Bah Humbug !

Ya know what I really don't like this time of year ? When I hear people complaining "It's too early to decorate for Christmas" or "It's not even Thanksgiving yet, why is there Christmas stuff out already?" "We shouldn't forget about Thanksgiving and just go straight to Christmas " Why do people have to be so grouchy and whiney ? I think some people just feed off of other people and want something to complain about. I mean who made the rules about when we should decorate or not and why does decorating for Christmas early have to mean that you are ignoring Thanksgiving? Lighten up people and enjoy this wonderful season ! My sister said it perfectly the other day~ we like to decorate early and have it all done by Thanksgiving, so that on Thanksgiving day we can relax and be all set for the start of the Christmas season. Thanksgiving is like the opening day of the Holiday season. I mean even Santa is in the Thanksgiving parade right !? If you like to wait until after Thanksgiving then that's just fine, but if you want to do it early and enjoy it longer, then go ahead and do it ! Hurray for Christmas!

Cute Bells

Look at these cute bells that I found at Target yesterday! They are perfect for this little tree that I put up in my room. I found this flower pot and painted it cream. I love this clean look.

Deck the Halls

I'm getting in the mood to do some Christmas decorating. I just might go out and dig in my mom's Christmas decorations and see what I find. Here are some Christmas pictures that I love. Enjoy !

Check Out This Sale!

Janene is having a sale over at her blog A Primitive Lifestyle. She's selling some great items~ click here to check it out!

Sneak Peek

Just thought I'd give you all a sneak peek of some of the things in my new room. I guess you could say it is a mix of shabby chic,modern country maybe. I'm not sure exactly what to call it. What do you think? Yes, I do have a little vintage Christmas sign hanging in there~ I couldn't help myself, I'm in a Christmas mood already :-)

A Jolly Halloween!

Hope you all have a Jolly Halloween!:-)

BEautiful in Pearls

Here is a new Bare Escentuals kit that is now available on QVC. It is called BEautiful in Pearls and is a great price ~ $44.97 also available on 3 easy pays of $14.99
I ordered one for me and one for Paige for Christmas. Here is the link if you are interested~ BEautiful in Pearls Such pretty colors and I love the pearly white handles of the brushes!

Halloween Party and Big Cedar

Happy Halloween! A couple of weeks ago we went to a Halloween party at my sister Kim's house. We all had such a fun time. I'm glad Halloween is only one more day away because I am starting to get in a Christmas mood. This year the kids and I will be staying at my parents house in Illinois until after Thanksgiving, so I won't be doing as much Christmas decorating as usual. I'm also not decorating my tree with my primitive ornaments this year~ I'm ready for some sparkle! I'm still figuring out what my new decorating style is going to be. I still love some of my things, but a whole bunch of it has got to go. Goodbye primitive! I have been decorating my bedroom here at my parents house and I'm loving it. I painted the walls a color called coffee and stenciled a pretty swirly stencil in cream . I also bought new bedding and lot's of pretty throw pillows. I bought an old six pane window that is painted cream and is old and chippy~ it's perfect! The coverlet I found at Bed Bath and Beyond is also cream along with the sheer panels I got for the window. So I have lot's of cream in my room and it is so refreshing. I found the perfect thing to go over the bed at World Market on sale. I'm going to go buy it tomorrow and paint it cream
too :-) It will be awhile before I get this room done, but I will be sure to post pictures when it's finished. Has anyone been to Gordmans lately ? We stopped in the other day and boy do they have a bunch of wonderful vintage Christmas stuff. I can't wait to go back to look and maybe buy something this time.
My mom, my kids, my sister, her kids,and I took a trip to Big Cedar last week. It is one of our favorite places to go. We ended up with a room on the first floor of the lodge which meant that we ran into a skunk and a raccoon a few times. Thank goodness the skunks are pretty tame and we didn't get sprayed. We had fun as usual . The trees were beautiful and there were wonderful fall displays everywhere.There's no place like the Midwest during the Fall. Everyone around here is so festive and the foliage is just gorgeous. Gotta love the Heartland of America !
Here are some pics from the Halloween party and a few of our Big Cedar trip ~

My neice Sami as beautiful Belle~
Cute cake~
My nephew Patriot as a Bionicle~
My son Gabriel the Jamaican ~

My daughter Paige as a vampire inspired by Victoria from Twilight, but yes she has Rosalie's pendant on . We tried to give her the under eye shadows for the hungry vampire look. She just needs some red contacts. New Moon, only 22 more days ~ Woo Hoo!!!! Oh and I gave in a got a shirt at Hot Topic with Edward on it while we were in Branson~ I love it! :-)
Visiting Grandma Dixie's house on our Big Cedar trip~





Sami and me in our lodge room~
The kids playing around~

Along our drive. The leaves have turned more now and are much prettier than these pics~


I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween weekend!

~10 Thoughts~

I saw these 10 thoughts from the latest issue of body + soul on My Sweet Savannah blog and thought I would share them here ~

1) For the healthiest food, eat close to the source.

2) Stay tuned in to emotions. They connect you to the moment.

3) When you feel at ease with yourself, you become truly free.

4) Stop talking yourself out of the life you want most.

5) Style has less to do with what you wear and more to do with who you are.

6) Experience the power of pure silence.

7) Every moment of suffering brings an opportunity to build resilience.

8) Don't let fear of the unknown hold you back from making a change.

9) Fall represents a return to roots. Let yourself rest and replenish.

10) Happiness doesn't just happen; it emerges.

The Snowman Has Landed

I'm so excited ~ my Christmas Country Sampler came today ! My house is featured in this issue and I was hoping so much that it would come today and it did! The title of the article is The Snowman Has Landed which I think is pretty cute :-)I emailed Karen at My Colonial Home earlier this morning before my issue arrived to find out the title since she got hers in the mail yesterday. Thanks for telling me the title Karen( I was dying to know!)! It was driving me crazy knowing that a few other people already had the issue and I didn't! I couldn't stand it , so thank goodness it came today. I feel so honored to have my house in this awesome magazine. It was such a fun experience and a dream come true. Thank you so much Country Sampler!
Here are a few sneak peek pics from the article~
Have a wonderful day!

Only 68 More Days!!!!

Only 68 more days until New Moon movie day! Click here or click the picture to see the newest trailer! All I can say is WOW!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Paige!

Happy 13th Birthday to Paige! She is such a beautiful, smart, hardworking girl! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter. She is not only a great daughter, but a wonderful, kind, friend with a great sense of humor. I love that she tags along with me pretty much wherever I go~ shopping, concerts, movies, pretty much everywhere. She works so hard at Tae Kwondo and gymnastics and at everything she does ~ a very motivated , self disciplined , strong girl. I hope you have a wonderful day Paige!
Little Irish Dancer~
Doug Wilson signing her dress~
Cheerleading~

Gymnast~

Good Friends~

Arkansas and Taylor Swift

Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted. Shi, I got the message from Maria~too much tweeting and not enough blogging ~ I'll try to do better! :-) Well, last week I went on a little trip to Illinois and Arkansas. My mom and I drove to Arkansas to visit my grandma for a few days and then drove back to Illinois. I only spent a day in Illinois and I am looking forward to a much longer visit in October. I did have enough time to make a quick trip to Simple Country Treasures in Lebanon. (The link to the store is on my sidebar) I loved just about everything I saw and I can't wait to go back.While I was in Arkansas we spent an afternoon in Eureka Springs. It is such a beautiful town. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Rogues Manor. It's a very pretty Victorian style house and the food was delicious. The gardens and springs outside were so pretty, too. We browsed lot's of the shops in Eureka. No prim stores, but I found a candle store where I bought a jar of drieds that smells sooo good and some short grungy tapers. At Simple Country Treasures I bought a Pilgrim/prairie doll. As soon as I get out my fall stuff (which will be in September) she will be holding a prim pumpkin~ I can't wait to decorate for fall! Here are some pictures from Eureka Springs and from our drive through Arkansas.


Rogue's Manor~

My goodies from the candle shop.The two tapers with the jack~ o~ lantern are actually from Simple Country Treasures~
Along our drive~

Nope, I didn't stop here, it looked like a bunch of junk , not the good kind:-)




My pilgrim doll~


My silly niece and nephew~ Sami found my tanning goggles in my purse and so they put them on and pretended like they were tanning. ( yes I know tanning is bad, I don't want to hear it and I don't go that often anyway) They are funny kids,I just love them !On Sunday Paige, her friend Abby, and I went to the Taylor Swift concert. They were two very excited girls and yep I was pretty excited, too.We had floor seats and they were pretty good, but I have to say that unless you are very close, then I don't think it's worth it to pay to be on the floor. So many people stood on the chairs, which I found very rude and annoying, so it was very hard to see anything at times. It was a very good concert, though and Taylor is such a nice girl ~ she moved to different locations in the crowd to sing a couple songs and walked through the crowd to shake hands. Paige and Abby got very close to her and almost touched her hair~ Paige was super excited about that. We had a very fun time and can't wait till she comes to Omaha again.




Taylor's mom walked right by our seats~
Kelly Pickler~
me and Paige~
Abby and Paige~
A couple of weeks ago I got a surprise package in the mail from my friend Maria. She made these Americana rag balls for me. I love the fabrics she used~ thanks so much Maria!

That's all for today and I'll try to post again soon.Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Gabriel!

Happy 15th birthday to my son Gabriel!
He sure seems older to me than 15 at times. What a wonderful son he is and a lot like me in many ways ~ a no nonsense, keep to himself kind of guy, but with such a funny, witty, entertaining side to him. I love his impressions that he does of people, they crack me up so bad! I wish so much he'd let me get them on video because he is so good! My favorites are George Bush and Jesse Ventura, oh yeah and the British rocker character that he does is pretty hilarious, too! But no, he doesn't like his picture taken and rarely let's me record him, oh well.
Gabriel always likes to debate me on politics and I have to say that he is better than me and usually knows more than I do. I know that's pretty bad, but I'm not good to keep up with politics as well as he does. I guess I should work on that.
When he was little we could always find him swinging a stick, a sword, or a light saber, and he still loves all those weapons today. He even took Fencing for awhile when he was younger. You ought to see his sword collection! He has the best speaking voice, too. We always tell him that he'd be a great DJ.
These days, I can usually find him on the computer either gaming,watching movies, on Youtube, or writing his news blog. Anyway, I'm lucky to have such a great son~ don't know what I'd do without him! I'm sure if he reads this he'll be grumpy at me for doing a post about him, but oh well, he'll live! Happy Birthday Gabriel!

