Livin' On Silly Lily Lane

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Last school dance as a 9th Grader

Last Friday Alyssa went to Wilson's last dance for the 2011-12 school year. It was a very special evening for her, so we got a gorgeous dress for her a couple of weeks ago and some silver sandals. She looked absolutely beautiful! She went with her good friend Hailey. They call themselves twins. Other than blonde hair and cat-eye make-up, I don't see it. But they think it's fun and that's all that matters. Hailey's boyfriend got to be sandwiched between the twins. What a lucky guy!

Saturday I did my annual walking of the Bellin Run Race. I didn't beat last year's time, but it was REALLY hot and I got a blister on the heel of my right foot (first time for a blister in the at least six times I've walked it). I'm blaming that . . . . That's my story and I'm sticking to it! And finally, ERIC He won't make any comments on the post unless his name is in the entry. Whatever makes him a happy camper. . . . . Hope you are enjoying your summer, Jill

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A Smattering of Everything

This summer my garden is really getting off to a fast start. Generally on Memorial Day my flower garden is just starting to awaken. Not this year. My irises are already blooming big and gorgeous. Makes me wonder if this will be a good year or a bad year for my garden. Maybe everything will be bloomed out by mid-summer!

My lupines below are almost completely done blooming. They were spectacular. The picture just doesn't do them justice.

We were up at our camper near Athelstane this weekend. Our family really enjoys 4-wheeling. Just as we were getting started on our ride a rider coming from the opposite direction came full blast on purpose into a huge puddle and splashed the muddy water all over me. Instead of getting upset,I decided it gave me license to go through the middle of every puddle for our entire ride. Alyssa wouldn't be outdone, though. Once she saw I was the wettest and dirtiest, she took it as a personal dare to outdo me. She did a great job!

Yesterday it was our annual planting of the pumpkins. My sister and nephews came and we planted the back garden in record time. The boys really wanted to plant corn for some reason, so we did that first. Hope it comes up!

Don has a buddy. They ran around on 4-wheelers while the real workers planted.

Last week Alyssa had her last chorus concert at Wilson. She really enjoyed the two years she was in chorus and loved her teacher, Mrs. H. Alyssa will miss her when she's up at Lincoln High School.

Looking forward to summer. So far so good! Jill

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Chili Cook-off

First chili cook-off Don and I have ever hosted and I think it went really well. We invited four couples to come on over and bring their favorite chili. Our friends Dave and Jody played a little joke on me by first pulling out some Hormel chili in a can before pulling out their crock pot. I thought they were kidding at first, but they were being so serious.

After introductions we got right down to business and starting dishing out the chili to be tested. I made up some ballots with five different characteristcs to judge.

If we host another cook-off, I am going to weight the different criteria. What's the most important thing about food? The taste!! I'm going to weight that one heavy. Why? Because my chili got the fewest points, but was the only one that was totally gone by the time I got the ballots counted! Funny! Our winners were Dave and Jody. Their chili was really good, too.

My empty crock pot - I didn't get any other than the taste I took prior to the party.

Don did an awesome job with the trophy. I got a hourse shoe and he did the rest. Dave's brother and sister-in-law won a chili cook-off my brother had several years ago. We decided we would consider that the firt competition and that they were passing the torch.

Eric also came up with the awesome game "The Old Married Folks Game", not to be confused with "The Newlywed Game". However, I think it was more fun. Eric did a great job with the game and MCing the event. Dave and Jody took home honors on this, as well.

Don and I have decided we are definitely doing this again! Jill

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Little Update

Last weekend I did a little more garage sale picking. I'm really happy with the furniture I got. The telephone table may need a little work, but I love the style. Plus, only $15!

I did a little sprucing up on my porch this week. After getting the pots and plants at Walmart, I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby and thought the colors would be perfect for some pillows. div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">

In my mind I have a vision of putting a sofa table against one of the walls in our AR house and putting some foot stool cubes beneath it. When looking for the cubes, they seemed to cost an average of about $40 each, little too expensive. SOOOOOO - I found some ugly cubes on clearance on Kohls.com for $11 each. Price was right, ugly fabric was not. However, I could always slipcover them - which is what I did. Love how they turned out.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Spring is well on it's way!

