TOO BUSY TO POST MUCH THIS WEEK!!

Too much going on around here this week. . . .

Today I pick up our youngest from school for her hair appointment. A fresh cut and freshening up those highlights are on the agenda. Girls are EXPENSIVE!!

Thursday and Friday I am having a garage sale.

Thursday is also our youngest daughter's 15th birthday. I can't believe my baby is turning 15!!! My husband will be in New York on Thursday so our oldest daughter and I will be taking Janelle out for her birthday dinner (after cheer practice, of course!).

Friday is Janelle's birthday party. Eight girls total will be coming over, pizza, pop and then we will be going to the mall to do a "texting type" scavenger hunt. The girls will be broken into two different groups and we will give them "text" messages for clues. After they figure out the clue they will have to go to that store and take a picture with the disposable camera I will supply. After they text my hubby, or I, the correct answer, we will text the next clue to them. It's an update of the envelope for the clue I guess. The winner group will get a little nicer gift bag and the non-winner group will also get a gift bag. (We are still making up the game/rules/details). Then back to our home for cupcakes and ice cream sundaes in waffle bowls.

Saturday my parents will be driving down 2 1/2 hours from their home up north and my hub's parents will be coming over for dinner and celebrating Janelle's birthday AGAIN!!

Also, this will be the last time the grandparents will see our oldest daughter, Lindsay until Thanksgiving. Lindsay will be moving to Texas on the 23rd of this month to finish her degree!!

So, I'm probably not going to be on-line much this month. . . at. . . all!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

5 in 1 PROJECTS KNOCKED-OUT!!

I've had a very productive week.

I love when I have a productive week :)

Project #1: I completed our bedroom drapery. Finally!! No I don't use a pattern ~ I make my own. I just get these visions in my head of what I'd like to have and go from there. I measure, draw it out and go. I'm a self-taught sewer. My mom never sewed, nor my grandmother or aunts. You can click on to enlarge if you wish. Please disregard our 14 year old cheerleader daughter's trampoline through the window. I took this picture at dusk before I dropped the blinds behind the drapes. That's not the moon, but my flash back in the window.

Project #2: My $15 garage sale find. Remember this?

Ta-Da!! I added wood putty to the cracks and chips, sanded down this piece painted it black, added the appliques and new glass knobs. I just found these adorable glass knob at The Home Depot. They were about $4 each. I noticed after loading this photo I need to adjust the light cord behind my desk.

Project #3: This was a leftover lampshade that I adored the shape of, but not the colors anymore. I saw on some one's blog (I'm sorry, I don't remember whose ~ please let me know if it was you and I'll give you a shout-out!) that they simply painted the shade with acrylic paints. Gee, why not give this a try I thought. I carefully painted the shade to avoid the trim. See my lovely, messy work table. Everyone needs a space. Mine is in the basement.

Project #4: Here's the finished product. I think it works well in here. I always say cheap is good, free is better. See the lamp the shade is on? This lamp was purchased for me when I was a small girl. Like in the 4th grade!! My parents went to an auction (I think it was the one and only auction they ever attended) and I tagged along. I fell in love with the lamp and my dad bid on it for me. It cost a whole $4!!! I dug this treasure out and rewired the lamp. It did not have a polarized plug and the cord wasn't in the best shape anyways. So, I replaced the "guts." I still love it today!

Project #5: This little silver plated clock I picked up while at a garage sale this fall for $1. It was tarnished and had an old dirty cross stitch picture on the other side. I removed the cross stitch and found this lovely black velvet. I had a wooden Fleur De Lis that I painted and hot glued on this velvet. The clock keeps time perfectly so this will work nicely on my newly painted desk.

Our bedroom is just about complete now. I have to add some accessories to our triple dresser (the wall you have not seen yet :) then I should be done with this room. The master bath is just about finished too. Just a few more items to complete. But, I'm taking a break to get into the Great Room first.

Next week, hopefully, I'll get the new drapes made for our Great Room!!! I'd like them done and up before the Christmas tree. If not, they will have to wait because the tree goes right in front of one window.

