NEW...

It's a new year,

a new week ,

a new day...

I am excited!
I am ready to clear out all of this excess,
to focus on what's important,
even to start school again!


I'm ready to exercise
and to eat better.


I'm excited to start painting and work on new projects.

Is that enough, yet?

We do love new beginnings, don't we?

It's a time to reflect and start fresh.

A time to leave the past behind

with all of it's shortcomings and mistakes.

But do you know what I'm most excited about?


Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lam. 3:23


May this year be one of hope, mercy and newness in Him.

my house...

(click on photo to enlarge)

I had a soo much fun making this collage,

it is like putting together a quilt.

It just all works together

and look-no piles of stuff lying around!

The PINK Lady...

The Pink Lady

She was found

at

a

yard sale

You never know what you will find!

Last summer on one of my excursions,

she was there

I commented on her lovliness

" she is for sale"

Are you serious?!

Just the type of car my daughter had been drooling over-

how cute would that be for graduation and wedding pictures?

I get home and casually mention my find,

well, next thing you know we're off

to check her out...

Daughter to Daddy...I just love her!

Daddy to Daughter...me, too.

Now, normally we don't just buy things like this ,

just because our children "love" it

but dear husband loves old cars and his girls:)

So here she is,

1956 Ford Fairlane

original body color:

coral mist with colonial white

How's that for shabby?


linking with Nesting Place
for the best yard sale evah...
to see more of our girl
like how she was my daughter's get-a-way car
click here
click on 

year in review cont.

Yesterday's post was about my house

but my blog is about so much more than just my house

It's about my home,

it's about my family,

and it's about my faith.

It's about my joys,

it's about my struggles,

and it's about my God.

So I made another collage
The Joy of my Life...

In 2008

I 've seen my sons become fathers,

my daughter become a beautiful young woman,

and my daughters become friends.

We were blessed with grandchildren,
and
we mourned the loss of a precious granddaughter.

We wait in Hope for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
In Him our hearts rejoice.
for we trust in His Holy Name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our Hope in you.
Psalm 33:20-22


Following are my top 5 favorite posts fo 2008.

And Thanks to all who visited.
Rene'

create

As I've said before
we are project people

we are doers
(of course, maintenance is another story)

we love

to dream and scheme

to figure out how to get it

from brain to beauty.

It has been a kick to watch this come out in my grown children.

One has his gearhead projects,

one putters in the yard,

my daughter is happiest in the kitchen coming up with

something yummy for us to eat

BUT I am in awe of this:

My oldest daughter set out to tackle a HUGE project.

She decided to make my younger daughter's graduation dress.

Without a pattern.
Not just any dress .

but a twirly, girly dress.

like this, Audrey Hepburn style.

Keep in mind that she has had no sewing lessons-
she is entirely self-taught.

My motto is why sew when there is duct tape?

Oh, she made the dress form too.

So here it is,

almost finished!

AMAZING!

Here is the finished product.

It's a...

girl!

and a Boy!

and a Boy!

That's right~

the exciting news

from a while back

that I couldn't tell 'ya:

It's triplets!

This is my second child,

Jason, my first son,

(not the papa to Brogan-that's the 3rd child, Brian)

got it figured out now? :0

Jason and Tasha had fertility isssues

with a serious diagnosis

but The Lord has blessed them.

We are soo thrilled and excited!

Mama is at 18 weeks-

we are praying

for these precious little ones

to stay put

so total grandchild count:

6 boys, 1 girl

It's the making of a football team

and one very spoiled (but adorable) princess!

The first baby shower is this afternoon

I couldn't resist this diaper bag for my very "macho" son

with 3 babies even he'll have to be

carrying a diaper bag!

There really never is a dull moment around here!

HOME SWEET HOME

and how she came  to be ours.

We found the house

about 11 years ago.

We drove by this house often...it was on the way to town.

It was obvious-

no one was living in it.

My husband found out who owned it (at the courthouse) 

and 

approached her about selling. 

She told us NO (later we found out she had been telling everyone no, too).

My husband did NOT like that answer:)

So he asked "WHY"?

"There is too much junk.  

The house would take too much work to get it ready to sell"

How about if we do that? We buy it "as is"?

You would do that?

In a heartbeat!

I'll talk to my family.

Family says -do it Mom!

We met for a showing,

I saw the staircase...and that was it.

I was hooked.

THIS was my dream home.

And as they say
the rest is history!

Well, junk is right...

the whole house and

all 3 outbuildings were full!

Some good junque'

but also a lot of just junky-junk

3 yardsales later we were ready

to start working on our treasure

The previous owners had replaced

the the wood windows with aluminum side-sliders,

closed in porches, and

covered up the siding with aluminum siding.

We uncovered it all

bought new wood windows,

rebuilt porches,

added the turret,

and made it into our dream home.

Someday I'll tell you the story about the gingerbread trim-

it is a post of it's own!

God has provided us with this wonderful place

to raise our family,

to make memories with our grandchildren,

and to never run out of projects:)

Yes, it is indeed

Home Sweet Home

coming home...

Last week I shared the story of our home

the story continues....

This is a story of a yard sale

from a yard sale...

our house circa 1912

As far as we can tell from the old photos

the gingerbread was removed in the 30's.

All of the  original old windows and mouldings from the

redo in the '70's were being stored in the chicken coop
when we moved in.

but no gingerbread

We looked everywhere for it-

in the bstalls of the barn,

in the chicken coop,

in the barn loft

but it was not here.

Shortly after beginning the exterior makeover

we were having a yard sale of our own.

My husband was mentioning to our neighbor lady,

Arlene,

(my favorite go-to- find junque' lady)

about how we really wished we

had the original gingerbread .

She said" I have some gingerbread that I bought

at a barn sale

around the corner a few years ago."

"Would you be interested in it?"

We headed on down to her place

(ran is more like it!)

That kind of architectural salvage

is very hard to come by here.

How much?

"$300.00 for all 3 pieces..."

(my husband just reminded me that it was $100.00 plus stuff junk we traded from our stash)

SOLD!

Quick...let's make the deal.

And get it home and put it up.

My husband is heading up the ladder...

ya, it's dark...told ya, we couldn't wait:)

You will not believe this...

The holes for the nails are in the very same place!

(As in, the holes in the soffit and the holes in the gingerbread)

Hurry, dig out the old photos!

You guessed it!

It is the same gingerbread!


That barn burned down

shortly after Arlene bought these!

Doesn't that just give you goosebumps?!