My sweet boy~

With Paige when he was 5 ~

5 years old at the Missouri Botanical gardens in St. Louis ~

With Ty from Trading Spaces ~
Holding his cousin Sami~
A light saber fight with his cousin Patriot~
At the World Series parade in St. Louis when the Cardinals won ~
Just one of his great Halloween costumes~
July 4th 2008~
Christmas 2008~
Gabriel with his shotgun he got for Christmas last year~
A very big, dramatic smile for the camera. I told him he looks like a salesman or a politician in this pic! :-)

Goodwill Makeovers, My Bathroom, and a Great Place to Live

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted. I guess I've just been busy with other things and just a lazy blogger. Must be the summertime making me lazy :-)
My mom and nephew, Patriot spent 5 days at our house about a week ago. We had a fun and busy time. We went to Pizza Machine like we always do when Patriot visits, Coco Key, some movies, the pool, and the Jonas Brothers concert in Omaha. Click here to see pictures of our visit. I sure wish my family lived closer to us. I'm starting to realize what a great place this is to live. I love all the open space, never any traffic, plenty to do, wonderful shopping, low crime, and such nice people. Who knows, maybe we'll just stay here when we retire from the Air Force. Papillion even made number 3 on Money Magazine's top 100 Places to Live. So, now my family needs to move here, too!
We've had such beautiful Fall like weather the past few days and I love it! Yesterday morning Paige and I decided to go walking through Fontenelle Forest. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place. I can't wait to go there in the Fall. It will be gorgeous! I love that this place is less than 10 minutes from our house. Here are a few pictures from our walk~
Then after we got home from our walk I decided that I was in the mood to fix up the master bathroom. It is such a tiny bathroom and I just never have done anything to it. It almost felt silly to put work into such a little bathroom that only my family ever sees, but yesterday I changed my mind and got to work. There are some things in this bathroom that I can't change, since this is not my house~ like the cabinets, and lighting, and the mirror over the sink, but I did the best that I could without spending much money at all. I made a quick trip to Gordmans, Michael's, WalMart, and Goodwill. At Gordman's I found a cute Bath sign to hang from the peg rack that I planned to make. I also bought a Fall stitchery that they had just put out. Isn't it cute? Don't worry I'm not displaying it in my house yet. I'll wait until the end of August or maybe September 1st to do my Fall decorating. I was happy to see all the Fall goodies in the store and it made me even more anxious for Fall to get here! At Michaels all I bought was a cheap $5.99 Pumpkin Spice jar candle. I'm not waiting till September to burn it, it's for right now. I love that spicy pumpkin smell! At WalMart I found a plain tan shower curtain that I thought would work just fine in my bathroom. Then off to Goodwill to hopefully find some things to makeover. I found a tacky looking shelf with a teddy bear on it, a gold wooden sconce, a cutting board , and a candle holder. So, I headed home to get to work. First I painted all of the Goodwill pieces and a piece of wood to use as my peg rack. Then I made my own cinnamon soap using plain, white ivory soap bars, my Pampered Chef crinkle cutter, mod podge, cinnamon, and cloves. I sewed up a couple of little cloth bags to hang from the peg rack, and I stenciled the bathroom. I kept things pretty simple with not having much room to decorate. It looks so much better. I'm so glad I decided to fix it up. I had trouble taking pictures in such a small space, but here they are ~

The Bath sign from Gordmans~

Goodwill sconce~
Goodwill shelf and cinnamon soap~


Stenciling~
Sink area~

Goodwill cutting board in my kitchen~

I thought I would show you a picture of my naughty Chocolate Lab named Ranger. He loves to steal tissues and last night we caught him. He sat nice and still for me to take some pictures. Patriot calls him the naughty chocolate dog :-)I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Keeping Cool

That's what I've been trying to do the past couple days~ keep cool. It's way to hot out for me ! I know some of you might think I'm nuts, but I'm already looking forward to Fall :-) I even sprayed my pumpkin cornbread room spray around the house today~I love the smell of Fall! Well, today I stayed in the nice cool house, cleaned, and rearranged some things. I moved the table at the one end of my living room to a new spot under my wall cabinet. I think I like it better there because I have room to have the sides of the table up. If you want to see a few more new pictures I took today you can click here.
On Saturday Paige and I went to the Farmers market in Omaha and then to a few yard sales. We found this chair and desk for Paige for $5. They were light blue with stenciled flowers on them. We came home and spray painted them white to match the rest of the furniture in her room. The tall candle holder on the desk and the grungy green candle are from Primitive Treasures in Lincoln. She got those when we went there in May.

We also went to see The Proposal on Sunday afternoon. It was really good and so funny. We will probably go see Transformers 2 one day this week. Thank goodness for all the good movies that come out during the summer~ one of the other fun things we do to keep cool! Hope you all have a great week!

Walking on the Trails, a Smoothie, and a Candle

Today Paige and I decided to go walk on the Papio trails near our house. Omaha has such nice walking/bike trails all over the place. I would like to start going to walk at least twice a week instead of biking every day at home.
I put Paige's bike in the trunk of the car and tied it down the best I could. I think we need a bike rack :-) We had a nice, long walk/ride. Lot's of other people were out walking, jogging, and biking today. It was a bit humid, but there was a nice breeze. We were both sweaty and tired when we got back to the car and decided to get a Scooter's fruit smoothie for lunch. I LOVE their smoothies! They are so refreshing and yummy! Well, we were sitting at a red light and I decided that I needed to take a picture of my smoothie for this post. I sat it on top of the dashboard and took one picture and was starting to take one more when the light changed. I was trying to get the picture taken real quick, but saw that there were cars behind me ready to go. I wasn't thinking and hit the gas and my smoothie went flying off splattering all over me and the window. Yep, I'm a dork. Luckily Paige caught it and there was plenty left for me to enjoy. I still have a few smoothie smears to clean up in the car. :-)

My strawberry banana smoothie~


Out on the trail. I love the bridge. Sometimes we can see beavers swimming down below.







Then this afternoon I decided to stop by Weathered and Worn to look around a little. I bought a new candle and some wax melters. I love these 1803 Candles. They have so many wonderful scents and I love the names of them all.It took me awhile to decide which one I wanted. I chose the Buttermik Cupboard candle and the Grandma's Cupboard melters. I like how on the label on the front of the candle there is a little description. On the Buttermilk Cupboard candle it says~The old buttermilk cupboard stands in the keeping room filled with milk buckets and the butter churn.
Whenever I do have my own store one day I want to sell these candles for sure!If I'm not back again before the week is over, have a great week!:-)

Just a Whole Lot of Boring

Well, I haven't been very good with posting lately. I guess the title of this post says it all. It's just kind of boring around here. I haven't done any new decorating or bought any great new prims. Paige has been kind of bored since her good friend Katie that lived across the street moved about 30 minutes away. She gets to see her about once a week. Paige is the kind of kid that wants to be busy ALL the time. I should have put her in a summer camp or something. At least she has two nights a week of Taekwondo and one night of gymnastics.She wants to start guitar lessons too. We've also been going to the pool about once a week. My son Gabriel is like me, we can keep ourselves busy and are pretty content without a whole lot to do.
I have been working hard to stay on my exercise routine and eating very healthy. I have been trying to buy as much organic food as I can. I love these Kashi frozen meals. I have one for either lunch or dinner and this new Island Vanilla cereal is so YUMMY! I have it for breakfast each day. I ride my recumbent bike every day for one to two hours, do my abs bootcamp DVD and weights every other day. I'm very addicted to working out now and only take Saturday's off. I've lost 9 pounds so far and I feel great! I've been reading this book by Jillian Michaels called Master Your Metabolism. I really recommend it if you struggle with your weight or even just want to be healthier.

We are excited because we had been waiting patiently for the Taylor Swift tickets to go on sale for her concert in Omaha on Aug. 9. We were hoping for great seats. I was at the computer ready to buy them the second they went on sale last week. The only tickets that were available were way up high. How can they sell out within the first few minutes!? I gave up went right over to Ebay. There were tons for sale there and we got floor seats. Hurray! We're really looking forward to it.

The birds have flown out of the nest on my front door and they have left an awful mess. Today I am going to throw the wreath away, clean up the door and figure out what to hang on it now. Unfortunately I didn't get any other good pictures of the birds before they left. I would also like to work on some new Liberty signs today. I'll post pictures when I get them done.
I've been in the mood for a vacation lately.Somewhere exciting with a lot going on. Here are the two places that I'm in the mood to go~


New York City~


and Las Vegas~
Now I just need a whole bunch of money and someone to babysit my two big, old dogs and I'm ready to go! I hope you all are having a great week and if I don't post again before the weekend, have a great weekend !

Plain Worker Primitives

Check out this new selling blog Plain Worker Primitives. She does great work! I love her dolls and that star makedo is so cute!Be sure to add her blog to your blog list! Have a great Tuesday!

Just In Case You Missed It

Oh my goodness, I can't wait for this movie! Click on the picture to see the trailer. Enjoy!

For All You Twilighters

Don't forget to watch the MTV Movie Awards tonight to see the
New Moon trailer. Woo Hoo! I can't wait!

Purple Finch Nest and more Geraniums

Well I found out that the bird nest on my wreath belongs to a purple finch. This morning I held my camera very still through the blinds on my front door window and waited very still and patiently for the bird to fly back to the nest. I think these pictures of them are so cute. It looks like they are trying to figure out what the weird thing in the window is. :-)


The babies aren't so cute yet~ Eew! They will be in a few days though. I have to stand on one of my chairs to get a good picture in the nest. I'll get up there and take another one tomorrow.
I have put out the rest of my Americana decor which isn't much. I love this Independance Day Celebration sign. I filled a little crock with geraniums to sit by it.
Added some geraniums to this bucket in my room.
Stuck a flag in this old jug sitting on the flag bunting~
I made this little Abraham Lincoln pillow ~
I also made this flag pillow that will be posted on my selling blog later today or tomorrow~
This pillow is for sale also. I love the fabric on this one:-)
I made this flag pillow for me~
These Abe pillows will be for sale~
A new grouping I put together on my little school desk~

I hung up my Farmer's Best Red Geraniums sign above the bench.I found these little pots of herbs on sale at Michael's and sat them in the highchair. I moved the little lamb over by the stacking boxes.

