Friday, June 29, 2007

"Show and Tell Friday"



Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better!


My show and tell this week is my new rocking chair. I have been looking for one for several years but I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I didn't want it to be too large. This one is nice and small and it was $30.00 at the resale store!

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it by the bookshelf in the living room or...


...in front of the fireplace.


Either way it has been getting lots of use.


Fern seems to think I brought it home for her. :0)


Thank you for looking at my new rocking chair!


If you would like to join in for Show and Tell, here are the guidelines:

***Post your "Show and Tell" on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Please do not use Mr. Linky unless you have a Show and Tell or the link will be deleted.

***Link back here so that others can share and read through all the links. If you don't know how to do this, email me and I will send you the link code.

***Please do not host your own "Show and Tell Friday" at your blog. I'd appreciate it if you keep There's No Place Like Home as the only home of Show and Tell Friday.




Wednesday, June 27, 2007

4th of July Decorations

Hello everyone! I did a little 4th of July decorating this past weekend and took some pictures to share with you...

I thought I would add a little red, white and blue to my kitchen window shelves. I found the angel "God Bless America" ornament at Michael's as well as the toothpick flags.


I stuck the flags in my potted plants and the mini wheelbarrow planter was on clearance for $1.00 so I got that too. :0)


I also made a "4th of July" banner for my fireplace mantle...


All you need is card stock, white paper doilies, ribbon and stickers.


My friend, Revee gave me this pretty red rose plant this past Friday. I tucked in a few of the flags and it's an instant 4th of July decoration!


We are having a "open house" BBQ on the 4th of July and since it's only a week away I should start thinking about what we are going to feed everyone! My Canadian friends will also be celebrating this coming week. Canada Day is July 1st.

Do you have any special plans?

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

~Scenes From My Day~

Good morning! Thank you *so* much for your notes of congratulations and blessings for our 13th wedding anniversary! Reading through them made my day extra special and I am very thankful for the friends I have made here in blogland!

The girls and Benjamin were at Vacation Bible School in the morning so I got to do some of my favorite things around the house....

I brought in some herbs and flowers from the garden and had a cup of Bigelow's Caramel Vanilla tea.


Lemon balm, Asparagus Fern and "Purple Pom-Poms." (We can't remember the actually name!)


Writing a letter to a friend...


Sometimes it pays not to weed! This Sunflower grew from winter birdseed that didn't get cleaned up.




Freshly washed bedsheets...


Banana Crumb Muffins hot from the oven.


Thank you for looking at the scenes from my day!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Wedding Anniversary

On June 25, 1994 Phillip and I said "I do" inside a sunken garden in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.


I dug through some boxes last night and found a few things from that special time...

Here is what my wedding dress looked like. I tried on 3 dresses and liked this one the best. A few months later I found this picture in a magazine. It's much easier to show you this way rather than getting the dress down from my closet. Then I would have to admit that I never got it cleaned or preserved and I wouldn't want to do that. ;0)


Our invitation...


I still have our guest book. We had a small (around 40 guests) reception at our future home.


Here we are 13 years ago. We aren't as skinny now but Phillip does have shorter hair. ;0)


We actually celebrated our anniversary this past Friday night. Nana and Papa babysat while Phillip took me to a John Mayer concert. We left the house at 6:00pm and got home at 1:30am. It was worth it though!

Happy Anniversary, Phillip!! I'm looking forward to the next 13 (and many more!) years together!!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

Hello everyone! This past Friday we had Revee and her girls over for a visit to celebrate Emily's birthday. I had a bunch of lemons to use up so I made these Lemon Cream Cupcakes.


Lemon Cream Cupcakes
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon peel and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick). Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com



Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 drops yellow food coloring

Beat cream cheese and butter in a bowl until combined. Beat in powdered sugar and lemon juice.
Beat in 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups more of powdered sugar till frosting is of spreading consistency. Stir in a few drops of yellow food coloring.
Note: I added a bit more lemon juice to make it extra lemony. If you do this, just add a little more powdered sugar too.
Recipe found at Allrecipes.com

We had them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream too. :0)


More lemons to use up...


You can add sliced strawberries to your lemonade for an extra treat. Let it sit for about an hour and then stir.


Last night we watched the long awaited Miss Potter. I know some of you haven't seen it yet so I won't give anything away. I will just say that I loved it and so did the girls and Benjamin!


I hope you all are having a great weekend!

Friday, June 22, 2007

"Show and Tell Friday"



Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better!


Today, I want to share with you my small collection of old postcards.

My friend, Clarice gave me this pretty violet postcard for my birthday. There is a short note on the back, written in 1909...

Cousin Inez,
Hope this will find you well and enjoying life.
May your future be full of pleasure and blessings.

Your cousins, Marion, Goldie and Maynard.



Here are my Thanksgiving postcards...


Another note on the back of one...

November 24, 1913
My Dear boy-
Just recieved the rose cutting Thank you for them
I have been sick the reason I have not wrote you.
Feel some better now will write you a letter soon
glad you are well

Mother



My plan is to collect a few postcards for each of the main holidays. Thank you for looking at the ones I have so far!


If you would like to join in for Show and Tell, here are the guidelines:

***Post your "Show and Tell" on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Please do not use Mr. Linky unless you have a Show and Tell or the link will be deleted.

***In your post, link back here so that others can share and read through all the links. If you don't know how to do this, email me and I will send you the link code.

***Please do not host your own "Show and Tell Friday" at your blog. I'd appreciate it if you keep There's No Place Like Home as the only home of Show and Tell Friday.




Thursday, June 21, 2007

June 21, 2007


Happy First Day of Summer!!





If you are still,
you may hear the sounds of toes,
giggling in the tall summer grass.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Emily's 8th Birthday

Our day started out very early...7:10am. For a night owl like myself, this was very painful!

At our house, if it's your birthday you get to pick out whatever cereal you want. Emily chose the very healthy Cookie Crisp. ;0)


Opening a present before Phillip went to work.


This was her big present. A Cinderella play set, complete with a pumpkin carriage.


Today was also the day that I introduced the girls and Benjamin to the greatest show ever....The Price is Right! Phillip isn't a fan but we won't hold it against him. ;0)


Next, we went to the children's resale store for a new birthday dress. We found this pink and white polka dot one for $8.99.


In the afternoon we met Phillip at the library park to check on the baby swans.


This is what they looked like back in April...


Now they are huge and just starting to get their white feathers.


Here is the birthday girl with her dinner...grilled steak and french fries.


Grace found these cute umbrellas for the iced tea.


Promise not to laugh at my Cinderella cake?? I'm going with the "it was really hot and the icing melted" excuse. ;0) Fortunately, Emily didn't notice!


Make a wish!


Since we've been getting so much rain, Benjamin gave her a new umbrella. She thought the duck head handle was funny.


Five minutes later, it was even funnier. I'm thinking the sugar high has kicked in!


Off for a ride on the scooter. We finally made her go to bed at 10:00pm. She was just getting ready to play with her toys!


Thank you so much for the wonderful birthday wishes in the previous post!!