3000 pound bird bath.....

Since the fencing is done minus some dirt work we've started another project, it's a water feature. Sort of a bird bath, small pool...I'm not quite sure what to call it yet but it's just beginning. See......

I'll keep you posted on how things go and what we learn as we go. We've never done anything like this, the last water pond was with a liner and in the ground but the ducks took it over and it's not the pretty thing I wanted so we are going to fill that one in and this one will be above ground so the ducks can't take over and make it a mud mess. You know, we have a huge pond we dug in the swamp but either the ducks are afraid of it or just to lazy to go that far to swim.

Garage saling this past weekend I found two good deals for future projects. One is a Christmas sweater I'm going to make into a sweater bag and the other is two sweaters I'm going to make into mittens and head bands and if left overs scarves. Here's what they look like now....later I'll show you the finished projects.

So now it's onward and upward to a new week. This week for me is a short week because I took Thursday and Friday off. On Wednesday evening I'm heading to scout camp for the night and next day. If I can't go to camp for a full week I try and at least get there for part of it. The boys look forward to a mama figure there in the middle of the week when the home sickness kicks in and I also bring them up lots of homemade goodies. I make them bread, cookies and bars. They love the extra goodies and make the last 1/2 of the week go great. Then on Friday Mike is off with me and we'll get our yard and garden plus house all ready for the family reunion on Saturday. It's always at my mama's house but once in awhile we'll have a guest walk over here to see what's new plus the Wysocki's always spend the evening with us.
So that is that for now. I hope that all is well with everyone. Take care and God Bless!!

Two....

Two new baby chicks, that what one of the mama's chickens has done so far. She has two more eggs to go. We have at least 4 mama's sitting on chicken eggs and 1 mama sitting on a dozen duck eggs. If you have ever seen a mama chicken with baby ducks you'll understand my excitement in waiting for this brood to hatch. I'll take some pictures for you this coming week and keep you informed.

The fencing is done. There is dirt work and rock hauling to finish up the leveling and all but it looks good and in the end will be safer for the animals and daycare kids.

We did go and have dinner and visit with the Wysocki's. They have a new basement in and this week will come the floor heat and concrete. It's exciting watching them get their new home.

Take care my friends and have a great Lords day. God Bless.

I know.....

I know it's been just about a week since I posted anything and for awhile it was just because it was so busy with just the usual stuff, daycare, scouts, gardening, fencing....you know the usual stuff plus by time we get in at 9:30 each night I'm just toast. It's hard to get up at 4:30 each morning and then not get back into bed until 10:30 or a bit later and do it all over again. Oh I'm not complaining at all, it my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world at all. It's just busy.

So let's see I have a couple things to share with you though. On Thursday Mike can home with my Mother's day present (I know he already gave me my cabinet). He got me a Back Track. It's like a GPS but this just tells me where one place is. When we get to our parking spot in the BWCA I'm going to set it for there and no matter what happens we'll be able to find out way out. I know we all have compass, GPS's, maps and all but this will just be in case. I love it and plan to use it the next few weeks so I know exactly how to use it and be safe with it.

I had a jewelry customer come this week. She has bought lots of our jewelry and now has lost a great deal of weight so I'm going to downsize her jewelry for her. She is looking mighty fine with all her hard work so need to have some pretties to go with it.

And finally for our ending to the week, I took the kids on a picnic yesterday after we stopped at Mark's and saw the newly born goats. The have two that were born on Thursday and one is doing great, her name is Peanut, the other had to be pulled and she's not doing to well. She has no muscle tone in her front quarters. A long time ago I took a bunch of assistant veterinarian courses so I get lots of questions about this and that and though I didn't follow up on this faze in life I do know a thing or two so I checked out the goat and she's not broken any where's and she is eating about 2 oz every couple of hours so I'm hoping (so is Mary) that she'll get better but I have a suspicion it's not meant to be so I tried to help Mary understand that. But to the good part, we had a great time with out picnic up on a hillside under some huge oaks. I, of course, forgot my camera at home but took a couple phone pictures so I can at least share some pictures of this week with you. Take a look......

In the background that you can see if my uncles farm and my cousins place and to the right and across the lake would be my parents and I'm after that. You know, living out here with my family all around me is the perfect life. You can't get any better then living in the country, have the best family in the world, being able to work from my home and be outside all the time, and being bless with just about everything a person/family could want. Oh we may not have the "things" a person might want but we have the "things" a person needs so what part of that could anyone complain about. Not me....no complaints here at all.

Now have a blessed weekend, take care and God Bless!!!

It was beautiful.....

