a brick patio

when we moved into this house 2 years ago, we knew it would be a constant work in progress.  and we love that.  we love making this place our own and learning new things along the way.

one of the things that drew us to this house was our back porch.  it's right off the kitchen and completely covered.  i blogged about it last spring in this post.  it's like another room.

we haven't done much to the porch since we've moved in.  added furniture, strung some lights and that's about it.

to the far right of the porch, there are steps that lead down to our backyard.  as soon as we moved in, we new this area was going to need some work.

exhibit A which i blogged about here:

every time you went into the back yard, you had to duck.  there were these random beams that prevented you from easily getting into the back yard.

we quickly realized that this section of the deck served no structural purpose, so we knew it had to go.

bye bye!

next problem to address?  safety.  we needed a hand rail.

done.

now, the lack of grass and appeal when you went down the stairs.  when ever it rained, this area became a mud pit.  so, last fall, the hubs laid first brick patio.

as you may have noticed, i've got myself a pretty handy man!!  =)

we used it some last fall.  roasting marshmallows and grilling.  but we couldn't wait until this spring when we could really take advantage of it!

as soon as i could, i planted some flowers and shaun got me some awesome green adirondack chairs for mother's day! we moved the grill and i added a random pallet in it's place for more flowers.

such an improvement, right???

we are probably outside everyday that it doesn't rain.  we love it out here.

but i felt like it was still missing something....

we were given this rod iron table and chairs a few years ago by shaun's dad.  it's a great set.  and very neutral...

it's just blends in with the brick patio.  so, the cooks got daring!

 

 

and i'm OBSESSED!!!

it's called peacock blue.  it's made by valspar and it's their outdoor, no rust spray paint.

i also made some pillows today too with some fabric i already had.  

i couldn't believe how well it matched.  i had to make pillows, right?!?!

i LOVE our back yard now.  i can't believe how far it's come in just 2 years.  (and yes, we added this playset this year too).  

from this...

to this...

we even added more lights.  we had some strung around the covered porch, but now they are hang over the brick patio too!

isn't it lovely?  

and see that swing on the porch?  2 things.  1 - i'm blogging from there right now.  and 2 - it got a little make-over too.

it used to be just brown wood.  no treatment, nothing fancy, just a brown wood swing.

so yesterday when we were at lowes, i found a quart of mis-tint paint for $2.50.  what do you think?

i've only put 1 coat on so far, and i think i like it...

kind of rustic, right?  i don't think i want a really "finished" look, but i'm also kind of worried it looks like i'm only half way finished.

be honest - what do you think??

SO - do you want to come over for a party???  we love to grill out and can't wait to be outside even more this summer!

it even smells good here!  i planted a gardenia bush this spring and love everything about it.

awwwww.  the smell of DIY!!  ;)

it's friday?

i thought i was on a roll.  i was doing such a great job at blogging and taking pictures.  and at one point, i almost considered calling myself a "blogger".  then 10 days went by and i didn't blog once.  i've been taking pictures (because we have been busy!), but no time or energy to sit down and blog.

and honestly today, i'm tired.  like tired voice and tired eyes tired.  we have been on-the-go non-stop for over a week now.  all fun and wonderful things, but going to bed around midnight (or later) and then waking up around 6:30 for about 7 days straight starts to catch up with you.

so - i'm going to update with a lot of pictures.  i hope that's ok...

we had a great weekend visiting friends in western kentucky.  i didn't do a great job of taking pictures, but mostly because we were having so much fun.  8 adults and 6 kids packed into one house for the weekend!  it was awesome, because these are the kind of friends that you want to be packed in a house with.  the kind of people that even though you've have a long day at work and then 4 hours in a car, making your kids cranky or stir crazy, you look forward to sitting wherever there is room and laughing until the early hours of the morning talking about nothing.  you wake up the next morning, help feed someone else's kids, and then make plans to make plans whenever you get around to it.  it was a good weekend.  one where you realize you're not exactly sure where your daughter is in the house but then find her sitting on your best friends lap talking.  perfect.

