relaxing at my sisters

I LOVE hanging out at my sisters house. She has beautiful gardens and some farm animals. I try and photograph her garden every year as there is always something new and exiting to look at. The pig's name is IKE- He is a pot belly pig and has a nose that is just to funny!

The play house belongs to Princess Alexis. She is my sister's grandaughter. Next to the play house my sister planted a garden for her! Click on the picture to see it in more detail.

The Potting Shed is my favorite structure on my sister's property. She has it beautifully done. This is were her vegetable garden is planted. She has a rod iron fence around it which I just love.

The gazebo was a steal of a deal! (like I said before, my sister is the queen of bargains) she got it at an auction- I belive she only paid a few hundred dollars for it. The work was having to move it from the sellers property to hers.

The gardens are beautiful. She really has a green thumb. She does not have problems with displaced deer eating her flowers. Unlike myself who has every animal known to man kind thinking my garden is a buffet!

Enjoy!

Yard saleing with my sister

My sister is the queen of bargains. One of our favorite things to do together is hit the town wide yard sales. I really made out well with her that day. The "loot" is all on my kitchen table. (above)One of my favorite finds was decorative pictures for my black and white bathroom that I just re-decorated.
Pictures of that to come on a future post. I also hit the jack pot when i came across a woman selling her daughters beautiful clothes for 50 cents each! She has the same taste as Isabella and so I came home with bags full. I bought beautiful church dresses for 2.00! I also got the game "clue" still in the shrink wrap for 1.00! My kids begged me to get the game for them the last time we were in Wal Mart but I didn't want to pay the 15.00 price tag- I am soooooooo glad I didn't.

This outing with my sister has re-kindled my love of going to tag sales. I hope to make it more of a habit. You really can find the things that you need if you are patient and willing to take the time to look. In the famous words of Michelle Dugger, "Buy used and save the difference!"

My sister is so happy when she is shopping. She found this great doll house for her daughter- she paid 5.00 for it and all the accessories that go with it. I was a bit sick to my stomach as I had bought the same house for my daughter for 40.00- full price in the store.

One final yard sale story. When I first quit my job and started homeschooling the kids I was living in a small town house. I needed a cabinet to store all of their books in but didnt have a lot of money to spend. One day coming home from the food store I saw a sign for a yard sale. I really was not in the mood to stop at it but something inside told me I needed to go. When I pulled up to the sale there was this tall thin cabinet in great condition! It was perfect for what I needed. I had prayed that the Lord would help me to find a cabinet and He did!

I am not gone

Hi,

I wanted to write a little something to let you know that I am still blogging but am having problems with my camera uploading pictures. I even tried to upload some free clip art and I just could not get that to work either! ugh! It may be my computer. (but more than likely me!) Well anyways, I thought I would at least post what will be coming:

1. yard saleing with my sister
2. How to make a beautiful paper swag
3. Mark's ordination
4. My new bathroom makeover (not quit done yet- have to install the sink)
5 Future decorating projects

stay tuned- hopfully I will be able to work out the bugs and get this stuff posted

Mexican Fiesta

Our church had a Mexican dinner last week to raise money for the youths and adults that will be heading off to "World Changers" in Neptune New Jersey the week of July 4th.

Casey and Lisa- two summer missionaries who are staying with us through July 4th. They are such a joy to have and are hard workers. Who is the gringo in the middle????

Adrienne and Debbie taking a few minutes to pose for a picture before the guest arrive. The cake was made by the Mexican bakery that the food came from. It is called "tres leches" or in English - 3 milks.

A big THANK YOU to the Furchak family who donated all of the food and decorations! You guys ROCK

Isabella- always ready to pose for a picture.

window treatments

A while back I started to make this fabric banner- not really knowing what I would do with it. I saw the idea on the internet and thought it looked easy to replecate. I made my own pattern and used scrap material to make the triangles. One day I noticed my curtains on the slideing glass door were getting stained and dirty so, I took them off to wash. I decided not to put them back up. I liked the bare look for a while but then felt the doors needed something simple. I remembered the banner I had started and thought that it would be a nice touch to the sliders. I enjoy dressing my windows in a unique way and with summer approaching the banner seemed a perfect fit. (Click on the pictures to see it up close. ) I have an idea for my window that is above my kitchen sink- I will post that when I finsih it.

A look back............

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Shabby Foo Foo

Yesterday, I had to drive out to my parents house in Jim Thorpe to pick up Isabella. I have a favorite shop that I try and get to every time I am out there and these are 2 items that I picked up. The metal chair was only 20.00! The owner of the shop (who I have known for a long time) is an artist. The flower on the back of the chair was hand painted by her. I also picked up the little "powder room" sign for my downstairs bathroom. I used to have a different sign on the door but I had to take it off because it was to chunkey and banged the door every time you opened it. This little sign as Goldie Locks would say, "Is just right"