We Had A Wonderful Day....

Every now and then my sister's and I try to get together with our mother and spend the day together. We go to lunch and we go shopping, of course! This is a precious time in our lives, as we are all getting older and have growing families that, sometimes, keep us busy doing other things. Plus, mom's health is getting such that these trips take alot out of her. So we go at alittle slower pace and try to enjoy these moments. Yesterday was our day to get together and we had such a wonderful time! One sister was not able to make it, but that was okay, we still carried on to each of our favorite stores and restaurant to spend some much needed time with our mom. Our day also included a visit with our niece and her new baby boy (mentioned in an earlier post).

This is a picture of our mom, their Grandma, with her "oldest" grandchild Nicole and her "youngest" great-grandchild Tristan, now 2 weeks old. This is the first time mom has been able to see Tristan and hold him, because they live a distance away. So it made the visit even more special for our mom! The sister that couldn't make this visit with us, is the grandmother to Tristan and had already spent 2 weeks helping Nicole.

Making Memories!

We Were Saddened....

when the weather turned somewhat nice, to discover one of our flower urns at the entry to our home, did not weather the colder temperatures this past winter. We have had them for at least 9 years and have had no problems in the past, but for some reason this year we lost one of the two. We really did not know where we would find another to "match" as these were not purchased new, but from some Estate Sale in Indiana. We figured they were quite old, as they had years of paint chipping away, so we just scraped them and painted to the colors of our choice. And every year they have brought such beautiful color to Welcome our guest to our Home!

~The above is the one that made it thru~

So we were quite excited this past weekend when we were out and about

and passed this roadside concrete place and

low and behold from the distance, traveling down the road

out of the corner of my eye I saw urns that looked to be

very similar to what we were looking for!

TA DA.......

We have a match!!!!!
Can you believe it? Now alittle paint and it will be as if

we never lost one!

Mourning Dove....

aren't there supposed to be two? I heard they mate forever....

How sad to see this one all alone!

On a rainy day....

Sisters Having Fun....

I hope!! It's Siblings Weekend at College!

Hillary & Mallory have fun & make memories!

Love you both,

Mom

Half Off Day....

I had about a half hour to spare before my lunch date with my husband yesterday. So I stopped at an Estate Sale to use up that little bit of time. It was getting ready to close up at noon, so everything was half off. I got the next 3 pictured items and paid only $7.00....I was so excited!

cute red wooden tray

This appears to be really old and I just love it!

For awhile now I have wanted to find a set of these to use on

our porch in the summer. It was my lucky day!

I also hit a garage sale that was half off as well and picked

both of these pictures up for $7.00! The lady said she had never

hung them on her wall and she thinks she bought them at....

TJ Maxx, go figure! Love that store!

Then it was off to help my daughter, one trip down!

Maybe I'll find another sale next trip!

Today I Get To....

Have lunch with this handsome man!

My DH Brad!

And then meet up with....

Amanda, my DD #1! To help start moving her out of her

campus apartment!

It should be an enjoyable day!

I Need Ideas....

We've had this letter holder for years and I just can't bring myself to throw it away or take it to Goodwill. But I don't know what to do with it! I like the patina....but, should I do something else with it like paint it? The top slot used to say, I can barely make out: letters, the middle: bills and the bottom: misc. There is a floraly, fruity, decal sort of thing on it too, as you can see. I have it hanging in my mudroom/laundry room! What would you do if it were yours? Any ideas would be welcome!

We Had A Gorgeous Weekend....

Our temps were around 76 degrees, the sun was shining which definitely put us in the mood for yard work. My husband and youngest daughter raked out quite a few of our flower beds and bagged the debris. While I cleaned out my bird feeders and refilled with fresh food. We also got out the topper for our gazebo and put that up. Then I brought out a few of the chairs and cushions to give us a nice place to relax and admire all the hard work we accomplished. We went to the store and purchased the much needed fertilizer for the lawn and I picked up a little pot of pansies. Eventually, I will re pot them into a more attractive pot....but for now I just needed the pop of color to remind me that, yes, warmer weather is finally here. Well, that was Saturday....

Sunday it started raining and cooling down temp wise. Now it's Monday and I still have my pansies for my promise of warmer weather, but it is only 47 degrees and they said that dreaded
S word for tomorrow morning! Needless to say, maybe we jumped the gun this year! In fact I know we did, but things will dry out and warm up and the S word isn't "supposed" to stick around, just make it's presence. After all, I do live in Michigan and if you stick around for 5 minutes the weather changes! Hope you all had wonderful weekends and were able to get outside and enjoy the promise of warmer weather in your yards!

I Would Love This....

but it is a giveaway, so please stop by Catherines blog and leave a comment.

