Welcome Home Gift

It was such a wonderful treat going out to my garden and peeking around. I could not believe the amount of things that had grown while I was gone!!

12 cucumbers

7 yellow squash

10 zucchini

Veggies are beginning to pile up around here!

Some of the zucchini were ginormous!

Big bowl full of tomatoes

It was the best welcome home present I have ever received!

I love Tuesday's because that means it's Lara's Talk About Tuesday!

Make sure to check out what everyone is talking about!

Summer Vacation - Day Two

It's Talk About Tuesday and this week marks Summer Vacation for us East Coast Evans'! In fact...

...For all of you Twilight Series fans out there...the family and I are winging our way to Forks' neighboring city, Port Angeles!

And don't forget (as if you could), Breaking Dawn will be released on August 2nd! I already have my copy pre-ordered!! I'm on pins and needles to read what happens. Too bad the book was not released in time for the trip. That would have been PERFECT!

Hot and Humid

Did I mention it is HOT and HUMID today?! HOT and HUMID I tell ya!

That dumb bunny is still eating my flowers in the front flower beds.

We are having a nasty beetle problem this year and they are eating my basil and rose bushes.

The weeds are taking over my vegetable garden.

Add the heat and all of the above listed boo-hoo's and I feel like I am in hades......

...But then again hades does not have fresh picked squash and zucchini taking a bath in the water fountain courtesy of JK.

Hades does not have a neighbor who came over while I was away and picked some zucchini (she has an open invitation) and then brought me fresh baked zucchini bread this morning.

Hades does not have central a/c.

And most importantly, hades does not have happy, healthy children who make my day brighter no matter what the weather may bring!

This is definitely heaven and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Also, for a super fun, cute and cool way to beat the heat, head over to 3 Ma'am's and Their Guys. So darling!

Last but not least, it's Tuesday and you know what that means. Take a quick trip over to Lara's Talk About Tuesday to see what all the gals are up to this week!

Working Dining Room

We have a lovely dining room with a lovely dining set. The unlovely part is it is hardly ever used. I do not host many dinner parties and we usually eat dinner at our round table off of the kitchen. For many years I have had a dream of turning the dining room into a library. I want to get rid of my current table and chairs and put in a round table and pile it with books and have a few comfy chairs to lounge in while we spend hours and hours reading books together. Anywho.....that's not going to happen anytime soon so I have decided to use what I have.

Rand looking out the window as the thunder rolls in.

I think I will remove the green jelly cupboard and put in a cubby-style book shelf for books. Right now we have books EVERYWHERE...all through the house. The bedrooms, the family room, the living room, DK's office, my work room. It would be nice to consolidate and put a few in the dining room/library as well.

I cleared off all of my summer decor items I had placed on the table and filled an urn with all sorts of pencils. This way the girls can sit down and do their summer work without any distractions on the table. I want to add a few more school-type items but don't know what at this point.

I'm also not thrilled with the stuff above the china hutch. I just put the arrangement there yesterday...a work in progress. The girls painted the two canvases on the right for Mother's Day.

This is my desk where I blog and do my PTO stuff and church stuff and Brownie stuff and bill stuff and all the other stuff-stuff that needs to be done!

This is just the beginning of my working dining room/library journey. Any suggestions you may have for me would be welcome.

To see what others are talking about, check out Lara's Talk About Tuesday!

Ivy League...Here We Come!

Yes, school vacation started yesterday but that does not mean we are going to sit around and let our brains turn to mush. No sir-ee! This morning Kenners begged me to take them to the Peabody Museum at Yale University. How could I say no to that (especially since it is free with our other museum membership?). So, off we went (after completing my cleaning schedule, of course!!!).

The girl's favorite exhibit was the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. It was unbelievable! I could not get over how many dinosaur fossils there were. So impressive.

Learning what it means to become a Paleontologist

Look at the size of that turtle!

JK pointing at the huge dinosaur fossils

Ha, ha, ha! You can't eat me, Mr. T-Rex head!

Look how small that head is on that HUGE body!

I had to give the girls an impromptu lesson on Evolutionism vs. Creationism. In almost every exhibit inside the Peabody there is some sort of link to Darwin and his nutty theories. It was so interesting to see the girl's eyes get wide with disbelief and shock when I told them that some people believe we all came from a pile of goo and evolved into an ape and then into a human. Kenners said to me, "Mom, Heavenly Father does not look like an ape. Therefore, I did not come from an ape. I am made to look just like Him." Ahhhh.....how my heart leaped for joy with the simple logic of my 7 year old. For those of you who do believe in Evolution, I just want to say that I have no problem with my children learning the concept and theory of Evolution. I do have a problem with the school's presenting it as the ONLY theory and not including other ideas. OK, enough of that.....

