till next week

Hello All ...

Sorry its been a busy week and I haven't had much time to post.

Truth be told I am feeling here dead. Next week I am expecting will be much worse.

I was recopping and cleaning from my wonderful Mothers day at our home. While trying to get that cleaned up and put away. I was also packing, arranging food and family members among other things to do this weekends roofing project at the lake. It shall be alot of work.

I am expecting to have a few aches and pains come Monday.

However if you know me... you know I am a woman ALWAYS prepared. So I have brought along and packed the icy hot, massager, Advil, heating pad, energy drinks.. anything that will help us and aid us in our weekend venture.

Wish us all luck. It will be alot of hard physical labor and work. But if we all work together... we can get it done I hope all this weekend.

Enjoy the WONDERFUL sun and weather we are suppose to have here in MN.

Take care all...........................

Till next week.

Fun Facts

If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year... Today should always be our most wonderful day - Thomas Dreier

22 minutes to love
I want to share a simple, but very powerful success principle with you today. And it revolves around a number... 3,153,600,000

Do you know what that is? That is the exact number of seconds in 100 years - what is often considered the maximum life span of the average human being.
At 20 years old, that number drops to 2,522,880,000. By age 40, that number is only 1,892,160,000.And by age 60? 1,261,440,000.
Let me ask you an important question - how many seconds do you have left? Imagine you are 20 years old (if some of us can go that far back : )

- You will spend a minimum of 576,000,000 seconds at work for the rest of your life.-
You will spend at least another 576,000,000 sleeping.

- Another 105,120,000 eating.- Another 210,240,000 commuting to and from work.

- 216,000 at doctors appointments.

- 105,120,000 checking email.

- You will spend 1,728,000 clipping your toe nails before you die,
IF you live to be 100. Clipping your toe nails. Ouch...that's rough.


How much time does that leave you for living?
I mean real living - enjoying family and friends, falling in love, going for walks in the summer breeze...real, honest-to-goodness living.

I'll tell you...948,456,000 seconds.

That is the equivalent of 22 minutes a day for the rest of your life.22 minutes - that's IT.

Is that how you want to live??
Spending 22 minutes a day living, and the other 1,418 or 23.6 hours - doing the things you HAVE to do? That isn't a life, that's 22 minutes.

You now have the knowledge to change your life. Now you know exactly how much time you have left on this earth to enjoy LIVING - something most people can hardly understand.

This is an important moment for you in the "grand scheme" of things. Right now, you are going to make a decision that will determine exactly how much time - out of whatever time you have left - will be spent living, instead of doing.

Not everyone will understand the significance of this moment. To some people, they are just spending some of their 105,120,000 seconds checking email right now. But to the lucky few, this is the turning point in your life where you decide to take that time back - and use it to really, fully live your life.

Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. - Les Brown

Mothers Day was a BIG HIT at my house!

Mothers Day was a hit at our home this year. All of the Mothers and GrandMothers had a wonderful day. I was soo glad to hear it. Because it was a special day just for them. I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers day as well. I worked very hard to get the house clean and all of the Food prepped and gifts ready and it was a good day.

Here is a some flowers. I don't know the name of these. But I just love these.

Mom and one of her gifts from me and my Hubby. My Mother and Grandma in Law
More flowers we had !!!!!!!!!!!My Grandma!!!!
Here is a group pic. 2 Mom's and some of their kids. My sis's Mother in law was invited as well. We where glad to have her.

Tonight I did all the clean up. It took me a while and my back is in pain. But it was worth it all in the end. Everyone can't quit talking about it. I got home to calls tonight again in Thanks. It was also fun to show the family all we had done in our home.

Alterned Notebooks

So.......... I had made these a while ago..but I gave them all away in my gifts... So I did not want to post them and give away the surprise.

So here they are... the before


A close up of one of them in the 'after'
Here are all of them in the after stage. Sooooo cute and fun all dressed up and a great gift idea. My mother and mother in law got one of these yesterday for their purse;s. They loved them. Among other items I got them.

Happy Mothers Day !!!!!!!!

MORE THAN A MOTHER

When God set the world in place,

when He hung the stars up in space,

when He made the land and the sea,

then He made you and me.

He sat back and saw all that was good,

He saw things to be as they should.

Just one more blessing He had in store;

He created a mother, but whatever for?

He knew a mother would have a special place

to shine His reflection on her child's face.

A mother will walk the extra mile

just to see her children smile.

She'll work her fingers to the bone

to make a house into a home.

A mother is there to teach and guide,

a mother will stay right by your side.

She'll be there through your pain and strife,

she'll stay constant in your life.

A mother will lend a helping hand

until you have the strength to stand.

She'll pick you up when you are down,

when you need a friend she'll stick around.