Camping that is. We had such a great time. The only mistake was I didn't shut the windows in our tent and boy was is moist in there when we went to bed. Oh well, we lived and it was relaxing and just perfect. We went to North Star Lake, about 25 miles north of Grand Rapids.

We got camp all set up.....We went fishing.....

We took the start of Mike's grad pictures. I got a flyer in the mail the other day about grad pictures and do you know they start at $200.00 and go up to $1000.00 plus just for pictures that I can take. Oh I know they are professionals and really are super pictures but for that price I am going to spend the summer taking pictures of Mike doing things he loves and see what we come up with. Here's a couple to start out with....

The exposure is not perfect on either of these but it's a start. Then we ended our day by watching the sunset. Oh it was beautiful and a perfect way to end the day.

Well we didn't really end it there, then came the campfire and lots of chattering, laughing and snacking.....

On Sunday we went to Grand Rapids and got the last of our fencing needs and came home and worked for 5 hours getting up another 100' of chain link fence. We worked in the rain and were pretty soaked by time we were done. We headed over to see my daddy for Father's day and I talked with daddy while Jim went home and put all the tools away for the day so we could go and visit the Wysocki's and see how they were coming on the their place. They are building a new home but had to take down the old farm house first so right now there's a huge hole where the house is and today they start on the sewer and water.

So all in all, I couldn't of asked for a better weekend. We got to camping like I've been wanting to for ages, we still got some work done that Jim wanted done, some visiting and reconnecting with family and friends.

Now today I am off, no kiddies today some are family camping, some have doctor appointments and one is home with his daddy so that leaves me a day to spend with my mama. We are off shortly to Brainerd for some groceries, feed, some misc things and then I told mama I'd take her to Pizza Hut because a wonderful friend gave me a gift certificate for there. Thank you Sally.

So time for chores and getting ready. I hope you all had a great weekend and now a new week is here and some working, some scouting, some gardening, some more fencing and time to just be happy we are alive and able to do all of this. Praise the Lord!!!

Take care my friends and God Bless.

Just finished....

My devotion for this morning and I have got to share this poem with you. It is so perfect....enjoy!!

He was just a little boy, On a week's first day. Wandering home from Bible school, And dawdling on the way. He scuffed his shoes into the grass; He even found a caterpillar. He found a fluffy milkweed pod, And blew out all the 'filler.' A bird's nest in a tree overhead, So wisely placed up so high. Was just another wonder, That caught his eager eye. A neighbor watched his zig zag course, And hailed him from the lawn; Asked him where he'd been that day, and what was going on. 'I've been to Bible School ,' He said and turned a piece of sod.. He picked up a wiggly worm replying, 'I've learned a lot about God.' 'M'm very fine way,' the neighbor said, 'for a boy to spend his time.' 'If you'll tell me where God is, I'll give you a brand new dime.' Quick as a flash the answer came! Nor were his accents faint. 'I'll give you a dollar, Mister, If you can tell me where God ain't...?'

AMEN!!!

Camping....

We get to go camping, we get to go camping.....YEAH!!! It's only a short trip but hey, it's out and away from chores and fencing and time to just relax and enjoy. Of course it's like all our camping trips, we do not plan where we are going, we are heading north. We know that tomorrow afternoon we'll be in Grand Rapids to pick up the last of the fencing, the rest we'll follow our noses. Oh I'm so thrilled. It's been way to long.

So have a great weekend, I'm planning on it and I'll take pictures and share early next week. Take care my friends and God Bless!!!

TGIF!

Even though I love my job and wouldn't trade it for a million dollars, I sure do love Fridays. It means I can get a few things done I want to do, at least the things I need to get done. :o) Being home doesn't always mean I have time for the home stuff even though my hubby thinks it does. Taking care of 4-6 kids is a full time job even without the extra stuff. Today the last of the Father's Day goodies went home. Everyone seemed to like the idea of a daddy's day breakfast so it was a hit.

I so want to go camping so am going to try and get Jim into the mood for it. We use to go all the time so not sure what's up with not going, oh I know there's always stuff that has to get done but camping is such a great way for the three of us to reconnect and I miss that. We do both camper camping and tent camping. I love both but really love the camper camping but just because it's quieter in there. Sleeping in a tent you can hear the whole world even if you don't want too, in the camper it's quiet and I feel just a bit more private but right now would take any kind of camping. Mike and I are heading to the BWCA the end of July with our Venture Crew and we have 7 in our group that is going. All teenagers other then myself and another adult so am imagining those food packs are not going to be very light. It's nothing new to any of us so that will be nice and we are only planning about a 50 mile trip so in the 8 days we are there we'll have 2-3 days were we can just relax and enjoy ourselves.