I rearranged my kitchen cubby just a bit~

I hope everyone has had a nice holiday weekend!

American Idol and New Stuff

Congratulations Kris! I am so excited that Kris won Idol! I don't think he could believe it! Even though I loved Adam too, I did vote for Kris at least 15 times Tuesday night. I thought it would be exciting for him to win since everyone sort of just assumed Adam would be the winner:-)Paige plugged her ears while Ryan announced the winner, she just couldn't stand to listen ( she is a huge Adam fan). I jumped up screaming when they announced Kris and she said "what?! what?! who won?!" Well, she wasn't happy, but I was!:-)Adam will be super duper famous anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Man, I'm always sad when Idol season ends:-(

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by Weathered and Worn to pick up this little shelf or whatever you want to call it:-) I put on layaway a few weeks ago. I had to move things around to find a spot for it. I'm out of room in this house for any more furniture, so why I bought it, I don't know. I'm not sure I'm happy with where I put it, but I will leave it there for a bit and see. It might be a little busy with the cabinet on the wall above it full of stuff. Maybe just to much "stuff" in that area. What do you think?

Weekend Visit and New Prims

This has been a fun weekend for us. My sister Kim and my nephew Patriot arrived on Friday morning to stay with us for the weekend. Friday afternoon we went to The Pizza Machine and had a great time there. It was not crowded at all with kids still in school, so that was nice. On Saturday morning we drove to Lincoln to Aunt Patty's Attic and then to Primitive Treasures. Sarah and Kindra told me about Primitive Treasures and I was very anxious to go. Aunt Patty's had so many great things as usual. It's always hard to choose what to buy there. I settled on a gameboard,a basket, some fat quarters,a small beehive and a penny pineapple. After Aunt Patty's we drove over to Primitive Treasures. It's in an old house and is so neat! She makes the most wonderful prims, I loved it!! I bought a grungy flag bag, a grungy flag star, a cubby box, a candle and candle holder, some pears, and a rusty muffin tin. I can't wait to go back especially in the fall and around Christmas. After we got home from Lincoln, the kids stayed home and Kim and I grabbed some smoothies at Scooter's and headed to Wild Horse Antiques in Plattsmouth. Kim found a spoon rack, and an old masher. I think that is all she got. I didn't buy anything there.
Today we went for a quick hike at Fontenelle Forest and stopped at Border's for a cup of coffee. Then Paige and I took them to the airport this afternoon. We wished they could have stayed longer. Here are some pictures for you~

Patriot at Pizza machine~
Patriot, Gabriel, and Paige playing air hockey~

Bumper cars!

Here is everything we bought in Lincoln. I loved the cubby box, but I don't do blue in my house, so I painted it. I also painted the spoon rack for my sister.



Here is the blue box painted a brownish red with black distressing. This display is in my kitchen~


I put all these in my big basket for now~The beehive is on my bench with the geraniums and flags~

I hung the flag bag on my peg board~

Added the gameboard and pineapple to my bowl rack~


Tucked the muffin tin in with some crocks in my kitchen~
Painted the spoon rack black, then sanded and stained it. I LOVE how it turned out!

A couple bowls and a tray that my sister brought for me to paint. The bowls were yellow and the tray was white. I painted them all Old Ivory and then used Bri Wax on them. She gave me one of the bowls:-)


The fat quarters I got at Aunt Patty's that are in the new cubby in my kitchen. I love these fabrics!
I hope you enjoyed all the pictures and I hope everyone had a great weekend! Oh and if any of you out there are on Twitter or Facebook let me know or click on my Facebook badge cause I'd love to follow you and I need some followers too. Especially on Twitter since I'm pretty new on there. Have a great night!

American Idol - Kris or Adam?

I love American Idol! I was sorry to see Danny go tonight, but I love these two that will be in the finale next week. I don't even care which one wins. I can't decide which one I like better! So what do you all think~ Kris or Adam?

Kris Allen
Adam Lambert

Mom's Garden and Americana

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I had a nice relaxing day. We went to Border's for a coffee and browsed around there. Paige and I stopped in Bath and Body Works, Aeropostale, JCPenney,and Target while we were out.Not much going on around here lately. Just takin it easy!I'm ready for summer! I don't have anything new to show you all, but I have moved a few things around. Memorial Day is only a couple weeks away,so I have pulled out some of my flags to tuck around here and there. I love summer decor with flags,Geraniums and Americana touches. I hope I don't bore you with pictures of my house that you feel like you've already seen ! I'm only posting pictures of areas where I've made small changes.
I also wanted to share my mom's garden's with you. She loves to garden and always makes her yard so beautiful with lot's of fun areas for the kids. The newest garden is her Little Bear Garden where she has added some characters from the Little Bear cartoon.I think that is my favorite little kids show:-)If you'd like to see the slideshow of her garden click here
Here are a few pictures from her yard~





I changed my table arrangement and decided to use this red coverlet to add some color. This is my favorite coverlet:-)
Tucked a little flag in the basket hanging on my peg board~


I moved my caddy of Geraniums to my entry way bench and stuck a bunch of flags in the crock with the Garden Thyme sign sitting on it.



A new coverlet runner I got for my coffee table~

Added my flag pedestal and moved my pineapple runner to the table~
Moved the strwberries under the strawberry sign in my kitchen~

Sorry I haven't been posting much. I just don't have a whole lot going on worth sharing. My sister and nephew are coming to visit on Friday for the weekend. We plan to do a little bit of prim shopping while she is here, so maybe I'll have something to share by the weekend. Hope you all have a great week!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jamie!!! I wish I was there so I could bring you a Starbucks this morning and try out your new rocking chair on your porch and walk around your pretty yard and go have lunch with you and stop at the antique house in Trenton and all that fun stuff! :-)Have a wonderful, fun day!

Fun Saturday with Blog Friends

Well, I've had a nice little break from blogging and now it's time to get back to it. I had a nice week with my mom. We went shopping, hiking, and just relaxed around the house. I finished the Twilight books and I'm totally obsessed.:-) I cannot wait for the next movie to come out in November.
Well, yesterday was a fun day.Unfortunately we didn't have beautiful weather like on Friday. Instead it was pretty chilly and rainy, but still a fun day. Kindra and Sarah drove from Lincoln and met me at Weathered and Worn in Papillion. We looked around, bought a few things and then headed to Plattsmouth to Wild Horse Antiques. I love that store! There are all kinds of treasures~ lot's for $10 :-) That was the price that kept popping up on everything! I bought a tool caddy there for $10. On the way back to my house we stopped at Goodwill. Not a whole lot there. We had lunch at my house~ chicken salad sandwiches, fruit salad, cheese and crackers, and brownies. After lunch we went to the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall. We walked around looking there for quite awhile.The antique mall is right next to the exit back to Lincoln, so when we were done there Sarah and Kindra headed back to Lincoln. It was so great getting together with blog friends. I don't think there are nicer people out there than blog buddies! Kindra and Sarah are such sweet ladies! Kindra brought me the cutest flower stake for my garden. Thanks Kindra~ I love it! I will take a picture of it when all this rain quits. I also bought a little chair flower pot holder that I will post later this week. It's just to rainy to go out and take pictures.
Here are some pics of the tool caddy and some note cards I bought. The tool caddy was unfinished rough wood. I painted it black and sanded it up a bit. I filled it with red Geraniums. I'm starting to get into the Summer/Americana mood and I love red Geraniums in my house for the summer.
Here are the cute notecards I bought~

The tool caddy~

I decided to put my strawberries out~

Some summery flowers on my coffee table~
A couple weeks ago I saw a pineapple mold on Janene's blog, Primitive Lifestyle. I asked her if she was selling it and she said instead of selling it to me she would like to send it to me as a gift. She is so sweet! Thank you so much Janene! I really love this mold. I finally made a pantry cake with it today. First I just rubbed cinnamon all over it and then I decided to add some cloves. The cloves settled in all the creases, so now you can see the lines on the pineapple better. I think it turned out great!

I wanted to mention a few new blogs that you might want to check out. First is Kathy's blog Coop's Cottage , Carey's blog American Girl Primitives-N-Such,
and Amy's blog At Home With Amy
Stop over and welcome them to Blogland when you get the chance. Well,that's all I have for today. I hope you all have had a good weekend!

Giveaway and a Break

Joy at Doodlebug is having a wonderful giveaway! Go over and take a look at her blog to enter . I just love the stitchery she did! I hope you feel better soon Joy!:-)
I haven't been on here much the past few days. I'm kind of taking a break. My mom is here visiting for the week and I'm also in the middle of reading the Twilight books. I've been staying up way to late reading them. I just finished the third book last night~one more to go. :-) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Birthday Goodies

Happy Friday! I wanted to show you the gifts I got for my birthday and the thing that Jenn from webshots came to Omaha to bring me. Remember the rug I was hoping to save up for? Well Jenn saw that post and emailed me saying that she had the exact rug that she was selling. I am so excited because it cost me half of what I would have spent and you would think it was brand new! Thanks so much Jenn! You can see most of the rug in this picture~
On Monday I got a package in the mail from my sweet friend Jamie from Miller Homestead. She sent me this reed diffuser in a warm yummy scent. It smells so good! Thank you Jamie!

Gabriel and Paige went shopping for me and got me some Victoria's Secret lotion and a Vanilla Cupcake Yankee candle.They both smell wonderful!

I found a package on my porch today as Paige and I left to see the new Hannah Montana movie. It was from my inlaws and it is so cute! I love this prim stitchery from The Hearthside Collection~ perfect to add to my summer/Americana decor. Thank you so much Kathy and Jeff!
(By the way the Hannah Montana movie was great! We really enjoyed it!)
I got a package yesterday from Dawn at Holly Hills Primitives. I ordered this fly screen from her that I saw on her blog and lucky me it arrived on my birthday and I love it! Dawn added a little extra surprise in the package~a cute pinkeep. Thank you Dawn! Here is a pic of the fly screen on the table and the pinkeep~
I thought I'd show you where I put the label boxes I made. I put them in my kitchen by my bowl of apple gourds~Nothing else new around here. It looks like tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day, but rain for Easter. Oh well. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Weekend!

