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I received a precious gift from a friend for my birthday that I wanted to show you ~
I am constantly amazed at how some of my very best friends are ladies that I have met online ~ What a cool world we live in that we can have so much in common and be such close friends with people that we have possibly never met face to face ~

This is what I got in the mail from Sherri at Punk Rose Journal ~
Thank you so very much my dear friend ~

Ohhhhh what a glorious weekend we had in Fredericksburg Texas ~ I have been there before but I forgot how much I love it ~ It was just a three day weekend road trip for 4 friends of laughing, shopping, eating way too much, flea marketing, perfect weather and wine tasting ~ what a blast we had !!!

Fredericksburg is in the Hill Country of Texas and it is full of shops that are just the essence of Texas ~ we spent 4 hours just shopping on this one street there ~ it was so much fun !!!

One of my favorite things is lavender so we had to stop by a lavender farm and winery called Becker Vineyards ~ next month is a huge lavender festival which I would love to got to but maybe next year !! ~

We stayed at one of the friends in laws house and the view in the background is from their gorgeous backyard !! It is amazing !! Being from California, I had no idea that there are even hills tall enough to have views like that in Texas ~ It was a treat to stay there for the weekend !!! ~

Fill your week with Tea Parties !!!

Starting Monday September 10, have a fun filled week with the

Make Mine Pink Bloggers as they host a virtual Tea Party.

Visit the Mine Pink Blog for all the information and a list of participating
Make Mine Pink Blogs.

Why Tea Party? Well what can be more fun, tea for two, tea for one, a princess tea, a mother/daughter tea, best friends tea, long lost friends tea, or to just take a moment to slow down and enjoy the tea.

Join in on the fun and host a virtual tea party too. We will be visiting all the Make Mine Pink blogs and yours too if you decide to host your own party.

You will see beautiful and unique tables set for tea; many will have a special theme. Will you join us and post a photo of your Tea Party on your very own blog?

Post a comment on Make Mine Pink’s Blog and we will include you on the list.So expect many visitors~ please have cookies ready.

I just think it would be a dream to go to the Paris Flea Markets !!! I have heard it is so much fun but I often wonder how I could possibly take large enough suitcases :o) ~ I can just imagine digging through all of the amazing treasures that could be found ~ things that are so old and have so much history ~ ahhhhh!!!!

Some friends of mine, who own this fabulous antique store and travel agency, went recently and are planning another trip ~ the Red Shed girls and Riverside Travel will be taking a group in April 2008 ~ click on the banner for trip information ~

We are in Kansas for some antiquing and just hanging out at our friends house ~

They live in an old house in a small town that doesn't even have a manned Post Office ~ It is fun to visit and go to the little towns around and shop at the antique stores ~

The guys shot their guns so we had to go out and be Annie Oakley which was kind of fun too ~

We made tons of salsa because their garden was overflowing with tomatoes ~ it is soooo yummy !!

We will be on our way home tomorrow but it has been fun !

I have a confession to make ..... I am not a yard sale shopper ~

A flea market shopper but not a yard sale shopper and it is all because I have already been there done that on the Little Tykes stuff ~ I have friends ( Pat and Lisa ) that live close to me that always find treasures at yard sales ~ not me though ~

But ...... when Dorothy at the Shabby Y emails to say she is having a yard sale I am there with bells on (really flip flops) ~

She has the most amazing studio in the back that she even opened up to the shopping gals ~I pretty much drooled over her neat as a pin studio stuffed with awesome treasures ~

Here are the wonderful things that I got from her that will be on my website soon ~ well, except the oval frame ~

I also went to a tiny little flea market and found these old photos and sweet baby shoes ~ I am going to use the pictures for pocket pillows ~ My daughter was with me and we just cracked up going through the boxes of pictures ~

This girl's bow is so fun ! I can't imagine wearing a bow that ginormous :)

People did call my girls bow heads though when they were little so maybe I can imagine it ..... hmmmm

I just finished attending an amazing conference at Gateway Church in Texas called "Pink Impact Crowned for Greatness" ~ it was 3 days of amazing music and speakers ~ the speakers were Tony Evans wife, Lois Evans and Christine Caine from Hillsong Church in Australia ~

I loved the name of the conference ~ what it means is that as women we have can make a huge impact on the world and we are crowned for greatness because we are children of the heavenly king ~
It was so much fun to see all of the decorations because they were so what I love ~ pink and crowns ~

The flower bouquets all had sweet little tiaras or crowns ~ your ticket in to the conference was a little rhinestone crown pin ~ even the bathrooms were all decorated with pink and crowns ~ it was soooo girly !

I can't wait until next year !! I don't think it will come fast enough ~

I am on the far right and my daughter is sitting next to me ~ the other ladies are some friends that went with us ~

My husband and I just got

home from San Francisco where

we were celebrating our

30th anniversary ~

We went with some of our precious

friends, Mark and Lori,

who have a timeshare there ~

We had a huge condo

in Union Square that was GORGEOUS!!

The weather was amazing so we

walked our legs off and saw

a ton of things ~

I have been to San Francisco

quite a bit but I forgot how

diverse this city is ~

Since we were close to China Town

we went there a couple of times

and had fun getting the yummy

veggies at amazing prices!