Well I'm off to finish up the daycare day and start the weekend. I hope that everyone has a blessed weekend and you all find time to relax and enjoy. God Bless!!!

Grandpa....

Just an FYI. Grandpa's x-ray came back terrific. He has healed very nicely and now will be able to put full weight on his leg. Today he walked 20' without any problems. Now it's time to get him moving so he can come home. They told him he's to get in and out of bed on his own now too so that will help make him stronger too. He still has to ask for assistance but independence is just around the corner. Grandma was so happy she was almost giddy, it was fun talking to her tonight.

Wilbur and Bobby are ready for bed, soon me too. Good night my friends, God Bless!!!

This afternoon....

I found a really cool idea at http://www.craftstylish.com/item/48180/dads-tie-to-gadget-case It's a tute that teaches how to take a dad's tie and make it into a gadget case. I liked this idea but wanted more of a glass holder or small purse so changed the pattern to suit me and here's what I came up with. I got the tie at a garage sale for .25 and now both girls want me to make them one. I'll have to find some ties though since it's not something either Jim or Mike wear.Today Anton was able to come for the day so we put together his father's day present and that was homemade apricot syrup, homemade butter, rhubarb berry sauce and pancake mix. So everyone can make the daddy's a father's breakfast and the kids made all the goodies (with a little help from me). They still need to make their cards but we're getting there. The girls have the mirror to add to their basket for their daddy and then that holiday will be taken care of. It's fun to have projects for them to do and they love making all kinds of goodies.

Well that is my day. This evening am heading over to see great grandpa in the nursing home, it's been 3 months since he fell and broke his hip and today he gets his final (hopefully final) x-ray and then the okay to start walking and getting ready to go home. We'll hope and pray that all is okay now. Grandma is more then ready to have grandpa back, it's been so hard on her coming and going all the time plus trying to put in her garden, take care of the animals and the usual household stuff. Mind you, grandpa is 94 and grandma is 92. She drives every day to the N.H. and stays for 8 hours or so with grandpa to make sure he eats right, does all his exercise and just keeps home going. I hope one day I can be half as agile and as good as she is.

Take care and have a superb evening. God Bless.

Two done, two to go....

Mike finished up two of the nesting houses for a dear friend in New York and tomorrow will be mailing them off to her. These are robin nesting boxes and the next ones I think were ......well I can't remember what they were but he'll start working on them next week I think. It is so much fun working beside Mike in his wood shop. His ideas on how to do something are always much different then mine but they always work out.



Now today I took those two mirrors I got at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago and copied an idea I saw and made these. I love them. They are just a small mirror but with the polished agates on them they will make great Father's day gifts. The picture isn't the greatest but taking pictures of mirrors is a lot harder then I though. Anyways here's what they look like and the girls are going to be excited that they get to have them for their dad. They helped pick the agates and arrange them so were part of the project too.

So that was my project for today. I also had time to go though the closets for the boy scout garage sale this week. I usually save things so can use for this or that but this garage sale is for all the boys to go to camp and we need to make some money with 20 some boys going. Every little bit helps. My daycare parents are bring goodies to add and also some friends so hopefully it's a good turnout.

Take care and have a blessed night.

"Sew" what do you think?

I did it, I got to sew this afternoon and make three liners for my crates. What do you think? It was a bit harder at first to get the pattern I wanted to use and of course it wasn't one that Kim gave me, I had to make up one by myself (besides Kim, I lost your e-mail with the tutes on it, sorry). The first one was a bit large around the top and made with a light cotton so that one has elastic around the top to hold it tight, the second one was a wee bit tight but came out fine and the last one, well it was perfect and fits nice. The middle was first, the right was second and the left was last. Here's a look see:

Okay, that's it for right now. Mike has the bird houses done so will take a pic when he gets home to show you all. Take care, God Bless.

Lost it....

I haven't a clue but somewhere from last night to this morning I lost a post. I got it blogged but found a mistake so took it back to fix it and somewhere along the lines it got lost. I told you I was new at this. Oh well I'll just again.

This past week I dried some pansies and now have a few to do something with, what I don't know yet but something. Maybe a picture after I do some ferns. I did find out you need to be patient when taking them out of the drying stuff or they bust into a lot of pieces. Anyways, here's what they look like. Any ideas on what I should make?

I'm going to get to sew this afternoon. My big girls have dentist appointments so will be leaving about lunch time and the two boys will take naps so that means I will have better then an hour of time to sew. I'm going to make a liner for those little crates I got. I'll share when done, hopefully it'll be something worth sharing.