Birthday Giveaway Winner

Sorry I am posting this so late in the day. The winner of my giveaway is Mandy from A Mayberry State of Mind Congratulations Mandy! Just email me your address and I'll get these goodies mailed out to you.
I've had a good birthday today. I met Jen, one of the webshot gals from Iowa. She and her friend drove to Omaha today to bring me something that I bought from her. I'll show you what it is tomorrow after I take pics. I picked out a delicious looking German Chocolate cake for my birthday that the kids and I will have tonight after dinner. Should be yummy! I'm off to get ready to take Paige to Taekwondo. Have a great night!

Fontenelle Forest and Weekend Projects

On Friday Paige and I went to Fontenelle Forest here in Bellevue. It is only about 10 minutes from our house and I just found out about it. I have been wanting to find a place like this to go walking sometimes or to on a picnic. It was the perfect weather for hiking~ not too warm, not too cold. We just loved it! It is such a pretty place with lot's of trails and some pretty lookout points. It will really be beautiful when there are leaves on the trees. We watched an injured deer limping through the woods and then lay down against a tree. That was sad. We could see a wound on his leg. Poor thing. As we were leaving we saw a wild turkey. It was a fun afternoon.


The turkey~You can see Omaha off in the distance~
Paige at one of the lookout spots. Everything is so brown and dead looking! I can't wait for green!
She found a nice big stick to walk with~

This is a little area I fixed up in my room on Saturday. I printed off the two President pictures and put them in some WalMart frames. That was a cheap project! I also bought a set of stencils about a week ago for stacking boxes and I made this set for my room.


On Sunday I kept busy doing laundry and making some fun things. All of these things are gifts for friends except for one of the pantry label box sets which is for me. I really love how these turned out! The black box on the bottom of the large set of boxes is turned the wrong way and you can see a gap where the stencil ended. I wasn't paying attention when I took the picture that the back of the box was in front.


Yesterday was so cold, wet,windy, and snowy here, but it looks like we have some 60's in the forecast this week. Hurray! I am so happy about that! I hope you all have a great Monday!

My KM Primitives Order

I got my package in the mail yesterday from Karen at KM Primitives and My Colonial Home. I ordered this runner, and star pillow from her and I got a free candle hugger. That is the special that is going on right now until April 15 at KM Primitives ~ a free candle hugger with a $40 purchase. I just can't get enough of Karen's wonderful creations! I have a list of things I'd love to order from her. I also finally got my Country Sampler a few days ago and I loved looking at Karen's beautiful home! Isn't it gorgeous!?
Well, I was in a simplify and clean up mood yesterday afternoon. My coffee table was bugging me with the tray on it, so my package came right in time. I like this so much better~ much more simple! I love my new pineapple runner!



Here is the candle hugger~

Here you can see the pillow on my couch. I'm thinking I need another star pillow for the other side of the couch. What do you think? You can click the picture to make it larger. The pillow on the other side is a black coverlet pattern, but it's hard to see in this picture. I also took my curtain panels down a couple weeks ago , and sewed them into tiers instead. I like it better because I don't have to see the mini blinds anymore!

I am thinking I might save all my birthday money from my family and get this for the other end of my living room. Wouldn't that be cozy!? I have the small one of this pattern in my kitchen.It looks like we are going to have a high of 60 today. I am planning to take the kids to Fontenelle Forest to walk on the trails. I've never been there before, but it looks like a nice place to go to and walk around!I'll take pictures. Have a wonderful weekend!

Birthday Giveaway and a Couple New Things

I know it hasn't been long since my Spring Fever Giveaway, but I decided to do another one during this dreary time of year when everyone is tired of cold and so anxiously awaiting for warm weather to arrive. My birthday is in one week, so it is the perfect time for a Birthday Giveaway! I will draw a winner next Thursday morning. Please don't post this on your blogs. It's just for regular readers and those that come by on their own. If you don't have a blog make sure to leave your email address for me when you leave a comment. Thanks! So here is what I'm giving away~
a cutting board
3 pantry cakes with cheesecloth
bird pinkeep
seed bag full of bay leaves
small set of stacking boxes
1803 Candles ~ Mom's Kitchen wax melters~they smell sooo good!
The lit candle in the picture is not included in the giveaway.
Just leave me a comment to be entered.I also got a fun package in the mail a few days ago from Pam at Baskets n Prims. We did a trade and here is what she sent me~
I love this little basket! Pam told me it has a Williamsburg handle and that she thought I would like it because it is Colonial looking and she was right ~ I absolutely love it!

She also sent me this tall weed basket that I wanted. I had this spot on the peg board in my bedroom waiting for it. It's just perfect! I love both my basket's Pam ~ Thank you so much! Go on over and check out Pam's wonderful selling blog The Primitive Basketcase.
I made something new for my bedroom yesterday afternoon. I was looking at a towel rack like this on Palmer Fall's yesterday morning trying to decide if I should buy one soon for my room and then I thought~ hey, I can build that pretty easy! So I did and I'm really happy with it. The pictures are a little dark~sorry!

Going to the Beach

As I sit here freezing next to an old window that is letting very cold air blow in on me
( you would think when they renovated these base houses that they would have put in new energy efficient windows,but no) I am thinking about a warm beach. It doesn't help knowing that my mom,sister,and my niece and nephew are at Daytona beach in Florida over the next couple days. Lucky them! So here is where I am going in my imagination today~

First I'll grab some sunglasses
I'll take this cute bag and towel


Have to have some cute flip flops


And of course the new Country Sampler ( mine better be in the mailbox today!)



I'll need some sweet tea to drink while I look at my Country sampler while I'm sitting on the beach

Here's where I'm going~


Be sure to click on the pics to see them bigger. So does anyone want to come?
Have a happy Monday!

Gw finds and Finished Projects

Well, you all were right about the problem with the portraits~ different frames. I wasn't expecting that and was very disappointed! I wanted to keep the look very Colonial, so staggering the frames won't work for me. I think I found the solution. I painted the Washington frame on the edges where it was much more distressed than the Lincoln frame. That helped a lot. The I moved them apart a bit and put a pewter sconce in between them. Now I'm happy with them and I don't think it's noticeable at all.
I also made my weekly stop at Goodwill and found a few things. The first is one I'm very excited about. I have been looking for a frame that my Declaration of Independence would fit into and haven't had any luck. I knew when I saw this framed picture that the frame was just the right size. I took it all apart, painted and sanded it and it's just perfect. I saw some new framed documents like this in our prim store here in town priced for $60 and I like mine even better! It looks great hanging right near George and Abe.
I also found a clock with a rusty star hanger on the front. I unscrewed the star and took it off. The clock was already black, so I sanded it a bit and stained it. I hung it up in my room.Then I decided to cut the bottom of it off straight across. The shape at the bottom just bugged me~ it looked like a guy in speedos :-) Here it is before~

And after~ I painted the star hanger that I removed from the clock black and hung it in my room with some seed bags hanging from it. I am starting to add more prim things to my room . I really want a more Colonial look in there eventually. I will have to change it over slowly though. Unless I happen to find a beautiful queen size coverlet and colonial swag curtains at GW, but I don't see that happening!:-)
Next I found this little pedestal bowl that I painted and stained and this little black candle holder that sits on the table by my bed. So it was another good GW day!
Paige had a hair appointment in Plattsmouth on Tuesday and that means I got to peek in Wildhorse Antiques. Paige tries to be patient in there,but she thinks it's kind of creepy( I don't), so I try to be fast. I found this little candle shelf with no price on it and she gave it to me for $5. Good enough for me! That was all I bought there.
Wednesday night while Paige was at gymnastics I ran over to Lowes to get some wood to make a dough board for my stove top. I have been wanting to make one for quite a while, but have put it off. We got home around 5:30 and being the impatient person that I am when it comes to home decor projects, I headed out to the garage and had it done and on my stove top by 8:30. I LOVE how it turned out! I'm so glad I finally got that done.
Yesterday, I took Paige and her friend Abby to Coco Key, a water resort in Omaha. We had a fun time. It has a nice, beachy ,islandy feel . Just the break from cold weather that we needed. Later that afternoon when we got home, I decided that I needed a sign for my room to go over the mirror. I painted this Kindred Spirits sign to hang there. I will be adding this sign to my selling blog also. So that is what I have been doing this week. This weekend I plan to work on a few things for my giveaway that I will post on April 2. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Painted Boxes, a Sheep, and George

I got lot's done yesterday around here. It was nice and warm outside. Paige was busy outside with her friends and Gabriel was busy on his computer, so I just did little projects around the house. I cleaned ,stitched,painted,and sewed. I loved the boxes that I bought from Kindra so much and I saw another set that she had painted that I loved too. The larger set sold before I got to her booth. So I decided to try painting my own set.Thanks for the inspiration Kindra! I'm not great at freehand painting, so I wasn't sure how they would turn out.I think they turned out pretty good for my first try.
I also wanted something simple to sit in my highchair all year round. I searched online for prairie dolls, primitive bears,and things like that, but couldn't find anything I wanted. I decided to sew up this little sheep. He's just right for the chair I think and I didn't spend a penny. I love making things for myself instead of having to spend money on new things all the time.
George finally came in last week! Hurray! I went and picked him up and came home and hung him up right away. I was really disappointed after I got him hung up and I won't tell you why. Just see if you can tell in the picture what's bugging me. I'll tell you what it is in my next post.
Paige and I went out yesterday morning and bought the Twilight DVD. We watched it last night. I love that movie! Did anyone else buy the DVD yesterday ?
We have a chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. I wouldn't mind if we had a thunderstorm. I'm in the mood for one~ it makes it feel like Spring! Just no tornado's please! I'm off to check weather.com Have a great evening!

Basket of Spring Goodies

I just listed this basket of Spring goodies on Liberty Hill.Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

Pinkeep Listed on Liberty Hill

I just listed this on Liberty Hill.

New Gathering on Liberty Hill

I just listed this gathering on Liberty Hill.

