ING Nashville Kids Marathon

Harper ran the kids marathon on Friday night.  She has been running every day after school for the last few months.  They run the last mile downtown with all the other kids from different schools, so it is really exciting. 

After finally getting downtown (there was SO much traffic), we ran to the start line.  We barely made it in time. 

She found a friend at the last minute so she didn't have to run alone.  She said that the race went by so fast.  She couldn't believe that it was really a mile.  It was a nightmare trying to get out of the parking lot, so we decided to walk across the bridge and eat on 2nd Ave.

It was the perfect way to end the evening.

Our Baby Birds

It is crazy to see how much the baby birds have grown in a week.

April 18th

April 19th

April 20th

April 21st

April 22nd

April 23rd

One of the birds has left the nest, but there are still 3 that are staying in the nest.

We actually got to watch the bird practice flying.  It was pretty cool.

Today

I know they will all leave soon because there is not much room left in their tiny nest.

Snapshot Sunday- Happy Earth Day

 We celebrated Earth Day by picking up trash at Harper and Miller's school.  They both wanted to do something to help the earth, so it worked out perfectly.

I hope everyone had a great Earth Day.  

Kid's Garden

The kids decided they wanted their very own garden this year.  When we received a seed catalog in the mail this winter, they went to town picking out what they wanted to plant.  I decided I would let them each have a side.  They picked out mostly flowers, but Miller did pick out some beans.

It has been so nice out.  The kids have been begging me to plant their seeds, so I finally gave in. 

I got some cilantro, dill, lavender, and tomato seeds.  I still need to plant some basil. We signed up to do a CSA again so I am not going to stress out about our garden this year.  I know I will have plenty of organic, local fruits and veggies coming my way.

My parsley is still looking good.  I also have some chives and thyme that came back from last year.

The biggest surprise was some arugula that popped up.  The kids love tasting all the different herbs.  It is not uncommon for one of the kids to come in from playing outside with parsley breath. 

Ric Rac Baby Blanket

I actually did a tiny bit of sewing this weekend.  I made a baby blanket for a friend. I used this tutorial, but I used cotton and minky for the back.

The minky I bought is SO soft.  Both of my kids had a fit over this blanket.

It is a really simple blanket and came together really quickly.

I would say I spent a total of one hour start to finish.  That's my kind of project!!  I think the rounded corners and ric rac add a nice touch.

It was nice to finish something, since it seems like our home projects are never ending right now.  I am not going to have a kitchen update this week.  I think I am going to hold off until it is complete, since we are just putting the finishing touches on.

Snapshot Sunday- Macro Garden & More Birds

I had some fun with my macro lens yesterday.

The blueberry bushes are blooming.

Beans are sprouting.

Roses are blooming.

The clematis is in full bloom.

Even dandelions can be pretty, right? 

Can't forget the birds.

I can't believe how much they have grown in a week.

I read somewhere that the mom and dad robin make over 400 trips in one day to feed their babies.  I would believe it.  The babies were on their own most of the weekend, but it seemed like the parents were always coming back with more food.  It seems like they are eating constantly.

You should be able to tell from this photo that there are indeed 4 babies.

I am going to be sad when they leave the nest.  I am totally obsessed with watching these little guys.

Bird Watching

We have been doing some bird watching at my house.  We have a mountain laurel tree right outside our bathroom window.  It must be the perfect place for a nest because it seems like we have a bird nest there every year.  We usually get doves, but this year we have a robin. 

We have been watching for the eggs to hatch for a couple of weeks now and finally this week they hatched.

How cute are these little guys?  I think they are hungry. It has been so fascinating to watch the momma and daddy bird tending to the babies.  I think I check the window at least 15 times a day.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but there are 3-4 baby birds.  I have seen 3, but Harper swears there are 4 of them.  I think they are used to us glaring at them now because it doesn't seem to bother them any more.  Hopefully I will be able to get some shots of them as they get bigger.

Kitchen Update- Bells & Whistles

We were gone a good portion of the week last week, so no major progress on the kitchen.  We are checking off little items though.  Mitch has all the cabinets door and hardware installed on this side of the room.

We had to do some touch up painting on the top doors, so there is no hardware yet.  The bottom doors and drawers are finished.  You can see we pulled out the butcherblock so that we can stain and seal it. You can also kind of see if you look in the right hand corner that Mitch installed the quarter round around the baseboards and under the cabinets.  So the floor looks more finished now.

I wanted to show some of the fun organizational stuff that Mitch has installed.  We have a pullout trash can and recycle bin.

A place for our pots and pans underneath the stove top.

More pull out storage under the oven.

One final pull out drawer to fit random appliances.  I still haven't completely organized everything. I need to do that.  I guess I can add that to my list. 

Here's the butcherblock with 2 coats of stain.  We decided to go with a more natural color since the floors are so dark. I love being able to see all the varying colors of wood.

Mitch stained the ledge for the opening the same color, but it didn't look right.  So he sanded it down and restained it.  I need to get a photo of it with the new stain.  We went with a darker color for this piece.

We still need to touch up wall and ceiling paint, install the trim,  seal and install the ledge and butcherblock.  Then paint all the trim and caulk around the countertop.  Oh, and install the remaining hardware.  I am SO ready to be done with the kitchen.  Then we get to move on to the living rooms.  Woohoo!!! 

Sunday Snapshot- Spring Break

We had an awesome time visiting Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge with friends.

I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked, but these two are my favorites of all the kiddos.

Happy Monday everyone.

Juice Beauty Giveaway Winner

I used random.org to pick a winner.   The winner is # 6- soccermom1.

We are on Spring Break this week so that is why I have been missing in action.  I will be back next week with a kitchen and vacation update.