So, what have you all been up to this week?

Blessings. . . until next time,

OH TO BE A KID AGAIN!!!

Celebrating Labor Day Weekend at the Cottage

We headed up north to our cottage ~ late last night. The weather forecast is suppose to be beautiful. High 70's low 80's!! The picture above is of our youngest (on the left) and her fellow cheerleading friend we brought with us last weekend to the cottage ~ trying to get in each and every second of summer before school starts on Tuesday!!

However you spend your Labor Day Holiday ~ enjoy yourself, your time and your family.

Blessings,

Well. . . Well. . . Well, What Have I Been Up To???

I've been sooo busy. . . that's what I've been up to!!!





Oh, I think I could use another vacation. Since returning from vacation I've managed to paint the guest bathroom (including the ceiling with a 20' high sky light enclosed in such a small area that a two year old would feel squished. . . don't ask how I fit), painted a vanity chair for our 14 year old and a small thrifted rocker for yard decor, disassemble our rock pool and put it back together (it wasn't functioning properly so I took it apart and discovered a "family" of toads had invaded the pump area!!), found the "speciality" lights for our courtyard water fountain - ordered them on-line, drained the water and installed them, AND helped paint the last room in our church's children's wing. *SIGH* DONE for now. And this was along with Cheer Practice everyday, school clothing shopping, gymnastics lessons!!

At least I get to mark off some major items from my TO-DO list. I wanted to tackle these small, loose ends before painting our master bedroom. Major RE-DO project. Only one item left before the bedroom make-over. . . and it's to make drapery toppers for our den. That's NEXT on my list. I already have the fabric and fringe. . . maybe next week I can get started.

I want to post pictures of our wonderful vacation in Myrtle Beach. I will do that within a day or so. Tonight we are heading up to the cottage and I plan on making some major time for blogging. I've missed you all.

Blessings. . . until next time,

Relay for Life - Basket and Participation

Looonnnnggggg Day!!!

A quick post and then off for a hot shower and into bed for me!! Today was our township's cancer Relay for Life. What a touching experience.


This is the basket I embroidered items for and compiled on behalf of the 9th grade Cheer Team. We had a silent auction and everything donated was lovely. I made our basket a "French Inspired Bed and Bath Basket." I included a set of Fleur De Lis embroidered hand towels, Eiffel Tower pillowcases with a Fleur De Lis border, Fleur De Lis, soap and various other items for our basket.

Here's a close up of the items I embroidered on my new embroidery machine. I am loving that machine people!! And I am loving using it for causes like this as well!

Here's our gals. Our 9th grade Cheer Team gathering and getting ready to cheer on the survivors at the "Survivor's Walk." Very, very touching!!

I'm not one to believe that teens should sit around and do nothing. . . so I signed up the girls to scoop ice cream for a two hour block. It's so good for this age to "serve" and not always "be served." The girls enjoyed the experience and the customers loved being served by cute little cheerleaders as well!! They were very good for business actually :)

Well, I've been gone from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. . . off for a shower and La-La Land. Sweet Dreams you all!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Mother's Day Presents!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there in blogland!! . . . And some monogram towels for gifts!!

I'm sure you have all noticed that monograms are big. I mean BIG!!! So, I thought I would put my new (having oh, so much fun with it thankyouverymuch) embroidery machine to good use for Mother's Day presents.

Each mom will receive a personally embroidered, by yours truly, set of monogrammed hand towels for their guest bathrooms. My maiden name and my married name both begin with the same letter. . . so I didn't even need to change the letter. The towel in the middle is mine. I'm keeping it for our guest bathroom. I tried something new with this towel. It's an embossed monogram. You use the same color thread as the towel and it actually looks embossed. It is a little harder to see than the black lettering so I thought the moms would prefer to have something that "pops" like the black lettering.

Here's a close-up of the embossed monogram. Very elegant, don't you think?

. . . next, I'll be working on monogram towels and pillowcases for Cancer Relay for Life. I'm putting together a Paris flair bed/bath basket from the 9th grade cheerleaders as a donation for their silent auction. I'll share pictures when I am finished with that project.

