Keeping us busy!

We've been doing some spring cleaning and refreshing around here.  Doug and I painted the shutters on Monday.  There are 14 shutters so it took a while! 

Well worth the effort though! 

Doug pressure washed the house yesterday then put the shutters back up.  I love the new look!

I got my first bloom on the clematis.

It's huge!  The iris are blooming but they don't last long.

And I saw my first hummingbird today!!

This is a terrible picture taken with my cellphone.  The return of hummingbirds always signals the official beginning of spring to me!

Welcome to the world Baby Duncan!

I got to the hospital in Tuscaloosa about 11:00 on Saturday.  Everyone, even Courtney, was happy and smiling and anxious for the birth of Duncan Matthew.

Courtney in full makeup and hair done looked like she was going to prom as someone commented instead of giving birth!

The dad to be was cool as a cucumber!

Courtney was progressing and was dilated to 6.  Karen asked the nurse if we had time to go to the cafeteria and grab a bite of lunch.  She said we did.  So we were sitting there after we had eaten lunch, just visiting and watching Luke eat his M&Ms, when Karen got a text from Kaydee saying Courtney was dilated to 10.  This was within 30 minutes of us leaving her room! 

We gathered our stuff very quickly and hurried up to her room.  Within an hour she had given birth.  Matt, Karen, and all three sisters were in the delivery room.  They said Courtney was a champ!  Duncan Matthew Channel was born at 2:00 p.m. on March 25th.  He weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 20" long. 

Proud Gigi and Papa!

Proud aunts and cousins!

I finally got my chance to hold him!

He came home today in an outfit smocked my his Gigi and a blanket knit by his Great Aunt Pat.  He's so precious!

Sleeping soundly in his crib.  I hope he does that a lot in the days but especially the nights to come!

Karen is on spring break this week so it staying with Courtney and Matt to help take care of them all! 

What a blessing he is to our family!

Busy Spring!

The weather has been just beautiful this week.  I have been trying to get some spring cleaning done.  I worked on my closet today and so far have five garbage bags of clothes, shoes, purses and other miscellaneous stuff ready for donation.  Still a lot of stuff in that closet though!

I also started painting the front door of the house.  It used to look like this.

And now it looks like this.

I haven't removed the tape from the handles because I think I'm going to put one more coat of paint on it.  I've already put two coats on.  Haven't even started painting the shutters yet.

I've also been doing some yard work.  I dug up several bushes that had died.  There are a couple more that need digging up but I wasn't strong enough to get them out of the ground.  Doug will have to do that.  I'll be replacing those bushes soon.  Doug has been cleaning out his shop, getting rid of a lot of old Hilti stuff he'll never use.  Guess spring has put us in a cleaning mood!

All kinds of signs of spring!  The iris are one of the first things to bloom.

This clematis is an early bloomer too.

We caught this little creature who has been tearing up our yard.

A cute little armadillo!  Doug took him out to the Natchez Trace and released him, hoping he doesn't find his way back to our house!

I added a little spring to the back bedroom too.

I love this time of year!

Please keep my niece Courtney in your prayers as she will be delivering baby Duncan on Saturday.  They are going to induce her.  The doctor says he's already 9 pounds!  I plan to be there for the big event.  I can hardly wait to meet him!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Spring Break

Last week was spring break for the kids, though the weather was anything but "springy!"  Nonetheless, I did get to spend some time with the grands!

I took the boys to see Sing one afternoon.  It was really a cute movie.  Lots of good music in it.  Some kids movies are so boring to me but this one was entertaining.  The boys seemed to enjoy it too.

The next day I took Emma Taylor for a Starbucks and pedicure. 

Cute toes!  She left yesterday for a Beta Club convention in Biloxi so cute toes were a MUST!

By the weekend the weather was a little nicer, nice enough to take a ride down the Natchez Trace with the car club for lunch in Pheba at the Pheba Diner.  There were about 18 cars so we had our own little car show at the restaurant.

After lunch we drove over to an antique shop and browsed a bit.  It was fun to get the cars back out again!

Also last week I signed up for a trip to Italy.  Our TV station here has put together a trip.  Doug has no interest in going out of this country so my friend Jane and I signed up.  Jane's husband has no desire to go on the trip either.  I've always wanted to go to Italy so thought this would be a good chance!  We will mainly be visiting the Tuscany area.  We leave September 10th and return on the 18th.  Can't wait!  If you have any suggestions or recommendations, please pass them along.  Joan has given me some great ideas already!

New Rug! (and passports)

I got a new rug on Friday for my dining room.  I haven't had a rug under the table since we replaced the floor and it looked pretty naked in there.

It looks so much better and feels so much better underfoot.  Still a few more things to do in the dining room and it will be finished!

Doug and I got our passports renewed last week.  We plan to go to Michigan this summer and head on over to Niagara Falls, going over to the Canadian side.  I checked our passports and they expired in April.  I couldn't believe it had been 10 years since we had gotten them. 

It cost $110 each, plus $15 each for the crummy picture they took, plus mailing cost to send them off.  Not cheap!  You get one shot at the picture and like it or not that's what you're stuck with.  I'd suggest going to Walgreen's or somewhere else that takes passport pictures and at least you might get one you'd approve of!  Takes about 6 weeks to get them back.  The lady at the passport office, which is in our post office, said there's been a rush on passports lately because of all the immigration changes, etc.  Guess people want to be sure their passports are up to date. 

We also plan to tour Michigan, going to Detroit to see the Henry Ford Museum, and going on up to Mackinac Island, then coming back along Michigan's western coast to see some of the lighthouses and spend time in some of those cute little towns along the way.  If you have any suggestions for things to do in Michigan, they would be much appreciated!  Also suggestions for Niagara Falls.

This time change has thrown me off.  You wouldn't think one hour would make that much difference!!  I love it once I get used to it though!

Rainy day

It's a rainy, stormy day here.  It has been quite windy for the last few days.  My new front door decoration is very appropriate for spring.

It was so windy that it blew off twice so I decided to bring it inside until the wind dies down. 

We are really seeing signs of spring already.  It's a bit earlier than usual.

This is a fringe flower shrub and blooms early in spring.

The clematis is getting ready to bloom.

I'm sure this rain will make things really pop when it warms up!

Hosting some "Yankees"

We hosted a group of "Yankees" on Friday evening for dinner.  With the help of Paula and Marie, we had tons of food!  It was a last minute planned thing so I was very grateful for their help!

Our car club reserved the drag strip on Saturday in Holly Springs as a fundraiser and these guys came down to run their cars. 

We had a great visit with them...such nice guys:  Nelson Elrod, Tom Franks, Murvin Elrod, Jim Franks, Harold Kennedy, Jimmie Smith, Danny Stevens, Chris Elrod, Doug, Danny Joe Elrod, Sonny Timmons, Ben and Cameron.

Ben and Cameron took the Valiant and made several passes.  When they came back Cameron was so excited!  He even got to ride in Danny Joe Elrod's car which he said is really fast!  Danny said he wanted Cameron to know what it was like to ride in a Chevy!  They all had a fun day and the weather was just perfect. 

Emma Taylor, Harrison and Cameron spent the night with us Saturday night.  We had some fun games of Yahtzee and Dominoes.  They went to church with us Sunday morning and it was a packed house!  We usually go to early church where there's a lot more breathing room.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!