A Question and Weekend Summary

Sometimes you think you are on to something new and exciting and it just doesn't work out and you are left wondering - do I stick with it and give it a little more time, do I need to change something, or should I just let it go?  That's where I'm at with Farmers Market Fridays so I need your help.
I've posted a couple of little polls on the left side of the page and I hope you will indulge me and take a minute to give me your feedback through the polls or by leaving a comment here - it would be a big help!  I know there are about 100 of you each week who have come to take a peek at Farmers Market Fridays but only one person has linked up a post so I'd like to know what's missing.

We kicked off summer in style on Friday, starting with a before school breakfast at our favorite little breakfast diner.  On Thursday night, my daughter and I made a double batch of no-bake cookies for her classmates and teachers.

We made them with a mini ice cream scoop and wrapped them in parchment paper with curling ribbon - we thought they turned out pretty cute and they were a huge hit with her class.  She only had a couple of hours of school so I did some errands while she was there and Little Man was at daycare for the morning.  With this house renovation and all the decisions and supplies comes returns of items that ended up being extras or didn't quite fit what we needed.  I also had to track down one more can of the stain we've been using so the hubby could get the panels stained upstairs (don't they look awesome!).

While I was out and about I came across a barn sale that had a ton of great finds that I had been looking for.
 For a grand total of $23 I got:  a working air hockey table with paddles and pucks, a stainless steel sink complete with all the fixtures and an extra deep sink on one side (this will be hooked up to the existing sink plumbing in the laundry room for me to use for laundry and projects), a brand new chain link gate to replace one that was missing at the new house, a like-new brushed stainless steel light fixture with 3 glass light covers that match the new ones I put in the house, a little white medicine cabinet/shelf for my daughter to use in her room  for knickknacks, and a little glass light cover with roses on it that will become garden art for the fairy garden.  (You'll see pictures of all these goodies coming up in future posts!)

I couldn't fit it all in my truck so the kids were super excited when I picked them up from school and told them we had to go pick up a surprise - my daughter guessed an air hockey table when I gave her the clue it was for the new basement - apparently they were all on the same page about how badly they wanted one...  Suddenly my kids who were afraid to venture into the basement spent most of the afternoon down there warming it up to surprise Daddy.  In fact, when Daddy got home the kids were so into the surprise my daughter told him he needed to find me because there was a big problem in the basement - he panicked a little more than we intended at that statement so it was a little hard to enjoy the surprise at first until he was assured there was no real problem.

We celebrated the end of another school year with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and had a lot of fun playing games with the kids.  Mom and Dad have been really busy with all that has to be done to get this house ready and work and all the normal stuff on top of it so we have been trying to make sure we set aside some time in the crazy to just focus on being with the kids and doing something fun.  It really makes a big difference in their attitudes and willingness to help the rest of the time and gives us all something to look forward to as a reward for the hard work.

Two long busy days on the house filled the rest of the weekend.  I did take some time on Saturday to get the swings up for the kids and do an all-over check for nails and such on the play tower and then I set up our smaller tent in the backyard under a shady tree for the kids to play and attempt to take a nap (no such luck there really as every 5 minutes there was a shriek of "there's a bug!" lol).

I also took a few minutes to finally get the plants I bought a month ago at the greenhouse into planters on the porch (I can't be the only one...).  The two hanging baskets had been really full of plants and usually I split them and re-plant the hanging baskets so they have more room and take less water.  Because I hadn't had time to do that, the hanging baskets had fried a bit but the plants weren't completely dead.  So I trimmed them back, replanted them in the pots and I'll just get new hanging baskets when I have time to properly care for them.  Even the hubby has come to appreciate having the front porch set up to look like we are living there not only from a security standpoint but because it is a lovely place to sit in the evening and have a beer!

Sunday afternoon my cousins came to take the tour and brought my great-grandma's china to me.  It belonged to my mom's dad's mom.  She passed away before I was born.  The china was passed to my grandpa's sister and then to her daughter, my cousin.  My cousin has three boys who are really not interested in frilly china.  As the eldest of the great-granddaughters, my cousin offered it to me and I am honored.  As my mom says, I am one who will display it proudly and use it for special occasions.  I cannot wait to show you - I had never seen it before and it could not have matched my dining room more perfectly.  We were so excited looking at it against the blue walls and planning how to best highlight it.  But I want to wait and show you after it is in its new home and on display.  :)