Baby Emily's first bath!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The house is practically DONE!

I drove over to the house on Wednesday evening...just me and the kids. Gary was out with the guys from our small group, so I loaded up the kids and got a Donatos pizza on the way. Ha! I was totally in the mood for a low-maintenance night. I didn't really expect anything new at our house because I had been there a few days prior to this. So, when I walked in with the kids and saw CARPET, BLINDS, our APPLIANCES...and so much more...I was just amazed. It really feels like a home now. And it's shocking to think it's OUR home! Wow. I'm feeling so beyond blessed. So, for now it seems that aside from lots of little touch-up work inside the house, the only thing left is the landscaping outside the house. Wowee!

Madelyn & Connor LOVED being in the house with the carpet. They instantly ran into this room (the den) and wanted to sit on the window seat ledge. That made my heart melt, because when I first saw this model home, I fell in love with the window seat and envisioned our children curling up here with good books. So nice to see they are already making themselves at home!

Shiny new appliances. I was amazed.

This kitchen is beckoning to me.

Here we are in the Bonus Room. Kids just wanted to run in circles and be silly. I guess that's exactly what this room is for!

Hi Maddy!

Here we are in Madelyn's bedroom. I lifted the blinds so they could see outside. There were several boys playing baseball out there and she said "some day when I get bigger, I want to play baseball too..." Oh Maddy...that day will come before I'm ready for you to get bigger, I just know it.

The kids rolling on the carpet in her bedroom. See...making themselves right at home.

We all loved going in and out of the shower in the Master Bathroom. This is going to feel like a luxury!

Maddy and me in the bathtub. Time for a relaxing soak. Mostly I was just sitting there trying to "soak" it all in. Can't believe we'll be in this house in about 2 weeks. Wow.

And we have flooring!!!!

And we have lighting, and painted walls, and a driveway, and mirrors...and we have a CLOSING DATE SCHEDULED!!!!!
Drum roll please..........
Friday, May 28th is our CLOSING! That's just about 3 weeks away. Whoa baby!

Sneak peak at the wood floors

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.