A mother is one who listens well,

will keep her word; will never tell.

A mother never pokes or pries

but stands quietly by your side,

giving you the strength you need,

encouraging you to succeed.

A mother is one who can be strong

when you need someone to lean on.

You're more than a mother to me;

a reflection of Him in your face I see,

a love that knows no boundaries.

I'm glad that you chose to be

all this and more to me.

You share a love that knows no end,

you're more than my mother,you are my friend.

Happy Mothers Day to all of you loving Mothers Out there. Today is your day soooo celebrate !!!

Happy Birthday !!!!!!!!

I wanted to take time out to wish my Sister Lisa a Happy Birthday.

I hope you have a wonderful day dear and enjoy this day.

Can't wait to see you to give you, your gift. Have a super time.

Love ya Lots, A & J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA !!!!!

'Mothers Day'

Mothers Day will be here this weekend......

So allll you Mother's out there I hope it is a good one... I have much to do the rest of the week.. in order to celebrate Mothers Day at my house. In honor of the Mothers in my family I am hosting Mothers Day dinner. We will have a house full that is for sure... my to do list is growing by the mintue.... I want things to be perfect for those mothers. So I will have the food ready and gift's and cards written... decorating done. The deck ready in hopes it is nice and we can enjoy the outdoors. The house clean.. the tables set... etc etc... I hope to get a few pic's for it as well. We also have my sister's B-day this friday so we will be celebrating her as well. Ahhhh sooo much to do but it is worth it for those mothers and grandmothers. WIth that said.. I better finish up and do a bit more before bed!!!

Whatever you do or whom your with.. I hope you have a WONDERFUL day.

What things are you 'THANKFUL" for ?

In this day and age.. it is sooooo easy to WANT things and to think about the things we don't have. Things we wish we had.... etc. As easy as it is to focus on the things we we want and don't have and we desire for... we also forget the things we do have...the good things in our lives that are good and that we should be thankful for....

What are you thankful for??? Can you list them ? How do you express that ? How do you share that ? How do you live that ??? Just a few things to be think about.

So in regards to that. I thought I would list 10 things I am thankful for. Then below that is a nice poem that was sent to me that I really liked. So I shared that as well.

These are in no exact order......
1. A home both to live in and share.
2. My husband.
3. My family, and their love and support.
4. A job that helps pay the bills
5. In internet to keep in touch with friends and family and the chance to have this blog.
6. Good friends to share life with.
7. The sunshine of a warm day.
8. Me time to have fun and stamp and create things.
9.A car that runs well and get me to and from.
10. My grandparents cabin to enjoy and take our boat out. I love to be on the lake.

Those are just a few... I could g on forever....

Be Thankful

* Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

* Be thankful when you don't know something,For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

* Be thankful for the difficult times.During those times you grow.

* Be thankful for your limitations,Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

* Be thankful for each new challenge,Because it will build your strength and character.

* Be thankful for your mistakes,They will teach you valuable lessons.

* Be thankful when you're tired and weary,Because it means you've made a difference.

* It is easy to be thankful for the good things.A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who arealso thankful for the setbacks.

* GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessing
.- Author Unknown

Project #2 !!!!!!!!!

Sooo it appears to be that my hubby is a gluntant for punishment.. or a hard worker... which ever way you look at it. Ahhh heck.. maybe some of each. Sooo in 2 days time... see what else he accomplished. I have wanted this for a few years now and it is done... yippy. While I was stuck in the basement painting everything twice. He was outside getting fresh air and making things happen. Gotta love a guy that can do it all.


So here is our new planter....
Above is a closer look at the block. It is a mix of tan and gray to match the pavers and the house !!
Here is a view from a little further away. Closer to the door is our pond we did a few years back. It has been wayyyy to cold here in Mn..so I haven't been able to clean it and get our 13 gold fish out there yet ! They are going to LOVE to get out and swim in their bigger home.......!

Now allllllllll that is left... is the black dirt and of course to fill it with tonzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz OF FLOWERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Night night all.

What 56 hours will get you !

Well .... my Hubby was not working last week. At least not at his job. But he put in many more hours at home !

We now have a WONDERFUL.. new side walk that we just LOVE.

This was his first attemp at doing pavers. But much like anything else. He seems to get it right the first time around. I am glad I have a hubby that is skilled in sooo many area's. This would have cost us over double the price ..infact almost 3 times the price had, we had to pay labor for someone else to do it and deliever it all.

Here is the before look... as you can see it was going down hill and broken aways from the step....

Here is a closer look at what the pavers look like.
We have to do some clean up yet... but here is the end result!
Here is the look from the house.....Here is a little closer look for you all.......
Yipppppppyyyyy.........

He is done... it looks great and we love it. Now we just have to get it cleaned up for Mother's Day !!!!!!!!!