The Giving Tree

Tomorrow we are picking up our new camper! We're really excited, but we need to make room for it! One of the things that we needed to do was cut down a huge tree on the side of our garage! As you can see in this photo, the tree is huge! Here is my husband standing next to the monstrous tree! We actually have four trees total that we need to remove. The reason we're taking them all down is because the majority of them are close to the house and the birds have taken over! Last year bird mites got into the one bedroom and that is something that we do not want to deal with again! Believe me, that's a whole other nasty blog post that I didn't even blog about last year! lol

It was so sunny today and with the sun I took some cool shadow shots! I love shadows (they make you look skinny, which is always a good thing)! Here I am taking the photo against the old tree!

Here's Chris' shadow, next to the ladder and the last shadow that the old tree will produce!

My husband is a control room operator at a Power Plant, but he really can do it all! He amazes me! He does electrical work, plumbing, building, and anything you can imagine! This happens to be awesome, because if I'm ever at a thrift store and something doesn't work electrically, I know he can always fix it! So it didn't surprise me that he decided to do it himself!

In our area it costs around $500 to take down one tree, and we have four! My husband knew with the cost of a new chainsaw, that he could do it....and he did! Plus, he said a $150 deductible for an emergency room visit is a whole lot cheaper than hiring someone! lol Luckily, he never had to go to the emergency room! Here he is with what is left of the old tree!

Here is one of the huge branches!

I like how it has a shape of a heart, sort of! This tree provided many years of shade when our golden retrievers were alive! It reminds me of the story "The Giving Tree!" And it really saddens me that it needed to be cut down, because it was such a wonderful tree! Knowing that it was going to be cut down brought tears to my eyes!

Here's Chris with part of the mess. There is soo much mess that I couldn't get it all in one shot! lol We couldn't finish cleaning it all up today, because unfortunately he was called into work!

Don't mind the ugly brown building (it's our second garage). It hold all of my craft supplies and goodies in the apartment above. I cannot wait until my husband creates it into a crafting studio!
But we all know that won't happen for a couple of years! We currently have a ton of other projects that we're trying to get done!

Here is a photo that was shot up above from our other garage! We really do have a mess on our hands and more firewood that we know what to do with! lol

I'll leave you with an excerpt from "The Giving Tree!" If you haven't read it you can view the full text here!

"I am sorry," sighed the tree. "I wish that I could give you something------ but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump." "I don't need very much now," said the boy. "Just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired."

"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, "well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest." And the boy did. And the tree was happy.

Fairies Gather Here

A few years ago I was inspired by this website that talked about Fairy Doors in the town of Ann Arbor. I thought it was so creative and cool, and I just knew I wanted to get one for my boys! About a year or two ago when Value City Department Store went out of business, I found this Fairy Door and immediately bought it!

Back then our house was being remodeled and was a complete mess! I stored it away and remembered about it today when I was in a craft store! I was in the miniature section of the store, and I thought the little potted plants would look so cute outside of the Fairy Door that I had stored away. I bought the plants, the little red chair, and the mailbox. Don't they look cute outside? Please ignore the grout in the photo along the bottom of the wall. We don't have the oak trim up yet in this part of the room, the little door will sit above the trim.
Alex was so excited when I told him about the Fairy Door. He wanted to leave a little treat for the "fairy" inside the mailbox. He thought the fairy would love a Hershey Kiss in pink foil....and I love it...I mean the FAIRY loves it! ;)

Ben on the other hand is one smart little cookie for being 4-years-old! He asked: "Won't the fairy get squished?" And I asked "why?" He said: "It'll get squished because there is a wall behind the door, and there is nowhere for the fairy to go!"

I figured the mailbox would be a cool tool for leaving the boys little notes of encouragement and such!

Here is the front stoop of the Fairy Door. Don't the little plants add such a cute welcoming touch? I can't wait to make some Easter decorations for this little door! The problem is is that I will have to make everything by hand since it's such a small little door!