A Giveaway, Crates, Pantry Cakes, and More

Anne over at Seasons Of The Past is having a wonderful Spring Renewal Giveaway.She is giving away some great things, so go on over and check it out!
I finished painting the two crates I got at GW a couple days ago. I still not sure what I am going to do with them yet. I think I will put some primitive grass and strawberries in the smaller one that I painted black. For now I just put some eggs in it . I still need to get some primitive grass. I'm not sure about the large crate, but I'm thinking out front on my little porch area with pots of flowers in it . I just sat the pantry cakes in it for the picture.Here is something I came up with onTuesday that took me about 15 minutes to think of and finish. I was putting something away in my school closet and my Williamsburg quilt calendar from last year fell off the shelf. I love the quilt pictures in it, so I kept it in case I ever wanted to use the pictures. Well, sitting on the floor in the closet was this large black frame that I bought for my Declaration of Independance, but it was the wrong size. I started flipping through the calendar and picked a quilt that looked very Colonial and then found some fabric that I had that matched well. I painted over the quilt picture quickly with my antiquing glaze and painted a little mod podge on the back. I put the quilt picture on the fabric and into the frame. I love it! I was so excited with this little project! The fabric in the picture looks brighter than it is. It is more of a brownish gold color. I don't think you can tell that the quilt picture is paper. It looks like a stitchery or something.


This is a little bird makedo I made with the floral fabric that I like so much. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I also sewed up this little bag for the wool I got on sale the other day. I like it hanging on this peg board.

Yesterday I made my first pantry cakes and they turned out so good! I was really excited because they were so easy and I love how they look.Thanks Linda , for sharing the recipe! I am working on a gathering that I will be listing on Liberty Hill later today that includes one of the cakes.

I hope you all are having a good week. We have had wonderful weather here. It's feeling like Spring and I'm so happy about that! Have a wonderful Thursday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and some GW Finds

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We used to have fun going to dance performances and parades around St. Patrick's Day when Paige was Irish dancing. I love to watch Irish dancers!There is a show in Branson called Spirit of the Dance that we have gone to about three times. If your ever in Branson and need to pick a show I recommend that one! I used to scrapbook and I always liked how this page turned out that I did for Paige's Irish dance, so I thought I'd share it. I haven't scrapbooked in about 4 years. Don't know if I'll ever start up again or not, but I love going back and looking through all the albums I did.


After I exercised yesterday I stopped over at Goodwill to see if there was anything new. I found this little white crock and it fits perfect in this display that I came up with a couple days ago.
I found these crates and the matching candlestick to the one I got the other day. I will paint the crates and either use use them outside with pots of flowers or maybe in the house, not sure yet.
Last I got this spoon rack. I have no spoons for it so I hung some drieds. It was already black, so I just sanded some edges and stained it.I filled the bottom cubby with a jar of bay Leaves, old soaps, and some grungy candles. I love how it turned out, but not completely sure if I will keep this or sell it. Should I keep it? I don't know if I like it where I hung it, but I don't have many spots left to hang things. So anyway,yesterday was a good Goodwill day! Have a nice Tuesday!

New Items On Liberty Hill

I just added this new Garden Thyme Sign and this bunny make-do on Liberty Hill.
Thanks for looking and have a great night !

My Aunt Patty's Purchase

Here is what I bought at Aunt Patty's today. The wall box and the bowl. The bowl was red and I just didn't like it that color for this gathering, so I painted it brown. Much better ! I really love this !

Saturday in Lincoln

This morning Paige and I got up early and hopped in the car for a one hour drive to Lincoln, NE. Our first stop was St. Mark's Methodist Church where a Craft Fair was going on today. There was one spot I was heading for and that was Kindra's booth. I wanted to get there right when it opened so I could snatch those stacking boxes she posted on her blog 3 Guys, A Girl, and a Prim Place the other day. We ended up getting there a little after the craft fair had started and I was a bit worried they'd be gone. I found her booth pretty quick and there was Kindra and her mom and the boxes ! Yeah ! Kindra is such a sweet lady and I am so glad I got to meet her in person. It was very crowded, so we didn't get to visit for long. She had so many great things for sale~ she and her mom make such wonderful prims ! I bought a red light up house, the stacking boxes, and a little cross stitch. I LOVE them all and found spots for them right when I got home. It was so good to meet ya Kindra ! Then we left and headed for Aunt Patty's Attic. That store has so many wonderful things I got overwhelmed looking at it all . Check out their blog here. I only chose 2 things to buy even though I saw so many things that I wanted. I'm sure I'll be back there soon.I'll post pictures of what I bought there later, because I'm not quite finished with part of it. We decided to go on home after that~ all my money was spent. Next time we'll stop by the other store that we ended up not going to today called Plum Creek Gifts . Here are some pictures from today!

Cute robin we saw as we were leaving for Lincoln. It was a very Springy day today. Hurray !
Stitchery from Kindra ~
Light up house from Kindra~


Stacking boxes from Kindra~

Kindra's Booth~
Inside Aunt Patty's Attic ~

Spring Gatherings

I just wanted to share a few Spring gatherings around my house, but first here is a pillow that I'll be posting on Liberty Hill today. I think the fabric is very cheery, but still warm and prim looking. I stopped in GW yesterday. It's so close to my house that I plan to walk there during warmer days when I go looking for treasures. The Scooter's coffee shop is right next to it, so I could even stop for a coffee if I walk up there. That's my new plan for the warm Spring days ahead. Anyway, I stopped by yesterday and found a few wooden candle holders that I will redo to sell on Liberty Hill or use for make-do's. I did keep one for myself and I love how it turned out. It was a medium wood finish and only
.99 ! I painted it a creamy color, sanded it and stained it.

I put together this gathering in my kitchen. A bowl of grungy eggs, a little bunny, and my candlestick. I really like how this all looks together. Isn't the little bunny cute ? !

I made this bunny for my bowl rack a few weeks ago.

These bunnies and basket of Vermont maple eggs are on my coffee table.I had a completely different display on my coffee table last week, but ended up moving things around. I think this gathering will stay here through Spring, but who knows. :-) I see the sun coming out here this morning ~ hurray ! It's still supposed to be cold, but as long as there is sun it's just fine ! Have a great Thursday !

Spring, Where Are You ?

Oh I can't wait for Spring to get here ! It is -7 here this morning with the wind chill, but at least the sun is shining. It looks like 50's for next week which is so much better. I'm ready to put on capri's, t-shirts, and flip flops ! I love these Spring pictures. This what I want to see outside right now :-)The warm weather and sunshine also helps me stay motivated to eat healthy, exercise, and lose a few pounds ! I haven't been doing very well with that the past couple of weeks. Since January, my friend Jamie over at Miller Homestead and I have been letting eachother know what we ate and if we exercised each day and I know we are both having trouble staying on track. I went to ride my bike yesterday and I when I turned on my ipod it was dead , so I put it on the charger, but never went back to the bike :-( Anyway, I need sun ! I bought this super cute pair of Crocs at Dick's Sporting Goods last week. Aren't they cute !? I want to get this pair too. I'm really looking forward to Saturday. Paige and I are finally heading to Lincoln to check out a couple of prim stores there and to stop by the craft show that Kindra from Three Guys, a Girl, and a Prim Place will have her booth at . I know I will come home with some great prim goodies and I'm so excited ! I finally got the dried pineapples, the sugar cone and dried pears I ordered a few weeks ago and I love them ! Thought I'd share some pics~
Hope everyone is having a good week !

Blogger Friends Colonial Weekend

I' ve had a couple of blogger's mention how fun it would be to have a blogger get together one day. My sister and I were talking about it the other day too. Well , I have decided to come up with a fun blogfriend weekend just for pretend. I love planning trips and thought this would be fun, so play along with me if you like ! This trip will be during the Fall. Oh and make sure to leave me a comment if you want to sign up for this trip ! (remember, just pretending here )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Blogger Friends Colonial Weekend~

Everyone will arrive on a Friday afternoon in Colonial Williamsburg Virginia.
We will all stay at The Williamsburg Inn.You will all receive one of these wonderful prim gatherings when you arrive in your room as a welcome gift ! (wouldn't that be great ! )
In your room will also be this penny rug kit that we will work on later in the evening. After settling in to your rooms and exploring this beautiful Inn we will meet at Christiana Campbell's Tavern for dinner in our own reserved party room. Click here to see some recipes from Christina Campbell's tavern. After a delicious meal we'll meet back at the hotel to work on these penny rug kits together that we each got when we arrived. The experienced penny rug blog ladies can help teach us just how to make them .
The next morning we will all set out to enjoy a day at Williamsburg. Look at all these wonderful places to visit in the historical Williamsburg area~ Historical Williamsburg
I'd love to stop at The Raleigh Tavern Bakery for an afternoon cup of coffee and a bakery treat:-)Then after a busy afternoon we could meet at King's Arms Tavern for dinner. Click here for the menu.Then back to the hotel to rest a bit and share what treasures we found during the day.Then I'd love to go to one of these evening events.
Sunday morning we could spend visiting the Gardens and Museums and a little more shopping before heading home.
Now wouldn't that be a fun weekend !? Do you want to come?! I do ! Well, this was fun to sit and think about on this gray dreary day here in Nebraska. Now I guess I should go do some laundry and get ready cook dinner instead of sitting here dreaming !Have a wonderful Saturday night !

Around The House and Another Giveaway

First make sure you go check out Tidymom's Giveaway's for today. She's giving a way some wonderful things this week !Just thought I'd share some pictures of areas I've been working on around the house. I think I'm about done with this area at one end of my living room. You'll all have to give me your opinions. Do I have too much at this end of the room or not ? I like it, but I always wonder how others will see it. Here is the Buttery sign I've been waiting on for 4 weeks. It finally came today and I LOVE it !
Here is the Dry Goods sign that I put above my fridge hanging on my printers drawer. This area is not completely done yet. I have another large jar to fill with dried pears to put behind the small jar. I also have a sugar cone coming that I think might look good on the scale. We'll see.
This is the one end of my living room that I have been working on and I'm happy with how it all came together. I love sitting on my couch and looking right at all these things that I love. :-)

I got this old table in February at Weathered and Worn. I love the color. I think it really softens up this area. The coverlet is from Family Heirloom Weavers.

This little cutting board with the pantry cake and the candlestick are from Circa 1892 Homestead Primitives on Ebay. I love her gatherings ! She doesn't have any listings right now, but when she does they are wonderful ! These flowers are from Michael's. They were 50 % off the other day, so I grabbed 3 bunches for my crock.