Of course we had to go to

Fisherman's Wharf and

the Golden Gate Bridge ~

One of my favorite places was

where the World's Fair was

in 1915 ~

Oh my gosh it was amazing!! It

totally reminded me of being

in Rome~

It was fun to see Redwood trees

at Golden Gate Park ~

They are a very favorite of

mine and it brought

back sweet childhood memories ~

I love love this age of life!

Last night I got to go

to Lisa's house for a

Christmas crafting night ~ It is

so much fun to get together with

people who "get" the same stuff that

you do ~

Her house was recently in the

Dallas Morning News with some

beautiful pictures of her holiday decor ~

Well needless to say I knew that

I would pretty much not get any crafting

done because I really wanted to

look at all of her beautiful

Christmas decorating and awesome

vintage vignettes everywhere ~

Here are just a few of them ~

~ this is above the bathtub ~

~ over a doorway ~

~ this is the top of her headboard

with a mirror above it ~

It ended up that everyone pretty

much admired her home in awe, ate, chatted

and watched Charlene make

a necklace for Lisa out of some

of Lisa's vintage finds ~

( Lisa, Charlene & Cindy )

I have been wanting to make a

necklace with an old coin purse

for awhile so it was really fun to watch ~

Right before we left Cindy

had Lisa autograph her copy

of the newspaper ❤ ~

We were totally goofing around

with having her sign the paper

just because it was too fun ~

You've gotta love crafting with friends!

Spring is here, and you don’t even need to look outside your kitchen window or open your front door to know it. Just waking up to the sweet melody of a backyard robin cheerily singing outside your window is enough to tell you that life is renewed and spring is reborn. The birds of spring have returned and the earth reawakens.

Outside, in our fenced yards and open fields, brightly colored bluebirds and streaked song sparrows flit between tree branches and land carefully among the budding leaves. Singing songs of love to each other, chirping madly over jealousies. Bringing home odds and ends to build their nests - bits of bright string, broken twigs. Items insignificant to everyone else, but the stuff of life for the feathered set.
With the return of spring, we find our winged friends building homes in every unclaimed corner…. under the eaves of buildings, in riverbanks, on rocky ledges, suspended from tips of tree branches, hidden under flaps of loose bark. Even in the nest boxes we offer up with hope. Hanging baskets, mail boxes, old boots, flower pots. Any place that somehow looks like home.
No matter where we live, or what the season, avian accessories create eternal springtime in our homes too. Birds and their nests placed carefully upon our shelves, painted delicately on a wall, stitched on a delicate needlepoint. Perhaps we invite into our homes the same birds we see each spring.

Make sure and join Katies Rose Cottage and the participating shops at Make Mine Pink for Pink Friday "For the Birds" ~

The vintage images are from Lunagirl.com

I was actually home for a week almost and then my hubby and I decided

to go visit our friends in Kansas ~

( this isn't their house, just an old house I think is cool )

When we are there I try and hit some of the auctions and antique malls that they have because I always seem to find great stuff at them :)

We went to this one antique junk shop because it is so much fun

to look around at the TONS of things everywhere ~

It is very overwhelming though and pretty

high priced ~

It cracks me up though when people have all this "stuff" that

has probably been there for literally ever and it is priced so high that

it will probably be there for another forevers !

Well it is time to find more treasures ~ Talk to you soon !

We are so excited! As a proud member of MakeMinePink.com, we have joined with other Pink Boutiques and Make Mine Pink for the “Pink Diamond Campaign”.
Every year Make Mine Pink likes to do something special to honor our valued customers, clients and friends. In all, $2500 worth of fabulous pink prizes will be awarded throughout the contest with a Grand Prize of a genuine pink diamond pendant.
There are several fun ways to win prizes for the Campaign, by just visiting the boutiques at Make Mine Pink and locating the six diamonds hidden among the participating Pink Boutiques each of the six month, or you may see one of the Make Mine Pink boutique owners wearing her pink rhinestone “MMP” pin as she goes about day to day activities, or making a donation to a favorite women’s charity. A monthly prize will be awarded for May, June, July, August and September entries with a grand prize awarded for the month of October. It’s that easy!
Join us in our excitement by visiting the boutiques at Make Mine Pink.
For more information, you may visit http://www.katiesrosecottage.com or the “Pink Diamond Campaign” link at Make Mine Pink.
http://www.makeminepink.com/pink-diamond/

Oh my gosh !!! Tonight is my youngest daughter, Stephanie's Senior Prom ~ wow !! time with our children just flies ~ I remember when my girls were young people would tell me that the time would go so fast ~ I didn't realize how fast the time does go and that I would sooner than I could even imagine tell people the same thing ~ Stephanie went with a group of friends for a totally fun filled evening ~ the girls looked so pretty and the guys looked so handsome !!

We just got home from a glorious week in Cancun with some friends of ours ~
It was nice to get away and just completely relax ~ We stayed in a resort with a gorgeous view of the pool and the ocean ~ I love the ocean so we hung out there quite a bit between kayaking, bike riding and swimming ~

I really really want to go back !!