You too have a chance to win! But I am hoping it is coming to my HOME!

http://catherineholmanfolkart.blogspot.com/

Good Luck!

Remember her....

~Claire~

She's 3 months old now!

And she's still precious....

I think she's the cutest little cheerleader,

don't you agree?

Please Welcome....

Tristan John

9 lbs 15 oz

21 inches long

April 14, 2009

My "great nephew"!

Spring Break....

is "finally" over! Ours started on Fri. the 3rd

and she didn't have to be back to school until Tues. the 14th.

She being DD #3! Because we have 3 DD's, and they are

in 3 different school's (2 in different Colleges and 1 in M.S.)

Spring Break takes place 3 different times around here.

So this year we decided just to do "day trips" with DD #3.

With DD#2 needing to be picked up from college mid-week.

One of our highlights after a long day on the road visiting

grandparents was to stop at....

DD#3

and DD#2

at a place called...can you guess?

Mooville for fresh from the cow farm right next door

~Ice Cream~

It was delightful and refreshing....even with the

cow smell and the actual cows grazing in the field behind the store.

We also saw some cute little sheds along the way on one of our other

day trips....

this is alittle more "refined"

we thought this was really cute!

This one actually belongs to this house....

don't ya just love the color? And it is actually....

a cute little country shoppe called

Four & Twenty Blackbirds....as if you didn't know that!

My DH and I went there a couple of years ago and it was sooo

neat inside. It was closed when we got there this time,

but I will definitely be stopping by again!

I Love Bargains....

and you won't believe the prices!

We went on alittle "Day Trip" to a town a few hours from where

we live. Stopping by little shops of interest to us as we went.

We were in this quaint little town with beautiful older homes

and historic buildings downtown. That's where I came across

alittle shop called "Sarah's Attic", with a combo old time Pharmacy

in it as well. I was sooo excited when we walked in the door!

Of course they had an Easter display on the table right inside the door

and that's where my fun started....

(keep in mind, everything is full size~not miniatures, except the prices)

These carrots are made out of canvas that have been stained to look like

rusty carrots, with a bit of green moss and metal stems....

15 cents each!

Okay, now hold on because I could hardly control myself....

these 3 rabbits are made of metal....

$1.50 each....

they were the last 3 and they were in the window display and I couldn't

get to them because there were boxes of stuff piled in front. I "made" the worker

move those boxes and get those rabbits for me! If she wouldn't have done it, I

swear I was going to climb over those boxes and get them myself....

or send my husband, LOL!

This is a cute little wooden bunny with a "springy" neck and a metal carrot on him

75 cents....


This cute little metal house can be hung or as I have it, it stands alone
$1.00...
Can you believe these prices?? I will definitely keep this shop on my
list of "favorite" places....
There was sooo much more, for other holidays....
gives me a reason to go back!

Then we went to a Borders Outlet store and I found this great
browsing book....
Don't ya just love books like this?

With great pictures and ideas to look at....


new ways to use an old ladder....

the little plates hanging have crocheted aprons attached to them....
and of course at the back of the book are all the how to's....

love that! And stuff to "copy" out of the book

like these labels to mark your cannisters in your pantry....

and I only paid....$2.99!!

It was a Lovely day!

A Borrowed Idea....

I have seen blogs with these letters spelling different things.

While I was at Michael's one day I came across them and they

were clearanced for 99 cents each. So I bought several and started

with these 3 simple letters in my kitchen...

I purchased some scrapbook paper at a local shop, and painted the

edges of each letter black. I traced the letter out on the paper, cut it

and then spray glued each letter and wa~laa....

Let's EAT!!!

I like the way they turned out....

Thank You bloggers for sharing all your great ideas!

Still Tweaking My Pantry....

I am having so much fun organizing my pantry!

I find it a little odd....that something so simple could

make me so happy! But, blogging can be so inspiring and that

is what got me started. I bought these great cannisters at my local

"big box store" and they fit so well with the black metal lids....

then I borrowed the great idea from all of you and purchased

4 cream colored ~simple, yet delicate~ cups to use as scoops

at a thrift store for 49 cents each....

My husband~who loves to cook~ loves the new cannisters

and the "scoops"!

I'm Nesting....

I picked up these adorable paper napkins at Target.

Couldn't resist the cute little nest!

This little chick likes them too!

I "Hopped" on Today....

and look what I found. A fun little party hosted by

Barb @ http://gritsglamour.blogspot.com

I have to agree, I thought these bunnies were so cute! So I stopped by Pier 1

and picked one up. Here's what I did with mine....

Just hoppin' over my eggs!

(alittle blurry)

Hop on over and check out all of the other bunnies!