Another winter wonderland update...

Today we went over to the mall in Tracy to meet up with Jennifer and the kids for school shopping. Jennifer and Katie were waiting in front of Target when we got there but Dylan wasn't there. Dylan was at home because he wasn't feeling good.So we went shopping for both of them even though Dylan wasn't there. We started with shoes, each kid got a new pair of shoes, a new package of both socks and underwear. Then on to the fun stuff....the clothes, I love looking at little girls clothes they are always so cute.

We got Katie a real cute dress with the Disney princesses on it, then a few skirts adn some leggings for underneath and a few tops to go with the skirts, then on to things for Dylan. Dylan's favorite colors are green and orange and guess what we were able to find both colors in nice polo shirts. I like nice looking collared with buttons shirts so was happy to find them on clearance for $4.49 each. We ended up with like 6 or so shrits of different colors. Target sells the perfect pants for both Dylan and Katie they have adjustable waists in them. Dylan is going into the second grade but he is still so small, he wears a size 6 in boys for length but the waist is way too big :) He could actually wear a 5 toddler but they would be too short. Katie is the same way so we got her adjustable waist pants too. I don't know the exact amount of things they got but it ended up costing a little under $250 for both of them, of course that isn't counting the backpacks and lunch boxes we got a few weeks ago and the little dresses I got Katie at Walmart the other day. I thought we did pretty good. I did forget however to take any pictures of the shopping expedition :(


When we got home I started working on the winter wonderland project and accomplished quite a bit on it. I have the best light when working in daylight so have put it away for the night.

Here are a few pictures of the ww project~~

All that I have gotten done on it so far~





This is what I have to do next~




This is what I finished today~



Just another picture of it, sorry it hasn't been ironed yet~




Roger and I just got back from dinner out and he is out walking the doggies. Plan on having a nice relaxing evening.

An update on Sara (my daughter-in-love) and her getting the house for her and Mattie, she posted pictures on Facebook and it is just the cutest little place, I guess it is close to the base (Ft. Hood) in Killeen, Texas. I know she is feeling kind of lonely since Mattie isn't home yet and she had to leave her family and friends to move there so please keep her in your prayers. She seemes to be very busy with getting the place put together, she is doing her kitchen in Red and it's so cute. Before all the problems with the getting married and me not knowing about it part Roger and I had planned on getting them a BBQ for a wedding gift, but now I don't think that will be happening, but we will see.


Thanks so much for visiting, hope your weekend is going well.

Blessings,Joann

The county fair...

Roger and I decided to go to the county fair on Saturday night instead of tonight for a couple of reasons, it was nice and cool on Saturday and it would have been hard for Roger to get home in time to go and find a seat for the Mercy Me concert. They always seem to have some sort of Christian artist at our county fair but they always seem to be put on a weeknight, wish they would put them on the weekend. We have seen Avalon, Rebecca St. James,and Matthew West in the past so I will miss seeing Mercy Me tonight but I had a great time on Saturday. Got to see one of my favorite parts of the fair...the animals. Since I live in the city I don't get to see farm animals very often (Maybe one day if we ever get some land in Missouri I can have some animals). The pigs and cows and sheep are my favorite ones. They had a mommy pig with 4 little piglets that were so cute.

Here are some pictures of the animals we seen~


The mommy pig~



3 of the 4 piglets~Aren't they just the cutest??



My favorite type of cow (don't know for sure the breed)~





A Brahma Cow and her baby~




I thougth these two sheep were real cute~





We of course had to have a corn dog, my favorite fair food, but I didnt' take any pictures of the corn dogs:)

I also got a large bag of cotton candy also another fair food favorite :) Didn't take a picture of that either:)


Sunday was a lazy day and we went to in-n-out burger for dinner, I love their burgers and their fries but one of the best parts of eating there is what is on the rim under the cup~




Yes it's a Bible verse and it's on every cup they serve you a drink in, isnt' that just cool?? A regular soda you get a red and white cup with John 3:16 and a milkshake comes in a green and white cup and it has Proverbs 3:5 on it. I have always loved that about that place. You get fed more than you know at In-N-Out :)

My Monday is going real slow. Laundry is done and my routines are going good but it is now almost 4pm and I feel like I still need more time before Roger gets home to do some more things and he will be heading home in about 30 minutes. He won't actually get here till after 6pm but he is on his way.


