The gifts my family came bearing......................

We just finished one of the best, most productive weekends Ben and I have had since we bought our house - my mom, dad, Kait, and Grandpa and Grandma Godsey made the 10-hr drive up to visit.

Here's a brief re-cap:

Mom knew I had been in search of a pitcher and bowl set for my next big purchase (dry sink) that would match my "country" decor I had envisioned for our near 100 yr. old farmhouse. Since my search hadn't been going so well - she commissioned a local potter to make one for me.

It seems to fit in that corner of my pretty-pretty pink ladies room quite nicely. And I love that it doesn't look new (even though it is) and the rose decals match almost perfectly with the girly pink and green decor already in that room. See an upcoming house tour post for more photos.

We also got the itching, based on another gift my parents came bearing, to do some landscaping. Since I had three extra sets of expert gardening hands, I took advantage of the mum and mulch sale to get the house looking "homey".

Our yard looks SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better since Ben removed the 8-ft. tall lilac bushes (don't worry, they'll grow back). So much so, that it's fun to mow and they potted plants my mom put together can actually be seen and not hidden. If you look closely - you'll even see the sparkly blue butterfly my sister made for me to put in the plants!


We even (thanks to Grandma) got a color-coordinated scheme of mums leading up to the porch of the house. It's amazing how some cheap re-charging solar lights and red mulch can really make a flower bed look nice.

Also, I have an affinity for clamatis flowers, and since it was too late in the season to find a Jack Dandy version - I settled for the pink (I can't remember the exact name) one. We relocated a white gate from somewhere else on the property and planted this bed that is directly out from our kitchen window. That way, I can smile and think of my family every time I see it (and cuss a little because I forgot to water my flowers ;)).

The entire landscaping movement was inspired by this last gift my parents came bearing. They had wanted to do something for us as a house-warming gift (and anniversary). So with our help picking out the orientation of the stone and the font - they did the rest. What an awesome market lamb right?


So we decided it needed to be highlighted with some flowers - including the KS sunflowers and a couple of lights. Dad helped us configure the potted plant so the lamb would stick out from the back-splash brick around the house. Mom and Grandma helped me plant the flowers and Grandma/Grandpa wanted to purchase flood lights for us so you can see the stone in the evening.

More on their trip later, but I wanted to show family and friends all of the outside work we did and the new rock! We are so excited - and it makes it look like someone actually lives at our place.