Goodbye August . . .

Here's a little bit of fun trivia for you.

This August had

5 Sundays

5 Mondays

5 Tuesdays

all in one month.
It happens once in 823 years.

Enjoy the last day of August 2010!

Now it's time to start thinking about Fall!

Only 23 more days!

Weekly Words To Live By #20 . . .

Life is 10% what happens to you and

90% what you do with what happens to you.

James 1:2-4

(New International Version)
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Lush & Lovely . . .

Our little 'victory garden' didn't fare too well in the extreme

temperatures of 100 plus days, even with daily watering.

However, some of our plants survived.

The Boston ferns we bought for $5 at Lowe's tripled in size.

They get morning sun, daily watering, and fertilizer every other week.

Even in the shade the Impatiens suffered a little,
but they should bounce back.


The Lantanas and Begonias did well in the full sun.


I'm lovin' this cooler weather.
Happy Friday to you all!

Ethan Meets Levi . . .

Sharing a picture of the cousins meeting for the first time.

How sweet!

Hope your Wednesday is wonderful!!

Ethan's New Cousin . . .

Ethan is now a cousin!

Yesterday, Kari's sister, Kim, and her husband Matt

had their first baby.

Welcome to the world Levi Aaron!

He's a big boy!

9 lbs. 11 oz.

21 inches

I'll post a picture as soon I can.

Congratulations Kim & Matt!

Weekly Words To Live By #19

I'm joining Tracey for

Weekly Words To Live By.

Sundays Of My Childhood

* Sunday School & Church *

* Aroma of roast cooking in the oven *

* Washing dishes in the sink *

* Everyone napping *

* Truly a day of rest *

* Comfort & security of home *

You've Got To Be Kidding . . .

Excuse me while I rant & rave a little.

A few days ago I saw a story on a local TV channel that made me so mad!

A large school district outside Oklahoma City is charging teachers a fee for using the following items.

lamps $15.00

fans $30.00

I can understand a school system trying to save money, but this is outrageous.

As a retired teacher I can't imagine charging teachers for using a fan or lamp in their classroom. I had a desk lamp & several others around the room to add a little coziness.

I had to have a fan, especially during the hot months. Not to mention that the thermostats were controlled by a computer. The AC & heater would shut off about 15 minutes before school was dismissed. I can't imagine working after school with no fan! I could handle the lack of no heat because I could put on a jacket or sweater.

Okay, bear with me, I'm almost finished.

Teacher's spend so much of their own money to buy things for their classroom, I know I did.

I can't understand why they're charging teachers who are trying to make their classroom a comfortable place for learning.

I'm finished now.

What's your opinion?

Buddy Time . . .

Last Thursday was a fun day!

Kari, Ethan & his buddy, Nathan, met

at my house for play time.

They enjoyed snacks . . .

story time . . .


sunshine & shadows . . .


and posing for a photo . . .


take #1


take #2

take #3

FINALLY!

Ah-h-h . . .

Finally, refreshing rain!!!

How nice to see & hear rain!

Love to see cars splashing through rain puddles.

Huge raindrops hitting the brick wall.

Wet sidewalks & streets.
Right now it's 68 degrees, feels like autumn is in the air!
We suffered through 115 degree heat index last week.

Ah-h-h, refreshing rain!

Hope it's nice where you are today!

Last Of The Rearrange . . .

Happy Monday to you all!

I hope your weekend was a good one.

We finally got a break from the extreme heat.

This is the last of the rearrange project.

The hallway got a mini rearrange.

This collage of Bobby & Kari's wedding has been

in this spot for a while.

The hall tree was moved from the dining room

to the bottom of the stairs, a much better

location for guests to hang their coats.

The two pictures look nice here.

Changed the table vignette.


I found this great vinyl chalkboard at TJ Maxx.
It's on the wall as you walk into the living room/kitchen area.
I write something different on it each day.

This fun mirror found a new place on a different wall.

These two chairs traded places with the love seat.

The large picture & wall sconces were new purchases

from Hobby Lobby. Lucky for me the picture was 1/2 price.

I paid full price for the sconces. Wouldn't you know it,

they were 1/2 off the next week. I figure since there were

only 4 of them the day I bought them they would have

been gone by the time I made it to the store.

I created a toy storage area behind the love seat.

The garden urns came from the master bathroom.

I'll probably never move the Thomas Kinkade picture.

The shelves of the TV cabinet were rearranged.

This side displays some of our favorite books.

Family pictures and another Thomas Kinkade picture are on the other side.

The next project I'd like to tackle is painting the master bathroom.

Have any of you ever painted over wallpaper?

I need some advice about what kind of paint to use.

Weekly Words To Live By #18 . . .

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow;

it empties today of its strength . . .

~Corrie Ten Boom

Visit Tracey for more words of wisdom . . .

Piano Room . . .

Welcome to the piano room!

You may have seen my July 25th post last summer about
this gorgeous piano. If not you can search

the archives to read all about it.

Mary and I found items from all over the house
to spruce up the look.

One of two comfy chairs where you can relax

while listening to music from the piano

or the 'old fashioned' record player.

I've had this chair for 30 years.

The curio cabinet holds my collection

of figurines.

The wedding shelf.

I can't believe I've had this plant for 2 years

and it's still thriving.

The next, and last spaces I'll be showing are the living room & hallway.

I'm excited that Ethan & his buddy, Nathan, are coming today

for a playdate at my house.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Dining Room . . .

I'm so happy you came by to take a look at my dining room!

The rabbit & vegetables in the wire basket

give the dining room table a touch of French country.

The china hutch is almost 30 years old.

small side table

The mirror was a 10th anniversary gift

to my parents in 1958. It had been in a

closet for several years.

This is the only new item in the room.

I found it at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 price.

Love the scripture!

I really like this vignette, the up light really makes the difference.

I cleaned and rearranged all the shelves in the china hutch.

My Mother's candlewick dishes.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Tomorrow I'll show you the piano room.

Rearrange Redecorating . . .

After living in this house for 6 years it was time to rearrange and redecorate. You've probably heard about shopping your own house before you buy anything new. This is exactly what I did 3 weeks ago, but I couldn't do it by myself, so I got some help from a semi-professional decorator, my sister, Mary. The past several years she's been helping decorators. Recently she's been helping decorate a 6,000 sq. ft. home in Houston.

Mary came for a visit 3 weeks ago. We had only planned on redoing a large wall in the piano room, but the ideas started flowing and one thing led to another. It's so nice to have someone who doesn't see your house everyday come up with creative ways to make a new look without spending big bucks. So, over 3 days the hall, dining room, kitchen, living room & piano room got a face lift.

Today I'm showing the kitchen. If you visited me for the 'rooster party' last week you've already seen some areas of the kitchen.

The kitchen kind of took on the theme of a French kitchen. Everything was something I already owned with the exception of the black rooster from Target you saw last week and what you'll see in the last picture.

This is my Mother's flatware that's been hiding

in a cabinet for 12 years. I thought it would

be neat to display it on the cake stand in

white pitchers and an old glass icebox storage container.

The salt & pepper shakers are Candlewick

that belonged to my Mother.

Now we can use these more often.

The red lamp came from the guest bedroom.

The red topped chest used to be in my classroom.

I had stored it the guest bedroom closet.

We added some wall sconces & topiaries that
used to be in other parts of the house.




Enjoy Your Meal !

We found this at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off.
I've never been good on ladders, so Mary took over and got the job done.

Come back tomorrow to see the dining room.

Hope you're staying cool!

Here in Oklahoma we're having temps of over 100 everyday this week.

YIKES!