C loved being with all the bestikids.  it's so nice to not have to take toys when you travel.  you just know that everything will be new to her and there will always be someone to play with.

pretty much the minute we rolled back into town on sunday, shaun's dad pulled up.  C calls him "Pop" and pop has a bike.

we were pretty low key with pop.  he and and the hubs did some manly stuff around the house, and one night we ventured out to feed the ducks.

these ducks love us.  they know exactly why we are there and get really excited and quacky when they see us coming.  

and C is fearless.  the big whites are up to her waist.  can you imagine a giant bird approaching you that was up to your waist?  she loves it.  she walks around feeding them saying "come on ducks" and "ducks hungy". 

pop rolled out tuesday morning, and aunt jorhdan arrived that night.  C hasn't seen aunt J since she was about 4 months old.  too long...  but she warmed up quickly.

i took 1/2 days at work on wed and thurs in order to visit with aunt J.  wed we introduced her to our FAVORITE new obsession,orange leaf, and then headed to the pool.

yesterday was a little more exciting though.  shaun and i made a summer fun list (got the idea from a favorite blog here), and taking C to the zoo was at the top of the list.  she is at such a fun age right now where animals and seeing new things is so much fun.

so, we packed up yesterday and headed to the closest zoo

she loved it!  she really did.  the fish and snakes and zebra's and elephants and monkeys.  everything was new and fun to see.  and watching her was the pretty fun too. 

i think we all loved the elephants the most.  

well, i don't know.  shaun seemed to have had a moment with this lady

we had such a great time.  i'm so glad we got to go and introduce C to all these cool animals.

then she zonked out on the way home, and i was jealous

so, now it's somehow friday and i can't believe how fast the week has gone.  it's been a great one.

plans for the weekend?  no.  we are resting and relaxing and that is about it. 

maybe i'll even get to sleep in tomorrow???  my fingers are definitely crossed.  =)

popsicles and pools

we had a great weekend! it was the perfect mix of enjoying friends and being lazy.

on saturday we were on the go all day. we started with breakfast together and then after all the afternoon naps were over, everyone came to our house for baby pool and sprinkler fun!

i love this picture. there seems to be a very serious conversation going on between these 3.

i can't even tell you how fun and crazy it was! it seemed like there were kids everywhere. our sweet neighbors asked if it was C's 2nd birthday. nope, just my bestikids.

we realized in the midst of everything that we had a kid for every age from 1-5. miller man is 1, C and elliott are almost 2 (they are only 3 weeks apart and will be 2 in aug & sept so we counted them as our 2 year olds), maddie girl is 3, owie just turned 4 and jos is 5. wow!

this is the only picture i got of all of them. i just love the pure joy on maddie's face and the apprehension in C and elliott's posture. i'm so thankful they have the older girls to look up to and see that things are safe and fun!

click on any picture to make it bigger. especially this one so you can see maddie's face!

owen isn't the only boy, but his closest male companion is only 1. he did pretty good hangin' with the girls. but when he could get away, he enjoyed throwing the ball with kona.

i still can't believe that he is 4. cami and brad left lexington and moved to w. ky when he was still in her belly. i can't believe they have been gone for 4 years. i'm so thankful we have stayed close and that every time we get together, it's like no time has passed at all.

i think the kids had fun. i just loved watching them and seeing the excitement and innocence on their little faces. i loved that they all just went for it. even the littler ones who had never experieced anything like this before.



after pool fun, the hubs made some amazing burgers and steaks. we all dried off, chowed down and had popsicles. it was the first time these little ladies had ever had a popsicle and i think it's pretty easy to see that they loved them!




on sunday the hubs played golf and C and i hang out at home. a little more pool time and another popsicle was just what we needed.

she slept good this weekend.

i'm in love with these summer days. bare feet and shirtless treats outside.


this weekend was the perfect start!