Enjoying a warm spring day

Our backyard is a thing of beauty in the spring and summer, filled with beautiful flowers, green vines, and my awesome family!

Homemade Deliciousness!

Mmmm...nothing like a nice, juicy steak with mushrooms, veggies, and bread!

Well, nothing better except homemade butter on the bread and homemade ranch dressing, that is!  

I am loving my homemade little life!!

My big girl house!

Here is the story of how my house came to me, a true gift from God...

There is a house on a nearby street that I loved.  I thought if that house ever goes on sale, I want to look at it.  Well, three weeks ago it went on sale!  So, I looked it up and we walked by.  It wasn't exactly what I wanted and the price was a little too high.  That got me, mom, and John looking for more homes.  John found one on the street right across the road.  He and I took a walk to see it.  Again, it wasn't what I was looking for but it was such a nice night we continued on with our walk.  By a random decision, we walked down Hanover Street and there she was.  All new and sparkly and beautiful!  The house is being renovated by the city of Cuyahoga Falls.  Mom called the next day and by Friday I had all of my financial information and loan pre-approval letter together, ready to go.  Saturday we got a tour inside and I was even more in love!  I knew this was my house and it was going to be perfect for the three of us!

By Monday all the paperwork was turned in and on Tuesday, as I sat in the orthodontist chair, I got the phone call from my realtor telling me they accepted my offer and the house was as good as mine!  Since then I've enjoyed dreaming, planning, and buying for my first big girl house!  It's not even finished yet, so I won't be able to close for another three weeks or so.  But, after a trip to a local antique guy and a great Saturday spent at Ikea, I'm close to having everything ready to go!  Now comes the fun stuff...paint colors!  Luckily, one of my good friends (who blogs about local restaurants here) is an interior designer.  I took some before pictures, so enjoy the sneak peak.  The next blog post about the house will be the finished product, my vision for my home for my perfect little family of three!

The upstairs rooms.  Each room has built in dressers and small bookshelves!

The kitchen

The doors leading out to the garage and the patio

More kitchen

Living room

Accent wall with Livi!

More built-ins downstairs

The playroom

Not too many pictures because it's not finished yet.  But, I wanted to give you an idea how how it all started!  I absolutely love this home.  I feel so blessed to receive such an amazing gift.  God is so good!!

April went where??

Wow!  I cannot believe that April is over already.  Where does the time go?  Luckily, I can honestly say this was one of the best months of my life....yes, you heard that right!  I AM BUYING A HOUSE!!  It is absolutely perfect and deserves a post all of its own.

April was full of schoolwork, house-dreaming and more schoolwork.  This pathophysiology class is killing me!  Thankfully, I only have two more weeks left and I'm praying for a miracle to pull of the 90% that I need to move on.  We also had a wonderful Easter.  Other than that, April was pretty quiet and uneventful...and that is how I like it!

Pre-Easter we colored six (yes, only six) Easter eggs!  I could have (maybe should have) done more, but with a 17 month old and a 3 year old and only 1 mommy...the odds were stacked against me.  Soooo, six eggs it was!  The kids had fun and Eleanor was so proud of her eggs.  On our Easter table, they made great deviled eggs too!

We went to the egg hunt in Cuyahoga Falls.  And by that I mean, we were five minutes late and there were no eggs to be had!  It was a line of kids that rushed the field and scooped everything up before we could even get one little treasure.  Don't worry though, we ran into John's nephew and his family and his children gave up handfuls of candy to Eleanor and Jonah!  It was so sweet.  So, without further ado, here are my favs from Easter.

Mimi & Eleanor

She looked so pretty this day.

Just chillin on Bubby's shoulders

Lovely locks

My most favorite girl and my best friend!

The next few are my attempt at getting an Easter picture of the kids....

Bubby carried him all day long!

The chicken laid an egg!

A pretty cute baby cow

Petting the rooster with the owner of all the great farm animals.

Yay!  A hug from the Easter Bunny.

 Next attempt at getting a family picture...still no go!

But, I did get a cute one of me and my favorite little dude!

And now the best part...the pony rides!  They even let Jonah ride, so cool!

The bouncy-jumpy-thingy that we didn't get to go on, oh well!  We opted for the pony rides instead.

Just Jonah, hanging out in the big, green field.

Their little Easter baskets.

I wish I had gotten out my camera to get pictures of them going through their baskets, but it was after work and I just wasn't thinking!  They loved them though.  We had a small little dinner with just us and it was delish!  And, of course, a little Reester Bunny for dessert.  If you think Reece's cups are good, just try these little gems.  Sinful...

Now, just a few cute shots from some random days in April.

Aaaannnddd....JUMP!!

Jonah reading his books.  He loves reading!

Just playing outside on Nancy's rock.

My thirsty boy drinking clean water from the (dirty) birdbath and my exhibitionist girl getting undressed..

All but her undies and her "Dorothy shoes" that is!

Insisting on saying goodnight to and tucking in our turtle!

Napping with Sierra!  They look alike here, so sweet.

Whew!  Ok, well that is how our April sped by!  Bring on May, bring on the house, and bring on summer!