was going to finish unpacking and decorating today but I am doing this instead!).  The next window is the full bath and then the last window (it is actually double windows.  You can only see one because the Cedar tree is blocking the other in this shot) is our bedroom.

While I was out there taking pictures I filled Sadie's water bowl up.  She really wanted me to spray her but I just put the heart worm/flea medicine on her back a few days ago and I am paranoid.  I also saw 3 little tiny frogs that I am sure Clive will take care of.

She settled for getting her face sprayed as I filled the bowl up.

That is a happy pup.

And that is our sun room and backyard! 

Is it summer yet?

 Here's how we can tell in our house.  We just look at this face-yep this boy who is rolling his eyes.  We grab his face and just look reallllllyyy closely at it...

We check to see if there are any freckles popping up on the edge of his ears.

But his nose is a dead give away.  If there are a plethora of wonderful freckles than it is summer!  Woo-whooo!  I see lots of adorable freckles.  Summer is officially here in SC!  I don't care what the calendar says this nose knows.

"A face without freckles is like the sky with out the stars.  Why waste a second not loving who you are? Those little imperfections make you beautiful, loveable, valuable.  They show your personality inside your heart, reflecting who you are." (I don't know if she wrote it but Natasha Bedingfield sure can sing it)

She is a mess...

 This dog is adorable.  Obviously.  How could you not love that face?  BUT.  She sheds like no dog I have ever encountered.  Lab mixed with whatever is a mix that SHEDS!  Notice the floor beneath her...

 I had vacuumed just a mere 3 days before I took this picture.  Gross.  We will be vacuuming every day for a while...

 And the dirt she brings in the house!  How could I not mention the dirt?  Her favorite place to sit outside (besides on the porch, where she can keep watch of her yard and make sure the squirrels are kept in check) is in the dirt that is around the trampoline (a path she has worn...I will have to take a picture of that before we move for memory purposes).  She especially likes to lay in that dirt after Jake has sprayed her with the hose.  To be fair my vacuum fills up on one side before going to the other but that is still a lot dog fur and dirt...

Not to mention the fur I brushed off of her.  That is the fur from her back "haunches" and a little from her back.  And then she got restless and I let her go.  More brushing will be happening soon...Welcome Spring! :)


It is a good thing she is so stinkin' cute and smart and loving and cuddly...and the best dog on the planet!

What a difference a can of paint makes....

 You know how I said I was in a funk?  It must have been going on  much longer then I thought...We moved in to this house last April.  I had to paint the kitchen because I hated the color.  No offense Erin (my sweet sister-in-law who had to pick out paint colors on line...that never works...and is the one who picked out the green you see on the back wall).  I don't hate the color really-there was just WAY too much of it.  Aaron and Jake picked out a color that, although I do not hate, just didn't work for me.  The blue that was supposed to be more gray on the right wall....

 So....back to the funk.  I painted half the kitchen the color Aaron and Jake choose last April...You can see where I tested several other colors since and never really found what I was looking for.  So I did nothing...which is so not me.  I usually go into Lowe's see a paint chip color I like (in about 2 minutes), buy it, paint the room, and live happily ever after.  Now fast forward about 10 months later and Aaron came home with a paint chip one of the homeowners he is working with has picked out for their house.  He liked it and thought I would too.  He was right...

 The picture above is the first wall painted with my new favorite color...It looks gray (lighting isn't so hot) but it is really blue/green.  The funny part is I was planning on painting the dinning room (which I did and I love that too but the room isn't put back together yet.  Pictures of that later...) and my mom called while I was taping and said she would come help.  We are a good team.  Mom is the edger and I am the roller.  We ended up rocking out two rooms in a little over 3 hours.  Yep we rock.  And yep that is Mom on top of the fridge.

Bye bye ugly green...

Hello my lovely new light bluish-greenish kitchen....

The funk is leaving me...

One more thing...

Here is the before of the dinning room.  It doesn't usually look like that-all messy and stuff  (okay sometimes it does) but that is when I was moving stuff to paint.  The table is obviously the best place for stuff.

The color was okay, but a little too "flesh tone" for me...I love it now and will show you later!

And we are painting the living room this afternoon. :)  More on that later too....