Independence Day

Wishing you a very happy 4th of July! I'm so thankful for freedom - proud to be an American!!!

Window

I bought this window at a yard sale a few years ago and it's been floating around my living room ever since. But it's crumbly around the edges and I worry about there being lead paint on it, so I finally got the idea to hang it on the front porch. I was proud of myself for coming up with an origional idea until I saw some on Pinterest. Oh well! 

I really like it but I know it's a fine line between being amazing or tacky. :) Fingers crossed that it's on the amazing side! And I think I'm more sensitive to "public" opinion since the front porch is so visible to all who pass by...

I feel like a big girl for doing this project without any help! I bought the chain and eye screws from Lowes and hung it by myself. I'm getting handy with my screw gun!

I'm not sure if this is normal, but in our marriage relationship I try to do everything I can by myself so that when I really do need help he'll be more likely to - we kind-of keep a mental score of who owes whom. (I have no idea if I got the who's and whoms correct!)

 For example, I helped him lift a heavy barrel and he helped me carry my son's dresser upstairs. I just remembered that I helped him with the second barrel... so he owes me, except that he did help me the the scary chop saw yesterday! Now that I really think about it, he does have to help me alot more than I help him - maybe we should just call it even...

...moving on :) I'm so happy with my blooming beauties! 

Somewhere in the Bible it talks about a gardener who plants, waters, etc. but it is God who gives the increase... the Creator did something very good when he design flowers...

A new dresser.

Something I found on Craigslist. I painted it with leftover paint and then used Annie Sloan dark and clear wax. I am not a big fan of the dark wax, kinda wishing I had just used clear.

Oh well, now my daughter has more storage space.

Now to finish my son's chest of drawers...

Before:

And After:

Yellow Chair

I found this at Goodwill the other day!

It's a little worn and shabby, and the velvet-like material is not of the highest quality, a little fuzzy, but I LOVE it! Just one of those pieces that make me happy to look at.

I've never had any yellow in the living room and I really like the color it adds! Although it totally clashes with the rug... but isn't it pretty with my blue jars?! I may have to reconsider my color scheme...

(Sorry the photo's are so bad, we've had rain and it's always dark.)

Annabelle

My Annabelle hydrangeas are blooming.

 And I've been loath to even pick them, not wanting to spoil the bush. Last year, after I planted them, I watched as their leaves turned yellow, one by one, and I thought they wouldn't survive. But they pulled through and now they are so beautiful!!!

I think they may be getting too much morning sun, I do have to water them a lot to keep them happy. I planted a Limelight hydrangea on the end that gets more sun a few weeks ago, here's hoping it will do well! It has yet to form any blooms but is healthy, and I'm excited to see how it does. 

And I also planted a very small Endless Summer hydrangea that is blooming profusely. But it's turning lavender and I'm not sure that I want to fight to change the soil balance. I'm wondering how hard it is to keep them blue?  Remember, I'm a lazy gardener.  :)

Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with hydrangeas?!

It's funny how the lower branches are blooming first, I guess all the new growth is in the middle and that's why the top is slow.

His Birthday!

My little guy had his sixth birthday on June 2nd. And we are so proud of him! He worked so hard this year, graduated kindergarten and has been so much fun! We love you so much, son, and are so thankful  

God gave us you!!!

Here is his birthday list, too cute!

The cake:

 This was fun to make! I found the rock candy at Sweet Frogs. 

 Love his excitement!

With his Grandmothers. We were so happy Grammie could be here from California!!!

A few games...

Opening presents!

                                                                                 

                   

 The best part: playing with all the new toys!!!

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

After looking around the internet for ideas I settled on these, mostly because I pretty much already had all the supplies.

I know it's late for most of you but we still have a week and a half of school left. I'm just as ready as the children to be done! It's hard to treat school seriously  when you know they are just putting in time...

... and there's a pool filling with water outside...

I'll be back soon with pictures of Little Brother's sixth birthday party! Busy times, thanks for reading!!!

In the storm...

My thoughts and continued prayers are with those affected by the recent tornados in Oklahoma.

So thankful my brother and family are alright! Sunday's tornado came within 300 to 400 feet of them, their shed was flattened, some windows broken and roof/chimney damage on their new home but they are fine. But there are more storms predicted for that area...

...thought of this song,

Praise you in this storm

Praying for God's peace and comfort for those who have lost family.

Lily of the Valley

I transplanted these from the fence row years ago. I like to think they have been around this place for many, many years. I have peonies, lily of the valley and hosts that were all original to this land when we moved here. I've moved them, divided them, many times. I love how you can start with a few and then they multiply many times over.

We had to take down the children's tree fort a few weeks ago because we were cleaning out the fence row. Big Sister was quite sad, I felt really bad for her, I'm hoping we can build them something better to replace it! There have been a lot of changes to our back yard, we're hoping to plant grass soon and working on new fencing. Which I am so excited about!!! I'll show pictures eventually. This old blog has certainly been neglected lately, Instagram is to be blamed for a lot of it! I'm mfcass on Instagram if you care to follow...

Bye now, I'm off to paint some fence boards!

Master Designer

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.

~Matthew 6:26-33

(this is from last spring)

This time of year is Glorious!

It's as if God is saying, "Surprise!  I didn't forget about you, I'm breathing LIFE back into this cold, dark world. Love it, soak up all this beauty, I created it just for you. And as you delight in it, remember me."

I love to make my home attractive, arranging, decorating, it makes me happy. But even the best home designer can't hold a candle to the design that God displays every spring.

So, so beautiful!!!

(What has happened to my little girl? She's grown so fast!)

Vintage Stool

I found this for $3 at a yard sale on Saturday!

I love the rusty patina, and that it's really small. It will fill in when we need an extra bar stool.

It fits nicely at the end of my counter. Now I'm inspired to do more yard sale-ing!

We've had a full week of spring break. It was cold most of the week, and at first, I was a little grumpy about that, but that's pointless, really.

The week was filled with cousin play time, putt-putt golf, (a first for the kiddos) outdoor picnics, and just all around play!

Yesterday, I planted a bare root rose, a yellow climber. This is a first for me, I really hope it does well!

I am really tired of my blog header, but, it's always so hard to change, anyone have a good link for how to size the photos and get it changed smoothly?

Also, how do I bring a Pinterest photo to my blog post? This stuff quickly frustrates me!!

Bye for now,

have a great week!!!