The Golden Egg

When I was a kid, we would always have an easter egg hunt at the church. I remember not caring a thing about all of those candy-filled eggs...I had my eyes on the prize. My mom would always wrap one of those pantyhose eggs in aluminum foil and fill it with money and I just thought that was the greatest thing ever.

Since we do not typically travel over easter, we have started the tradition of gathering our friends together to have a nice dinner and egghunt at our house. This year was no exception. First was church, with our friends, Zach and Fred...

Then we headed home to prepare dinner (mom) and nap (everyone else). Before dinner, it was time for our easter egg hunt. Now, back to the pantyhose money eggs from my childhood. I figure my kids get plenty of candy from the easter bunny and quite honestly, mom can only handle so much sugar in her kids, so our easter eggs are ALL filled with money. Yep, some coins and some cash. Here is a pic of the kids and Non counting their hunted treasure.


Right before the neighbors showed up with water balloons...

Overall, it was a great day...yummy food, great friends and some money for our piggy banks...

Time to Remodel...

I won't even do it. I could, but its senseless. I know my faithful blog readers (which have now probably dwindled to 2), are fully aware of my list of excuses for not blogging. And, I even know that you consider them just that...EXCUSES. So, all I can say to you is this...a blog remodel is on its way. In the absence of writing, the O'Bryans have been "doing" and man have we had a good time.

Speaking of remodel, allow me to show you the world out of my lens. These pictures were taken seconds ago as I sat on my couch thinking about what to write.

Welcome to the O'Bryans. As you can see from the picture below, we have a new house color and I must say this single thing has made the most dramatic change in the appearance of our house. I was real hesitant on the paint color since I knew I wanted darker, but I battled between what is trendy and what is over the top. Fortunately, "Shaded Fern" was just the perfect shade of green and dark gray. Accented with a white trim and you have incredible improvement.

You can also see in the above pic, that we ripped out the overgrown holly bushes. Not quite sure what we're going to replace them with so we through some mulch down to "dress it up" a bit. Please note the large trash pile by the car. Yes this is ongoing and annoying, but necessary.

Enter through the side door and you will find this...a small little addition off of the former laundry hall. The O'Bryan pallette includes beautiful shades of orange, green and this gorgeous blue. On the floor will be an African hardware with lots of grain. For now, to the left you will see two things: 1. Tate's cleats (which I have asked him to take upstairs a gazillion times and will appear in another post soon entitled "The Texas Ranger and his Beautiful Ballerina") and 2. A bulletin board. This area will be my mom center complete with chalk, bulletin and whiteboards and a desk bench to coordinate household stuff.

Now let's enter the kitchen. As you can see, we've knocked down the wall between the kitchen and living room. The tape marks on the floor will be an island next week and the exposed subfloor is not an artistic expression...it is just there until we lay the floors which will be the last step in a few weeks.

And yes, my stove is sitting in the middle of the kitchen. My accomodating contractor left it there so we can use the kitchen for as long as possible. You can also see our new mounted tv. I can actually watch tv while I cook...what a concept!!!

Next week, they will be ripping out all of the cabinets and find a home for these big boys.

Now let's venture into the cold, dirty place, but first a stop by the new laundry room (also missing floor since it ties in to the gorgeous African hardwood to be laid in a few weeks...

Here it is...the love nest, our master bedroom and yes, those are clothes thrown in bins and anywhere they can land. Now those of you that know me well, know that this completely defies my "there's a place for everything" way of life, so I have obviously had to just let that go...

because if I didn't I would lose my mind. It even travels into my bathroom.

I keep holding on to the fact that through this window (that will eventually become a door) is a large, efficient space just waiting for my organization brilliance....

the master closet addition (insert angels singing here)...

So I guess in my own way, I have listed my excuses. So back to the blog remodel, the house is not the only thing that will be getting a makeover. Thanks to this little guy, I can sense a new change in the O'Bryan house.

Stay tuned...

March Madness and Birthday Badness

I'm that kind of girl. What kind you ask? The kind of girl who throws herself a birthday party. They kept asking, "What do you want for your birthday?" and I can only think of one thing...to be surrounded by those I love.

So we incorporated Robbie and my favorite things...birthdays and basketball. Most of my pics didn't turn out from the night (Sorry KMAC and Iggs!!!), but here are a few of the highlights.

I am simply blessed by beautiful people. What a way to celebrate another year of life!!! Looking forward to my birthday week!!!

Piedmont Park

Spring has finally arrived and we decided to enjoy every bit of it.

During our trip to ATL, we decided to take advantage of the amazing weather. Before we could soak in the sun, the kids decided they each needed a pair of shades to match mommy and daddy...

