My backdoor visitor

We have finally meet our neighbors next door to us.  They are a very sweet young couple.  They have a dog named Oliver.  This is him. He likes to run up our deck steps and visit me when he is outside playing.  I kind of started giving him treats when he comes to pay me a visit.  He comes to see me a lot.  :)

Bye Bye Mom and Dad!

My parents were here this weekend for their first visit.  We had such a nice time together!  They left this morning for home.  We did get an extra day with them due to the snow storm that came in.  They got a taste of that lake effect snow thing we got going on up here.  These are some pictures of the fun we had......

Ice fishing.  Only three fish caught.  Bummer!  I think my daughter caught two of them....

Poor Papa got none!  He said he thinks there are no fish in Michigan.  HA!

Breakfast in bed for my mama.

Goodies we found on the way to church Sunday morning.  Yummm!!

Nana and the girls visiting in bed one morning.  Sophie the doggie is up there to.  She loves her Nana!

Papa working on that snow we got.  I actually think the men enjoyed playing for awhile in the snow although I am not sure if they would admit to it or not.

The new toy my husband was finally able to use!  He bought the blower when we moved up here but every time it has snowed, he has been out of town and not able to use it.  Monday was the day he got to fire it up and blow some snow!!

The kids sledding on the mound of snow the snowplow made.  One girl has it figured out....

And one does not.  :)

Face plants in the snow are not fun at all!  I remember this from my own childhood rather clearly!  :)

Sophie sitting by the front door watching all the activity going on outside. 

Taylor thought that her Papa should have this shirt.  His grandkids all call him the Cookie Monster.  Hee Hee!

And lastly, the little snow woman that got built on the deck.  She has button eyes and a beautiful scarf to keep her warm.

And that is it for our visit with mom and dad.  We miss them already!!  

Mom and Dad

My parents have made it to Michigan for their first trip since we moved up here. We are sooo excited to have them here finally. My mom had her hip replaced so she was not able to travel that long distance until now. But today, they pulled in the driveway and it was such a wonderful site. We are going to have some fun!! There is ice fishing for my daddy on the agenda and eating at Red Robin for a gourmet hamburger. He has never eaten there before. For mom, we are going to play games and maybe even go shopping a bit. I am going to cook for them and pamper them so they can relax! That is the least I can do for them after all they have sacrificed and done for me in my life. :) I had to laugh at this picture of Simon and Mom. My mom is highly allergic to cats and where does my cat decide he wanted to sit this evening???? HA!

And this one is funny as well.  My dad says he does not like dogs.  Hummmmmm.  :)  Even the pets are happy to see Nana and Papa visit us. 

Some light bathroom reading

I went into the girls bathroom the other day to pick up all the wash cloths that get left in their bathtub. For some reason, they can not put them where they go after their showers. Ahem.... While in there, I noticed this book by their potty. I had to laugh. This book about a smart girls guide to money was what someone chose to read while in the bathroom????? HA! Gotta love a smart girl brushing up on financial freedom in her spare time.

Marriage Seminar

Our church is hosting this marriage seminar tonight and tomorrow morning at the church. It is via satellite with Jimmy and Karen Evans. I have seen this couple on TV and they certainly have a gift for teaching God's word on marriage. I was surprised that my husband suggested going. He does not usually like to do this stuff. So, we are going this weekend. I am excited to see what God has in store for our marriage with their teachings. Kind of neat it is on Valentines weekend. :)

A Mama's Love

Amen....

Love in the Air

I just love Valentines Day. Love that it means love. Loving one another. Showing love to strangers. Showing love to those who need it (and even those who are hard to love...gulp). And, who doesn't need love? It should actually be celebrated every day...not just February 14th. I am afraid I fail sometimes with this though.

My daughters wanted to take some goodies to school tomorrow to hand out to the people/friends that sit at their lunch table. My oldest daughter has a friend who always comments on her treats I pack for her in her sack lunch. She said she wished her mom packed her things like that. Awwwww! So, tomorrow is the day that little cutie at her table is going to get some lovin from us. What to make...what to make??? I had some left over almond bark in my baking cabinet. I had Oreo's in the cabinet. I had a too cute bottle of red, pink and white sprinkles.......... I've got it!!





Oreo's dipped in melted white chocolate and little happy dots on them!! Now, if I can just get them packaged up and out of here before I loose all self control!!! :)




1 John 4:7
Dear Friends, let us love one another, for loves comes from God......

The Box

Give a kid a box and who knows what kind of creation will come from it. Our little fake fireplace box has a new purpose. My youngest daughter made it into a "fort" for herself. She covered it with paper then drew pictures on it. It says "The Simon Inn" because the kitty kept going inside it. He loves a good box. After awhile she asked for the tape again. She had more decorations for her fort.





One side has these fellows on it.



Another side has this cutie on it.....



Under his posters she wrote this....I heart Justin Bieber. Is this my 11 year old daughter writing this stuff on her fort?????



Selena and Demi ...now this is better. They are cutie patooties.




The inside has lots of stuff going on. A sweet pup, A Jonas dude, Taylor Swift (another cutie)....



Who is this guy Lucas???? What ever happened to Miley?


Oh, here she is...although she seems to be getting a bit grown up for my tween daughter now. She still can sing crazy good though.

So, that is what happens when an 11 year old gets hold of a big box and a roll of tape and her sisters teen magazines.

Sunshine Day

Good morning Sunshine. It is so nice to have you here. Stay as long as you can!

