Tolentreasures

Another year decorating done!  Woohoo!  One fish, two fish, 1022 fish! 

See the eaves of the old part of the house? Well, that looked like this for 11 years.  Did we actually notice it?  Obviously, not.   When we added the addition to the house,  this apparently got overlooked.  Now in the summer, it is hard to see behind all the leaves, But in the winter? Apparently, we don't look up much in the winter.  And last years, VBS play flats. all laid out and ready to go for this year. And we have gone from Western town To  Beachy Island!  Thanks to Shawnee who helped me paint them and  Jenn for helping me drag them up the stairs  and  hinge them together!  You girls are awesome help!! Now, on to the REST of the fish and  turning a  country church sanctuary into a  huge aquarium!  

  Today was the day to deliver the Linus Project Blankets that Shelby's class made   add a little more stock to the shelves at Diamond Antiques   and a visit to Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.   A few surprises along the way!   The first, a ride along friend which made the day much more fun! and second white out conditions that were a little scary.   So, what did I find? The samples above which I think would look cool strung and hung in the yard somewhere.    A few more laminate samples in some different sizes. Some blanks for my dad and his carving friends.   Some letters to add to the collection. Cute little clothespins. Game pieces. Seashells and gems for VBS decorating. Leather samples for collages. And about 20 of these!  These were at Construction Junction for 15 cents each.   They will be part of a room remodel ...

See that cute little blonde next to Logan? Make sure that you look at the brown pants. Gracelyn started out ok at the VBS program. And then... She must have see the crowd. See that little bit of brown to the left of Logan's right knee? This is where she ended up. To her credit, she did not run and  cry, she just hid behind all the kids. When it was over, she calmly stood up and walked off the stage. I don't see show business in her future. However, this one, in the blue shirt... He LOVES an audience! These were my yard sale finds from Friday AM. Great finds! Total? $17.00 These towels arrived in the mail the other day. They are from Williams and Sonoma. Shelby sent them to me.  She uses them and they are so absorbent. What a nice surprise! I have to go on the record and thank my girls this week. Shelby, of course for the towels. Jennifer for making all my food that I volunteered for on Friday. Dianna for staying and helping me take down the 500 fish on the wall at ...

That's what have passed. How can so much happen that quick. Last time I posted, my monitor at work had broken. Since then, our embroidery machine broke and the laptop that I use at home to update my blog... Also broke. It is back now. minus All of My Pictures! Hopefully, I don't make that mistake again in life. Flash Drives, CD's, Wouldn't you think that I would know better? In addition to the "normal" chaos, We have added in VBS and a trip to Ohio to paint the wall behind the baptistry in my Mom's church. Remember the fish? 500 or so later, they were on the walls of our church. Along with a backdrop painted for VBS. The view of the baptistry through the window. And from the 105 degree hole that I painted it from. Some of the yard sale find plates. And a box. And a sheep. I think that the boys must have had my camera at some point. Some t-shirt yarn ready for a rug. And a wool pillow. Wool has been showing up at my house in garbage bags. Two...

...and fifty yellow fish and forty-five pink fish and twenty-seven teal fish. Our house is looking like an aquarium. Somewhere along the line, I thought it would be cool to have a school of fish on the wall, from the back of the church to the front, for VBS. Crazy? Yes. I have been cutting for days. We don't eat at the dining room table very often anyway. And rarely in the summer. So, we are fishing. In between, working grandchildren more working mowing weedeating yard work planting flowers more working birthday parties new baby more mowing etc, etc, etc. Did you notice that there is not a lot of sleep or recliner time on that list? 

Just some pics of the decorations for VBS this week.  All of the windows had these vines and animals in them.  This is the entryway to the church and the rainforest diorama that my son-in-law helped me put together.  It is on loan to our church and will be moving on to another VBS later this summer.  The waterfall really works. The set for the play, a camp outpost in the rainforest.  I think I used every green and brown I had on that.  I had to hit Michaels last Saturday and buy those colors to restock.

Yes this would be me in this position and several other positions that have (thank goodness) not been photographed. Good friends at least don't get your bad (behind) side. You didn't right Molly? After seeing this picture I realized why I might be hurting a little this evening. This is the backdrop for the play for VBS next week. I had great help this year! Usually I end up doing these alone. Thanks to Herb, the church carpenter (is that actually a job in the church) who made a new backdrop for us this year. The old one had so many coats of paint on it that it was getting heavy. It also was only two 4 x 8 sheets and this one is three and looks so much better at the front of the church. Big, huge thanks to Molly for helping me out! And we "built" this fireplace out of a cardboard box. Not bad for two rookies in cardboard and packing tape construction. We decorated all the windowsills in the church also with "campy" things. I'll get pics of t...