Just A Quick Note

I have joined Bloglovin and am following several of you there. You can also follow me there...I am not very good at all of this stuff.  If you have helpful hints, questions or comments I would love to hear it! I am still right here on Blogger and Google+. Some changes are taking place, but I havent taken the time to look in to it.
Just didn't want to lose contact with any of you :)
Thanks
Sarah

Patriotic/Nautical Mantel

I have a bit more Patriotic decor to share. These are indoor decorations. I decided to decorate my mantel. You can view my mantel from last year HERE. I combined some Nautical items with Patriotic and this is what I came up with...

 

All of the boats you see are from Isaiah's toddler room. It was in Nautical decor for a few years.

I purchased this print from Home and Garden Party several years ago.
The buoy was purchased this year from my favorite dollar shop for 2.00. Do you remember my chalkboard mirror? You can read about it HERE. I hadn't used it since Christmas.

Here is the finished project! I added the star garland that I made for last year's mantel.

In the floor in front of the mantel I added this jar of seashells from our trip to Virginia Beach in 2009.

And last I added this little print on the table in my living room. Love it!

I am sure that I will have something else to share before July 4th is here!

Any patriotic decorations or special plans for the weekend? I would love to hear about it!

Welcome to my new followers! 

P. S. I am joining Pamela for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Sarah

Garage Organizing

Keeping it real here folks! If "Hoarders" had come to see me before Saturday my garage would have qualified!!

I have always joked and said that when I pass another persons house who is brave enough to have their garage door open and it is messy that I'm so glad I'm not the only one!! =)

So, on Saturday James and I took everything out of the garage and purged and cleaned and tossed etc.

I am keeping it real, but not too real...

 Toys, Christmas decorations, golf clubs...

 Ping Pong table, hunting clothes...

 More toys, more hunting items...

Shoes and clothes...

I have a couple of disclaimers here: #1 I don't have a basement or finished attic.
                                               #2 I have 3 boys which means I never traded the John Deere for the Barbie Jeep. I kept adding to the John Deere collection!

So, needless to say we had a mess on our hands! I am still tossin and organizing =) We are so happy with our finished project tho...

We had purchased these storage shelves at Lowe's and so we placed them along the walls. Wedding memories, luggage, life jackets, swim toys, seasonal decor, crock pots etc.

Now that's much better!

Have you been cleaning or organizing at your house? If you have I am sure you want to share!

Sarah

Red White and Blue

I just love this time of year! I added some patriotic decor today...

 Wreath on the patio door...

Metal flower beside of the koi pond...Any ideas for this? I like it, maybe not this color? Maybe not this place?

Remember this greenery from my Spring post? Well I took the little bird and nest out and added some flags a birdhouse and metal sign.

Garden American flag...

I added some patriotic stakes in my petunias...

I tucked this little flag beside of my pots on the patio...

I will be adding some more here and there.

You can view a couple of my patriotic post from last year here and here.

I am joining Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to have new followers and comments!

Sarah

Tent Camping

Tent Camping has been on our "Bucket List" for quite sometime now! I verbally agreed to one night... So, the other day James announces that we were tent camping!! Not in a nice campground with a bath house, but "roughing it" kinda tent camping. I still agreed to one night and in a few short hours we were packed and ready to go.

I have to say right here that I knew what I was getting myself in to. We have a large tent and everything it would take to make it as comfortable as possible. Lacking one thing...an air mattress!!

So, we arrived on top of this mountain where it is well known for poisonous snakes etc and set up camp.
We roasted hot dogs and bratwurst and were soon in our tent. The boys slept great..I on the other hand am not sure if I slept at all. Before 6 am Isaac was up needing to visit the non existing necessary room, so I told him to just step outside!! =)

Before 6:30 am Isaac and I had changed clothes, brushed our teeth, washed our faces and taken a walk. A little piece from the camp site was an out house sorta thing.

 The camp site.
The other guys sleeping in for a bit. I packed our favorite most comfy covers.

When everybody was up and moving we fixed breakfast. Our friend who had joined us had brought a propane stove. We had bacon and sausage, eggs, biscuits fried in a pan and strawberry freezer jam. We also had milk, chocolate milk and orange juice. Everything was very good!

So, we sat around for a few minutes and then set off to ride and seek adventure ;) We had a blast!

A few pictures of Isaiah riding!

I don't mind riding thru mud as long as I don't end up wearing it. There was lots of mud and creeks.
We even found a falls!

I was amazed at how many trails that we rode and in awe of all the beauty! Our friend seemed to know every inch of it!

We went back to the camp site for a few hot dogs over the fire and then to swim in the creek.

 James

 Isaac

Swimming in a creek gives me the creeps! They on the other hand loved it!

So, then it was time to find Craw Dads or Craw Fish in the creek. This I enjoyed! We all found them, but Isaac had to have a smoochy pic with one =)

Ewww!

So, then we went on to ride some more...

Then we came upon this...pretty interesting huh? Some kind of war history, but I am not sure of details just yet.

 So, we had to take a picture here and hold up the cave.

Can you say LIONS TIGERS BEARS BUGS AND SNAKES OH MY!?

 Isaiah

 Isaac

Isaiah

Isaac

The creeks were probably the most fun part for me!

Micah did ride, but I didn't get one single picture of him =(

At the end of the day we found an old grave yard...

 1867? Wow! It made me so curious...War? Indians? Settler? Guess I will never know.

After an adventurous day we went back to the camp site and had chicken, steak, corn on the cob, fried potatoes, baked potatoes etc. it was yummy! After setting around the camp fire and roasting marshmallows it was time for me to come home =)

What an awesome day!

Thanks for sharing it with me!

Sarah

Fishing...Checking Off Our Summer Bucket List

Happy Summer to you! I hope that each of you are finding joy in these warm days and nights...that each of you are sharing Summer memories with your family!

Before school was out Isaiah's class made "Summer Bucket List." His list consisted of camping, sleeping late, youth camp...and so on. We have added to the list along the way.

Fishing is on that list and we did just that!

Let's take a peek...
(cell phone pics)

 Daddy helping Micah pull his fish in.

 We went fishing at our friends house! Everybody caught at least one fish! We had so much fun!

This is my favorite picture of the evening! Isaac sitting and waiting on his big catch!

We have been checking off some more items on that list and I will be posting those soon!

What about you...any Summer fun going on at your house? I would love to hear about it!

Sarah

Update Around The Yard

Well, I am back! Last week was Youth Camp at our church. A bit tired here, but back in the swing of things! I have been taking updated pictures around the yard....

Ever heard of a Cow Cumber tree? When we moved here almost 9 years ago...my mom automatically recognized it as a Cow Cumber. It grows behind our garden spot,  just over the hill. It has gorgeous white blooms in the Spring.

Several of my Summer blooming flowers and plants are looking nice.

 These little Day Lilies are blooming beautifully now. They are in the garden by the drive way.

 This White Hibiscus is right over from the Daylilies.

This picture was taken on the garage side of the house. On both ends we have Crepe Myrtle trees. After they bloom this year they will have to be cut back. They must love it where they are at because they have gotten huge!

James grabbed these Day Lily pictures a few evenings ago. They were here when we moved here. I just thinned them out and rearranged. They bring so much color to the front yard!

Well that is my latest update around the yard. We have been very busy, so I will have lots to blog about!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah