Anxiously Awaiting Window Troughs ~

I found some one on ebay that makes wrought iron window troughs for a decent price.  My husband and I went to every store that we could possibly think of today looking for window troughs.. poor guy... after a day of searching sore feet and sun burnt arms we came up empty handed.. the stores didn't have quality pieces.. Ebay to the rescue!!  We are putting these on the front and side bay windows of our home. The scrolled troughs that we are getting are black with a rusted finish, which I think will look nice with the black shutters that we put on when we first moved in. I think we are going to do the clay pots inside the scrolled troughs, similar to the picture shown, on the lower windows and then flowing flowers on the 2nd floor.

I'll let you know how they are when they arrive, along with the maker info. 

Times Running Out to Sign Up for Give Away

June 5th Drawing for Parisienne Farmhouse Chic Give Away.. 

On A Happy Note...Libby's Back From Paris..

she has pictures ;):):) I'm hoping that maybe she can send me a few to post.. stay tuned~

Back among the "living" again..

The 28th was my 36th Birthday.. and I was extremely sick.. Very worried that maybe the Swine Flu had some how hit me.. Luckily, it turned out to be Strep "luckily" agh.. it must have been a pretty potent strain of strep because after two days on antibiotic I am still not able to eat.. and having trouble sleeping along with feeling run down.  But, I'm up and around again which is a big big positive.  Hopefully, Mitchell and the girls do not get it.    I have to give a big THANK YOU to my mom.. she came to town to take me to urgent care and made sure we had all that we needed as always.. I have the most loving mom, and she is appreciated more than she is ever told.  So, Thanks Mom :)  

Brad and the Girls, thank you for the hydrangea bushes.. I think I have every species now and I am pretty excited to see what the Annabelle does.. I love you all and I'm so thankful to have so many people that love me on a daily basis even when I'm sick and grouchy.  

For the Gardeners

                                                                Okay for all of the other garden lovers out there, I have stumbled upon a little gadget that can save  you some $.  The Potmaker.. you can make your own seedling pots out of newspaper and then just plant the entire pot in the ground so the roots all stay in tact.  Quick and easy.. and makes me want to go buy more seeds even though it's getting a little late..  (Family.. Opa would have loved to whip a couple of these out for us wouldn't he?...miss him so much..)     ~~~On the fly~~ I just made a little pot like this using what I had to work with.. cut 3 inch wide strips of newspaper and wet them down with water then I used the bottom of a baby bottle  as my form wrapping the strips around it and then tucking them under the bottom of the bottle.. not as crisp on the bottom but it seems to produce a very similar result.                 

Parisienne Farmhouse Chic Give Away ~

Hello Ladies,

I am new to blogging...and looking for "followers" (not really in love with that term.. but it's one of those preset buttons) I am doing a parisienne farmhouse chic "follower"  give away, it's easy to enter.. On June 5th I will draw a name out of a hat that contains the names of the people on the "followers" list.  Just click in to "follow" this blog and you are entered, this includes the people that are already listed.  Thanks so much ~

The drawing will be on June 5, 2009.  Good Luck :)

Happy Stormy Tuesday ~

Happy Stormy Tuesday to You~

Hope every one had a nice weekend.. We had our usual house & pool full of children and their friends. Tried out a couple more new recipes that I found on Cooks.com, which is a great recipe resource if you haven't been there yet.   I am going to to a Parisienne Farmhouse Chic give away on June 5th.  See the above information on how to sign up. :)

"Enough with the pictures today mom"

Okay, all of the girls and even Mitchell who is teething as you notice all of the drool~ have had enough of the "picture taking" for a couple of days :)   But for the grandparents that are watching from out of town.. here a a couple more casual shots from this weekend.

Love you All!

Breann and Tom Neal

Okay, so I told you she was multi-talented ;) This is the baker of the cake :0)

Nurse Cake~Made by Breann Neal~

Look at this adorable cake that my sister-in-law, Breann made...

She is so multi-talented!!

Sunday Morning Swim ~

Good Morning Every One!!!  What a Beautiful Sunday Morning!!!

Hope you are all having a nice long weekend.  Gracie and Faith decided to take a early morning swim today, ate their eggs and toast as fast as possible and out to the pool.  I have a feeling the water is still a bit chilly since they are both floating around instead of actually swimming, and Grace still has dry hair :)

~Jen~

Remember our Soldiers

I hope every one has a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. 

My thoughts out loud...~Women~

Why is it that we are so critical of each other?  All of us are guilty of this, and why?  We're all individuals, we all have our talents and weaknesses some are flaunty, some are reserved, and some only share their lives with a chosen few. 

Already today,  I am guilty of being critical and I am mad at myself for not stopping my tounge.

As a mother to 4 young girls I lecture them to always appreciate the talents of their sisters, and not to be critical of each other... is it a hopeless mission?

I asked my step daughter to help me find some verses in the Bible that dealt with women judging other women.. she provided me with a list that applied to that situation, a few of which I have scatterd in this blog to be a daily reminder to myself.

I know it's hard, but I think we all could try a little harder to stop our tounges from being negative, and instead try to speak only the positives about each other.  

It may not be humanly possible, but it's worth a try. 

 

Bath Robe Baby ~~

Little Man :)...4 Months on Tuesday... 

