Lovin' Life

There has been plenty of sunshine this week and we have been soaking it up! Slowly but surely our fence is coming along.


The privacy panels on both sides to block our back porch are up and the picket section has been started. Chuck is great about taking my vision and making it a reality!


Once he cut the pickets into the desired shape it is my job to sand the top edges.

My dad and Megan have a little ice cream thing going on. Some evening Grandpa calls over and says "ice cream, ice cream" which is exciting for Megan since it means a trip to the ice cream store.


The other night we turned the tables and had Megan call Grandpa to say "ice cream, ice cream!"

Before bed I usually step outside for a breath of fresh air.


I turned and look back at my home and thought how cozy it looked.

The boys I watch returned this week after me taking last week off.


The three peas in a pod were back together and very happy to see each other. Abe came running up the driveway yelling Mae, Mae (which is what he calls Megan.) Very cute!


Some time crafting when the afternoons were too hot to be outside.


As always there was housework to be done. I had all of the laundry washed, dried, ironed and put away. If only for a day it made me happy, happy.


My niece, Alison, and her boyfriend invited everyone over to my parents for dinner one evening. They served salad, chicken parmesan and cake for dessert. It was delicious and I enjoy watching Alison develope a love for domestic things!

Many hours have been spent outside.


A permanent home was found for the bird feeder. I really enjoy watching our visitors.


After much practice and determination Megan has finally mastered swinging. She has been trying hard since last summer to coordinate the pumping of her legs.



My nieces, Lauren and Kayla, have been here playing for most of the afternoon. They are now sleeping over. Chuck is surprising them with something fun! I will share pictures next week.

I hope you are taking time to enjoy the simple moments!

First Tomato

As I was out watering this evening I noticed that the first tomato had turned in Megan's container.

A garden makes all our senses swim with pleasure.
- William Lawson

I knew Megan would be excited since that girl loves her tomatoes!

I hope you are taking time to enjoy the simple moments!

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

I have been eyeing these in different catalogs and magazines for a long time. When Katy showed how she had made her own, I was like why hadn't I thought of that!


This is the soap bottle that I took the pump off of.


Chuck added a step in making this. Once he had cut the hole and put on the soap dispenser he then used a little chalk around the underside so that the pump was permanently attached to the lid. That is just the way he is. :)

I prefer the foam and I find that Megan makes much less of a mess with it.

In the future I will use regular hand soap and dilute it myself. For half a pint you would take 4 tablespoons of soap and then mix it with water.


See it works great!

Wouldn't one of these make a super gift? Thanks for sharing Katy!
I hope you are taking time to enjoy the simple moments!

Spend Sunday with Us

I enjoy taking a peek at what others do so I grabbed my camera today and thought I would take you along.

Ready to hit the road?

On our way we passed a hay field that had been recently cut.


As a treat we stopped for breakfast.


Then it was on to church.


Due to late evening thunderstorm Megan didn't go to sleep until close to ten. She was then awake at 6 this morning. We were barely out of the parking lot before she was asleep.


We decided to take a little drive so she could get in a cat nap.

I am a country girl through and through so we headed away from town. Our first sight was a couple of old barns.


Silos standing ready for a new harvest.


We've had a really wet spring and I was happy to see the corn is coming up.


Don't you just love a little country church?


I always imagine that everyone is super friendly and close. I bet their pot luck dinners aren't full of store bought items!

On the way home we made a quick stop for milk and to pick up a couple of other things.


I don't normally go to Wa*-Mart on Sunday and was surprised how busy it was. It is rare that Chuck is at the grocery with me. It gave me a chance to browse the bakery section while he ordered some lunch meat. I was shocked by the prices. About $3.50 for a dozen cookies! Yikes!

We hit the gas station next.


It is sad when any price under $4.00 makes me happy. :(

Then it was time to head home where Megan helped me with a few things in the kitchen.


She was suppose to wash off the strawberries and hand them to me to cut. A bunch of them never made it to me!

Next I got things ready for dinner.


Note to myself... set the frozen meat out before I leave the house.

I took some time to catch up on a news program that I had taped. Clip coupons and then I finished this weeks menu.


While I did that Megan was out in the garage with Chuck.


She said that she was playing school. Chuck watched the race and worked on straightening up the workbench.


Chuck fired up the grill and started dinner. My mom finds great meat deals on managers special. She is generous about sharing her great deals with us.

Steak, baked potatoes, corn (that I froze last summer) and salad. You should have stopped by there was plenty. I didn't even eat half of my steak!

When dinner was cleaned up I stepped outside and blew bubbles with Megan. We then came inside and read some library books.


Megan ended the night with an ice cream cone.


Pink sprinkles made for a happy girl!

Vacation is over and tomorrow it is back to normal. I have Chuck's lunch ready and am looking forward to seeing the boys tomorrow morning. Megan has been talking all evening about what she is going to teach Abe tomorrow.

Megan is snuggled in bed sound asleep. I think that sounds like a great idea. I hope you enjoyed your peek at our Sunday.

I hope you are taking time to enjoy the simple moments!

Around the Yard

Today was a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny with no humidity. If it were like this all summer I would be a happy, happy girl! Other then a trip to the grocery and coming in to eat the day was spent outside. As I was sitting on the back porch sipping my tea I was taking in the beauty of the clematis.


Through out the day Chuck worked on the fence.


His little sidekick was always ready to lend a hand.

I went to check out the garden and took my camera along.


The green beans are looking great!


Cabbage are starting to develop heads and the leaves are huge. Bigger then I think they have ever been.


It had been a couple of days since I had been to the garden and I found that my head lettuce once again failed. The heads were starting to develop the last time I was up at the garden. Every year my head lettuce fails. I will have to do some research to see what I am doing wrong.


Zucchini blooming.


This is the first time I have ever grown peas. I was tickled to see that the pods are growing. I can't wait to shell some peas!

I saw this morning that my neighbor had put up a clothes line.


I noticed a few times that she was looking over while I was hanging out laundry. I am glad to see someone else enjoying the savings and the simple pleasure of line dried laundry. No matter what the laundry bottle says you just can't duplicate the smell of line dried laundry.

My silly girl is loving all of the outside time.


She was wearing Daddy's hat and added her butterfly net and told me she was collecting honey. I love that imagination!

I hope you are taking time to enjoy the simple moments!