{Heaven on Earth}

I'm sorry, I can't help it.
I must share this beauty with you all.
These were all taken in our yard:

Thanking God today for flowers.
The beauty is not missed on me...

Eisley, according to September.

PS - Leave a comment for Eisley! Just click right down there.

{My First Mother's Day}

Sunday was my very first Mother's Day. I've joined the ranks of the maternal women who get to celebrate the joys of being a mother on a special day of the year. But I have to say... it's felt more like Mother's Week to me.

The fun started last Wednesday, when I pulled into the driveway, home from a shopping trip with Eis. I spotted a package on my doorstep. When I saw the box said Amazon.com on the side, I have to admit my first thought was, "Uh oh... did I drink too much and order something on Amazon again? Justin is going to kill me..." But I couldn't remember any recent "Heather's-had-one-too-many's" {heheh..} so puzzled, I unloaded our groceries and Eisley and set out unwrapping the box.

What I found inside surprised and delighted me. Martha's Encyclopedia of Crafts! A book I've had my eye on for a few weeks now.

Upon reading the packing slip I saw, "Happy Mother's Day! Love, Mom"

Thanks Mom! I love it and there's SO many crafts I'm already itching to try...
especially the marbleizing craft. I can't wait to try this one...
That was my very first Mother's Day gift. Ever.

On Mother's Day, we went to early church and then Justin left us for work. Sad :-( but a short day for him. We ordered Chinese food for dinner. Yum!
Oh, and I can't forget to mention - we also *all* got a really precious Mother's Day gift: a new nephew named Noah! (Say that five times fast.)

Yes, little Noah was born on Mother's Day and is healthy and cute as a button and we can't wait to meet him!

Monday I worked hard ;-) piping one hundred forget-me-nots for cake class.

Today Eisley's cousin Moriah (the new big sister) came over for a haircut with Grandma Holly. Afterwards Justin took us ladies (Holly, myself, and Miss Eisley) out to the Augustine Grill which was really lovely.
On Saturday Bea and I had lunch at PF Changs where she gifted me with an Anthro giftcard {be still my heart}. So, today a trip to the mall was in order. Justin promised to let me pick out something at Anthro too as a Mother's Day gift from him and Eisley. Ooh! A giftcard and a husband's debit card...

What'd I choose?

Well, I've had my eye on this silverware for quite a while now. A 5-piece set is $24 {which actually didn't seem like much when we saw a blah design 5-piece set at Williams Sonoma for $90!} and this silverware has been on my mind so much lately, I've decided to start a collection. Eventually I hope to have 8-10 sets. So I'll get a few here and there when I have a little extra spending money. Next month is my birthday and I heard from a little birdie that during my birthday month Anthropologie will offer me a discount, so maybe I'll pick up a couple more sets soon!

They don't look that special from a distance but...
They're so beautifully etched!
I'm way too much of a sucker for unique pretty things. Sigh...

But everything else put aside, THIS is the REAL reason why my first Mother's Day was so special.

My pride & joy.

My cheerful.

My lovely.

My Eisley. What a wonderful first Mother's Day.

Happy {late} Mother's Day to Mom, Great Grandma Erwin, Great Granda Sander, Grandma Holly, Adrienne, and Bea! I love you guys!

Happy Earth Day

I've toyed with the idea of posting about my plants, and since it's Earth Day today, I thought why not?

I've never been much of a green thumb. Actually have always had more of a black thumb, I tend to kill my plants. But this year I'm trying to be more "green", and I'm planning on starting a garden in the backyard, right outside from my kitchen.

I want to grow edibles, so a few weeks ago Justin and I bought some seeds and planters at the Dollar Tree and I've been really working hard to keep some baby plants alive. I'm doing kitchen herbs and starter pods of vegetables.

Sweet Basil is coming in nice and thick! Since this picture was taken I've thinned the pot down a lot.
Parsley also came in very well too.
Rosemary has been pretty stubborn... with the first little sprout just showing up in the past few days.
This is lettuce. It came in WAY fast and WAY thick.
From the picture I have no idea what this is... either cucumber (the little sprouts of cucumber already smell like a real cucumber) or green peppers. Not sure.
And I've been doing really well with the hydrangea Justin bought be a couple months ago. This plant can't go outdoors because they don't do well in CO weather and it has to be watered a lot.
This little guy is a hydrangea Justin bought me last year that I pretty much killed, but I've been watering it anyway and look! It's coming back! It already has a few tiny pink flowers.
Sideways pic (sorry, lazy this morning) of the birds nest on our porch. The little finches have come back. Yay!
And I'm also proud of myself for not killing this Christmas poinsettia (yet). Did you know that it's a myth that poinsettias are poisonous? Yeah... I learned that last week when I realized Eisley had gotten a hold of a tiny (dried and dead) leaf that was on the floor during one of her crawling excursions. I flipped and decided to Google before calling poison control and was completely relieved to read on MayoClinic.com that poinsettias are actually harmless. To pets and children. Nice.

Happy Earth Day!