Fresh Bouquet~

I love spring and summer!! 

Look at the bouquet I just picked from my garden..fern leaves and all!!  I know some of you have year round gardening depending on where you live.  Here in the midwest.. it's exciting to be able to go out and grab a bouquet of fresh flowers right out the garden, at least it is for me.

Cabinet Vignette

Another gorgeous day here 81 and sunny.. Yay..  Have a wonderful day!

~Jen

Old Bicycle Basket

This from one of my Washington on the Square trips, a rusted and bent old bicycle basket, perfect for holding magazines in my office.

The Yummy Tuscan Chicken Sandwich ~ Like Panera Used to have.

1 Sandwich

2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

1/2 loaf focaccia bread cut horizontally to create a top and bottom (head over to Panera and pick a couple rounds from their bakery)

1 cup loosely packed mixed salad greens

304 slices vine-ripened tomatoes, 1/4 - inch thick

3-4 slices of red onion, 1/4 -inch thick

3 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, grilled and sliced thinly on the bias

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon of basil pesto

                                                                                  1. Spread vinaigrette in a thin layer over the bottom slice of focaccia.

  2. On top of the vinaigrette, layer greens, tomato, onion, and chicken.

   3. Stir together mayo and pesto; spread on the top slice of focaccia.

    4. Close sandwich and serve with a pickle spear.

Holding my sweet Baby Boy~Mitchell~

Hello,

Thursday evening.. and I am sitting here holding my sweet baby boy, kissing him on the head every 3 mins.,  looking at all of the blogs on my page...  very inspiring... I am hoping to have time to get the camera out and take some pictures tomorrow.  Well, not much to talk about this evening so I'll be going now... thank you for stopping in.. and do check out all of the blogs on here.. THEY ARE FANTASTIC!!

Sweet Dreams All ~

~Jen~

Bug Repellant Recipe ~ Christy Brandau~

Well one of my girlies~Christy~ sent me a recipe to post for Bug Repellant so here it is :

~ BUG REPELLANT made from vanilla extract and water!  Mix equal parts of clear pure vanilla extract and water, pour into spray bottle or can dab on body with a cotton ball. It will repell gnats, ticks, mosquitos, black flies & deer ticks 30-40 mins until you need to reapply. Great smelling too!

Thanks so much Christy!!

I'm giving this a try too~

Looking at the Blogs of Others..

Falling in love with A Heart in Provence.. I would love to do the Under the Tuscan Sun thing ~ jet off to the French Countryside and buy an old farmhouse or cottage... ah a girl can dream.. My sweet neighbor Libby is there right now for 2 weeks.. lucky girl... her sister lives in Paris...how fun would it be to have that situation!!?!   I told her to drink a glass of wine and think of me because it's as close as I will get for a while.. *Smile*   Speaking of wonderful european things.. if you check out the Farming on Faith blog today I see that Carrie has added a recipe for Homemade Linen Spray... french and fabulous if you put it into a cute glass bottle with a black and cream label!  You'll have to pop over there and take a peek..   Well hope all of you are having a nice day.   85 degrees here today and sunny.. Beautiful!!! 

This Chic needs to get to bed...

Oh my is this addicting!!  So many fun little gadgets, and so many wonderful blogs out there to look at.. I am noticing that a blog is kind of about "you".. which I suppose isn't a bad thing.  I would love to have all of my girlfriends make a blog,  it's really kind of fun.. look at the list I have accumulated by just the end of two days.. There sure are a bunch of talented ladies out there.. so up my alley, I am a lover of new ideas and the blog scene seems like a wonderful way to view and exchange daily insights with other people that have similar interests.  Okay, so I'm in.. this may not be exactly what I thought it was going to be, but as far as interactive it is SO ... just in a different way.. each person's blog is a bit about them and that's what makes it all so interesting.  Still if my girlies don't want to do one of their own and want to share some of their talents I would love to showcase them on my blog for you, giving  you total credit of course.. just email me your photos :) Well it's almost midnight and I will surely be up with Mitchell at our normal 5 am.. so good night.. and God Bless 

~Jen

Okay, starting to get the hang of this now.. what they do not give you must go out and find.. so .. I have .. and now I can see the light so to speak and it's a little more fun.. plus the migrane is gone.. yay.. 

Looking at other Blogs~

A Heart in Provence, I shouldn't single out one they are all fantastic.. but those of you who know me best know that if I lived alone I would have my entire house in thick plastered walls that had been lime washed to look authentic, wood floors with aged patina to look as though they were a hundred years old, thick stone countertops and hydrangeas &  roses flooding my gardens... I think the european heritage from my Oma and Opa runs deep in my veins.. 

Green Home

Okay, so.. I added the HGTV Green Home Sweepstakes Entry.. now.. if you win, I at least want to be invited to one vacation weekend!!! :)

Our front entry.. The new arrangement that I made.. even lucked out and found a little black "w" to go with it at Hobby Lobby..  Our Front hallway

Monday Morning

Good Morning!

I am working on trying to figure out all of the Blog Language and Buttons, hoping to have it all figured out by tomorrow morning so that I have a Blog worth looking at.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful day.  One thing that I am having trouble with is buttons.. any help would be greatly appreciated.

~ Miss Jenni~

It's late, I'm tired...

..and trying to figure out the "blog"....