Mary Sweet Mary

Every year for Christmas, I ask for my most favorite artists calendar. Mary Engelbreit is her name. Do you know her? She is lovely. Any way, I have her daily tear off calendar on my desk. I look forward to her artwork every day. I keep these little pieces of art because they are so cute, I simply can not throw them away! I have used them for lots of things. I have made cards with them and even decoupaged my mail box with them. My sister has the calendar as well on her desk. She will sometimes email me with a comment about the picture of the day. There was a picture the other morning that reminded me of myself and my girls. My sister said the same thing. So today, an idea came to me and I gathered my supplies to use it for a sweet project for myself.





Glue pen and glitter....
Inexpensive frame from Walmart.......


I placed the glue where I wanted the glitter to stick to and then sprinkled on the glitter...well poured would be a better description. Whoopsie!


And here we have the finished project. I used a piece of scrapbook paper from my daughters stuff and her cute wavy scissors. If you can not read the words it says "My Mother, A Lady, Both Lovely and Bright." Sir Walter Scott.

Bossy Younger Sisters

My younger sister told me she was making this salsa for their Super Bowl party on Sunday. She already has a salsa recipe that I adore. It is sweet and that is the kind of salsa I like. I am a big wimp when it comes to spicy foods. So, when I read the recipe, I was a little scared because it called for one of these......


Yeah. Hot little green pepper. I don't like these little boogers. At all. This is where the bossy younger sister comes in. She was on the cell phone with me while I was shopping for ingredients at Meijer. I told her I was just going to omit the jalapeno pepper because I don't like them. She said, and I quote, "Oh no your not! You are going to buy it and put it in there. You can do it. Don't be a wimp."

How do you like that? What ever happened to respecting your elders?? Hum? So, as you can see from the above picture, one of those hot little things ended up in my cart and eventually in my salsa.





Here we are. All ingredients in the blender ready to roll.



And finally, the finished recipe with yummy tortilla chips. And, I must confess....I only used about 1/4 of the pepper and NONE of the seeds in this recipe. It is a bit spicy, but not to bad. Even for me. But shhhh....don't tell her! (Wink)

Fake Fire

When we bought our new house almost three months ago, we knew that we would be missing our fireplace we had in our old house.  There is just something about a fire that makes a house feel extra cozy and warm during the cold winter months.  I was wandering thru Lowe's one day and saw these little cuties.  I liked the way they looked.  They are electric and cool to the touch for our fuzzy babies in the house (especially the kitty who loves to jump up on things.)  And, they look pretty realistic.  We did not get one at the time due to the expenses of moving and setting up our new house.  Today while strolling thru Home Depot, we saw them again.  Except this time they were marked 50% off!!  Alright!!  So, hubby said we could get one and here it is in my living room.  It does put out a nice amount of heat.  I have a feeling this winter in Michigan is far from over.  So, bring on the cold and snow.  I will be here at home toasty by the fire.  If only we could roast marshmallows in it......

Grandma Mac Jr.

Hi. My name is Shann (pronounced Shawn) and I am a magazine addict. (Lori, I can hear you saying "Amen" right about now. ) I just love them. I have slowly been getting rid of them. I hate it though. I don't know why I love them so. I did pitch a bunch when we moved. Moving will make you throw away things. I did hang onto a few hundred dozen that I wanted to do something with. Those lovely pictures..... How could I save those pictures that caught my heart but not save the entire magazine? Then, I came across this idea. Buy binders and binder covers and tear out the pages you want to keep and throw the rest away. Genius idea!! I bought the items I would need a long time ago. And for what ever reason, yesterday seemed like the perfect day to begin. I grabbed a pile of magazines....

A pair of scissors.....

a cute fuzzy kitty.....

a fluffy old girl..... and began to cut and tear and rip and cut. It actually felt pretty good to be organizing my addiction passion. Here are some pictures from my new book!

I love this idea with pictures on a banner of people we love and the idea of making a pillow from felted wool sweaters and knitted flowers is lovely....

And, this rose tree in this sweet galvanized bucket would look ever so beautiful on my deck this summer....

And, this yummy macaroni dish is making me very hungry right now....

And this is how my scrapbooking daughter helped me decorate the outside of the binder. With adorable American Girl paper from her personal stash. If you click on the picture to make it bigger you can see how cute the paper really is.

I told you before that my Grandma Mac was the first "Martha." She used to make homemade scrap books of ideas that she liked. My dad has some of them and my sister and I love to look thru them. I think my Grandma would be tickled to see me, once again, taking after her. She was a lovely lovely woman and I am proud to be so much like her. :)

Banners, Browinies and Bible Study

My sister wanted me to make her a banner for her house. I asked her what colors she wanted it to be. She said red and blue. I asked her what color red and blue. She showed me a couple pictures of colors she liked. Then she said she remembered a banner she had seen and saved a photo of it. She REALLY liked that one. So, off I went to my friendly Hobby Lobby in search of fabrics like that banner. I found some that were pretty close. Here is the finished project. I went with all pokka dots.

I think it turned out pretty cute. It kind of makes me want to have a party! I asked her where she was going to hang it and she said she had no idea. HA! I hope she finds a place in her little home, when she gets it in the mail, where she can hang it and it will bring some smiles to her sweet little face.

We are actually at home alone this weekend. This is pretty rare for us. Nothing on our agenda today but relaxing. There has been talk of watching a movie. Also talk of needing/wanting chocolate. So, I made these brownies for my family. I had some little heart sprinkles in the cabinet that I thought would go perfect for today. A love day at home. The sun is shining outside and the wind is blowing. Cold cold cold. I think I am going to curl up in my chair with a quilt and drink coffee, eat a brownie and do my bible study. By the way....there were several ladies at my study who I would love to have as a friend up here. :) I hope they thought the same thing about me. Have a lovely day...whatever you are doing!