A Southern Accent

I'm one of those people that really doesn't enjoy heading to the local card store to pick out the best-fitting generic card for my loved ones for special holidays. Therefore, I typically wait till the last minute and have to weave myself between the other last-minute card pickers and reach for the ones that actually have matching envelopes left and kinda sound like something I may say in my most emotional and sappy moment. So, when I had the chance to order several custom cards for Mother's Day through Tiny Prints to try out their custom card services, I jumped at the opportunity. Luckily, I'd managed to get all three of my mom's grandsons together at Easter and had some great pics to use on my cards for Mother's Day. I scrolled through the choices online, loaded up my pics and edited the text as I needed and I was done! I opted to have the cards mailed to me, then I sent them along to my mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, but they do offer the option t...

And I like to brag about him... When you dad's a golf pro, you're bound to have some natural talent, but even Mike is blown away by Walker's ability to hit the ball. Here he is, only five year's old...watch out Phil Mickelson.

I certainly don't have a green thumb (Mike is typically the keeper of life when it comes to plants around here), but I do love to work in my yard and now that we've been here five years, I really look forward to spring and seeing all of my plants come back to life. I've noticed a trend lately in magazines, online, etc., using succulents to decorate indoor and outdoor rooms, so being the trendy thing I am, I had to give it a try. And I figure since these little suckers don't require much attention, maybe I can keep them alive? Last weekend I hit up the local Lowes and picked out a couple of cute little guys, then went to a garden center to buy some not-so-generic plants to give my succulent arrangement a little originality. Next challenge was to find something to plant them in. Everything I saw in Lowes was too big, too deep or too expensive, same with the garden store. Every once in a while I'll find a good planter at True Value, so I stopped by on the way home ...

You  have  until 11 am EST on May 20 to take advantage of the sale to save up to 20% on dates now through July 21 – just in time for summer vacations.  You can go here to get these great prices: greatwolf.com/value .    If you book online through greatwolf.com/value you can avoid high call volumes and delays. Walker and my two nephews absolutely love this place and whenever that great commercial comes on the radio, they beg to go! We're hoping to fit in a visit this summer with all of the boys. Maybe we'll see you there!

I came across this bedroom on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago, and it's just been one of those things I've not been able to get out of my head. I've been searching for the perfect paint color for our bedroom for several years actually, and I immediately fell in love with this one named Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams.   So in my credit-card free world, I decided to tally up the cost of everything I'd need to make this room and to start saving for it: So I'm thinking maybe around $500 to do the whole room. Not too bad for a complete makeover and very doable.It's going to be a welcome change. We've been in our house for five years and I still haven't updated the bedroom wall paint - it's still a lemon yellow that I said I was going to paint over the second we bought the house. In actuality, it's the ONLY room in the house I haven't repainted since we moved in!

You know summer is just around the corner when the lightning bugs start showing up in the front yard. Walker spotted the first one of the season this weekend and chased it until he captured it in his little hands. I managed to snap a couple of pictures with my new iPhone (Mother's day present) and the cool Hipstamatic app (download it if you don't already have it - cool pics). We used to love chasing lightning bugs, trying to find as many as we could, and keeping them in a jar beside the bed as a nightlight. Of course, when we work up in the mornings, they would all have died in the night. I have memories of my cousins and I chasing them around my grandparent's front yard, competing to see who could catch the most in one evening. It was pure joy peeking into our clamped hands, watching the little light go on and off, with great anticipation waiting to see the next flicker in the night to tell us which way to run. We also liked to catch June bugs, then tie a string ...

I purchased a tunic from Boden two summers ago and still pull it out with my white slacks to wear to special Spring/Summer occasions or throw it on with my bathing suit at the pool or beach. And it seems like every time I wear it, I get complimented on the style and colors. Now, I love some Boden, but we all know it ain't cheap. So when I came across some adorable tunics at World Market recently for only $19.99 a piece, I could hardly contain my excitement! I picked up one last Friday in yellow and grey (along with new curtains, new bath mat, etc., etc. - I love that store). And I really don't care if you go all "Single White Female" on me (as my friend Mary recently said to me) and buy one yourself! I just hate to keep a good deal secret! I did find these pics online, but I don't see that they are available to purchase online, so you'll have to hit up your local World Market and check out all the goodies yourself. Mine had them in several different co...

Walker and His New Sweetie - Pool is open!  Morning conversation: "Mommie, you don't EVER call me Walker." "I don't? What do I call you then?" "You always call me sweetie. I don't want you to do that anymore when we are out with other people." "Ok, then I won't. But can I still call you that when no one else is around?" "Ok, sure."

There are the occasional days when it feels like I've hit the jackpot, that the stars all aligned and I was caught doing something good. I had one of those days last weekend when I decided I'd get up and drag myself two blocks over to check out the junk at the neighborhood yard sale. I had all intentions of getting up at the crack of dawn in case there was something good there, but I stayed up all night the evening before watching wedding Royal Wedding coverage.  I almost didn't even go, but something was just telling me to take the five minutes to swing by. I'd just decided about a week before that I was going to get rid of a huge, old chair in my bedroom and find a desk that could sit in its place. This way, I'd have one desk downstairs, and one up. And no more nights of me sitting in the bed with the laptop. And lo and behold, I drove up to the yard sale around 10:30 and found this beauty. But even more beautiful - the price. It was labeled for sale for fiv...

Still don't know what to get that special mother in your life and don't want to spend a fortune? Here's a little something special...Buy it here

Came across this on Pinterest yesterday and just had to share.  Via

me trying to stretch my face out for a pic Walker took so I don't have a double chin So have you heard about the hot new 17 Day Diet? I'm a sucker for anything new, so you know I had to try this one. Anything not to have to sweat hours in a gym to get the baby weight off (and yes, my son is six years old). In a nutshell, you are basically cutting out carbs and sugar for 17 days, but you can have two servings of fruit before 2:00 pm. When you wake up in the morning, you drink warm water with fresh lemon squeezed into it to neutralize your stomach.You drink green tea with every meal and have to have two servings of probiotics a day (yogurt, for example). You can munch on veggies for snacks and have eggs and fruit for breakfast. And you're supposed to work out 17 minutes a day (two times if you can). This diet is designed to get you to drop weight fast, so you are motivated to keep going. Then when the first 17 days (two weeks and three days if that sounds better) is ...