Rand and I liked this giant squid

I really enjoyed the exhibit on Egypt.

The girls were a bit creeped out with the x-ray of a mummied body. Sheesh.....

That's a wrap on our fun-filled Tuesday. To see what others are up to, head on over to Lara's Talk About Tuesday! 

A Great New Find

For this week's Talk About Tuesday I want to share my new exciting discovery!

Looky what I found!

Saturday night, while DK and I were enjoying a stroll we came across

Homeward Bound Interiors, my new fave interior design shop.

I absolutely LOVE Candice Olson and think she is one of the most

BRILLIANT designers today.

I was very good and did not go crazy while inside the shop.

In fact, I didn't purchase ANYTHING!

Are you shocked? I know DK was!!

I can't wait to go back again but this time

WITHOUT my dear penny pinching husband!

Sitting outside Homeward Bound

Wondering Minds Want to Know

After receiving many e-mails asking questions about Buckwheat, our pet bunny, I have decided to dedicate a post exclusively to him. I am also linking this post to Lara's Talk About Tuesday. Make sure you make a trip over to her blog and read about her hatching baby chicks! That is going to be ME next year!!!

Buckwheat is a Mini-Rex. This breed of rabbit makes for a fabulous pet. They only grow to be 3-4 pounds and are generally very friendly. They can be kept indoors or outdoors (as long as the proper accommodations are provided). They have a medium level of activity, and can be perfectly content to play or to just sit on a lap and be petted. Petting this breed of rabbit is so rewarding because they are extremely soft, like velvet!

Buckwheat is currently 5 months old. He was 2 months old when we got him. He was so tiny he could fit in the palms of our hands. We purchased him from a local farmer whose daughter raises and sells bunnies.

Here is Buckwheat's cage. This is where he stays when we leave the house and go to bed for the night. He also spends some time in here when he is in "time out". I'll get to that in a minute...

I clean out the cage every morning and give Buckwheat fresh litter & hay

Buckwheat eats rabbit pellets and Timothy hay every day. He also enjoys apple slices and carrot sticks.

Where does he go potty? See the triangle litter box in the back right corner? Ta-da! That's where he does his business. No matter where he is in the house he'll go to his cage to go potty. I did not do anything to train him except provide the litter and the box. Bucks taught himself.

As mentioned above, Mini Rex bunnies are VERY friendly. Buckwheat HATES being in his cage when we are home. If he is in his cage and the door is not secured he pushes it until it falls down and he can get out. If he wants some lovin' he comes over and tickles your toes until you pick him up or bend down to give him a tummy rub.

Buckwheat needs the occasional time out. He likes to chew things...mainly cords and paper. If a book is left out where he can grab it it's a goner. He's also chewed through several lamp and phone cords. Sigh..... The "experts" say to spray water in their faces when you catch them chewing. This does not work for Buckwheat. He could care less about getting wet. What's most effective is a time out in his cage. It's the craziest thing. He also knows when he's doing something he shouldn't. When I catch him chewing something he goes a-runnin'! When the girls see Buckwheat in his cage they ask me, "Mom? Is Buckwheat in time out?" Too funny!

The Engineer bunny-proofing the house

The weather has been grossly hot the past few days (we'll reach 97 degrees today and keep in mind, I live in the East where it is HUMID!!!). Bucks has been finding the cool places to hang out. These are his two current favorite spots.

The brick in the fireplace feels nice and cool

When the A/C is on Bucks likes to be right next to a vent...smart bunny!

Does Buckwheat smell? Absolutely not. As sad as this may sound, if he did, he would not be in my house! His little poop balls have no odor and the litter I use (sanitized dried corn cobs) absorbs any urine smell. Bucks' fur doesn't have any odor. It's the weirdest thing. Every time I bury my face in his fur I expect to smell something but never do.

We would like to start taking Buckwheat for walks outside but we first need to purchase one of these:

We will NOT be purchasing one of THESE:

Happy Trails All Terrain Three Wheel Pet Stroller

Seashells by the Seashore

Today I happened upon something really fun! Over at The Lazy Organizer, Lara hosts "Talk About Tuesday". The current theme is Home Tours. How could I pass on something like that? I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of my summer decorating thus far. It is a work in progress. This is where I am as of this evening.

Punch of red coral on top of my green jelly cupboard

How I love sea horses!

I have several of these silver guys spread throughout the house

Sand dollars, coral and a trail of tiny rocks

A little starfish mixed into my bird nest

Sand, turquoise and sea glass in simple glass jars

I dry brushed turquoise paint onto this little wooden folding chair

To me, turquoise is the perfect summer color

Who says umbrellas are only for outdoors?

As soon as I buy a stand, this polk-a-dotted beauty will be open for business

Can never have enough turquoise and sea glass

White Finger Coral