Teacher Appreciation

I love this time of year, wish I would have had all these totally cool ideas when my kids were in school. Using coordinated paper scraps, a little glue and some imagination:

You start out with a simple item that is available anywhere, Hobby Lobby puts it on sale for $1.44 often:

















To me the funnest part would be to fill it with some goodies, I would love this, I am all about 'themed' gifts. Karen's favorite when she was younger:::

Fatigue

I am overcome with it lately. I can't figure out why, but it is getting so old. SIGH

Custom Made Cake Stands

I love this idea! I'm going to start scouting out plates and candle holders for this as soon as I can! These would be so great to do themed parties with, the possibilities are endless!!



Some examples swiped from a Blog, Your Home Based Mom:

Scrap T Shopping

I don't scrap but spent my lunch hour looking for this T-shirt for Karen and her Bestie. This is such a cute shirt! They wanted the pink one...........so they got one. Seems simple, no?

Did you know that when Michael's runs an ad on something like this you can't just walk into a Michael's store and expect them to have it? Oh, no, you have to 'KNOW' which store has it in stock. Some stores are a new generation store and some aren't. The newer stores don't have it and you are expected to know that!?!?

SHRUG. I finally got it but not after I got a woman in the store to help me, and that wasn't easy to accomplish either. Kids, we go to much trouble sometimes for them.

This Needs Repeating

Antique Shops Walnut, Iowa

A couple weeks ago Steve and I visited a B&B and a winery for my birthday. We drove through Walnut, it's a tiny town in Iowa that has made a niche for itself with antique shops. They also have a delightful bakery on the corner of town. While we sat and had a pastry and coffee we noticed many of the town people coming in to get fresh bread. I commented to one of the ladies. She told me she lives right up the block from there and could smell the bread. The nearest town for groceries was 15 minutes away. She became accustomed to the fresh bread and couldn't buy it from the store anymore. If she ever moves she'll be in trouble!

When roaming around we found this neat piece of furniture in one of the shops. It came out of a Dr's office. WE have a friend that owns an old house that this would be perfect for. Her house at one time was used as the Dr's office in that town. Her bathroom was the pharmacy. There's a tiny little door that has a lock on it I believe that held the narcotics.

The woman in the shop was very kind and let us take photos. Joni, if you are watching, this could be yours for a mere $3500. (we were told the owner would negotiate a better price if you went up and talked to him.) If we still lived in our big old house this would have come home with us.

Annuals vs. Perennials

Every year I hang about 8 hanging baskets and attempt to single handedly buy out all the nurseries in the area. We have a great little nursery outside of town. I love their wrought iron things and the fountains. They've got many metal scuplputures, but it's the planters and hanging baskets I covet. I like to buy hanging baskets for my big pots in front of the house, they are already well established, pull them out of the basket, VOILA! Instant pots with beautiful flowers. This year Steve talked me into planting them with a variety of things, so I did. We'll see how it looks in a month or so. I also planted the patch in front of the garage with the vinca, this year white centers with pink surrounding them and a row of all white in the center. The vinca grow like crazy, are beautiful and the hummingbirds come and hover around them.

Last year at 10pm every night the hummingbirds would surround the pot in front of the house where my bright pink wave petunias are planted. I won't see any this year because we are potting them with something different.

Steve moved the Auntie Dee Wisteria that for some reason he's named "CLARICE" to another area of the yard, it was growing so aggressively it was crawling under the shingles on the garage and trying to get thru the mortar between the bricks. He built a new 'house' for her to roam over and she's already budding out. I took a piece of her to Lori, she's got buds on hers, too. So it has survived the move.

Have some pictures to post but they will have to wait for a different day.

I saw an old classmate on Friday, he lives in California, his father passed away at age 88. It was nice to see him, but sad circumstances.

It makes me think of how little I knew some of the people I went to school with, even though most of us started out in Kindergarten together and graduated together. It's weird, I wasn't exactly a social bug then like I am now, some days I catch myself coming and going with it all....... I'm not sure I really missed out after witnessing my own kids struggle. High school years can be so trying. Mine were spent working in our family business after school, the rest of the evenings were spent doing my chores, then studying. I guess I was too busy to notice I was missing out or that life kind of passed me by.

I wish that I had known some of them better because I see them now as such fine people. I send heartfelt prayers and thoughts of comfort to you, Dale and family.