I also have good news about Sara and Mattie, she made it to Killeen safely, and got them a house, posted pictures on her facebook page so I was happy to see the place, very cute and nice and clean looking. I am hoping they will be happy there. Now she just has to wait for him to come home..
Have a wonderfull week and thanks so much for stopping by, hope you visit with me again.

Goings on here at home...

First let me please ask all of my wonderful friends out there to please keep Sara, my daughter in love and her Dad in your prayers They left Las Vegas today to move her to Kileen(Ft.Hood) Texas so her and Mattie can start their new life together as soon as he gets home. I dont' know when they will arrive in Texas but have asked her that when she has time to please let me know she got their safely.


Let's see what has been going on around here well to sum it all up in a nutshell it would basically be not much :) I know I know I am supposed to be trying a new routine but I have to admit that a few of the past days I have gone back to bed because I am so totally exhausted at 5AM. Okay there I have said it and now everyone knows I am not a superwoman. I am still getting things done but you know how they say when dealing with children to "Pick your battles" well that is what I am doing with my homekeeping right now. I am doing what is necessary and maybe each day a little more. Like on Monday I did not dust everything in the living room, oh my gosh did I just type that outloud!!! I did what needed to be done but not everything. Yes my ceiling fan is zooming around depostiting little dust particles on everything because I didn't dust it. Will that be the end of my life well I guess probably not. But I am full aware of all of that dust up there and it being strewn all around the living room. I will probably go dust it after I submit this post:)


Okay I went and did it before I posted this, oh that dust was just starting to get on my nerves.... that's it for today.

I went to Walmart today to price some bathroom rugs, I have been looking for some new rugs to go with the shower curtain. Right now I have black rugs and I am just tired of them. When I was at walmart last time I noticed they had some nice red ones, not bright red(well they had bright red too) but this was more of a barn red which is what I am looking for. If and when I purchase them I will certainly post pictures of them.

Today is Wednesday and it is bathroom cleaning day and I have to admit somehting else both bathrooms are half done. I always clean them at the same time, doing the same thing that way I only have to get the cleaners out once. Probably kind of strange or weird but that is how my brain works.

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope to see you again.

Blessings,Joann

My big helpers!!!!

Well I was a little off on laundry time, didn't finish unil a little after 10am but still it's done and it's now starting to get hotter out. when I was putting the last load of laundry away this is what I found in our bedroom~

Our doggies taking their mid morning nap~





They pretty much nap all day long and I think they were happy that the bed was made so they could go lay on the pillows :)

Just had to share this with you all, since the doggies are so darn cute!

Blessings,Joann

My bed is made :)

I have started my new time schedule with my routines this morning. We were up at 5am, I made Roger's lunch and I also made breakfast. Got a load of laundry started and made our bed by 8am. I now have the second load of laundry in the washer and the first is in the dryer. I hope to have laundry done by 9am. So far I am liking getting things done in the morning especially with it being summer, it is so hot later in the day.

I plan on spending some part of today working on my embroidery but that I can do when it gets hotter.


Now I am off to do the cleaning for today, the living room and I also need to unload the dishwasher.

Please have a very blessed day and thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.

Blessings,Joann

Backpacks, lunch boxes and embroidery...

Ever since the grand kids started school, Dylan was the first and now Katie, we have tried to buy a few things for them. If they need new clothes, shoes, backpacks or anything else. This year we had planned on taking them shopping on the 23 of July, it's a Saturday and Jennifer will meet us at the mall in Tracy and we will go shopping. but this year I seen a target ad with backpacks and lunch boxes on sale. Roger and I decided we would go ahead and get the backpacks and lunch boxes today and just do clothes with them in a couple of weeks. I called Jennifer and asked what type they wanted and we were able to find the type they wanted and we are very happy. I am hoping the grand kids will be too.


Dylan's new backpack~




Dylan's new lunch box~




Katie's new backpack~




Katie's' new lunch box~





Winter wonderland update!!

