There has been much going on at my house. Yesterday was Zach's birthday. He is "two hands"! Finally, at 10 his front teeth are in and he looks less like a jack-o-lantern!The kitchen has been a busy place. Last week my oldest son requested a "special". I was making patty melts and he asked for his bread to be 2 grilled cheese sandwiches! He had seen it on Man vs. Food. What a sandwich that was!!!!
Sweetheart had a potluck at work and the guys asked him to bring my Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are just Tollhouse, but the secret is to take them out BEFORE they appear done. I cook them at 350 for 9 minutes....I make them pretty big too. I couldn't just send cookies, so I made a big batch of homemade macaroni salad too!
Zach requested quiche for his birthday dinner. He wanted ham and cheese, and I also made an onion, tomato, spinach and cheese quiche.
Ready for the oven! Charlotte and Zachary LOVE quiche. I do too, but Kyle and Sweetheart had pizza ;)
Now for the big changes around here. I am big on changing things up every once in a while. You all know I moved my sewing room upstairs several months ago, right?
As long as it looked like the above picture, it was all good. Those of you with sewing rooms, KNOW that it is rare to have your studio/sewing area look like this most of the time. Since this is a room open to the house, it was awful looking most of the time. I have not be pleased with that move. Last week I came across a couch and love seat at a neighbors garage sale for almost nothing! It matched my drapes perfectly and I could not pass it up. That started a string of change. I took my sewing room and put it back downstairs. The dining room came back. I have always loved this room and am thrilled it is back! 
I left the leaves out and stored 2 of the 8 chairs downstairs. I added some family pictures to the walls.......
.....and the buffet was moved from the entryway back into the dining room. I put some new treasures on this. My cousin brought me some old family photos I had never seen.
The larger picture is of my great-great grandparents, and their children. My Great Grandfather, William is standing in the back row, right hand corner. That little guy in the front, Charles, was killed in WWI in France. My GG Grandfather (also Charles) fought in the Civil War.
The smaller photo is of my Great Grandfather, William and 3 of his sisters. They all, along with their mother, Nancy, lived a long healthy life.
So what did I put in the entryway? The old stand by...the open hutch.
Now to the living room and the "new" couch and love seat. 
The love seat fits perfectly in this area.....
It has foot rests that come up on each side so you can relax! What a great hand quilting place this will be!!!! Notice my basket of projects and the supplies on the side table. I am ready to go!!!
Sweetheart had a potluck at work and the guys asked him to bring my Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are just Tollhouse, but the secret is to take them out BEFORE they appear done. I cook them at 350 for 9 minutes....I make them pretty big too. I couldn't just send cookies, so I made a big batch of homemade macaroni salad too!Zach requested quiche for his birthday dinner. He wanted ham and cheese, and I also made an onion, tomato, spinach and cheese quiche.Ready for the oven! Charlotte and Zachary LOVE quiche. I do too, but Kyle and Sweetheart had pizza ;)Now for the big changes around here. I am big on changing things up every once in a while. You all know I moved my sewing room upstairs several months ago, right?As long as it looked like the above picture, it was all good. Those of you with sewing rooms, KNOW that it is rare to have your studio/sewing area look like this most of the time. Since this is a room open to the house, it was awful looking most of the time. I have not be pleased with that move. Last week I came across a couch and love seat at a neighbors garage sale for almost nothing! It matched my drapes perfectly and I could not pass it up. That started a string of change. I took my sewing room and put it back downstairs. The dining room came back. I have always loved this room and am thrilled it is back! I left the leaves out and stored 2 of the 8 chairs downstairs. I added some family pictures to the walls............and the buffet was moved from the entryway back into the dining room. I put some new treasures on this. My cousin brought me some old family photos I had never seen.The larger picture is of my great-great grandparents, and their children. My Great Grandfather, William is standing in the back row, right hand corner. That little guy in the front, Charles, was killed in WWI in France. My GG Grandfather (also Charles) fought in the Civil War.The smaller photo is of my Great Grandfather, William and 3 of his sisters. They all, along with their mother, Nancy, lived a long healthy life.So what did I put in the entryway? The old stand by...the open hutch.Now to the living room and the "new" couch and love seat. The love seat fits perfectly in this area.....It has foot rests that come up on each side so you can relax! What a great hand quilting place this will be!!!! Notice my basket of projects and the supplies on the side table. I am ready to go!!!The sewing room will be a bit different than the last time it was in the Man Room. Not much, but the couch will be in there along with the large entertainment center and I will have CABLE! YEAH....The Hallmark Channel is the perfect sewing day channel! When I loaded pictures for this post, things were not put together at all.....
