A little Halloween decorating!

I bought these fun spooky hands by Joe Spencer a few years ago and the kids think their great. I love trying to come up with a new way to display them every year! I noticed that some of our trees are starting to turn colors so with August winding down I think it's time to start planning for cooler temps soon...

Oh and our cat Cindy is doing so much better. But we have to give her an antibiotic and a steroid pill twice a day! I told Mario maybe we should check into the pet insurance they offer at his work, Ha! Have a good week everyone and enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
~Amy

Emma all dressed up.

I walked by Emma's room and she was pretending she worked at a coffee shop and was serving coffee to her dolls. Unfortunately for me she got a call right when I took this picture!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Ethan and Emma picked out the cake from Target. Of course Emma just agreed with Ethan that Daddy needed a Transformer birthday cake. As usual it was delicious.

I put some Halloween and fall decor out this weekend and I might have to find a new home for this Gathered Traditions witch by Joe Spencer. I thought she was just fun when I bought her a few years ago. I still think she's cute she just looks like an older lady dressed up for Halloween. But I'm being overruled in our house everyone thinks she's creepy! So I might have to find her a new home! Have a good week! ~Amy

My Dollar Tree Finds.

My best friend in Oklahoma called and told me to check out the Dollar Tree pumpkins for a dollar each and I'm glad I did! I'm not sure where I'll put them but for now their home is on my mantle.

Swimming Pool Fun!

We had never been to our local pool before until last week and had a blast! I just decided to put my granny swimming suit on and stay clear of all "mirrors" and just enjoy the kids! We had so much fun it was so worth it!

Some fun shopping!

"Before"

I have had this antique chair for a few years now with the intent of always reupholstering it but just never did. But now I have the fabric. I bought this muted red and amber toile at Wal-Mart on sale for $3.00 a yard! I think it looks nice with the chair coloring. I want to wait and find some trim before we put it all together.

"After"

Our Wal-Mart is closing its fabric department so all the fabric is 50% off! So I got this pink tulle fabric for cheap around .45 cents a yard to make Emma's bed skirt with for her bed. And a new frame for her room. I can't wait to put it all together.

I thought this turned out to be a cute little sign for $6.00 at Hobby Lobby. I found a sign similar at Horchow for around $45.00 but never could justify spending that much. I did a little bargin shopping this weekend.

The girls, Cindy and Anne.

We have been very worried about our black and white cat Cindy. She will be 10 years old soon and is just not acting like herself the last few days. We are putting in a call to our Vet Monday morning. She just lies around and has lost her appetite which she is usually a very active vocal cat. Anne has been worried too; I took this picture this morning. Hopefully it's nothing too serious!

Summer Fun!

These pics were taken at the park we live walking distance too; we literally walk out our back yard and into this. This was another reason why we bought our home. They really maintain the park and always plant flowers (you can see Ethan and Emma running around them) every year. With summer winding down and school starting next week for us I thought it to be only appropriate to post some fun pictures of good times laughing and just enjoying each others company. As a child I would get a little nervous this time of year because I didn't like change and the new school year was about to start which meant new schedules, meeting new teachers and classmates, bedtimes reinforced again, and homework. As an adult I love the season change and welcome it with an open mind and heart. The cooler air that comes when the sun sets, school for the kids, bedtimes for my kids, and decorating for fall! Have a good week everyone, and enjoy all the changes that God has in store for you and your families!!! :) ~Amy

Music in our Park!!!

Every summer on Sunday evenings we get to listen to beautiful music from a local orchestra in the park that is located right behind our house. We can literally hear the music in our backyard. The kids as you can see love to dance and be crazy so we really enjoy it! We really like our old neighborhood and this is the oldest park in our city so it's so relaxing with all the old trees. I know we are creating lots of fun memories for Ethan and Emma to remember when they talk about their childhood together someday and that to me is what it's all about! :) Amy

Tree Down!!!

Unfortunately we had a storm with very strong winds a few nights ago (Ethan is standing in front of it) and it literally pulled this tree out of the ground in the park! That is the back of our garage, we haven't painted it yet so it's not our dark grey or put the new roof on but we are on #50 of our list of 300 things we still need to do to our old home so we're getting closer but I'll save that for another post! :) We were lucky the tree decided to head east and not west. Ethan and Emma thought it was pretty neat to see a tree on the ground.

Ok, it's all about the corn!!!

Our corn is officially ready and we are enjoying it. We see corn fields everywhere in Iowa so it is pretty neat to be able to say we actually grew our own. We planted a few different varieties and our favorite was the Sweet Luscious Bicolor Organic Seed by Botanical Interests. It is so sweet and tender it just melts in your mouth! I have never tasted such fresh corn. I have to say Mario and I have started a new hobby together, gardening. Every night we water our corn and pumpkins and talk. I really look forward to this "alone" time because the kids usually stay in the house playing. Especially now that is has cooled off and the sun is setting by 8:00 instead of 9:45ish. It is so relaxing listening to the insects of late summer and seeing the sun set while we enjoy our garden together. Next year we plan on growing more veggies and it's great bonding time with your spouse!!! ~Amy

Our new tree!

We bought this Weeping White Pine a few weeks ago and really enjoy it. It is a very beautiful tree. We have been very busy still painting our house. This is our garage. The garage was khaki with a white door. But we love color so we decided to paint the door this olive green color! We really like the way it compliments the dark grey we painted the house. We are working on the sides of our house right now but they are taking some time since they have high peeks. Hopefully by the fall we will be finished painting! It saves a lot of money to do it yourself but when it comes to keeping you sanity that's priceless!!! And we are both ready to be finished. Have a great week! It has been very hot and humid here and I am very ready for a season change and some cooler temps. :) ~Amy

Our Corn!!!

We have almost 100 ears of corn growing right now! I guess we will be eating a lot of sweet corn. We love to put it on our grill so I can't wait until it’s ready to be picked. You can see how tall the stalks are compared to Mario. I have been thinking about how I can use the stalks this fall for decoration!!! The kids think it’s pretty neat to have our own garden! This fall we are going to plant some lavender.

A sneek peek!

We have 7 pumpkins growing! We are having so much fun with it! Our French Heirloom Cinderella pumpkins are doing the best so far. The Jack-Be-Little vines have 2 pumpkins growing. The vines from the pumpkins have taken over our garden. We plan on having a Harvest party this fall and I'm hoping we will have plenty of pumpkins. This is our first time to try to grow anything! So Mario and I are very excited that we are having such a great success... They are still small but hopefully they will be ready by the end of Sept. :)

The transfer of our plants...

The transfer was a success the hostas seem to love their new location in this flower bed because they are blooming these beautiful flowers. I have really grown to appreciate hostas. They are very popular here in Iowa. I have heard there are hundreds of different varieties.

Our Butterfly Garden

We bought this mix of flower seeds at Lowe’s for $8 and planted them in May with the kids. It took a few months for the flowers to take off but it turned out to be very pretty! The kids love to watch the butterflies, they attract many different varieties. We had a small problem with japanese beetles eating the leaves on a few of the varieties of flowers but luckily they seem to have left. They are very annoying little beetles I must say. Last year they attacked one of our japanese trees but they seem to have left them alone this year. Next year I want to plant some hydrangeas so I can clip them and put in a vase in our sunroom. I'm not a big rose’s person but I love hydrangeas.