Blessings. . . until next time,

Michigan Beauty

It's been a while since we've been able to go up to our cottage. Actually, I think it's been since Christmas time! We've been wanting to make a visit (just to check things out. . . make sure the furnace is still running, everything is OK, etc.), but there always seemed to be something going on here at home. . . church commitments, confirmation seminars, cheer competitions, etc. So, when we got the chance, up we went. What a beautiful sight to behold. This is Michigan winter at its finest friends.

Here's a picture I took of the frozen Rifle River. We love to kayak down this river in the summer and fall. Absolutely beautiful!

Here's a picture of a cut-in on the lake. If you look closely, or click to enlarge, you will see the men (& women) ice fishing! I'm so glad my hubby doesn't ask me to try that with him. I'm not one for enjoying being out in the cold for hours. . . sitting. . . holding a fishing pole!

This is our mailbox at the front of our cottage. I'd say we had some super heavy duty snow fall this year. It's been a great year for winter sports in Michigan.

The little water well over the well pump. . . to protect it so no one backs over it or knocks it down

Our little storage shed where we store lawn equipment and bikes.

Our back yard looking down the hill.

The snowfall on our deck.

We drove up on Friday night, stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner and arrived when it was dark. What beauty awaited us on Saturday morning when we opened the blinds. It was. . . the. . . most. . . perfect. . . day. Sun shining and very, very bright. Absolutely stunning.

Blessings. . . until next time,

Suggestions, Advice. . . Anyone?????

Due to the fact my oven/microwave combination unit was recalled. . . we were forced to upgrade. Well, actually G.E. offered either a repair or money towards a new combo oven. We had a few problems in the past with our old oven/combo so we decided to just take the money and get a new one. So, this time I went for the microwave/convection oven combo. Supposedly, it is supposed to save energy costs and cook food faster. I adore how it looks with the sleek black and stainless steel design. This oven has the capability of turning off the convection and just using the oven the conventional way. It also has an feature which will automatically adjust a conventional oven recipe to convection temperature. How cool is that? I guess I'll have to read the manual. There are buttons for things I have never even heard of before. . . like. . . a Reminder button, a Probe button, a Warm/Proof button.

Do any of you have a convection oven? If so, do you like it? Do you find it really cooks foods faster and heats more evenly? Are there any tips or suggestions you could pass this way to me? I would appreciate any and all input.

Of course, my all so handy, do everything himself hubby (for which I am truly blessed!) decided to remove the old oven/microwave combo and replace with my new oven/microwave combo during the time the 11 cheerleaders were arriving at our house for the sleepover on Saturday night. Sure, we always have a mess like this going on while parents are coming in and out and cheerleaders are cartwheeling all around :) Why not?

Blessings. . . until next time,

Oh Winston, What Have They Done to YOU????

Saturday our 13 year old (almost 14 aauugghh) had her school's first of three scheduled Competitive Cheer meets of the season. It was fun, exciting and I lost most of my voice screaming for our team. Afterwards the team celebrated by going out to lunch then going to the mall. Anyways, in a weak moment, I consented to allowing the Cheer Team (11 screaming, hyper, cartwheeling girls) to have a sleep over in our basement that night, Saturday.

Actually, it wasn't too bad. I made brownies, ordered pizza, the parents all brought a snack or pop for the girls to share. But what I didn't know was while at the mall the girls bought hair dye. It's the kind that is supposed to wash out when the hair is shampooed. They were in the bathroom cutting their bangs, dying their hair and my dog's hair. "Look" they said to me. I see my poor little Yorkshire Terrier, Winston Churchill with spiked hair pieces now dyed pink and blue. Poor Winston. I can't blame him if he bites the next cheerleader he sees now can I?

Blessings. . . until next time,

I've Been Ram Sacked??!!??

Happy December Blogland Friends:




Hope all your Christmas decorating is going well for you all. It seems like I've lost a few weeks between Halloween/Harvest time and Christmas!! BOOM. It's here!!


