YEA!!!!! DAVID COOK IS THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL!!!

Yea!!!! I am so glad that David Cook won last night. I was really hoping he would but I wasn't sure. It was such a great finale!! I loved when he sang with ZZ Top - that was so good. I'm just so glad that he won & I really can't wait for his CD to come out. Go David!!

I'm finally posting again!

WOW! I haven't posted in such a long time. It seems like I just get busy around here and the time is gone before I know it. My daughter, Ashley, turned 15 in April & we got her plane tickets to go see my parents in Florida. She was there for about a week & a half. She had such a great time and is totally ready to go back again!! :)

My flowers in the yard are all coming along nicely. I've been taking pictures about every 10 days to see how fast things are growing. I sure can't wait until about the middle of June when things really start blooming. My hostas are looking so pretty though. Here's some pictures.

On the quilting front, I have been very lazy. It seems like once the spring & summer get here then I don't think about quilting much. I'm so focused on the yard and all that I sorta forget about my poor sewing machine. Hopefully soon I'll get back to it though! I've got so many projects going right now that I'd love to finish something. I really miss working with my 30's fabrics that some of you have so generously sent me. I just love the prints from that time period!!

I'm still reading the Mitford series books by Jan Karon. I just started "A New Song" which is the 5th book in the series. I just love these books so much! I sure would love to live in a little town like Mitford. Although Father Tim & Cynthia are heading to a new town in this book. It should be fun to meet all the new characters.

Is anyone watching American Idol? We are!! I am completely rooting for David Cook to win. I think it is about time that a "rocker" won the show!! Of course, the other David is good too so either way it'll be alright. Plus they both will probably have CDs out no matter who wins.

Hopefully I'll be writing again soon! Bye for now!

Flower pictures

Spring is coming quickly! It's been beautiful the last few days here. We got out into the yard & cleaned up all the debris from the winter. We also weeded everywhere and put down some PREEN. Hopefully that will keep some of the weeds away for me. My flower beds are all looking so pretty! Not much blooming yet but alot of things poking their leaves out. I do have some daffodils coming out though. So pretty! Here is a picture.

Last day at work!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!! Today is my last day of work. I am officially a fulltime wife and mom again! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm so glad that Tom & I have made this decision. It is going to be so great to just focus all my energy on my family again. I've really missed that alot!

Please hurry up spring!!!

I am so ready for spring I can hardly stand it!!! I'm ready for warmer temperatures & evenings on the deck. I'm ready for my flowers to all start growing!! I've changed the header picture for my blog to a spring picture of our house. I'm hoping that will hurry things along!

Last year when we moved into this house I was so excited to make the yard my own. We did a ton of work all summer long. That is amazing for me because usually I'm not a "worker" kind of girl! This summer we have decided that for the most part we aren't going to make a ton of changes. We did alot last year and we just want to enjoy it this year. Just do the maintenance things we have to do like weeding and watering. Other then that though we just want to sit back and enjoy everything. I can't wait for stuff to start getting green and pretty!

I am also getting excited this year about watching birds. We have alot of them that visit our yard & I'm hoping to attract even more. We have one birdfeeder right now but I want to get more. Also, I want to figure out the right kind of food to attract the birds I really like. I've seen some cardinals and bluejays and they are so pretty. I want more of them! I also say a yellow and black bird last year but I'm not sure if it was an oriole or a golden finche. I don't know how to tell the difference. I suppose I'm showing my ignorance in all things related to birds. I'm looking forward to learning though!!

More birthday brags!

I had the most fantastic weekend! Ashley went to a friend's house so that Tom & I could be alone. We were actually celebrating our anniversary because it falls on Easter this year. It sure was nice to be alone with him all weekend though! I got a birthday card from my mom and dad on Friday and there was a check for $50.00 in it!! We decided to go to Amish Country on Saturday so of course I took my money with me. We had the best time - I just love going there and looking in all the shops. That area is just so pretty too. I ended up spending all my money too. I got eight different solid colors of fabric that I want to make into an Amish style wall hanging sometime. I also got lots of thread & a pair of really nice Gingher dressmaker scissors. They are the nicest scissors I've ever had! Oh & I also got a perpetual calander with Amish pictures and a wooden holder for it. Here is a picture of everything.

Birthday brags!! :)

My birthday is this coming Sunday - March 16 - and I'll be 36 years old. Also our wedding anniversary is the following Sunday - March 23 - and we'll be married 17 years. March is always a great month for me!! Usually Ashley stays with my parents for a few nights for us to celebrate our anniversary but this year she can't because of them moving to Florida. She thought it would be good to just fly her down for the weekend but that is alittle too expensive!! She'll be going to a friend's house for the weekend instead. We're doing it this week because our actual anniversary falls on Easter this year.

Because of Ashley going to her friend's house they decided to surprise me and celebrate my birthday last night. I was so surprised I can't even put it into words!!! She and Tom were really sneaky and had alot of secrets between them. He had ordered me a cake from R & M Bakery which is my very, very favorite. He picked that up yesterday on his way home from work & also got vanilla ice cream, mint chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate sauce & peanuts. Plus they had gone shopping earlier in the week when I thought they had gone to the gym to play basketball. He bought me a BEAUTIFUL wooden Amish made quilt rack. I've been wanting one forever to put my quilts on. Hopefully I'll get busy now and get more made to fill it up. Here is a couple pictures of it.

Ashley also got me a present. She's been babysitting alot and has her own money now. She is so generous and actually got me a $50.00 gift certificate to Jo Ann's Fabric!!!! Isn't that the greatest! Of course I wanted to go shopping right away - I can never hold onto those gift certificates for very long. Tom and I went that evening but Ashley decided to stay home. She thinks I take way too long in that store! I really can't believe I'm typing this but I didn't buy a single piece of fabric! Usually I just buy random 1/2 yard cuts to try to build up my stash. It isn't very big & I'm always wanting more fabric. But this time I decided to be smart about it and get something I really wanted. So I decided on a new iron since I've had mine since I got married 17 years ago and it isn't that great of one. The Rowentas were on sale for $20.00 off so I decided on one of those. I ended up with the Rowenta Professional. It is so nice!!!!! I also got a book "Bargello Quilts" by Marge Edie and some safety & straight pins. All you quilters out there know that I ended up spending more then the gift certificate was for but my generous husband was more than happy to give me the rest of it!! :) Here is a picture of all the stuff I got from Ashley.

Yesterday was such a wonderful surprise!! I really think I have the greatest husband and daughter in the world!!! :) They love me so much and I'm so blessed.