Little Brother Turns Five!

Yesterday, we had a birthday party for our little guy.

Warning: lots of pictures to follow!

 I printed these Angry Bird faces off the internet and glued them to gift bags.

Pig can game. This was fun!

Pin the "beak" on the bird.

My sister and family were able to come-was so fun to see and hold the twins!

Cake time!

 Wallet from Dad!

New Elephant and Piggy book - we love these!

More gifts....

Here's a series of pictures showing him discovering silly string...

First belt, I know, isn't he kind of old for not having a belt?  But we are casual around here.

Lollipops are good no matter where you sit...

At the end of the day, a very tired little boy working on Legos with Dad's help.

Random Goodness

My mother picked and brought me these strawberries from my Aunt Rachel's garden.

These were the first homegrown strawberries I have had this season, and YUM! so very good!

I just now brought in most of my lettuce - with the weekend heating up I'm afraid it will get bitter.

I love getting up early and doing a little gardening! 

Not so happy to see what the deer ate, though!

Here is some front yard progress:

We got the stone slab/step moved back in place and patched the porch floor.

I was all excited about getting the porches sanded and painted but now it looks like we'll have to let the new wood dry out before we work on it.

I'm going to go ahead and plant my Annabelle Hydrangeas - and woe to the workman who so much as bumps them!  (Only half way joking. We'll be hiring someone to sand the porches, and I think I'll put trashcans over the hydrangeas!)

I've been dreaming of Hydrangeas for a very long time and I'm so excited to finally get them!

I was told not to expect to much in the way of blooms this year but next year they should be beautiful.

You all have a happy three-day weekend!

Egg Baskets

I picked these up at a recent yard sale.

Though I may not be gathering as many now, a brown hen is sitting on a nest and fluffing up huge if I try to get eggs.

It's Friday...

.... and the peonies are opening up.

we have week old kittens...

this little girl only has 25 days of school left...

( to be optimistic, that's less than a month!)

there is the chance that I may get to spend tomorrow with these little guys...

I'm thankful and excited - for these everyday blessings.

This past week I haven't been so much, I let myself remain stuck in my own negativity.

Never a good idea. 

So, please, look around you and find happiness this weekend!

Bricks, etc.

Lately, I've been obsessed with bricks, old ones to be precise. And if they have old, peeling paint on them  so much the better.

I love it that our town is all about brick. The walls, the walkways, old buildings with faded, painted signs on the brick, I love it all.

Our house had three brick chimneys, all of which had to be torn down. But we saved most of the bricks and have used them as pavers here and there.

We still have three BIG pallets of saved brick. I spent hours and hours scraping mortar off those bricks.

And I'd do it again. I like to reuse old materials in new ways. The chimneys became walkways, the stone foundations became raised flowerbeds, the bead board was used to make closets in the children's rooms and in both bathrooms.

Of course, I would have liked to restore everything in this house just as it was originally, but that wasn't practical.

Compromise is a necessity that makes a renovation do-able.

You just have to decide what is really worth the extra effort to save and what needs to be replaced in order to live comfortably. (And, so the project will actually get done and your marriage will be in one piece - I speak with some experience :) )

A quote I've read somewhere says," Respecting the past while acknowledging the future."

I like that!

And I have a slight suspicion that we've built it back better than it was originally.

Maybe. 

Wow, that was quite a ramble! Sorry :)

So, anyhow, I just wanted to share these pictures of some of the cool old brick buildings I've been noticing lately.

I would like to have an interior brick wall. Maybe in a mud room.

That plan is for my someday house - my dream house that may never be a reality but that I still like to plan for in my head.

The above picture is one of the best pizza houses in town - love this place!

Good bye for now!

Twins...

... they are just so incredibly cute.

I just want to sit and hold them for hours - need to get back over for another visit!

And here's my own sweet, fierce little super hero!

A Double Blessing

My sister's twin boys, born yesterday.

Knockout Roses

I love these first blooms on my new rose bushes!

Thank you God for creating so much beauty for me to enjoy!

Cousins!

Six smallish cousins + one old luggage carrier + six giant imaginations = fun! fun! fun!

Horse Riding Lesson!

My daughter wanted to ride a horse. We found a farm not too far away that gives lessons.

They specialize in therapy for special needs children - I think that's so great!

 She was shown all the steps of preparing the horse to ride.

A few anxious moments as it was her first time on a horse.

The trainer said that she was a fast learner - she was learning posting while walking and then trotting in just a few minutes.

What was planned to be a one time thing may turn into a new hobby, we'll see.

There is all ready talk of earning money to pay for more lessons...

Admiring the ribbons. (Dreaming?)

Canoeing

Out at the lake.  The children had fun learning to paddle the canoe and I got to watch and read a book from the shore.

Old Barns

Yesterday morning we had a few extra minutes so The Pilot took me on an old barn tour.

These barns are part of an old, old farm that is owned by our university.

The house that we drove by on our way to the barns was stunning, a huge plantation style home. I wanted to take pictures but didn't have a chance.

Now, I'm begging my husband to let me be his "plumber's helper" next time he needs to do a service call there.

I have this strong attraction to old homes and their history. I'm always hoping I'll get a chance to peek inside one of them.

But these barns were beautiful in their own way.

I love the trim details, the rusted metal, the weathered wood, the cats that live there...