I want to thank you all for your kind comments and e-mails regarding my crazy, hectic week. For an update. . . our oldest daughter is doing fine after her surgery. My house was not robbed and the mom who allowed her 17 year old daughter to drive has been properly instructed by myself, as well as the cheer coach, NOT to allow that to happen EVER again!!


OK, back to the house robbing. Upon arriving home two police cars were waiting for me in my drive way. Apparently, they checked the house from the outside but wanted to come inside to go through all the rooms to be extra sure. Of course, being a woman, my first thought was, "Oh thank God I made my bed before running out today!!" They checked all the rooms, all three levels. . . (I had a little trouble getting them out of the basement man-cave! For a minute there I thought they were planning on staying for the afternoon - were going to grab a beer, order a pizza and watch the big screen!) Anyways, the last level we checked was the upstairs. This is where my 20 year old and 13 year old reside. Upon the first officer entering our oldest's bedroom, and the other officer entering the 13 year old's bedroom. . . they both said, "Yup, here's the scene of the crime. . . you've been ram sacked!!" I replied, "No, their rooms always look like that!"


Nothing was found, so they chalked it up to a fluke. . . perhaps the wind set it off. . . or so they thought. Later that afternoon, while waiting to pick-up our youngest from cheer practice, I get another cell phone call from our alarm company. I asked them not to send out the cops. They've already been there today. . . I apparently need to schedule the alarm service to look at my system. Fast forward, I arrive home, my monitored alarm company sees I've arrived and call me on my house phone to make sure I'm OK. I'm OK, but can't figure out what's setting off the alarm. . . must be the wind I told the alarm operator. "No, it's not the wind, it's a zone 5 intrusion alarm - - which means motion is being detected in the Great Room." What the heck, I'm thinking. . . is someone hiding behind my Christmas tree?" I'm looking around, then look up and see the lovely ribbon streamer I have hanging from my garland on the catwalk swaying ever so slightly. I also notice somehow our Great Room ceiling fan has been turned on to "high" which is causing this breeze, to make the ribbon streamers sway ever so slightly. Yes, that was the problem. So, this holiday season, if you have an alarm system, be wary of swaying ribbon streamers!



Oh yes, another thing. . . while leaving the doctor's office last week the receptionist said, "Happiness to all of your holidays!" I responded "Merry Christmas!" She smiled and told me she wishes she could say that but they are not allowed to say that because it may offend somebody. I told her it offends me that people can't say Christmas! She agreed. Seems we Christians are under attack as a society of believers. We Christians are under attack for using the word Christmas, because it's not politically correct. I say phooey on that. If it offends anyone, don't celebrate our holiday - - you need to get your own holiday!! Without Christ there would be no Christmas. So to everyone, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. If this offends you, just don't bother to read my posts! And I challenge all believers this holiday season to smile warmly when someone wishes you Happy Holidays and wish them a very Merry Christmas!! After all, if we don't acknowledge HIM before men, HE will not acknowledge us before HIS father in heaven!


Blessings. . . until next time,

Where in the World is Sher?

Hello to all my Blogland Friends,

I've been crazy, nutso, stressed and busy around here. Life, Christmas, shopping, holiday obligations (yes, already) . . . Oh, not to mention my husband is out of town until December 7th, our oldest had surgery yesterday, my alarm company called Tuesday to tell me an intrusion alarm was sounding and the police were sitting in my driveway and quite possibly there was a burglar in my HOUSE and that I needed to get home ASAP. . . and. . . the mom responsible for driving to Cheer practice after school left my daughter and another girl at the school. . . only to find out later that the mother sent her 17 year old to do the car-pooling instead. . . to drive 5 hyper, excited 13 year old cheerleader girls during rush hour, to the other side of town. . . 45 minutes away!! I don't allow my children to drive with young, inexperience drivers. . . so I'm glad she was forgotten, but I then I had to hike all the way back across town, from where I was, to get them from school, because of course, the buses already left and the other girl who was "forgotten" her mom was working and unreachable!!! AAAAUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!! Then all the other mothers found out a 17 year old drove their daughters across town to Cheer practice and blew a gasket too. I had to call the mom and let her know that it was not appropriate to delegate car pool duties onto her underage 17 year old daughter and to please, please call another parent and make arrangements with an adult driver in the future (what the heck are some people thinking?) Then tomorrow, I'm hosting a table at our church Advent Tea (well two tables actually, because our 13 year old is hosting one for her friends. . . again. . . what was I thinking!! I just doubled my work consenting to that extra table!) Whew, enough for a paragraph? I think so!!

