These pretty little blooms in our backyard are making me sneeze! Along with the grass cutting, field plowing, and pollen blowing. Loving the sunshine and looking forward to the warm weather.


God gives us so many beautiful and amazing things to see and enjoy on this earth. I can't even imagine what heaven is going to be like.

We went out visiting today with a group of girls. Mrs. E and I were together and we heard two of our girls talking to a man at the next house. He didn't want a church invite so they asked him if he knew where he would go when he dies. He said he supposed he would go to hell. They tried to give him a tract with the salvation message on it. He told the girls to just keep it. I was so sad.


Knowing that there is a heaven and a hell I can't even imagine choosing to go to hell. I thought if that man could, for just two seconds, see what the Bible says hell is like, he would want nothing to do with it. I was also so sad that he didn't want anything to do with God. God does not send people to hell, people choose to go there when they reject God.

Just wanted to share a few of Madison's birthday treats from last week.

She has been wanting a collection of Nancy Drew books for a little while now. I had to discourage her from using a Christmas gift card to buy a few. I felt awful steering her away from buying the books. However, I knew that a certain blessing had come our way. My sweet friend was willing to give me an extensive (25+) collection of vintage Nancy Drew. Madison and I share an appreciation of some vintage things so I knew this would be just perfect for her. She absolutely LOVED the books.

We always bake a birthday treat to share at school. Madison chose our favorite sugar cookie recipe dipped in chocolate. They were fun and looked so fancy. Everyone loved them.

The day ended with dinner out of her choosing and cake at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I think her day was as special as she is.

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Our sweet young lady is 12! Happy Birthday Madison.

Being still

Enjoying the moment while smiling. Feeling refreshed as winter starts packing up for the season!

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Happy Birthday Mia Goose!

A splash of color on a cloudy day. What fun!

I just thought I would take a minute to link to a post from last year. Some who are new to my blog since then might enjoy this project.

fall fun

With honey and cream

Happy October

Be Happy!

Summer is over...

and the last project complete. I have never been afraid to paint furniture. Keith knows me well enough that he brought this bench home on his own. It was piece left behind in a remodel and it was free for the taking. Solid wood, painted brown with chunky knobs. Not for me. We let it sit on our porch and debated between painting it black or white or a fun trendy color. Keith and I have similar taste and trendy was out right away. White was too cottage even though I like cottage. Black it is! Keith got busy with the sanding at the beginning of summer. I was motivated and got the first coat of black on right away. It took me three hours! All the corners and slats were tedious with care taken to have no drips. Summer moved forward and the project sat. I usually can't wait to have something finished but I was dreading the time consuming second coat. I skipped a primer coat to keep the cost down, I ended up paying for it with my time. I kept an eye open for new knobs but wasn't sure what I was looking for. I found the checkerboard knobs at Anthro and knew they were the ones. The pillow was a find in SF too. Having the new accessories was all the motivation I needed. Today was the perfect day. Four hours of uninterrupted painting seemed like forever. But it is DONE. I can say I don't want any more makeover furniture for a while. Proof being I passed up a beautiful dresser, perfect in size and price at an estate sale on Sat. I did not take a before picture, it was just plain dirt brown. Bench= free. Paint= $7/quart and I only used half, knobs were a splurge @$24, pillow doesn't count because I can use it anywhere. Right? Right!

What is this?

Silly cuties! Madison won't like that I posted this picture of her. I love it though. I love the relationship these two have.

I wanted to share the sweet blog/website where I got the pattern to make Madison's skirt. I consider myself a total beginner and this pattern was very doable for me. I can't wait to make more! The Long ladies were nice to post the picture and review I sent them. How fun. Be sure to check their blog, they are having a sale soon.

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Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

Our last stop of the day, Pier 39. The weather was perfect, the company the best, a treasured day. Leah wanted to go to Alcatraz but this is as close as we got. She also had it in her mind to take an evening swim. We did convinced her otherwise.
Silly girl!

I had the most fun with my sweet, sweet friends. Even though Leah is really 2,000 miles away we had lots of fun pretending she was with us. It is good to have fun, to be silly and to be blessed with such wonderful friends.

More SF fun

We had so much fun shopping and walking and talking in SF. Williams-Sonoma is the funnest store ever. We were treated to blackberry crumble samples that they were cooking at a demo. Very delicious. Leah must have missed her red mixer from home because she got a bit friendly with the one at the store! Next we went to Tiffany to browse and to get my bracelet cleaned. Again, Leah was all over the store. We had to tuck her away in my bag for a bit. Next stop was Coit Tower after enjoying a refreshing Starbucks. I think Leah likes to be in front of the camera. Just kidding Leah :)