I finally got my Mercantile sign :-)

This candle ledge is a lot bigger than I imagined, but I'm loving it ! The grungy candle is one that my friend Jamie from Miller Homestead gave me a couple months ago when I was visiting in Illinois. It was a much brighter yellow ( she called it the nacho cheese candle ). It smells wonderful ! I decided to darken it up by using mod podge and some cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. The darker color works better in this area now. Thank you for this candle Jamie !
I found this high chair at Wildhorse Antiques in Plattsmouth yesterday. I saw it a few weeks ago and couldn't decide if I wanted it or not and it was still there. I'm glad I got it ! My bunny fits great in it !
The whole area ~ it looks cozier in person. Wanna stop by for coffee so you can see it better ?! :-)
That would be fun if all of you blog friends could stop by for a visit ! I'd like to replace the quilt on the ladder with a coverlet some day. Just not sure what coverlet. I guess I'll know when I see it !
These are just some flowers in a crock on one of the side tables in my living room. I sat the crock in an old box and added some wooden eggs.

Here is Abe in my dining room patiently waiting for George to get here. They tell me he should be in sometime in the next week or two.

I love this Abe Lincoln quote ! This is hanging in my dining room also. Palmer Falls makes the best signs ever !

I was really surprised to find this at Gordman's last week. It is a Primitives by Kathy stitchery and was on sale for $7. I snatched it up right away ! Gordman's actually has some pretty good prim things . This is the only primitive item I've bought there, but I will have to stop by and look more often.
A set of bowls I got in Plattsmouth yesterday for $12

A couple of labels I've added to some of my jars. Well, that's it for tonight. Thanks for being patient enough to look at all these pictures ! Have a great night !

Farmhouse Primitives Giveaway !

Head over to Tidymom's blog for today's giveaway. It's from Farmhouse Primitives ~ I love that place ! You won't want to miss this chance to win $25 to spend on their website, so go on over to Cheryl's blog and find out how to enter !

Treasures from Blogland

Here are a few new things that I have recently bought from some wonderful blog friends. I love buying handmade items from other blogger's. There is something special about knowing who made some of the things in my house instead of everything saying Made in China. I love the basket from Pam, the gameboard from Kindra, and now these new things ~
This adorable Easter Blessings pinkeep that Lisa from Blacksheep Prims made. It looks just perfect hanging on my pie safe.
I love my new red pillow that Karen from My Colonial Home made. Isn't it gorgeous ? ! It will have a place on my bed on my red quilt that it matches perfectly.

My Greensleeves Java Jacket that Kimberly made ~ I love it ! I just got back from Starbucks a few minutes ago because I could wait no longer to use it ! MMM, that Nonfat Peppermint Mocha was good and even better with my cup sitting in the cozy java jacket ! I also ordered a cool red pirate one for my mom and another flower one for my sister, but forgot to take a picture before I mailed them off yesterday. I'll be ordering more of these for sure !
This is not a new thing from that I bought from a blogger, but something I found at Weathered and Worn this past weekend. I love this school bell especially since our home is our school. Isn't it neat ! ? I think it is ! That's all I have to share for today. It's a good TV night tonight ~ Biggest Loser and American Idol, so I need to get ready to take Paige to Taekwondo, cook dinner, and get ready for our shows. Have a great night !

Another Giveaway

Check out today's giveaway on Tidymom's blog. Cheryl is such a sweet lady ! Thanks Cheryl for your kind words !

A Wonderful Giveaway !

Check out this wonderful giveaway from Crocketts Country Store on Tidymom's blog. She will be having giveaway's all week long !

Blessings Bunny and Carrots

Happy Wednesday ! Hope everyone is having a good week ! I'm looking forward to Friday morning when we pick up my sister Kim , my niece Sammi, and my nephew Patriot at the airport. They will be here until Sunday night for a visit. We will be going to the Pizza Machine on Friday for lunch. Then just shopping around to our favorite stores on Saturday and Sunday including Weathered and Worn, Wildhorse Antiques, Brass Armadillo, and the Old Market. We'll have to have lunch at Spaghetti Works on Saturday while we are at The Old market. It should be a fun weekend ! I also just listed this bunny and carrots for sale on Liberty Hill Prims. I made one for me too and he's sitting on my coffee table with a basket of eggs and a bundle of carrots.
Just had to add a little more Spring to my house ! Hope you all have a great night !

A Lucky Goodwill Day

I decided to stop by Goodwill today on my way to the Post Office. There was a tray I had seen there a few weeks ago that I was hoping was still there, but it was gone. I did find a few other things that I am very excited about ! I only spent $10 and look what I got ! All of these are perfect for my kitchen. I am not a blue girl at all, so I painted the cupboard Olde Ivory, dry brushed black over that and then briwax over that. I painted the hardware black and I knocked the little divider on the top cubby out to open that space up. I sewed up a little pillow and a seed bag for the cupboard and put my little wooly sheep in the top cubby. The rolling pin went right into my crock with the other rolling pins and mashers . I also painted the bowl Olde Ivory with briwax. I hung the bowl over the gameboard that Kindra made. I usually don't find much at Goodwill, but I'm so glad I stopped to look today. You just never know when you'll find a treasure ! Have a great weekend !

Dinner, Magazines, and Paint

Look what came today! Two of my favorite magazines ~ Early American Life and Country Sampler. How fun to see them both in my mailbox waiting for me!I haven't had time to sit down and look through them very well yet. I will do that tonight. I made a yummy dinner from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook tonight. It was so delicious and good for you, so I thought I'd share the recipes. The first recipe is for the sandwiches, the second is the meatballs for the sandwiches, and the third recipe is for the sauce.
Meat Lovers Must-Have family Sized Meatball Parmesan Sub
1(8 oz.) whole wheat or multi grain baguette (I used individual wheat sub rolls)
New favorite Meatballs ( recipe below )
1 1/2 cups Main Event Marinara Sauce ( recipe below )
1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400 F
Cut a piece of foil a couple inches longer than the baguette. Turn the baguette on it's side and cut the entire length, not cutting all the way through, as you would cut a roll to make a sandwich. Wrap the baguette in foil so it is completely covered.Place the baguette in the oven to warm, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile in a medium nonstick saucepan over low heat or in a large microwave safe bowl or dish in the microwave, reheat the meatballs in the sauce until hot.
Unwrap the baguette.Spoon the warm meatballs and sauce into the baguette. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cut crosswise into four equal sandwiches.

New Favorite Meatballs
Olive oil spray or Olive Oil
2 egg whites
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dries oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound lean ground beef
Preheat the oven to 400F.Lightly coat a large nonstick baking sheet with the olive oil spray. In a medium bowl, using a fork, mix together the egg whites,oats, and milk until well combined.
Make 32 meatballs, each about 1 1/4 " diameter.Roll the balls with your hands and arrange, not touching on the prepared baking sheet. bake for 7 - 10 minutes or until no longer pink inside.

Main Event Marinara Sauce
Olive oil spray
1 cup minced yellow or white onion
2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
1(28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt, to taste(optional)
Spray a medium nonstick saucepan with the olive oil spray and place over medium heat.Add the onion and garlic and cook until just becoming tender(they should not brown ), 4 to 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and with wooden spoon stir in the tomatoes, water, tomato paste,honey, oregano, basil, and pepper flakes until well combined. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for at least one hour. Season with salt if needed.
This Biggest Loser Cookbook is great ! There are so many good, easy recipes. I got it at Border's but it is also on Amazon and I saw it at Target too..
I also have a couple things that I have repainted to show you. Here is a gathering I put together. I painted the box, candlestick, and scoop Olde Ivory and the used Bri wax to darken them up a little. I added some Sweet Annie, Cinnamon vanilla soap bars, coffee stained cheese cloth, and a little bowl I painted brown.
This candle ledge used to be black and I painted it Old Ivory and then used Bri wax on it also. I like it so much better. Now the black tin candle holder stands out more. I found this at Goodwill last summer for .99 ~ great deal !
That's all for tonight. I think I will go make some coffee and look at my new magazine's. Have a great night !

Henry

This is Henry the prim bunny. I just finished this today and I love it ! I'd like to keep him for myself, but I listed him on my blog store today. Henry is tucked in a prim bag with two grungy carrots and some Sweet Annie. He has some cheesecloth around his neck with a rusty bell, and a tag with his name stitched on it. I'm enjoying him hanging on my pie safe in the living room right now. :-) It's windy and cold here today. I'm going to get some laundry and cleaning done this afternoon. Have a great Wednesday !

Look What I Got !

Look what I got in the mail today !The gameboard I ordered from Kindra at Three Guys, a Girl, and a Prim Place. I am so happy with it ~ I just love it even more than I loved it in the picture !It is hanging in my kitchen and it looks just perfect in there. The colors are so warm and cozy ! Thanks so much Kindra ~ you do such a wonderful job on the things you make!

Spring Fever Giveaway Winner !

Thank you all for entering my giveaway ! I numbered each entry (many had 2 numbers) and I had Gabriel pick a number 1 through 179. And the winner is Donna from Never So Simple! Here is her entry ~Wow 200 posts congratulations. What a wonderful give away I'd be happy to win just one of those items. I am a follower and would love to be included in your give away.
Donna
Donna,you can email me your address to cozycoop@gmail.com and I'll get your goodies mailed out tomorrow. Have a great day !

My New Blog Store

I have listed a few items for sale in my new blog store Liberty Hill Primitives I hope you'll come on over to visit and maybe even become a follower. I'd love it if you'd add me to your bloglists too ! :-) I plan to add more new items in the next few days. Let me know what you think ! Also today is the last day to enter my giveaway. If you haven't entered and would like to, you can click on the Spring Fever Giveaway picture on the left side of the page to enter. I will announce the winner sometime tomorrow morning. Have a great night !

Live For Today

I made this pillow last night with some of the new fabric I posted a couple days ago. I like this saying and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I also painted this chair a few days ago. It used to be red. I've decided to try selling my items on a blog instead of on Etsy starting next week. I am working on some bunnies and stitcheries for it. I'll post the link when I get some things posted for sale. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's Day and a great weekend !

