Happy 6th Anniversary to us!

Gary and I had a great time on Saturday celebrating our 6th Anniversary...on our actual anniversary date. Very nice! We unintentionally had a "Greek Themed" evening while we casually enjoyed strolling around the Gallery Hop down in the Short North. We picked the "Happy Greek" restaurant, and then ended the evening with an extravagant bakalava sundae dessert at the little Greek emporium.

(And Gary really surprised me at with a special "iron" gift which is the traditional gift to give on the 6th Anniversary. Loved the special lantern from him!)

Dinner at Happy Greek. We were happy and hungry!

The coolest piece of art we saw that evening was this one. Can you see the image of a little girl looking back at you? Looks almost like a sepia photograph.

You'll never believe that this entire piece of art was made from crayola crayon tips. Mostly shades of gray with some colored crayon speckled in. (see photo below for close up)

Yes, this is a close up of the above piece of art. REALLY stunning!

The firemen were enjoying people watching that evening too. There's always lots of interesting spectals to see down here especially on Gallery Hop nites.

The shops in the Short North were most certainly "hopping" on this Gallery Hop evening. This place had a full-on band, and a bar...and it was just a little denim shop. Highly entertaining

Can't you tell??? =)

This is the little Emporium where we casually entered. Just looked like a little wine and cheese shop. And then we saw someone checking out with the best looking dessert...

So we just had to try it for ourselves. We'll definitely be back here for some more of this amazing bakalava sundae sometime soon.

We ended the evening with gift-giving. Gary and I usually like to surprise one another with interesting or creative or funny gifts that utilize the "traditional anniversary" gifts. This year was iron and candy. So, I found him an "iron" for his golf set. And a new iron to use...because he the resident "ironer" in this household!

He surprised me with the awesome rod-iron old-fashioned looking lantern (see top) from Restoration Hardware to use on the porch or patio of our new home. I love it!

I love you Gary Scott.

Can't wait for the next 6 years and beyond!!!

Sneak Peak of the Countertops

I keep getting so nervous about how everything that we picked in the M/I Homes Design Center is going to look once it's put all together. And when I finally saw the countertops with the wood cabinets, I was totally relieved. It doesn't look horrible (nevermind all the dust in here!) It's all really coming together!

Dairy Queen Treat

I promised Madelyn some ice cream last Wednesday for extra good behavior...and it was also Connor's exact half-birthday (April 14th), so I decided to treat the kids to some yummy Dairy Queen. Maddy ordered her standard vanilla in a cup. And I splurged and ordered a twist cone for myself. Can't remember the last time I had one of those?!?! Well, as soon as Madelyn saw that, she was done with her plain cup of vanilla! She and Connor did a great job polishing-off this yummy treat. Way to go kiddos!

I think he likes it!

We could sell this to DQ to use for advertising!

Learning how to be effective and efficient with a soft-serve ice cream cone!

The African Violet is still a-Bloomin!

Check out this gorgeous plant! Not only am I shocked that I have been able to keep this moody plant alive, but it's totally thriving. I never imagined that it could bloom like this. Wish you could see the shimmering flower petals in person. Totally God-created. So beautiful.

Madelyn Reading to Connor

These are several video clips from a moment when I snuck into Maddy's room to find both kids sitting cozy on her toddler bed and she was actually reading her favorite books to Connor. These are some of my favorite video clips of the year so far. It's a little long because it's 3 books worth of recording...but it's totally priceless. The first book is one of Connor's favorites "Five Little Ducklings" that she obviously picked for him. And then she reads "Popcorn", which was a family favorite when I was growing up. And you all will recognize the last book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear".
This was actually recorded back in Feburary, but I only just now found a decent way to upload videos. So, I hope you enjoy a little STORY TIME with the Sammons kids!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Silly Sporty Time with my little USA All-Star Girl!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And we have CABINETS!

Here's some of my most recent photos of the casa. It's coming along day by day. I think they installed all the trim work yesterday so I'll have to check that out when I have a minute to drive over there. I'll keep you posted!

Finally, here's a view of the back of the house.

A nice spring day
Voila!

View standing in the kitchen looking over into the great-room. I love all the light streaming inside. Aaaaaaa.... =)