How's everyone gardens doing? Mine is coming up just fine, along with the weeds of course so that means I need to get into there and till and pick a few weeds this week. Not this afternoon though, another afternoon. I'll take a picture of my garden to share, it is looking good and everything is coming up so that's a big plus. I have a few little tomato plants left to get into it but have been waiting for the final freeze to past and hopefully last week was it because they really need to get out there.

Well it's that time, take care and have a great afternoon. God Bless everyone!!

Hannah's party....

Well she's just about one year old now, time sure flies when you taking care of little ones. I have had Hannah here since just a few days after she was born. No not always in daycare but her mama brought her here to visit because her brothers were here each week. Hannah is such a doll and a blessing to have and enjoy. I love my little girl, well really I love them all. All 6 of them, with all my heart and soul. I thank God every day for sending them and their parents to me. Anyways, here's Hannah in all her glory. Enjoy and have a good night sleep. God Bless!!!

Something new....

I got an invitation today to facebook from a Julie Riley in Dayton, OH. That's my name and really weird typing her name next to mine but I think it would be cool to just see how much we have in common since we do share the same name. I meet another friend in the southern US that has a name like mine but a different spelling, hers is Julee. She's about my age with a little girl. You want to know the very best part of it all, they are both Christians and believe Jesus is first and foremost. Oh how I love meeting friends in Christ.
Okay, it's time for a birthday party so gotta get going. I'll keep you posted on just who is out there.
Take care and God Bless.

Baby Blue Jays.....

Aren't they cute? I was heading out to cut some liliacs today and saw them. The mama Blue Jay was bombing my head while I was taking these pictures but oh was it worth it. Enjoy and have a great day. Maybe I'll be back later. :o)

Park...

Today the kids and I went to the park after safety town for the older kids. We met with a couple other mama's and all the kids had a blast. They got to play and have a picnic and the mama's got a chance to just chatter and relax. These are my two favorite pictures. I wish I had taken more but it's so hard holding a camera and lifting up a little one on the monkey bars or doing under dogs on the swings. :o) Wilbur always gets to come to this park and he plays with any and all kids. He loves being touched, hugged and petted and even just talked too is great. If a child is afraid of him he just sits there and waits for them to either come to him or walk over, he's not pushy unless you show you already love him or will love him. Today it was so nice out too, sunshine and 70*, it's been so long since we've had both and were able to enjoy it.

Well it's that time so will close and wish you all a great night sleep and God Bless!!

Waste of time?

Well it really doesn't look clean but it is, the cars are one side, the bigger toys in the middle and Jon's tractor in the two totes cloeset to us and the wee people and wee people parts on the other end plus a misc. pile in a couple totes in the middle.

Here is a picture of the

fabric I got at Wa-mart.

Oh the ideas......

purses, totes,

basket liners, a

blouse for my

mama, Oh I just

don't know. I'll

come up with

something and

then share with you!

Have a great day and God Bless!!

My buy today....

While at Office Max today I went and check out their clearance isle and guess what I found?

These...... I paid $1.10 each The were over $5.00 each. They are 8"x7"x6"

Just think of the goodies I can store in these. The kids can use them for toys and I'm going

to use them for sewing items. Then I've already been thinking about making liners for them so I can store items on the shelves and they'll look good. I only had $16.00 with me today but spent it all in one place, I didn't need the sugar and oatmeal today, there's next week. :o)

We worked on more fencing today, got the back hill done (this is old sheep fence we put up 20 years ago but it needed new fence stakes put in and the fence tightened) and then put in more posts for the chain link. We can't afford to go very far but a bit each week or two we get another post or top post and get them in. We need to get 3 rolls of chain link fence but I'm thinking it'll be a little bit still before that will be happening.

Well it's a busy week coming. 2 of the boys are going to Safety Town at school the other 4 I'll keep busy. On Friday when the 2 boys graduate from there we'll all go to the park for lunch and play.

So have a great week and hopefully we get to see some sunshine and warmth. God Bless.

gift cards...

A long time ago I got 3 $10.00 gift cards from Sears.com and tonight I decided to see what's on the website before they expired. The kids are going to be very excited. I got them a pool. We get one each year and it's usually a pretty small one but this year I was able to get them a 120" pool. It's not a deep one, just 3' but it'll be perfect for all the kids. I'm not going to tell them until it's warmer and I can set it up otherwise they'll bug me every day no matter if it's 40* 0ut there or 60*.
Today I worked the Remer Art Co-op and let me tell it is one of the nicest craft stores I have ever been in and I am so glad we are part of it. I have come to realize though is that we can not drive up there and hope to make any money. It's over 100 miles and at 15 mpg each trip will cost just about $20.00 and the fact we need to work there once a month for 8 months it costs more then the non-working fee so think we'll be paying that and just visit and check our jewelry and hope for the best. It was fun though today to work and experience the co-op.
Well my day is about done and I have to go out and shut up the chickens. Take care my dear friends, God bless you all!