I'm ready for some warm weather. The flowers and colors of spring are arriving, making me impatient for the weather to catch up.

Yesterday I did a bit of painting - spray painting, that is. I needed some bed side tables for Alyssa's room in AR. Mom had a small chest of drawers that matched the one that I had, and she generously offered it up for the cause. Her's was in excellent condition, mine - not so much. Alyssa had painted on it, had glue spots on it, and had carved letters on it. I did some sanding so that it's better. Then I painted both f them and I think they turned pretty well.

I also painted up this quilt hanger for the master bedroom in AR. Along with the quilt for the bed, my Mom gave me a smaller quilt that will look great hanging on this.

Now for some upcoming projects . . . . .

Yesterday I went to several garage sales looking for some more good finds for the vacation home. No luck. However, I did take a side tour to Hobby Lobby. I found the grommets for the shower curtain I made that you can see I attached to the curtain last night. I also got some zebra print shear material for the curtains in Alyssa's room. I started working on them last night, but I think it will take me a while. The fabric isn't cooperating like I want.

I'm making progress. I'm going to make a list of furniture I still need and Don is going to look on Craig's list. We'll be on our way back down in three months. Hopefully we'll have the furniture for the bedrooms. Progress feels good!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

We're baaaack . . . .

We just spent a week at our vacation home in Arkansas. We had gorgeous weather. With the chilly temps and wind here at home, I'm really missing those 90 degree days. The dogwood trees were blooming along with the azaleas.

The house is coming along. Alyssa is happy because her room is painted the colors she really wanted and her beanbag chairs are already there. The purple accent wall turned out pretty good. Because it's a textured wall I couldn't get a really straight, clean line. So just don't look too close. Alyssa also decided a purple closet would make all of her clothes look awesome. She helped paint just long enough for me to take her picture. Once it was done you can see she already started to enjoy her room.

I'm also really happy with the bathroom. Turned out just like I pictured it in my head. Everything is new - from the tile floor to the exhaust fan. The tile is a new type that self sticks to the floor. It can easily be cut with a knife, not a tile saw. Really speeds up the process. I grouted the floor right after we finished laying it. The grout also has a sealant in it so I didn't have to seal it when finished. Last night I sewed up the shower curtain. I'm going to put some grommets in for the shower ring holes. Just need to find out where I can get them.

I also put the binding on the quilts I got from my Mom for Christmas. They are going to look AWESOME in my bedroom in Arkansas. The walls are yellow and the quilts are shades of blue. Fresh and tranquil is the atmosphere I'm going for - I think I'll be well on my way.

Don got the laminate flooring in both bedrooms and the hallway. My brother Jeff is going to try to get all but two of the interior doors in and a lot of the trim while he's down there this week. Next time we go we'll be able to stay at our place! Very exciting!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Early Spring

The gorgeous weather continues. The crocuses are up. The first ones up are always the yellow ones. Don't know why that is. I have several different varieties scattered around the back gardens.

We went to the Home and Garden Show in Green Bay this past Saturday. Lys signed me up to win a bunch of different things. We didn't win anything. Big surprise there.

Ben enjoyed getting all the freebies. Super cool hat he's showing off in the picture below.

Also did two new things this weekend. Went to my brother's house. I stick welded for the first time ever. Very cool. I have to admit I'm not good at it, but I have a new respect for the people that can do it well. It is definitely an art. I also cut metal with a torch. Absolutely no art to that, but SO fun! Talking of things I haven't done before, ever hear of a bucket list? I have two different types. I have the list of places I want to travel to some day, and I have the list of stuff I want to accomplish. Decided to post them here.

Places to travel to Bucket List
1. Ireland/England/Scotland
2. Italy
3. Australia
4. Grand Canyon
5. Yellowstone
6. Japan
7. Nazca Lines, Peru
8. Easter Island
9. Germany
10. Spain
11. Washington, D.C.
12. New Zealand
13. Santorini, Greece
14. Angkor Wot, Cambodia (look this up - super cool)
15. To be continued

Things to do bucket list
1. Learn to play the saxophone
2. Get a master's degree
3. Take a photography class
4. Have a craft project published
5. Swim with the dolphins
6. To be continued

Maybe I'll add the stuff and places I've already done/been to. Here's to dreams!
Jill