Valentine Pasta

This picture sure does make this meal look very greasy, but it didn't that seem greasy when we ate it! My mom sent us this heart pasta that she found at World Market. I just added, butter,pepper, fresh parmesan cheese and some crumbled bacon. Then I shaped the Pillsbury breadsticks into hearts and that was our fun Valentine meal last night. It was yummy !
Today I am going to make chocolate chip muffins in the heart pan that I won at Carrie's blog Unmatched Socks. We are supposed to get lot's of snow today, so warm muffins and a cup of coffee sound good to me ! Enjoy your Friday !

Stenciled Entry

A couple of days ago I painted a new stencil in my entryway. I really like this one and it was easy with no overlays :-) The pineapple stencil I did took much longer and was much more of a pain than this one. I used Old Century Barn Red paint and a mixture of my acrylic paints for the tannish color. So I'm done stenciling in this house now. I also posted a picture of some fat quarters I got yesterday. I love these fabrics ! I will use them for backgrounds for my stitcheries, pillows , bags, or whatever I come up with .I'm going to try to add a couple things to my Etsy store in the next couple weeks. I just haven't been in the mood to make anything for it since Christmas. Oh and I forgot to tell you that Abe is hanging in my dining room all by himself. George will be here to keep him company soon. :-) That's all for today ! Have a great Thursday !

Country Sampler Home Tours

I am so excited to get this special issue of Country Sampler ! There are going to be 10 new home tours this year and a cottage garden featured. I always look forward to the Home Tours issue, but this years will be great ! I preordered mine yesterday here and I got an email today saying it already shipped. If that is so then I can't wait for it to get here! I thought it was going to ship in March, so the email could have been a mistake , but I hope not ! I'll let you know if I get it in the next few days. I encourage you to order this special issue online or on page 99 of the March issue of Country Sampler as it will have a very limited sale time on the newsstands. I'm really in the mood to see that cottage garden right now ~ this beautiful weather has made me so ready for Spring~ I can't wait ! Speaking of Spring, if you haven't entered my Spring Fever Giveaway you can just scroll down to the post below this or click on the Spring Fever Giveaway picture on the left side of my blog. Hope you all have a wonderful night !

Spring Fever Giveaway

It's a Spring Fever Giveaway in honor of my 200th post ! I've been working on these items for the past couple weeks and I'm excited that it's time to give them away ! Here is what you will get if you win~ a Garden Thyme sign, a Sow Seeds of Kindness stitchery, a willow tree bag, a candle mat, a spring bunny carrying fresh greens on his back ( well they look like fresh greens anyway ), an oatmeal cookie votive and candle pan ,and some delicious Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Gourmet cookies. Please don't post this on your blogs as I'd like this to be for people that arrive at my blog on their own. You don't have to have a blog to enter, but be sure to leave an email address for me to contact you if you win.To enter once just leave me a comment and for a second entry become one of my followers. If you become a follower or already are one please leave a comment and let me know, so I can put your name in twice. I will draw a winner on Monday Feb. 16 Good luck !

Face In Hole

I've been having so much fun doing these this morning. This is the most fun website
Face In Hole I made these as a surprise for my kids. I printed them out the size of a regular sheet of paper, so they are pretty big and I'm going to hang them around the house tomorrow morning before they get up. They'll love it ! That will be the fun Valentine surprise of the day. Simple, but fun. So here they are ~
Here is Paige~

Avril Lavigne
Vanessa Hudgens
Twilight
Ashley Tisdale
Narnia

Twilight
Shania Twain
Here's Gabriel~

Russell Crow 3:10 to Yuma

Simon Cowell

Conan O'Brien Marilyn Manson
Lord of the Rings
Kid Rock
The Joker

Banana Split

Today was the first day of Valentine Week. Our special treat was banana splits for dessert. They were sooo good ! We topped the banana with neopolitan icecream, strawberries, hot fudge, whipped cream, chocolate hearts, and pink sprinkles. Don't they look yummy ? :-) I better walk 5 miles tomorrow ! Now we are going to get our pj's on and watch the newest Mummy movie . Enjoy your night !

My Bedroom

I've noticed a few other blogger's have posted pictures of their bedrooms. I thought I'd join them and share mine. My room is not very primitive, but does have a few prim things mixed in. It seems like my room just gets the leftover decorating items that I'm not using at the time. I think the entryway wall has had about 4 or 5 different pictures or displays on it over the past year.:-) I do like my room and it is a very calm and relaxing space. I bought my quilt and valances at Target when we moved in here a year ago. I love the quilt, but would like to go more Colonial one day. I want to paint my bed black and find a red coverlet. I have lot's of plans for my room, but they will have to wait a while !These pictures are from Christmas. I hope more of you will share your rooms with us ! I'd love to see them !
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Today I have a couple projects to work on and some shopping to do for Valentine week that starts at our house tonight. I also have some stenciling and painting to do . I am making a new sign for my giveaway and I am repainting a couple of small things in my house.It is going to be in the 50's today, so I plan to open the windows, clean, and stay busy with my projects. Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday !

My New Basket

Look what I got in the mail today ! My new basket that Pam from Baskets N Prims made for me. I just love it ! I don't know if it will stay in the spot that it's hanging right now cause I might find an even better spot for it. Pam , you did a wonderful job. I love the things you make ! Thanks so much ! Here are a couple pics ~

Little Bits of Color

I've added some florals and greenery picks around my house to brighten it up a bit. The color makes me look forward to spring. Here are a few pics for you ~

I love these flowers. They are very summery, but I like having them out during the gray winter.
Sprigs of green in my Olde Thyme Herb Co. box~

This is the wall where I plan to hang the Presidential portraits when I get them. I think they are perfect for this room. The picture , sheep, and star will go in my bedroom.Some greens with little berries added to my table
I rearranged things in my hutch and added some spring color.
Love those green picks in my bucket~ so springy don't ya think ?

I just finished this little stitchery that you see in my hutch. I love it ! You'll be seeing it again in about a week or so :-)More of those springy greens that I love !

Any BE Girls Out There ?

If you are a Bare Escentuals wearer, did you get the new Purist 9 piece Grand Collection over the weekend on QVC ? I can't wait to get it ~ I love the colors ! I just love Bare Escentuals make-up. I've never found any other make-up like it. When I started wearing it a few years ago, I had always had trouble finding good foundation, concealer and pretty eyeshadow colors. I couldn't believe how light BE felt on my skin like wearing no make up at all and how natural it looked on. Then came all the fun color choices. I never would have thought I'd wear some of the colors , but they went on so sheer and soft . It also seems to last forever. I hardly ever have to buy new makeup. Just some foundation and bisque(concealer) every few months or so. It is perfect for sensitive skin and great for young girls and teens skin that might break out more often. My daughter loves it, but only wears a little eyeshadow and lip gloss. If you are looking for something new to try or are just tired of what you've been wearing then you should try this great makeup. The thing I love about the kits on QVC is that they usually come with a bag and some have Auto Delivery which means in a few months you will recieve another new kit with a bag and new colors. This kit that I ordered was on auto delivery, so I will get another kit in May and then one more in September. The other great thing is that it was on 4 easypays and still is for today ! That means the Auto Deliveries will also be on easy pay.Also when you buy Bare Escentuals in these kits you get so much more for your money than buying individuals items. Many of the kits are only offered on QVC, but some are in the stores where BE is sold. It is sold at Bare Escentuals Boutiques, Ulta, Sephora, and in some salons. I just wanted to share this with everyone as I really love my BE. Here are some links if you want to browse around and find out more about Bare escentuals.
Bare Escentuals Purist 9 Piece Collection with Bag
Bare Escentuals Website
Just a quick update ~ the Auto Delivery is no longer available with this Purist kit. You will only recieve this first kit , not one in May and September also.

My Package of Goodies

Last week I won a giveaway over at Unmatched Socks. I was so excited to get the package in the mail yesterday. Carrie was so sweet to add a couple extra surprises. The little tree is too cute and I love the heart ornament ~ actually I love it all ! It's all such fun stuff and I am excited to use it during Valentine Week at our house. I have some fun things planned for the week starting on Feb. 7. Mostly simple things, but it will be a little more fun than usual around here. Thanks so much Carrie for all this great stuff, for being so generous, and for being such a great
blog friend !:-) Only 7 more posts until my 200th post and a giveaway!I love giveaways, don't you? !

Things I love

Tammy at Country Girl at Home and Joy at Doodlebug made lists of ten things they loved all starting with the same letter. I said I'd play along and Tammy gave me the letter T. So here's my list ~
1.Tidiness ~ I love things to be neat and tidy.

2.Target ~ It's only 5 minutes from my house and I go there very often.

3.Tea ~ Iced sweet tea and hot Earl Grey are my favorites. We almost always have a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. In the evening I like a cup of Earl Grey. Oh and I can't handle Green Tea, it makes me shiver even to smell it !

4. Turtle Brownies ~Yum !

5. Teaching my kids at home ~ I'm so thankful that I can homeschool my kids and love having them here with me. Couldn't imagine it any other way !

6. Twilight ~ Great movie and I'm waiting on Paige to finish the book, so I can read it. :-)

7.Taking walks ~ My favorite exercise. I love to go walking.

8.TV shows ~ I really do love watching my shows. I don't have very many, but look forward to the ones I do watch.

9. Trips~ I love taking trips back to Illinois, Branson, Disney World, and I have many other trips I want to take one day including a trip to New England. The last time I was there was about 14 years ago and I can't wait to go back.

10. Tax Refunds ! It sure is nice to get a tax refund. :-)

Paige told me to add one more ~

11. Taylor Swift ! :-)

If you want to play along let me know and I'll give you a letter.
I also got a fun package in the mail today . I will post all the goodies that were in my package tomorrow. Have a great night !

Wanna See Where I Blog ?

Earlier today Linda from Behind My Red Door posted pictures of where she blogs. Her room is wonderful ! What a nice cozy place to blog. She invited everyone to post pictures of where they blog . At first I thought no way, my computer room is not a very pretty room and nobody will want to see it. Then I changed my mind and thought what the heck, I'll go clean it up and take a couple pictures. The little bitty room I blog in is our computer room/exercise room/dart room/ and sewing room. We were so lucky to get a 4 bedroom house when we moved in here a year ago. We were used to 3 bedrooms and no good place for a computer desk . My husband Brian loves the St. Louis Cardinals and has plenty of memorabilia , so I told him he could have his stuff displayed in this room since the rest of the house is prim . So above our desk he has the American flag that he flew over Iraq when he was an aeromedical evacuation technician, flying into Iraq to pick up patients. As you can see I need a new comfy computer chair. I'm using one of my dining chairs right now. To the left of the desk hanging on the wall is a small part of his hat collection. The recumbent bike is on the other side of the room from the desk with the dart board hanging behind it. My little sewing area that I set up this past fall is to the right of the desk with the hanging Cardinals lantern above it :-) Then beside the sewing table is a bookshelf with Brian's medical books ,military folders, and our DVD collection. So there is the tour of the room I blog in. Hope you enjoyed it ! :-) Now I want to see yours !