Today after shopping I sat down and worked on the winter wonderland project a little more, I finished up the first part I started and have the second part almost finished
Here is what it looks like this afternoon~









Don't look too closely at it as I know it is not perfect and the stitches are still all over the place and not very uniform...I guess that gives it that homemade look :)

We have had a slightly cooler day today and so far an AC free day but it is still HOT!! Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler and I will try and get by with out the AC again. I am also starting a new routine tomorrow, not really a new routine but more of a how I am doing the routine, I would like to get certain things done before a certain time and tomorrow is going to be my day of deciding what needs to be done when. I try to make my bed everyday but sometimes it doesn't get done until late afternoon and I would like it to be done in the morning. Doing anything in the morning is hard for me I AM NOT a morning person at all. It takes all my energy and brain just to get Roger's lunch together and there have been many times when I forget things, this is not acceptable to me, I need to get with it and make sure I do what I am expected to do in the mornings. I have more energy and the want to do things at 11at night or later than I do at any time in the morning. I would like to change this if I can.


Thanks so much for visiting and may your day and your week ahead be blessed.

Blessings,Joann

Goodies came in the mail today :)

Today before I left for grocery shopping I noticed that the mail had already came, very unusual for our part of the city. Normally mail comes around 1-2pm but it was already here today at about 9:30am. I looked over at our box and there it was the box I was so anxiously waiting for now don't get too excited it wasn't anything crafty but still just as precious to me.....my new planner!!! Yeah!!

Pictures of my new planner~

Oustide cover~



Inside pages~




I found out about this particular planner from my friend Katy over at

http://countryblossom.blogspot.com she is such a wonderfully energetic and insightful person and I just love reading her blog. She is pretty much my daughter's age so I am way older than her but oh the things I have learned from her by reading her blog and one of them was about this planner. Two things that I didn't know about the planner were that it is such a beautiful color in person and the cover for it has a zipper that goes all around it so in case you want to keep a pen or paper in it you could and then just zip it all up. I am loving it so far and all I have done with it up to now is read all the scripture from January till July.

Anyway I am a very happy camper today, got my shopping done, we are having pizza for dinner tonight so I basically have the rest of the day to just goof off. Haven't done much goofing off lately so I think I will enjoy it:)

Please have a very blessed weekend and thank you for coming here to read my blog.

Blessings,Joann<

Mattie will be coming home soon!!!!

I found out the other day through Sara that Mattie will be leaving Iraq pretty soon. Military safety as it is I can't say exactly when he will be leaving but he will be out of there soon. I am so happy to hear that he is leaving Iraq, but I also have a very mournful heart for all of the mothers out there whose child will not be coming home. I dont' know the exact amount of how many soldiers were killed over there in the year that Mattie has been there, but any number is too many. I know that Matties squadron lost at least 5 maybe more. Mattie is in the Third Armored Calvary squadron, also known as Thunder squadron and I know that they just recently (in June) lost 3 soldiers in one incident. To know that soon Mattie will not be in that country really has put a quietness to the usual raging in my heart. I pray daily for his safe return and I would like to thank every single one of you that has prayed for my son's safety.


I was up again this morning at 5am and Roger and I were talking about how nice it would be if he could get up at more of a normal time like 7 and just get ready and go to work but when you have this horrible long commute it doesn't work like that. There is a 90 day probationary period and after that we will be making a decision on wether to move closer. Right now we live about 70-80 miles from Roger's work and the closest we could get would be about 40-50 miles closer, any closer and we could not afford the home prices. The homes price increases with every mile closer to the bay area. In our town you could buy a home anywhere from $150K-$500K, over closer to Roger's work they start around $600K and go up and that is for just a normal home nothing fancy just the basic 3 bedroom 2 bath. We will have to see what happens after the 90 day period and wether or not Roger decides to stay with this job. He doesnt' like the fact that he is getting paid $17 per hour less than what he was making working on the Bay bridge so that will be part of the decision process..is it worth all the commuting to get paid less and all.


