Simply a-maize-ing

We had a wonderful day today with our good friends the Bowman's. We went to the local corn maze: Simply a-maize-ing for our 2nd annual trip. What a beautiful day we had to enjoy our adventure. Not only does this place have a corn maze, but it also has a farm where the kids were able to help out with some of the little "chores", and hang out with the farm animals. The owner's goal is to have a place where the kids feel as if they were going to a place like grandma and grandpa's farm. The kids had a blast, and felt totally comfortable running all over the farm with all the animals. They are already asking when they can go back.

playroom makeover

We have these little unfinished attic space rooms in each of the kids bedrooms. I came up with the idea to finish them (cheaply) and turn them into little playrooms for the kids. A big-huge-giant thank you to my parents for carrying my idea out and doing this as a birthday present for the kid's upcoming birthdays. We have mostly finished Avery's room, and will start on Deacon's when mom and dad have recovered from doing Avery's. The carpet guy came today to install the bright color carpet Avery picked out for herself- "dress-up pink", and Deacon chose "grasshopper green".

This is the size of the entrance into the playroom- imagine my 6'5" tall father crawling into and out of this several times...poor dad!

This is basically what it looked like from the start.

and here it is now....

On this wall there is a dry erase board, magnet boards, and chalk board

Here is her dress-up wall

Avery getting ready to draw a picture for me.

Mom and dad hung peg board so Avery can have a place to hang and store stuff on the wall and ceiling.

The carpet man was so nice, and made Avery a little heart rug out of the leftover carpet.

The carpet in Deacon's room. We will finish this room when mom and dad are ready....no pressure :)!!!

I can't wait to finish Deacon's room, but also get a few more accessories to cutesy up the rooms a little bit, any ideas?

New hobby-embroidery

A couple of weeks ago, I took the plunge and bought an embroidery machine. I have had the love of personalized items for quite a long time now, and thought wouldn't it be great to be able to make my own personalized items for not only me, but for others as well. So far, I have loved, loved, loved making and creating fun little gifts like the ones below.

Remembering 9/11

Today is the 8th anniversary of 9/11. Do you remember where you were? I can remember it as vivid as yesterday. Aaron and I were living in the DC area at the time. I had just gotten out of the shower at the gym, after taking a spinning class. As I was sitting on the bench getting dressed a lady rushed into the locker room frantically yelling the twin towers have been hit. What?! What did that mean? I didn't have time to watch the T.V. there, as I was in a hurry to get to work. I remember feeling very confused, what did that just mean? As soon as I got in my little Jetta I turned on the radio, and headed to work. As I listened to the news coverage, I felt sick to my stomach. As if the twin towers attack was not enough, when I was driving down Wisconsin Avenue the news coverage was interrupted with the announcement that the Pentagon had been hit by a plane!! What?! Is this a dream? I was flooded with several emotions. I was very scared, helpless, and most of all in shock. How could they do this? They just killed hundreds and hundreds of innocent people, and what were they going to do next?

I had nightmares for days, and was obsessed with the news, which didn't help matters. I remember how our nation came together to embody our National motto "E Pluribus Unum" (out of many, one)...it's now amazing how divided our nation has become. Aaron and I went up to New York the weekend after 9/11 to be with a friend who lost a few of his friends in the twin towers. I can still remember seeing all the smoke and dust in the air, as ground zero continued to burn. What a disturbing sight it was, I pray that our country will never have to go through that again. My heart not only aches for those who lost loved ones in 9/11, but for the victims themselves. I cannot even begin to imagine the terror and anguish they suffered knowing they were not going to make it.

I get so upset when people think these terrorist deserve rights, and should be treated "fairly"! Did they (the terrorists) give our nation one bit of respect? It brings me to tears with sadness and anger when our armed services, PD and FD fight and die for our freedom, and then they are not supported by our nation as a whole. I feel like respect and gratitude is the least we can show to the many men and women that risk their lives everyday for our safety. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all you do.