Annie's Party...They're Here!

It's me again, I just wanted to share with you more of the party Kate helped me throw!

Annie was dressed and ready for guests!

She greeted them in Kate's front gardens.

They arrived with...

...Tiaras,

High Heels,

Jewels,

Sunglasses,

and Gowns

There were cousins,

Sisters,

and More Sisters!

Annie's Auntie Cake gathered the girls...

...in her Fairy Garden!

She showed the girls the treasures the fairies had left there and soon she had 16 girls believing...

...and hunting for fairy treasure.

Look what else we found lurking in the garden...

Next Post...we will share a few more activities!

Thanks for bearing with us...we just had so much fun!

THANK YOU KACIE WILSON FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!!!

Annie's Party...Lunch is Served!

Kate's computer is down, with not much hope of a revival, so I (Libbie) put this same post on both our blogs since we threw the party together. 
THANKS KATE!!! 
You are amazing! 

A sweet friend came to take some of the pictures. 

THANK YOU KACIE WILSON!!! 

The good ones you see are hers. 

The wind was blowing hard as the table was set.

Everything is ready...now where are all the girls? 

Come on back tomorrow to see more...

...the girls were just darling!!!

Pure Bliss

Silver, roses and peonies....

What more could a girl want?

Another Visit

Since my lilac friends have come and gone, I have been eagerly awaiting a visit from my other friends, the peonies.

Last weekend was the perfect time for their visit.

Friends used this bucket for flowers at their wedding.  

I was lucky enough to be able to take one home and I have been using it ever since.  The bucket is from IKEA, they drilled a hole in it, added a loop of ribbon to hang and filled it with oasis.  It is a wonderful way to hang flowers in unexpected places. 

My tree never looked so pretty!

This grove of trees grew on it's own.  I think God knew I needed them there.  We are always hanging out under these trees.

Have a very lovely week!

I've Been...

Very busy these last couple weeks.  Want a peek at what I have been up to?

That's right.  Once again I am taking all the furniture out of my first floor.

Even emptied out the kitchen.

Put it all in the dining room.

Did I mention that this is not the first time this year I have done this?  It's getting rather old but I am not complaining, as my floors are finally getting finished. 

Whew!  I am tired just looking at these pics!  Sorry I haven't been all that great with the posts, but who can spend time on the computer when their house looks like this?

I'll be back when I get everything all cleaned up.  That feels like it will be a couple of years.  I'll try and hurry! 

Thanks for being such wonderful bloggy friends. 

Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks to all the men and women and families who serve our country!

Party Girl

I love to throw a good party.  

Libbie likes to throw a good party also.  Annie's birthday is coming up, and what a better occasion to celebrate than my girl turning six?

 image found on Google Images

Lib asked me to host Annie's birthday in my garden.  I jumped all over it.

Your first response is, "Girl, are you crazy?" 

An afternoon of 18 five and six-year-olds running all around the house?

I am still committed.  For purely selfish reasons.  

Let me explain, the fact of the matter is that Lib has Kelly, her husband,  wrapped around her finger.  If she tells that boy to work, he works.  If she tells that boy that we need wooden benches made for Annie's party, we are taking a trip to Home Depot to buy lumber.  If she tells that boy that I need a pergola in my front yard for Annie's party, he is showing up with power tools.

Got the picture???

I mean come on, Sweet Bluebird is graduating next year!  I gotta get to work!

So last Saturday, even though I had planned on spending the day working on a creation for Thespa's contest, (go check it out, and she is having a fab giveaway too, you really need to go spend some time with that girl if you haven't already met her.  She makes the most to-die-for-beautiful creations that you really need to see, click here)  I spent the day making wooden peg dolls for Annie's birthday.

One for each girl who is coming.  And we are painting them to look like each girl.  

Not quite finished yet, but they are coming along, aren't they?

And yes, these babies are way more work than they look. 

But for a girl who named me Auntie Cake?  It's all good.

To see what Libbie has been planning for the party, click here.

A Proud New Momma!

My favorite class in school was science.  And in the spring when it came time to hatch baby ducklings in an incubator, I was in heaven.

No wonder I decided to incubate my own chicken eggs.

I now have 10 baby chicks living in my pantry.   

(Not the best pic, I know, have you ever tried to tell 10 baby chicks to hold still?)

Fave Friday Flowers

This morning I picked the very last of my lilacs to share with you.  

Hoping your weekend is as sweet as my lilacs!

