More cards!

I guess I've been on a card kick lately.  Actually, it's a good thing, because it's all thank you cards which means I am lucky to have so much to be thankful for :-)

One of our family friends told us at my grandpa's funeral that she would like to make us shadow boxes of some of the flowers we received.  She made me 3 frames - 1 large and 2 smaller so I could make a collage of the flowers.  I used flowers from the arrangement Adam sent and also from the ones the girls I work with sent.  The pictures of the frames didn't turn out very well - there's always light coming into my bedroom from somewhere!  The color of the flowers are still so pretty - Paige did such a wonderful job and it's such a unique way to keep some of the beautiful flowers that were sent to me.

Paige collects baskets so I thought a basket card was very appropriate for her.  Then, I made another card for someone at work who I wanted to give "something special" too - I love the pink/black/white combo!

 

Quick Card

One of my dad's good friends sent me his TN season tickets for the TN/LSU football game in October in Knoxville.  I'm super excited for my first UT Football game in their awesome stadium!!!  Plus, I hope they beat some Tiger Tail!  Don't worry though, I will always bleed blue and gold!!!!

Here's the cute "Thank You" card I made for his friend.

Happy Birthday Furbabies!

August is a fun month around the house for Adam and me because it's all 3 of the animals' birthdays!  As many of you know, we are crazy about our furbabies.  It's so hard to believe the cats are already 3 (August 4th) and Henderson is now 2 (August 14th)!  Where does the time go?!  I can't imagine when it's kids that are growing up that fast how hard it must be on parents!!!

I am thankful everyday that I have my little adorable cats - no matter how annoying they are at 4am every morning when they are wanting to be pet.  They both have such distinctive purr-sonalities (haha).  Mason is my curious George, happy-to-meet everybody, will talk to strangers, playful, sweet, loving, handsome, wonderful little boy.  Trixie is all about her momma and daddy and basically wants nothing to do with anyone else - including Mr. Henderson who has a huge crush on her.  She is the softest, fluffiest cat ever and has plenty of her own sweet moments.  If someone comes to the house you can guarantee you won't see Trixie for several hours, even after they have left.  She is very uneasy around new people and loud noises.

Henderson is our big 95 pound baby boy.  He and Trixie are very similar in that they don't like strangers!  Henderson can bark with the best of them but luckily, he doesn't bark much.  He doesn't like to be pet by strangers (or looked at) and is very uneasy in new places.  He is so sweet, handsome and playful.  We love to watch Henderson run around like a crazy dog in his big fenced yard, especially when he does his crazy rolls. 

   

 

 

 

Visitors Galore!

July turned out to be a very very busy month with lots of visitors.  After our week in Michigan, we had a quiet weekend in TN.  The following week Adam was off to AL for work and came back on Friday to my parents, grandma and Miss Abbie visiting.  We had SO much fun.  I was so happy we were able to have everyone down, especially Abbie.  I love getting to spend time with that little munchkin – she is just growing up way too fast.

I wanted to have a little birthday party for her since I wasn’t going to be able to go up to Chip’s house for her “real” party the next weekend so I bought some Toy Story decorations and got her a Dairy Queen ice cream cake to go with her presents.  

Saturday morning we got up early and went over to the Discovery Museum in downtown Chattanooga.  There wasn’t hardly any information available online about the museum so I was worried it wouldn’t be fun for Abbie but I think she was the perfect age for just about everything there.  Some of the exhibits were a little overwhelming for her but she found plenty to keep herself entertained.  

