Screened Porch Update

This is long overdue! Really, we've been enjoying this space for a couple months. I still have bigger dreams for this space, but it's working great for our needs now.

Unfortunately, a lot of our yard is covered in poison ivy. Poor Brian has already gotten it several times. We also have a ridiculous amount of mosquitos. With the big trees and our very shaded and damp lot (we have moss everywhere!), Preston gets bit constantly. The porch serves as a big space for P to run around free of poison ivy and mosquitos. We are finding ourselves out there almost every day playing with his vast amount of toys - lawn mower, leaf blower, cars, trucks, etc. :)

Our screened porch used to be a garage. It is 20 ft x 20 ft, with concrete floors, screens along one side, and windows on the other. It was one of the things that made me fall in love with our house when we looked at it. I immediately envisioned our future children playing in it, celebrating birthday parties, and having friends over. In Memphis, you can actually use a screened porch for most of the year. Sold! Here is what it looked like with the old owners stuff:

The only thing is that it was really ugly. Like the rest of our house, it was in need of some TLC to make it really great. Thank goodness for Pinterest, and the ability to browse porch designs and find things I like.

Here is our patio before we started work... so sad. Toys everywhere, an old dirty rug, along with furniture randomness. And a really gross broken ceiling fan.

I knew we needed new pillows, the swing needed a new coat of paint, furniture, a new rug, a new fan, and other details to make it a fun place to entertain and a fun place for P to play. For Mother's Day, Brian ordered me an outdoor sectional. I went out of town for work, and came back home and it was assembled and everything! It was a cool surprise from Brian and Preston. :) Here is the new patio!

Those are screen french doors that go out to the backyard. Perfect for entertaining!

P has a little corner of the porch. Usually, he has lots more toys out here. I definitely picked up the porch when I took these pictures!

I love having the space to the right. When we entertain, we can set up card tables and have a drink and food area, and people still have room to walk. We also have a cute kids table we move out here when kids are eating at our house. 

Brian and my dad installed a new Hunter fan and it gives the room a lot more light at night, and love how silent it is.

I painted the swing one afternoon a bright coat of white, and then my mom made the pillows for it.

Best Mother's Day gift ever.

And here is a video tour with Preston using it as his playroom. :)

We love entertaining and spending time out here. One of my favorite things to do after Preston goes to bed, is for Brian and I sit out here, have a couple drinks, listen to music and talk about our day. We just love it out here.

My future plans include adding a bar area, a permanent TV for sports, hang some stuff on the walls, washable curtains, more pillows, a dart board, plants, maybe painting the walls, finding some art or cool old signs to hang out there, but I want to leave the exposed beams. Who knows. We may add some things as Preston gets older too that work for him. We lovingly call this room "the outdoor playroom" because it is for kids and adults - haha! One more big project off the list for now. :)

Saturday Morning Donuts and Pumpkins

This weekend was beautiful! The weather was so nice, Preston was super fun, and we had some nice family time together.

Our Cardinals won Friday night, so Preston wore his Cardinals shirt for his first experience at Gibson's donuts. Gibson's is an east Memphis staple. They stay open late, and Brian and I have high school memories of going into Gibson's before our midnight curfews. So fun to finally take Preston. He was in heaven! He tried bites of the red velvet, coconut, cinnamon and sugar, and original glazed. He was a happy guy!

After a crazy sugar high, we headed to the pumpkin patch on Walnut Grove near our house. We went last year, and it's the perfect size for Preston. He loved it and actually picked out all of the pumpkins this year. So sweet!

To compare last year to this year..... look how much he's grown!

2011 - 9 months old

2012 - 20 months old

All of these pictures just make my heart explode. What also makes my heart explode is that on Saturday, Brian sneezed and Preston replied with a quick "Bless you, Daddy." Just adorable. We didn't even teach him that. I love how much he is talking these days. What a little blessing he is!

It's Fall!

First, Pie's school picture! Melt my heart!

Technically I'm not copying... just posting on my blog :)

Fall is officially here, and we've been experiencing some cooler weather thanks to a big storm that blew through on Friday.

