Rainbows....

Yes, there were two!

You may have to squint to see the second one!

But it's there....

If only for a second....


then they are gone....

Nighttime....

in our yard!

I am not the most experimental person

when it comes to my camera.

I pretty much just aim and shoot hoping the pictures turn out.

But I decided the other night to play with it a bit and put it on the

nighttime setting and my husband and I walked around the yard

with a glass of wine....and my camera.

This is what I saw!

This light post is actually an original gas lantern.

It is of course turned off, but according to Brad could be

reconnected if we choose and replaced the filament,

I think he called it. But, not wanting to take any chances, I put

a battery operated candle in it instead.

It looks fine from a distance!

This is our backyard deck looking into our kitchen.


My Cherub Statue with fuchsia basket.



We purchased two of these ornaments at Walmart.
The other one is on the opposite side of this area.


These lanterns were also purchased at Walmart.
They have replaced my hanging baskets.

I purchased railing planters which are below them.

At the time I had no flowers in them so that is why
I didn't take a picture. But this is the porch we are working on, so
watch for pictures at a later date!

Years ago I took a stained glass class. This is what I made.
I just stuck it up in the window and with the lamp under it, it gives
a pretty little view, I think!

This is peeking into our Dining Room. Photo from an earlier post picture not taken by me!

This is just alittle night shot from across my front yard to
the side entrance of our Home.

I liked the way the light was glowing!
Thanks for touring my yard at night with me!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Aaahhh....

Thank you everyone who left a Birthday wish to our girls!

What a few weeks! We are very proud of all three of our girls and of course I had to blog about them. Don't think I didn't drop a few tears on my keyboard putting those posts together! Two BIG birthdays to celebrate wears ya out! When they were little we could "share" the day and it worked out great. Two cakes, two songs, two sets of balloons, you get the picture. But as they have grown up and made their own friends and had different tastes we of course had to celebrate seperately. Being 2 yrs and one day apart made for a very busy weekend! I did have the same due date for both of them and told my doctor, "No matter what...I DO NOT WANT THEM TO HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY!" Luckily it was such that he could help me with that and they are one day apart!

~Amanda 21~

~Hillary 19~

The End!

She's 21 yrs Old Today....

Amanda Renee

Born July 21, 1988

7 lbs 11 oz

~Our first born~


You've always been a GREAT big sister right from the start!
~the day Hillary was born~
~You were so excited to have a baby sister!~


And when Mallory was born....
you couldn't wait to hold her!
You were her little mother....
and a big help to me!


You've always been there for them....
whether it's been for support....


or just to have fun!
~Is she telling us you can't sing?~



You are a great role model and we all L O V E you
~yes, your sisters too!~




You've always been one for adventure....
Remember Marengo Cave?
~Jacob where are you?~



and fun....
~See we made it up the side of that mountain!~
Even though you did have a blanket over your head!



Dad and I let you climb up on the table for your
1st Birthday....
and you really got into that piece of cake!



We're just hoping you don't plan on doing it for your

21st Birthday....

~afterall your sisters are watching you!~

Always remember how much we love you
and how so very proud we are of you!
This a BIG year for you and it is so fun watching
you mature and turn into the responsible person you are!
I can't believe you're already
21!
Make the most of this once in a lifetime day
turning 21....
July 21, 2009!

She's 19 yrs Old Today....

Hillary Elizabeth

Born July 19, 1990

5:30 p.m.

8 lbs 3 oz

We lovingly refer to her as....

Hillbilly!

She's always been the one with the laid back ....


silly kind of sense of humor!

She knows it's true!

She doesn't mind getting attention....

especially if it involves her best friend....

Loosey Lu!

She's always had the greatest smile....
and she loves dressing up,
notice the dangley earrings?

She still loves them and she's beautiful in them!
The smile and the earrings!

She loves driving her car!
Everyone knows she waited long enough for it!!!

We hope she keeps on smiling....
because we love her and we think
she is the greatest!

Hope you enjoy your 19th Birthday!

This is a once in a lifetime day....
July 19, 2009!

Make the most of it and always remember

we L O V E you!

Guys Like To Thrift Too....

only they say....

"found" it on craigslist!

The following are his purchases just this summer.

WARNING: Do Not show your husbands or we may start a New Trend!

This was his first purchase (a snowblower) and he paid only $45....

Please ignore the surrounding picture as we are

renovating a Home that was built in 1879!

Thank you! :0)

Then of course we needed this to power wash the pool

so we could paint it. Like new only $150!

It was needed, as our local rental place went out of business!

This was actually something I wanted to buy him for

Father's Day!

But had to take daughter to oral surgeon that day

and missed out on that deal.

This was actually a Better edger and $50 less

then I was going to pay for the one

I found. The guy wanted $60....he paid $50!

Not bad honey!

And this is what he came home with tonight from work.

He needs it to haul away all this stuff that he has created with his edger.

Have fun honey....

YOU deserve all of it!

Rhubarb Pie....

that's sooooo Delicious!

and sooooo easy to make! If I can do it You can too!

Just hop on over to:
http://coffeeteabooksandrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/05/peoria-rhubarb-cream-pie.html

Trust me, if you like Rhubarb, you'll like this recipe!

Thanks Brenda!

Ever Wonder How To....

keep a Squirrel out of your bird feeders?

Buy them a new toy!

It keeps them busy for hours!

At least it did this one....

and it is kind of funny to watch too!

Question?

Is anyone else out there having problems with blogging?

It is so frustrating sometimes it's not even worth getting on!

Some sites get stuck and add about 16 pages of the same thing on

and some freeze up everything! Just curious, we just had a guy out 3 days

ago looking at our connection, but it is still doing this stuff, so thinking maybe

it isn't a problem with us. Thanks for listening!

Lilies....

in our yard!

For about the past week we have been busy on the last "major" part of Home that needs to be finished....on the outside. We are very excited about this and I can't wait until it is completed so I can show the progress pictures.

It has been a long time coming!

But in the meantime, we took a little break last night and walked around the yard to see how our gardens are looking without the usual attention that they would normally get. I thought I would share our Lillies, hope you enjoy these photos.

To us they are beautiful!

Just your average roadside lily!

....but still beautiful!

~this one is double petaled~

This one is very fragrant and seems to last longer then the others.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, hope you enjoyed our Lilies!