~ Steph and her sister, Kristin ~

Wow !!! What a fun day full of mixed emotions ! We took our daughter to college today and helped her move into her dorm room ~ it was so much fun to be met with all of the upper classmen ready to help unload the car and alot of smiling faces ~ The dorms are small but we made it homey for her and then she was off for an awesome few days that they call SWAT ~ it is full of fun, music, food and meeting new friends ~ she is only 40 minutes from home so I am actually hanging in there okay with both girls being out of the house within 2 months ~

~Steph and her roommate ~

This is as we were driving away and she was walking to their first SWAT event ~ she is in the blue shirt ~

Yay !!! We are so happy that we could advertise in several magazines this month ~ Look for us along with my sweet friends at Make Mine Pink in Southern Lady, Romantic Homes Cottages and Bungalows and Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion ~ All of these magazines have wonderful ideas for your shabby cottage chic home ~

I am really still alive even

though it has been forever since

I have done a blog post :)

Life has been crazy the last few

months with my preggie girls ~

{Steph is 20 weeks & Kristin is 29 weeks }

Stephanie, my youngest daughter, is

20 weeks and has hyperemesis which

is crazy over the top morning sickness ~

She was literally in bed for 3 months

and in the hospital 4 times ~ She had

a subcutaneous pump in her stomach

for most of that time which

helps with the nausea ~

It was a good day when she could

just talk and smile ~

Needless to say my focus has changed

to my girls ❤

The pump came out a couple of weeks

ago and she actually can do things now

which pretty much is a total blessing

and an answer to many prayers ~

Last weekend we

flew to California for

our annual girls trip with my mom,

sister and niece ~ We just spend the

time shopping and laughing alot :)

{me, Steph, my niece Chelsey, sister

Kim and mom Sue standing...

Kristin was not in this picture :( }

{the shoe dilemma ~ I am not sure why it was a dilemma though since they were only $5 hehe! }

{Chelsey and Steph...bestest friends }

Sometimes life as we know

it stops and what is really important

becomes loud and clear ~

This summer has started off for me pretty well. The very beginning of the summer was a little stressful--- 90 teachers in my school district were unsure if we would be hired back. Luckily, everyone was hired back and I can get back to planning for the upcoming school year! I have started to plot out my plans for next year and collect new ideas from all the wonderful art blogs on the web. I am also collecting some fun ideas for one of my friends who will be teaching preschool ABA for the first time. If you have any good simple ideas for preschool students with a variety of special needs, pass them my way.

I just started reading Transformational Teaching: Waldorf Inspired Methods in the Public School by Dr. Mary Goral. I will let you know what I discover!

We are so excited to start the
Creatively Made Home
e-course and wanted to share it with you!!

Creatively Made Home is an all new e-course about creating a home that reflects your heart in everyday living. It is about inspiring and encouraging you to create and style a home that you and your family love to live in...

This five week online course is hosted by 5 friends who want to help you to define your decorating style so that it is a true reflection of your heart.

Creatively Made Home is hosted by:

Tracey Leber

Sara Duckett

Kimberly Taylor

Jennifer Rizzo

and.....Jeanne Oliver

Here is the jam-packed schedule for the course:

* Each week you will have amazing truthful videos from not only the five teachers but other creative women.

* Each week we will take a room from one of YOU and all five women will give their suggestions telling you how they would transform the room with their style.

* There will be 50+ project videos.
These will be incredible videos that include everything from gardening, cooking, gift giving and decorating.

* There will be written tips from each woman telling you how she starts a room, picks paint, fabrics, etc. You will learn where to start when putting your own home together.

* Tons of beautiful house photos from each of the five women.

* Videos that truly reflect what life is like in each of their homes. The stuff that life is really about.

* Each woman will share their own truthful journey about how they started making their home a reflection of their hearts.

* Each person registered will get an easy entertaining e-book to download.

It will contain go to recipes for beautiful and easy entertaining (they do go together), photos of table settings that take the stress out of having people over, favorite drinks and so much more (and their funniest entertaining story).

* There will be a private Facebook group to connect with other class members.

* There will be a once a week live discussion with one of the teachers!

* You will get printables and pdfs to keep and use again and again.

This course is about loving your home, loving your family and blessing those around you....and having fun doing it.

This course will lavish you with ideas, beauty, inspiration, joy and encouragement!
Come and play house with us.

Class begins October 22.
Registration is now open!

The price of the course is $58 for all 5 weeks!

To sign up for Creatively Made Home, go *HERE*

We can't wait !!

I am in awe sometimes when I think about

the precious people

that I have met through blogging ~ It feels like they

are the sweetest of friends even though you may not

have ever met in real life ~

I feel that way about Polly at The French Cupboard ~

Polly and her husband Steve are just the kindest people

you could ever meet ~

I adore being a part of The French Cupboard

and am thrilled to

be a part of The French Cupboard magazine

" Porch"

The Holiday 2010 issue is filled with bloggers

holiday decor and is full of

beautiful photographs and ideas ~

Thank you Polly & Steve!!