Saturday afternoon we had some visitors lined up to come meet and play with Abbie.  Anne brought over her adorable twin boys.  That was the first time I’d seen the twins in about a year, they are definitely mamma’s boys!  They were cute playing with Abbie and our animals – I don’t think they knew what to make of Henderson – their dog is much smaller!  Plus, I think Anne said that was the first time they were around cats so they squealed over Mason because he was checking them out nonstop.  One of our Olin co-workers, Jason, brought his wife and 2 kids over as well.  At one point we had 5 kids under 5 at the house!  Anne and the boys had to leave but then Abbie and Jason’s kids got to play in our little pool and slip-n-slide.  Jason’s little girl, Lily, and Abbie were so cute together and played so well.  Abbie is used to being around all boys at her daycare so it was a nice change of pace for her to be around Lily.  We had tacos for dinner and then topped off the evening with Abbie’s cake – so hard to believe she is already 3!!!  Which means, it’s also been 3 years since Lauren and I took over Europe and I started working at Olin!  Wow, I’m getting old…

The following weekend brought even more visitors.  Adam’s mom, sister Ashleigh and 2 nieces (Brooklyn and Sydney) along with Henderson’s brother DUKE – Ashleigh’s dog – came to see us from Thursday-Monday.  His family usually isn’t able to stay but a night or two with us so it was good getting to spend that much time together plus we were able to get out and do some things.  Friday night we had a yummy dinner at the Chop House and then Saturday it was up bright and early for some sight-seeing (and to beat the record high temps we have been having this summer)!  First stop – Rock City. 

It worked out really well because Adam and I had been trying to figure out when we were going to go see the attractions that Chattanooga has to offer so we got to see everything with his family.  I didn’t know what to expect of Rock City.. the name makes you think of a bunch of rock formations that look like a city.. I have to say I think we were all pleasantly surprised by what it actually was/is.  It sits at the top of Lookout Mountain and from the top you can “see” 7 states!  Rock City is a maze of massive ancient rock formations and gardens with over 400 native plant species.  There are gorgeous views from pretty much every step you take along the way.  Adam and I are planning a trip back at Christmas to see how it looks decked out in Christmas lights.    

From Rock City we drove around the mountain and rode the Incline Railway.  This was probably the biggest flop of the weekend.  For all the publicity it gets it really isn't worth it, especially when you have to wait in the sun to ride the non-air conditioned cable car back up.  It's a mile long railtrack that takes you to the top/bottom of the mountain and you get to enjoy the views along the way.  The best part was getting ice cream at the bottom while we waited to go back up.

After the Incline Railway we were attemping to hit the last attraction for the day - Ruby Falls.  However, we got to the attraction and there was a very very long line out in the sun to get in... so we scratched that and put it at the top of the "to do" list for Sunday morning.

We headed back to the house, played outside with the dogs, rested, showered and headed to Cleveland for a nice dinner at the Bald Headed Bistro. 

Sunday morning we headed back to Ruby Falls in order to beat the crowd.  It's so funny to think that people are coming to where we live for summer vacation!  Ruby Falls is America's highest, largest and deepest underground waterfall.  I think the story about the discovery of the falls is one of the best stories I've heard in a while.  I won't ruin it for you.. you have to go hear it for yourself :-)

After the tour at Ruby Falls, it was back to Peppertree.  Sunday afternoon Jason's family came over again to play out in the yard, this time with Adam's nieces.  We had hamburgers and hotdogs.. and a birthday party for Henderson and Duke since their big days are coming up.  I found a dog friendly recipe for a birthday cake online and Sydney and Brooklyn helped me mix and bake it.  I was afraid after all that effort the dogs wouldn't touch it but they ate every last crumb of it.  I even have a new favorite picture of Henderson... and don't they look handome in their birthday crowns???

Decorating for the dog birthday bash

My new favorite picture of Henderson - look at the cake crumbs on his nose

   

Another exciting adventure we/I took on was letting Sydney and Brooklyn each make some scrapbook pages for their "own" scrapbooks.  I had already ordered some pictures from when they were here in February and then some from over the 4th in Michigan and they each ended up making 7 8x8 pages for their scrapbooks.  We had a lot of fun making them and they really enjoyed it - plus it will be something we can add to each time they come visit.