Simple Pleasures of Summer

The simple pleasures of Summer. While watering my flowers, this HUGE butterfly decided to join me. She stuck around for about 15 minutes; long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures of her. This is the part of summer that I love. I LOVE my new camera. The only editing I did was some cropping. LOVE IT!

Fourth Of July Invitations

I LOVE to celebrate the 4th of July! The first summer we lived in our house, we tried to have a 4th of July Party and well after much planning and LOTS of food.... nobody came. I am sure it is because most people around here have LOTS of family around. For some crazy reason, I thought that this year would be different. So far, not so good. I have handed out some invitations, but so far, nobody has RSVP'ed. Sad day. Oh well. At least I had fun making the invitations! Here is a tutorial if you would like to make some for your next 4th of July Party.

For each invitation, you will need 7 Popsicle sticks. I kind of like the "not-so-perfect" ones. (They add character.) For each flag, you will need to paint 4 red sticks and 3 white ones.

Divide your sticks up so that you can paint all of the red ones at the same time and all of the white ones at the same time. (I didn't worry about painting the sides. I like the rustic look... or maybe I am just lazy.)

Once your sticks are dry, arrange them in groups of 7 with 4 red and 3 white in each group. Be sure to alternate the colors. Then separate the top 4 sticks and using a foam brush, paint the left hand side of 4 of the sticks with blue paint. It helps to keep them together and paint them all at once to keep a strait line.

Make "flags" with all of your sticks. Remember that they don't have to be perfect. That's part of the fun!

Using a silver paint pen, draw some stars on each flag. I liked to alternate 3 stars on one line and 4 on the other, but there really isn't room for all 50!

Print the information for your party on the sticks.

Bundle each flag up and tie with some fun star garland or ribbon. These invitations have to be HAND delivered! I hope you have fun making these!

I hope that this year I am not making NY hotdogs just for 2! Please stop by on Saturday and celebrate the 4th with us!

Fiesta Chicken Chowder

We LOVE this soup! It is one of our new favorite! (My hubby, who could care less about soup, asked if we could make it again!)

Just so you know, it is SUPER YUMMY with black bean chips!

If you want the recipe, check it out here:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Fiesta-Chicken-Chowder

I dare you to make it!

Potting Station I Have Missed You!

I LOVE SPRING! I also love to plant in containers. As a young adult, I worked at a gardening center in NY. While it was hard work sometimes, I learned SO MUCH and loved almost every minute of my job. I miss those days, but now I get to play in a yard of my own. A few years ago, Jonathan built me a potting station for Christmas. Maybe he was sick of me planting containers on his table saw...Anyways, I LOVE my potting station and all the things I have created on it.

I also love cooking. What fun it is to create a dish with fresh herbs picked right from the kitchen! Someday, in my next house with a BIG kitchen, I will have a plant shelf in the kitchen window with herbs on it all year round. {Not that I have been planning out my next kitchen or anything. Did I mention the double wall ovens and the 6 burner stove?}

Did you ever have a plant read your mind? No, I'm not crazy, but I am pretty sure that this moss growing between the pavers on my patio knew that I wanted him there. Jonathan and I even talked about planting some, but we thought that was a bit over the top... and now look who has crept into our garden! I might start thinking really hard about Peonies in the front yard...

Easter in Vegas

So by now I am sure you have figured out that my nephews are a big part of my life. I love them to pieces and treasure watching them learn and grow. Sometimes I just want them to stop growing up so fast. This is the first year we could spend with the boys, and it was so much fun! The Easter Bunny brought the boys some new jammies and sunglasses and of course LOTS of candy! Peeps for breakfast never killed anyone!

One of Rebecca's neighbors organized a neighborhood Egg Hunt in the park. It was a fabulous idea! Parents donated a dozen filled eggs for each of their kids and the dad's went to the park early in the morning and hid them. After all the eggs had been hidden, the mom's and kids came to the park to find all the treasures. When all the eggs were found, everyone enjoyed a potluck breakfast! I can totally see doing this in Idaho, but we might have to put snow pants on the kids first.

I just love these boys! These hug moments are far and few in between, but they are sweet.

One thing that I love about being a kid is how easy it is to have fun. I watch my nephews play on the same playground with new found eyes every time. They don't worry about tomorrow or even yesterday. They can find joy in such simple things. I guess when the Savior told us to be like a child, there are many ways that could be.

Rebecca's Garden

Want a little helper build your garden? Little Leo loves to help!

For spring break, Jonathan and I went to Vegas to help his sister build a garden. Of course the little guys wanted to help us.

Boys and re bar. This friendship could last for HOURS!

Little hands in lot's of dirt!

I just can't resist a pouty face!

Here it is! The newest raised bed garden in Vegas! I really hope that it works for her. We planted vegetables and a whole bed for strawberries! With a new sprinkler system and many prayers, the Roger's family should have a great crop of wonderful garden fresh food.

While gardening in Vegas is more of an act of obedience than a money saver, there is so much satisfaction gleaned from gardening! Unfortunately, Idaho hates me and wont let me garden yet, so I will have to go to Vegas to get rid of my bug! I even cheated and already bought some herbs for me herb garden that Mother Nature informed me this morning is going to have to be an indoor garden for a while!

Grandma got the boys some "four wheelers" which kept them occupied for a long time! I just can't wait to be working in my garden! I bet I could talk these guys into coming up here and helping me, even if I have to bribe them with cheese and ketchup!

New Cabinets

We "finished" our basement about 3 years ago, but we didn't really finish it until a few weeks ago. We built 2 food storage cupboards on one end of the basement with the intention of adding a little kitchenette eventually. Silly me, I forgot to take some before pictures and I suggested after we pull the cupboards out so I could take a before picture, but I was out voted. After much hard work (Thanks Rebecca!) and lot's of priming, painting and sanding...

Tada!

I really wanted beadboard cupboards, but they were WAY out of my price range, so I bought some beadboard wallpaper at Lowes and added it to the center of the panels on the doors. I LOVE beadboard wallpaper! I am a bit addicted to it now. I wonder what else I can use it on...

I know it's hard to see with my shadow, but you can kind of get the idea.

I still have a few touch ups, but I LOVE my new cupboards! The beadboard was so easy to do and I think it adds a lot to the project.