Garden Thyme

Well, it's not Garden Thyme here today, but it is snowing some more ! This weekend I decided to stitch up this Springy bag that can be filled with flowers, sweet annie, or even just left empty.It was so quick to make ! I love the fabric I used for this too. It has names of different flowers all over it. Click on the picture and you can see the fabric better. I finished a couple other stitcheries this weekend, but I can't show them as they are gifts that can't be seen here ! :-) Hope everyone had a nice weekend !

Live In Love

That's what the bracelet says that Paige got in the mail today. She is a huge Taylor Swift fan and that is the bracelet that Taylor wears. We bought it on Ebay last week and she was very excited to get it today. Speaking of love~ I read a book today that I absolutely loved called The Shack. It was a wonderful book and if you haven't had a chance to read it yet then I recommend it ! My SIL Haley over at Everyday Mom had a review on her blog not long ago about it. I have also added a couple pictures of my son from yesterday. He'd be mad if he knew I put these on here. He's showing off his new jacket we got on sale at Old Navy. He doesn't like me to put his picture on my blog, so that's why you don't see him much on here. SHHH ! He'll never know ! I'm off to watch Winn Dixie with Paige. Have a great night !

Whatever you are, be a good one

I love that Abe Lincoln quote, so I decided to stitch it last night while I watched TV. There actually wasn't much on to watch. I sat there for two hours watching/listening to George Lopez ~ pretty funny show:-) Anyway, I stitched this for my living room. One end of my living room where I had my Christmas tree is just not done yet. That is where I plan to put the basket I'm buying from Pam at Baskets N Prims, the Mercantile sign, the peg shelf and candle ledge. After I get it all finished I'll take some pictures, but that will be a couple months probably. I really want a dry sink on that end of the room, but oh well, I'll have to wait a while for that. :-) I love the fabric on this stitchery. I picked it up before Christmas at Country Sampler, a fabric store near here.What do ya think ?

Valentines and Stitcheries

I decided to get back to stitching the past couple days.I needed something to hang on my old window and I had a spot in my room that needed a stitchery. I decided to make a bag with a willow tree stitched on it for the window. I filled it with sweet annie and some red berries. Then I stitched a verse for my room. I made the hearts in the basket and the heart with the crows a couple years ago. That's the only Valentine decor in my house. Today is supposed to be a warm 48 for the high. I think I will do pilates this morning and go for a walk this afternoon instead of riding the bike again. Jamie (Miller Homestead), can you move here to Nebraska and be my walking partner ? It's so nice to have a walking partner ! I always had walking partner's in Illinois. When one would move I was always able to find a new one. Paige can be my partner some days, but she doesn't enjoy it as much as I do ! I noticed that I'm not far from my 200th post. I'll have to start working on something for a giveaway. Maybe I'll do a spring giveaway.I also found out yesterday that I won a great valentine giveaway over at Unmatched Socks blog. I'm so excited to get all those wonderful goodies ! I'll post a picture when they arrive ! Well, that's all for today. Have a happy Thursday!

My Shopping List

Every year in January I feel like my house is very empty after having seasonal things out since September. I usually do pretend shopping online and fill up the shopping cart with all the things I'd like to have delivered to my house to fill up the bare spots. I spent a little over $700 at Piper Classics when I pretend shopped the other day.:-)I do have a real list of things that I'd love to try to buy over the next few months . I thought it would be fun to share my shopping list ~

Kinda Boring Around Here

I've been a boring blogger lately, but I really have nothing interesting to blog about. We dropped Brian off at the airport yesterday afternoon to leave for his deployment. I haven't heard from him yet. Hopefully he made it there safely. He had a couple of long flights, so I'm sure he was super tired by the time he got there.The kids and I are getting back into a routine around here. We enjoyed watching the inauguration this morning. I liked Obama's speech and hope that he does a great job as president. I think Michelle Obama wear's the prettiest clothes! :-) She always looks so nice. I was not an Obama supporter, but I am keeping a positive attitude and staying hopeful. After we watched the inauguration I rode my recumbent bike for an hour. Today I'm starting to count calories and work out every day. I need to lose 50 pounds and would like to have it off by summer. It's an easy goal if I can stick with the plan !I haven't worked on anything for my house or to sell since before Christmas. I need a break from crafting ! I do think I might start working on a sampler for my room this week. We've gone to a couple movies in the past week ~ Mall Cop and finally Twilight. They were both good, but we loved Twilight ! Paige is reading the first book and then it's my turn to read it. She is begging me to go see it again, but I think we'll just wait for the DVD to come out in March. Paige has been practicing on her guitar that she got for Christmas. Boy it's hard at first ! I had to watch the DVD with her a few times before we understood it well enough to start practicing. She's doing good,though and not giving up ! She's persistent, so I know she'll learn it. So that's all that's going on around here. I'm running out to get a few things at the base and then back to clean up a bit before we watch our shows. It's the best TV night of the week for us ~ Biggest Loser and American Idol !I should go check the mail too, I hope my Country Sampler is here ! Have a great week ! Paige and her guitar

Back in Nebraska and Big Cedar Pics

Well, we are back home in snowy Nebraska after our 2 week visit in Illinois. I have been miserable with a terrible cold the past couple days. I can't wait to feel back to normal ! I did get all my Christmas put away Sunday and now have a very empty feeling house. It's kind of nice , but I also have spots that just need something. I have a list of things that I would like to get over the next few months to fill those empty places. We had a fun trip to Big Cedar Lodge. When we got there on Friday afternoon we met Grandma Dixie at the registration building and just got settled in the lodge. That evening we went down to the clubhouse to swim and have coffee. On Saturday we went to The Hard Luck Diner in Branson for lunch. It's a restaurant where the waiters and waitresses take turns singing. Actually, Jason Yeager , a top 20 finalist on American Idol a couple of seasons ago works there. After lunch we went back to Big Cedar and looked around the gift shop, played miniature golf, took a walk ( it was 70 degrees that day ! ) and stopped by the coffee shop before taking the bus back to the lodge. The kids rested a bit while Papa cooked some hot dogs out on the grill. After dinner it was back to the clubhouse to swim again. We weren't ready to go home Sunday morning. Patriot really wanted to just move to Big Cedar. :-) We all love it there. Here are some pictures for you ~
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The coffee shop







Playing miniature golf with Papa




The Registration Building Inside the Registration Building




Lunch at the Hard Luck Diner in Branson



The stables

Taking a walk

New Years Eve

We had our New Years Eve party at my parents house like we have for quite a few years now. We have a couple traditions that are a lot of fun for all of us. When everyone arrives there is a Victorian gift game for the kids that my mom does every year. She has a colored piece of yarn for each child strung through a room with small gifts attached to the yarn. As they follow the yarn they find their gifts. Then we all eat lot's of yummy finger foods and punch. This year we had cheese, crackers, mini egg rolls, pigs in a blanket, layered taco dip and chips, meatballs, veggies and dip, mozzerella cheese sticks, mini eclairs, and chocolate cheesecake.After we all eat we have a crazy $5 gift exchange. Everyone has fun choosing and stealing gifts. Some of the gifts this year included a cowboy hat, mini nutcrackers, socks, a jump rope, chocolate candy, bubbles, star wars playing cards, and bean dip.:) It's always very fun and entertaining ! We are actually kind of boring around here. Everyone goes home around 8pm and we all try to stay awake at our own homes to watch the ball drop.Grandma went outside with the kids at 8 and they all threw confetti and yelled Happy New year before they went home. I actually went to bed around 11. Gabriel and Paige stayed up till midnight though. I did hear some fireworks in the neighborhood at midnight. Here are some pictures of our party. Tomorrow morning we leave for Branson. I'll take lot's of pictures ! Happy New Year to you all !

Happy New Year !

I hope everyone has a nice and safe night !We had our fun and simple party here with our family and now we will just try to stay up long enough to see the ball drop. I'm sure I'll fall asleep before midnight as usual ! I took some pictures of our party and will post them as soon as I can. Happy New Year !

Tagged and Only 3 Days till Christmas !

I can't believe it's only three days till Christmas ! Hurray ! I want to do some Christmassy things this week, but not sure what.We don't have any parties or Christmas programs to go to.It's almost too cold to go out much. I think I'd like to drive around and look at lights tonight if the roads are clear enough. The side roads are still pretty messy and there is a chance of more snow tonight and tomorrow.
I finished the rest of my shopping yesterday and everything is wrapped. The kids and I went to Border's, JC Penney, Honey Baked Ham, Bath and Body Works, and Sams yesterday. We just about froze to death ~ it was way too cold. The wind was just painful ! We all wanted to come home and take a nap by the fireplace ( if only we had a fireplace)I have almost everything for our Christmas dinner. I'll have to run out later for a couple little things I forgot. This is what we are having ~ Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls, veggies, pumpkin pie, caramel apple pie, and chocolate brownie trufflets. Just the usual basic stuff. That's plenty of food for the four of us!
Then the kids and I will be driving to St. Louis the day after Christmas to spend 2 weeks with our family there. We will be going to Big Cedar Lodge in Branson for a couple days while we are there. We love that place and are very excited to go. Hopefully the weather cooperates to drive to St. Louis and Branson. :-)Here is a link to Big Cedar It is such a beautiful place. My parents have a time share there and we've gone for quite a few years now. We either stay in a cozy cabin or the lodge. My grandma lives close by there, so she always comes to stay with us and go to a show in Branson or shopping in the outlet malls or to Branson Landing.
When we get back in January my husband Brian will be deploying for 6 months. It's nothing new for us. He has been deployed often and was gone for a year before we moved to Nebraska. So that's what the next few weeks holds for us ! Hope you all have a good Christmas week !

I have also been tagged by Teresa at Diddle Daddle Designs
Here are the rules ~

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.