Now, I know they are my kids and I might be impartial, but are they not the cutest???? Gosh, I just love 'em.


We then met Michelle and Anabelle in downtown ATL for an afternoon at Piedmont Park.


And speaking of cute, look at that adorable litle Anabelle. She is just the sweetest little thing.

Tate and Lily are absolutely in love with Anabelle and followed her everywhere...

After the park, Robbie and the kids headed north so that I could have a full day of shopping on Saturday. Oh spring break...I'm so sad to see you go!

Getting WILD in ATL

We had to get out of town and quick. A week at home during spring break might sound ideal, but toss in some cabin fever from recent illness, an overloaded few work weeks, and a houseful of contractors complete with hammering and drilling through all hours of the day, and the "ideal" family week was thrown for a loop.
So, we loaded up and headed south on I-75 to Hotlanta. No real agenda or plans just a simple desire to be together and experience what the city had to offer.
We quickly made some new friends...

These big fellas entertained the kids by feeding themselves some branches with their trunks. Lily kept her eyes on them afraid they would shoot water at them from their trunk.


These tall creatures were clumsy and awkward and Lily's favorite. She said they were "gentle". Now that I think of it, I think these folks would be fine companions for her.

The picture of our lion friend had a bad reflection, but it was a great one. He was sitting close enough to the window to see each breath he took. So, we decided to re-create it in one of the wooden photo spots.

And here's a shot of daddy's favorite. Daddy was captivated at the gorilla display. He was fascinated by their wrestling and running through their terrain. Tate decided to climb aboard the gorilla statue and try that wrestling thing out for himself.

And the most beautiful bird...the pink flamingos. They both tried to stand on one leg and stand real still. Of course, Lily loved them because they were pink.

Now that the kids are older, it is such a pure joy to watch them learn and grow together. It is a real thrill for Robbie and I to answer their questions and watch their reaction to the wonder of God's creation.

The Man with the Yellow Hat and the Golden Arches

I have a reputation to uphold.

Many years ago (too many to count), I was put in charge of Halloween costumes for my brothers. Now they were typical boys requesting He-Man and GI Joe. After much negotiations, I convinced them that I had the most amazing costumes for them. They just needed to TRUST me.

24 hours later, my masterpieces were complete. For Tony, it was easy...a white pillowcase with eyes cutout. A scary ghost...how classic of a costume can you get?

For Baby Rusty, I had to get a bit more creative since he was a little more persistent for his costume. I stapled two red poster boards together and cut out long, yellow rectangles to poke out from the top. A rounded "M" cutout and pasted to the front and that baby brother of mine was my favorite fast food treat...yep you guessed it...McDonald's french fries.

Needless to say, this story and the accompanied pictures have provided hours of family entertainment. (Oh what I would do for a copy of that pic...mom? Can you help a sister out?)

Fast forward to last week. Tate had been sick with strep throat and I fell a little behind on his kindergarten classroom activities. The night before the big "Dr. Seuss' Birthday Party", I found myself scrambling to find a costume to display my son's favorite book character. The rules?

1. No masks.

2. No modern day costumes (i.e. Mario Brothers, Ninja Turtles, etc...)

3. Must be able to be worn all day with little disruption to regular activity.

4. Must have the book to carry in the Character Parade.

Believe it or not, #4 was the hardest part. My kids have a hundred books, but none of them seem to fit in the criteria listed above. After much deliberation, a smile finally came over his face and I knew that I had it!

Who is this character, you ask? Why "The Man with the Yellow Hat" and his trusty pal, Curious George. Needless to say, Tate was thrilled and I might have been a little excited as well.

Postscript: Please note the following details...

• Yellow felt glued over brown hat and yellow shirt with character name compliments of Hobby Lobby (and a little handy work from mom).


• The part of Curious George is being played by Seymour the Monkey (compliments of Uncle Red-Christmas 2009).


• Curious George book loaned from Lily's library and inscribed by Lea Myers as a baby shower gift.

The Bad Luck Charm...

There he is...our boy, Bobo. We won't talk about the bright yellow shirt or the resemblance to his favorite Saved By the Bell character, Screech. Last weekend, we headed west to support TN Tech in the OVC Tournament and the Lady Raiders in the substate.

Here are some pics of us cheering on the Golden Eagles...

Of course, we had to give Bobo some love after the loss. Although it was brief, it was great to see them.

We then headed to Murfreesboro to support the Lady Raiders in their substate game. On the way, we stopped at Party City to get some "decorations" for the kids...

Unfortunately, the O'Bryans didn't bring any luck and we suffered two losses. We sure had a great time cheering then on.