Oh well, I just have not had time to post. I will try my best to post within the next few days. It's been oh so exciting around here *sigh* : ) NOT!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Ever Just Have "One of Those Days?"

Today started out wonderful. I got my youngest off to Junior High, had a cup of coffee, read the paper, then got ready and hit some garage sales. I love going to them this time of the year. It's not so hot out, the kids are all in school, I just have more time and can take my time. I found some cool treasures. I'll share them with you later. Then I came home and put a second coat of bronze hammered metal paint on my powder room bath accessories. I'm trying to get rid of that old polished brass stuff. So far, I'm really happy with how things are turning out, so I may be painting the pendant lights (brass) that hang over my island with the same paint. I'll keep you posted.


. . . Anyways, it was my turn to car-pool for cheerleading. I have to pick up my daughter and a group of girls from the junior high and take them two towns over for cheerleading coaching (we pass at least 4 other gymnastic/cheerleading places along the way. . . I don't know why we must go all the way over there! But that's where the coaches have us go. Anyways, I did this last year too, so I know how long it takes. Or should take. I got to school at 2:45 to get a good parking spot so the girls can find me easily. My assigned cheerleaders came out at about 3:00. I normally have them to their training facility by 3:35. They are starving when they get out of school and I want them all to have something healthy not the machine junk, so I bring yogurt, cheese and peanut butter cracker, etc. Normally, it's an OK drive. They eat, and clean up their mess. They are loud because they are all excited, geeked and . . . well, they are cheerleaders! But today, today was horrible. I was in the worst traffic!! No matter what I did I could not get around that darn traffic!!! Road construction, bridge construction, freeways closed, accidents, you name it, was happening today. My daughter gets car sick from being in the car too long and especially in the stop and go stuff . . . so she was complaining that she thought she was going to toss her cookies!! We didn't get to the gymnastic place until over an hour later!! An hour in stop, go, stop, go traffic. . . with 4 hyper, excited cheerleaders in the car.

Then. . . after dropping the girls off, I . . . got. . . to. . . drive. . . home, and . . .do. . .it. . .all. . . over. . . again. . . in that traffic. . .again!! Oh my gggggooooooosssssshhhhhh!!! I was gone for over, over 2 hours. I don't mind driving, but stop, go, stop go is something entirely different. Thankfully, I don't have to pick them up tonight too.


It makes me want to do what the guy in my picture is doing. We have a little joke in our house. When I first bought him (at a garage sale for 5 bucks) I placed him on the wet bar. We don't drink much. Maybe occasionally a glass of wine, but we have this new house which the builder put a wet bar in. So, I needed some things to put on it. When we had first moved in, and our youngest was in the second grade, she had a friend over and as they walked by this wet bar guy, she said, "Man, he must have had a hard day!" Well that's been the joke ever since. Today, I felt like joining him : )

. . . so when I got home, I poured myself a tall one! A big tall glass, filled it up with ice and DIET COKE and slammed it down!!!! And . . . I. . . felt. . . better!! Thank . . .you. . .very. . .much!!!!

Blessings!

Look what I've done!!

I guess the concert we attended last week inspired our youngest!!! Looks like she's practicing performing for an audience. (If she's not climbing up on the Lumberman's Monument, she's climbing up on the counters in our kitchen)

Yesterday was her first day back to school. She was very excited to see her friends again. Tomorrow she has her sports physical and next week is "cheerleader tryouts!" Now the running starts. . . all over again. . . try-outs, practice, football games, competition practice.