Since these pictures were posted, things look much different. I promise some finished photos next time. The grandkids are here for the week, so I am hoping to get some pictures of all the kids. Ok, well, this post has taken me 2 days to do...blogger freezes up on me every few minutes!!! I will be back at the end of the week to share!
Since these pictures were posted, things look much different. I promise some finished photos next time. The grandkids are here for the week, so I am hoping to get some pictures of all the kids. Ok, well, this post has taken me 2 days to do...blogger freezes up on me every few minutes!!! I will be back at the end of the week to share! 
Sassafras has been busy keeping watch over us all.
Flies, or bugs of any kind do not stand a chance in our home! She is Queen of the Fly Catchers! Her only issue is that after she kills them, she can not figure out why they stop fighting back! She swats them around with her paw, and seems quite miffed at the fact that they just lay there lifeless!
Can we talk deep for a minute?
Sometimes, how God gives us something He promises, is by giving us the KEY to that thing. Like joy. How do we get joy? By REJOICING!!!!! Rejoicing is the KEY to joy. Rejoicing in song (lots of high powered praise and worship music playing all day) and reading scripture concerning joy and rejoicing! It gets in you, and after time, you start to feel it! I am in the process, but I am certainly getting joy!
Oh yeah....grandkids!!!! (and a couple of my own children) Sit back cause there are a few pics here to scroll through!!! We had some water fun today, along with Popsicles, swings, and the sandbox!
TJ has his summer mohawk. I will get use to it about the time Mom shaves it off ;) That face is angelic! Zach has a bit of mischief in his eyes! Then they both get goofy! Boys! LOVE them!
Em enjoyed a couple of Popsicles! That little girl steals my heart!
The sprinkler was a hit!!!!
Hmmmmmm....a brother with a squirt gun.....a sister in his sights.....
It was a one sided war so you know who won! 
So that is a big dose of joy, eh? Hope you smiled a little bit, and I'll update again soon!
We had a company do some treatments, so the grass is much thicker and the weeds are under control. Sweetheart trimmed up the bushes, and he and Charlotte planted some flowers. I planted some pots of flowers for the porch and added some hanging baskets, which, by the way, if you wait til late in June, go on sale for like 70% off!!! 
My neighbor gifted me with this beautiful pot of yellow flowers. They are wonderful between the front porch rockers! I like this porch!
It is a comfy place to sit in the morning sun, or the evening shade.
In the back, we got the little garden planted. Just 2 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants, and a couple of rows of green beans. Enough for our dinner table. Everything else can come from the Farmer's Market.
The pots on the back deck are filled with red and white petunias, just like in the front flower bed.
My son had his children for the week. He was on vacation and had a wonderful time with them. They go home tomorrow. They will be back in 2 weeks and then every weekend after that for the rest of the summer. I got to enjoy them all on a few different occasions. They LOVED the CD's I got them. Remember....I couldn't share my Galena gift to them til they got them? I found CD's that I had made with their names in the songs. Emerson AND TJ have CD's in which the songs include their names like 90+ times in the CD. You can find them at Poopsies.com under Personalized CD's. Such a great gift!!! If they had Emerson's name, I am sure you can find just about any name!
They could not have a Popsicle without making sure they had the same color!!!
And she is such a helper. Watering the garden and flowers is her new favorite thing to do!
She is too cute for her own good!!!
"Hope's Garden" in my backyard.