Lazy Spring Afternoon

It's know it has been over a week since my last post.  I apologize, but  I was off enjoying spring!  ( I didn't have anything interesting to say anyways...Kind of boring around here, but I like boring.)

After the first week of May with freezing cold temps, a little snow and a lot of rain, spring finally decided that now is the time to show up around here.  I had to enjoy it while I could, in Minnesota you never know what the weather is going to be like.   I spent all of last week outside.

I picked masses of lilacs to fill my house.

My kids had Friday off of school, so I forced them to lounge around and soak up the beautiful weather.

What could be better than this spot to read a good book?

Enjoy some peppermint tea,

and your very own snack served on 100 year old china with your initial monogrammed on the silver?

That is what I call a good day!

My Girl

Mother's Day made me stop and reflect upon my kids.

My kids are totally swag. 

(They would kill me if I called them good, awesome, sweet, etc.)

I am actually lovin' having two teenage girls.  I am already sad that my oldest is growing up.  I sit back and try to figure her out because I don't know where her philosophy of life came from.  She is so not me.

She takes her own path in life. 

She doesn't fit the traditional, cookie-cutter "girl" mode.

She is content with who she is, doesn't try to be like all the other girls.

She has post-it notes of inspirational song lyrics above her bed.

She supports breast cancer with her black "Save the boobies" bracelet instead of the traditional pink and use of the word breast.

She has music blasting out of her room at all hours of the night.

She hides in her room reading at all hours of both the night and day.

She is one tough chic.  I suspect she threatened a boy with his life for picking on her younger brother.  (I'm not gonna ask about that one...)

I ask myself,

WHO IS THIS GIRL?

Then I looked back at my last post.

HHHHMMMM...

Sorry girl, but you even got my bubble butt from spending way too much time on the ice.

Look on the bright side, maybe you can get Daddy's legs. 
They can do miraculous things with electrolysis now days!

Happy Mother's Day!

Many of us follow our own path down motherhood.  

May that path not be filled with 300 pound defensive ends.

'Cuz that just sucks.

Happy Mother's Day to all my teammates, whether you play football or not...

Not So Favorite Friday

When I was excited about my lilacs, this was not what I was thinking of...

Thanks to my aunt who braved the elements to take pictures.  Go check out her new blog, proofofbliss.

Hoping you have better weather!

The Teacup

This week the ladies of our church are hosting a wonderful tea party.  I am in charge of the decorating, so I have been running around like a madwoman trying to decorate. (Don't worry, I actually have a very sweet little vignette in mind, so hopefully I can keep the madwoman part hidden for a bit longer...)

In honor of the tea party, I thought I would share my daughter's little teacup.  When she was about four, we saw this cup at Cracker Barrel and Nature Girl just had to have it.  It is the sweetest little cup, so I happily bought it for her.

Nature Girl loved having her own teacup.  For the tea at our church, she carried her own little cup and saucer in this sweet little box.  

Most of her tea parties took place at home, though.  Her favorite partner-in-crime for tea parties was her dad.  (Oh, how I wish I had been organized enough to take pictures...)

Dad was a great sport and would try and cram himself into her little chair and drink chocolate milk while wearing a ridiculous hat.

When Dad wasn't around, she then moved on to having tea parties with our various animals.  We used to keep goats, and I will never forget the time she decided our goats named Firefighter Harry and Little Lady Princess Crystal, were going to have a tea party with her.  Harry kept jumping up on the table and Little Lady Princess Crystal kept trying to eat her feather boa.  Needless to say, our goats had very bad manners and so Nature Girl moved on.

One day while cleaning her room, I found Nature Girl's pet worm collection in the bottom of her tea cup.  Apparently she forgot them there and let's just say, it wasn't pretty...

One would think she might give up after the goat and the worm fiascos, but no, that girl not only was very creative, but she had a stubborn streak longer than the Mississippi River.

(And still does, oh, how I love that girl...)

One afternoon while I was preparing a tea party for her in the kitchen, I heard a thump.   Like something fell from my kitchen counter.  Very odd I thought, as I was alone in the kitchen.  I did some investigating, and I found her guest for the tea that day crawling under the kitchen cabinets.

That is Sally, a salamander.  Nature Girl dug Sally out from the pond in front of our house and thought Sally would be the perfect tea party guest.  

Sally was a indeed wonderful guest.  So much so that Nature Girl kept her for a while.  That night when Nature Girl was taking a bath, I walked into the bathroom to find only her head and tummy sticking out of the water.  On her tummy was Sally, happily taking a bath with my girl.

Now you know why we call her Nature Girl!