Walmart....

Wal-mart had a fabric extravaganza today, lots and lots of fabric on sale for $2.00 a yard. I had the girls with me today so I noticed when I got home I had 4 our of the 6 fabrics more girly then I'd ever pick on my own. They are pretty but pink, I don't like pink but they are pretty. We got Veggie Tale print, butterflies, stars, frogs, purple tie dye and the pink flowers. I was only going to get a yard of each but got 2 or 3 yards. I'm thinking some basket liners or small purses for the girls and the pink, I remember seeing a t-shirt with a fabric skirt so think I'll see where that was and try that. I also know someone (Kim) that will help me use up this fabric if I run out of ideas. She's been telling me about this strip quilt that I just might have to try, that is after she comes and shows me exactly what I'm suppose to do. Also for the coupon clipping, I saved almost $12.00 today in coupons. It's worth the time and effort but it is not an easy thing all the time. It's a pain having to always read the sizes and make sure it's one or two or more and so on but for the $12.00 I saved I was able to take Rachel and Abby to McDonald's for their Mighty Kids Meals. :o)
Well tomorrow is the weekend and I'm on my way to Remer to work at the Art Co-op. My garden needs watering as well as the trees so will do that this weekend too, this is unless it rains like they said it was suppose to.
That's that for now. I hope that you all have a great weekend and just maybe, if it rains, I can do a bit of beading or sewing and have a show and tell craft for Monday's blog. You just never know. Take care and God Bless.
Also, please keep Kim's grandma in your prayers, she's in the hospital this weekend with some breathing troubles. The family will most defiantly be in ours.

I almost forgot....

To tell you that our Mail Swap is going wonderfully. The kids have sent off all their letters and have received about 2/3 of them back. Rachel is reading every letter to everyone and it has been so cool putting these little people on the world map so they can just see how far a letter has come and how far they sent them away.
If any parent of the mail swap is reading this I want to personally thank you for help your little ones take the time to write my little ones. It has been a joy and a blast for them getting to know someone new.
Rachel plans on writing a couple of them back because they asked to be pen pals and she's pretty excited about that.
Thank you!!!

I'd like too.....

Do some sewing, crafting....well anything but with the kids out of school, the weather being so beautiful I just haven't had the time too. Maybe we'll have a rainy day and I can get to it but until then, we'll play. This weekend I'm working in Remer at the Art Co-op there. My partner and I have our jewelry up there and since we're part of the co-op we must work a day or two a month. We can pay a non-working fee but we'd have to sell a couple hundred dollars worth of jewelry and since this is our first year up there and we don't know the sales records we figured we'd work. It will also give us the chance to host an artist day too because when you work you can work your business too so we are going to set up our beads and see if we can make some special pieces for people if they can't find something already on hand. I'm also going to bring up my totes and other craft items I've made and see what else is displayed and for sale, if nothing like these I'll put them out. I talked with the owners and they say you may have as much stock out as you want as long as the store doesn't look crowded. I'm going to take up my record bowls too and see how they go.
Here's what they look like. The pictures aren't that great but you get the idea.


Today we took Rachel and Abby to see the goats and Rachel and number 1 (or tubby is her nickname) were playing. Tubby loves to be petted and played with. See...

Well it's nap time for the middle two so will close and wish you all a great afternoon. Take care and God Bless!!

Good morning...

My nephew was here the past two days and he caught a toad and shared it with the daycare little ones. It took them a bit of time to want to touch it but it was fun watching them. First the screams then the giggles. Scott is so good with these little ones and they all look forward to him coming. He mows for me at nap time and it takes a good 3-4 hours of mowing and since I am not as picky as I use to be close counts. I remember at one in my life I wanted the yard to be pristine, now as long as it looks nice, that's good enough.

We had a birthday party last week at the park and one of the mama's had made Sponge Bob pin the pants on and it was a hit. Rachel played it over and over again while the boys did other things. My mama bought the kids bubbles and they loved that.
Today we are heading to the nursing home to see great grandpa. The kids grew him some pictures that he can hang up and I'm sure lots of hugs for him too.

You all have a great day and God Bless!!