My week has been going by pretty quickly though it seems that the day goes by very slowly with Roger being gone. I was getting so used to him being home and so were the little doggies.

I pray every one is having a great week and I thank you for visiting me at my blog.

Blessings, Joann

Headaches....who needs them...

It's only 8:40pm here in California and not even time for fireworks yet but everywhere else has probably already had them and gone home. I am at home, have had a real bad headache all day and right now all I want to do is go to bed. I am hoping everyone had a wonderful independence day. The light is hurting my eyes something fierce and I just want it to be dark and quiet. Going to bed now.
Blessings,Joann

Winter wonderland update.....

This is a very small update as I haven't done much on the winter wonderland project. I was real happy with the word Winter that I got done but am not very happy with the other stitching I did. My stitches are very uneven and I just don't like them at all. I have been debating about taking them all out and redoing the part I don't like but then figure maybe I will just keep it and it will give it some character :)

Pictures of what I have gotten done so far, also on the lookout for some pretty Chirstmas fabric for putting it all together.
All that I have done so far~





Close up of "Winter"~

Life is too short.....

I have heard this comment many times but until recent events in my life it really wasnt' that powerful of a saying. I myself have said it many times in the past but didn't really take into consideration what it actually meant.

This whole stupid horrible thing that is going on with me and my son Mattie just has to stop and since Mattie is an adult and can do whatever he wants then that leaves me I am also an adult and I am responsible for what I do and how I react to things, I am not responsible for Mattie's way of looking at things but I do have to be responsible for my own actions. I got mad at Mattie and his new wife because they did not tell me that they had already gotten married. Part of why I was mad was becasue I didnt' understand what it would matter if I knew or not. I have only met his new wife 2 times and I really like her. I am very happy that they are married and I truly do wish them all the best in life. This is were the life is too short part comes in....I could sit back and be angry at them both and never have any contact with them, but Life is TOO short for that, I dont' have time for it nor do I want to waste my time even thinking about it. So as humbling as it was I I sent Sara a text and then called her, she didnt' seem like she was mad but then I really dont' know her that well. I also recently sent them both a wedding card telling them that I am happy for them.I am trying to think in my mind(Please quit laughing everyone, I do have somewhat of a mind :) what does it say in the Bible and of course forgiveness is the first thing I though of, if I expect God to forgive me every time that I make a mistake and fail then I have to offer forgiveness to them for not telling me and just get on with life. They sara and Mattie may not think they need my forgiveness, but them needing it and me giving it is two totally different things. I am forgiving out of obidience to my God. This of course doesnt' mean that I am now just going to let every thing roll off my back and not say what I am thinking but like it or not I AM Mattie's Mom, I will ALWAYS be Mattie's mom, and no one not even Mattie himself can take that away from me. I love him unconditionally, no matter what and I am very proud of the nice young man he has turned into. I am also very proud of the fact that he is a soldier. Mattie does not read my blog but I just needed to write this out to get it off my chest. I do feel better now.

4th of July

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, MAY YOU ALL HAVE A VERY WONDERFUL BLESSED DAY.
Blessings,Joann

Saturday here at home...

Today Roger and I did some errands, one of which was going to the farmers market this morning. We have the nicest farmers market they always have good fruit and veggies.

Today we got some apricots, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, yukon gold potatoes. tomatoes and a couple of onions.The strawberries are so sweet as is everything else except of course for the tomatoes, potatoes and onions.





I got my bread machine going early this morning and was able to make some homemade hamburger buns



for tonights dinner




and also a small pan of just plain dinner rolls.



The whole house smelled wonderful with the fragrance of fresh baked bread. This time i got smart and got all the ingredients out the night before and left them on the counter. It seems like I always intend to make some sort of bread and I take the butter out to thaw and then forget about it and then I have liquid butter and that won't work for bread making. I was very happy I made them as they made our dinner taste so good. I think it was a combination of the good homemade buns and Roger's grilling of the burgers that made everything taste good:)

Sunday I plan on working on my winter wonderland project, it is supposed to be in the low 100's so maybe it will make me think cool thoughts. today's temp was 104' according to the van thermometer.

Have a very blessed Sunday.

Blessings,Joann