During the storm, we lost power. We ALWAYS lose power. So, instead of dealing with a night of darkness, I called my mom and asked if we could all spend the night. Preston loved running around with the flashlight in our house while Brian and I quickly packed pajamas and a change of clothes. It actually was kind of fun. My parents have three empty bedrooms now that they are official empty nesters, so we had several rooms to choose from :) We staying in my old room and Preston stayed downstairs in the guest room/Joe's old room. We also had an incredible breakfast and lunch the next day since our power stayed out until mid-afternoon Saturday. My mom, Preston and I ran some errands Saturday morning while Brian and my dad watched football. We happened to run to a fabric store next to Home Depot, where they were celebrating Fire Safety Week. We had an impromptu visit with the fire truck!

When we got back to our house, Brian went to use the restroom in the half bath in our main hallway. He noticed water on the floor, and saw water coming out of the bottom of the toilet. After turning off the water and cleaning up the mess, we noticed the other bathroom downstairs was also overflowing - toilet and bathtub. I was running the washing machine, so Brian turned that off and the overflowing stopped. Clearly, a major backup had occured. There was also grass and broken leaves in the water overflowing.

Flood!

We had some painting supplies in the tub downstairs, since we don't use it.  Gross!

See the mud and grass?

We figured out the issue (a partial blockage in our main sewer line) and we're having it fixed tomorrow. Until then, we're stuck with 2-minute showers and minimal toilet flushing. :) Unfortunately, dealing with that ate up almost the entire day. Bummer.

Sunday was cool and sunny, so we decided to head to the zoo. Pie is so funny these days. He was super excited about the elephants, giraffes, monkeys, and the "once upon a farm" area. We love having a membership there, because we never feel bad about going. It paid for itself long ago, and it's a great, free day of fun. After the zoo, we grabbed lunch at Fresh Slices and headed home for nap and football.

He loves visiting the pandas

Checking out the chicken coupes

"Look Mommy! Sheep!"

Cheese Daddy!

He had the best time listening to the water rushing in the sewer. Silly boy.

LOVED jumping the puddles!

I spy with my little eye.... an elephant!

What could have been a pretty terrible weekend, was made better thanks to family and fall weather. :)

Night night!

Preston Sings

At bedtime tonight, Preston was doing a great job counting to ten. I ran to get my iPhone to record it, but he showed us all his other tricks instead. :)

He loves to sing. His favorites are Happy Birthday, the ABCs, Rock-a-Bye Preston, Itsy Bitsy Spider and a song about bullfrogs that he sings and does hand motions too that Brian and I don't know. He learned it in school. :) So precious.

This video also features the musical stylings of yours truly and Daddy, haha. We have our song routine down! :)

Celebrating

We celebrated my brother and his fiance last night with a couples shower at our house. It was a party for all their friends, no "adults" per say, so it was fun to get to talk to their friends and meet a lot of Melissa's friends that I have not met before. Preston partied for about 20 minutes and begged to go to sleep. Melissa and Mark got some beautiful gifts and we are so looking forward to their wedding in December!

3 Little Pigs BBQ. It is so cheap and so good!

"Tie the Knot" Nutella cupcakes

Someone was ready for bed

Mark and Drew hanging out

Mark and Melissa got some saki from Apple!

My other brother Joe enjoying the party 

Love this frame

B and I enjoying the party while P slept upstairs

The next morning, we were pumped for the UT/Georgia game. It's always a big day in our house. The dawgs won, and P wore his Georgia shirt.

Eating some breakfast

Friday was "Wear your favorite sports team" day, and he pitched a huge tantrum in the parking lot. He was still unhappy when I snapped this pic. Toddler attitude is the best.

Speaking of P, he has been busy lately.

Eating some peanut butter crackers

Visiting the train table at his favorite bookstore

Cheesing for the camera & being diagnosed with eczema. (see forehead, cheeks and chin) We got some meds from the pediatrician and it's all cleared up now! It tends to flare when his allergies flare.

Drawing on the chalkboard wall

Meeting Llama Llama! He was so excited. I did this without Brian and learned my lesson. Never again! Kids everywhere and a line for llama. There ended up being "llama drama" when Preston refused to wait in line and wanted Llama NOW. We had to do time out in the store. Quite an experience, but we got the picture and got out of there! :)

Preston has also been enjoying the weather. This is a portion of our yard. You can see leaves changing. Happy fall!