It's good to have a MAN around

Since Ken has been traveling a TON more this past year I've really been able to reflect on how nice it is to have him home. One benefit is that I am able to give him a big long Honey-Do list. That's really not anything new, I'm famous for my lists of projects I want him to do. Seriously, I'm terrible. The good thing about Ken traveling is that he has much clearer deadlines, and actually more time to work on projects when he is home. Ken usually tries to make sure I am set-up while he is gone so things around the house won't bug me.

These are a few things he did last month. I'm such a slave driver that I actually forgot about most of these until I saw the pictures.

It's great having a Man around because they have awesome tools!

First off, it's wonderful being married to a guy who encourages me and finally flat out ends up buying me a totally expensive dress just because he thinks it suits my personality (yeah, that's guy speak for body:-) Actually he really thought it was both of those things and I have to agree.

We went shopping after a date and I was browsing for a dress, not really expecting to find anything. But then I did, and I totally LOVE it! (See pictures below)

Anyway, the dress is sleeveless so I found a jacket to go over it. It works perfect except it just needed something to cover the clasp. Again, he took me shopping after a different date and I found an embellished bobby pin.

Voila! Ken said he could take care of it and make it work. When we got home he broke out his Dremel, cut it down a couple of times, and sanded the rough edges.

Here is the final product.

And my new favorite "Night on the Town" Dress! It is so much fun to wear. I put it on and I start bouncing and smiling. I love the tiered layers that swish and bounce with every movement I make.

I've only been able to wear it out twice. Which is kind of amazing to wear a dress this nice twice in a month. We aren't really fancy-smancy date people. But I wore it when we saw Phantom and to the Prom. Yes, Prom -- I did the food for the teenagers. Both times we were running out the door and didn't have a chance to take a picture. This is the only lame picture we have that my friend Robin's took with her phone. You can't even see the dress:-(

It's also great to have Ken around to help me decorate our family room. The timing couldn't have been better either because I was about to LOSE IT staring at my newly boring beige walls.

Ken took pity on me and acquiesced to having a TV in the family room. We moved the TV up to the game room at Christmas so our tree could fit and Ken really liked not having a TV in the family room because it was much cleaner and peaceful downstairs. I was going nuts though because I like to watch TV while cleaning an cooking in the kitchen. So Ken moved the armoire down for me.

It's a toss up...Better meals and cleaner kitchen vs. clean family room. One day maybe both will be possible, but with my children I highly doubt it. I just have to add that Ken was glad I didn't want him to move the huge entertainment center down which is 3 times the size of this one.

I also decided to NOT hang my drapes back at the very top of the 2nd story. Instead I hung (meaning I had Ken hang them:-) above the bottom set of windows. Mainly because I wanted to re-use the drapes from my old master bedroom. It's funny, but I actually really, really like it. I actually took a bit of decor from my old room. It makes it easy since we basically love blue and green, I can switch things in and out of all of our rooms.

The other big thing was I decided to move the piano into the family room. I totally LOVE it in this corner. Which is a huge relief to my husband who moved it all around the bottom floor. Nothing seemed right. Seriously having an open floor plan sucks when you realize you really don't have any walls longer then 4 feet. I was even suggesting trying it upstairs in the game room. Yes, I am completely crazy. Lucky for Ken, my friend Lisa was visiting and her presence probably stopped me from going completely over the edge.

Ken's also been busy doing Spring Clean-up outside. There is lots and lots of yard work.

Lucky for him, it's more like play when he gets to break out the chainsaw. Oh my goodness-- he loves his chainsaw!

It's super nice to have THIS Man around because he helps me with the kiddos, spends time with me, and helps me with household tasks. He never says no or complains to my many, many requests. I almost always send one of the kiddos to tag along with him.

Like this with Ginger. I love that he can bounce her on his knee while shucking corn!

Finally, it's nice to have a MAN around for Mother's Day. Like when he asks me, "What do you want for Mother's Day?" and I say, "A Flat Screen TV for our room." I LOVE IT!

He also tried very hard yesterday even though a number of things went very wrong. Especially with our kids, who let's be honest...in the craziness of the past month, having cousins visiting, and school almost being out...They aren't exactly the best listeners, or nicest siblings at the moment. We have a few bad habits to nip in the bud ASAP.

Just want to keep it real since I know I spend most of my blog bragging about my kids. They really are wonderful 95% of the time! I think next year when he asks me what I want for Mother's Day I may just have to request a romantic trip away:-)