I'll add more photos in a few days when I get it all decorated for Easter! Our next little project is making Fairy Garden! I can't wait for that! Hopefully in the next couple of months I will dust off the scroll saw and add some Fairy Doors or Gnome Doors to my Etsy site!

POTD: Snow Humor

I finally got my laptop back! YAY! Now I can blog more conveniently and on a regular basis!

This means more Photos of the Day! Here is one that I wanted to post last month when we had that huge snowstorm. I didn't post it then, because we had so much snow I didn't want to blog about it! lol

Here is a local church billboard! Don't you just love their sense of humor!
I am so glad that Spring is finally here. Hopefully we will not see this billboard for a very long time! Happy Spring!

Finally!

I finally got to see the movie "Hachiko-A Dog's Story" last night! YAY! I'm so mad that it never went to theaters, because it is such a great movie! I went over to my friend Cyndie's house and watched it with my other friend Stephanie! We had such a great time! It was a total tear jerker, I think Cyndie went through 12 or 16 kleenex! lol

Here I am before going over to Cyndie's house. I have the movie and box of tissues ready! It's funny because when I called Cyndie and asked her if she needed me to bring anything, she said to just bring kleenex! I thought she was serious, and showed up at her front door with a big box! lol She was only joking! But they were of good use....I cried while clutching her little chihuahua Annie! Annie was a trooper and sat on my lap during the entire movie! Thank you Cyndie for movie night! And thank you for the awesome refreshments and dogs for support!

If you are an animal lover, you must rent this movie! It's totally worth it! It's an all around wonderful family movie with no foul language or violence! It's great!

I live a couple miles from a train station and every night I hear the faint sound of the train...just like in the movie. Now every time I hear it I'll tear up and think of Hachiko! :)

On another note, my husband and I had a little date night tonight and went to see the movie "Brooklyn's Finest" also starring Richard Gere (of course)! The movie was filled with foul language and horrible gory violence. Definitely not a good movie, and my husband and I absolutely hated it! I had my eyes closed for probably half of the movie! Definitely not a good thing! Although Richard Gere was absolutely hot in this movie (as usual)! I think the more he ages, the hotter he gets! ;)

But that's about it for my weekend! Have you watched "Hachiko?" Let me know what you think about it once you do!

Not An Officer, But A Gentleman!

This is me when I was about 5-years-old! There is a funny story behind this photo! Not funny at the time, but funny now and coincidental! My sister Kim bought me this shirt when her husband was at boot camp in the Navy. This is what is on the shirt: "My Boyfriend Survived Boot Camp Naval Training Center Great Lakes, IL." I guess she bought it for me because I always thought her boyfriends where "my" boyfriends! lol You know how little sisters can be!

The funny thing is, at around the same time my husband was at that boot camp! There is a 14 year age difference between us, so when I was 5, he was 19-years-old and stationed in the same area as my brother-in-law! My brother-in law didn't know my husband Chris at the time...but it's just a big coincidence that we met about 17 years later and fell in love!

Don't you just love my permed hair, wonderful bangs, and purple sailor hat?! lol
Here is what my husband looked like then! What a hunk! Too bad I didn't know him back then (which would actually be weird and illegal) but I have a thing for guys in uniform!...(Richard Gere in "An Officer and A Gentleman...HELLO PEOPLE can we say HOT!)
Speaking of Richard Gere Hotness..."Hachiko A Dog's Story" is being released on DVD tomorrow! YAY! I've waited forever to watch this movie. I downloaded it on the internet, and it ended up being in Spanish! I watched about 1/2 the movie in Spanish and ended up turning it off because of the language barrier! But one thing that translates in every language...RICHARD GERE IS HOT! ;) Be sure to buy the dvd tomorrow, and pick up a box of tissues as well!

I'll soon be back to blogging on a regular basis, my laptop should be repaired and in my hands this week! I cannot wait! Have a great week!