Did You Know?????

On July 4th -1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. This set the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. There were an estimated 2.5 million people living in the new nation. Today there are approx. 309.6 million people living in our nation this 4th of July.

The Continential Congress of the New

United States did not adopt a specific

resolution to create a flag until June

14,1777. It was to have 13 stripes,

alternate red and white and the

union be 13 white stars in a blue

field representing a new constel-

lation. Our flag today has 13 stripes

a blue field with 50 stars representing

the 50 states.

The WHITE stripes represent the

original 13 colonies and purity of

intention. The RED represents the

blood shed of the patriots and their

hardiness and courage. The BLUE

stands for perseverance, vigillance

and the seeking of justice.

In 2009, the United States imported $217

million dollars in fireworks--of that, $209

million dollars were imported from China.

Most of us celebrate this holiday with parades,

family fun, cookouts/BBQ's. Seventy-six million

Americans said they have taken part in a BBQ

last year. Probably most took place on the 4th.

Chances are you will find steak, burgers, and /

or hot dogs on a grill this year. You may also

find a BBQ chicken. Somes sides are: baked

beans, potato salad/chips, garden salads,

and watermelon.

As our holiday comes to a close--everyone

gets to see fireworks! Most cities have

banned the home use of fireworks so

our cities have stepped up to provide

wonderful fireworks shows.

We go to one at a local business park.

Music plays by military bands and

local bands, food is for sale--but

most families bring coolers and

games are played with everyone

waits for the Grand Finale!!!

Patriotic Sounding Place Names:

***31 places nationwide with "liberty"

in their name.

***30 places have "eagle" in their name.

***11 places have "independence" in their

name.

***5 places adopted the name "freedom."

***1 place is named "patriot."

***5 places have "america" in their name.

Two of my favorite places are

MY HOMETOWN: Independence MO

with 110,440 residents.

Liberty, MO with 30,568 residents.

Songs for Independence Day:

America the Beautiful

God Bless America

Star Spangled Banner

Yankee Doodle Dandy

~Keep on Dreaming~

Update and a Prayer Request

Goood Morning Everyone: Just a little update : 1--Master Bedroom has been tamed! Closet, drawers, shelves, boxes etc. have been gone through and bagged for the charity truck! Now I know what is in our closet. 2--Living Room and Dining Room have been straighted and will be decorated TODAY for the 4th!! 3--I will be moving on to the other rooms but also be taking a break to actually do some crafting. I have a BIG list of things I want to do. 4--We went to a couple of garage sales on Saturday. This is what I purchased: **one white platter **one pearl necklace **a very pretty pin Mr. Ken got in on this sale and picked up some small speakers for his stereo. At the next one I got three board books (in great condition) for my soon to be great niece. I also picked up for a steal a really cool rocker--wait till you see what I'm going to do with it! At the last sale, I got two really pretty red plates and a metal sign that says "Relax." ******************** Now for the prayer requests: This is hard for me because I'm not one to ask this but... As you know Mr. Ken has had ALOT to deal with lately. His health is fine, getting better each day and with- out going into detail, a little more has been put on his plate. He needs prayers for the additional things added to his plate. We would appreciate it! ******************** Also, one of my good friends lost her daughter last Tuesday to Congestive Heart Failure at the age of 36. Please send a prayer for strength and guidance for this family. I know they would appreciate it! Thanks for sticking with me on this post! Have a super day and enjoy the weather! ~Keep on Dreaming~

A Day For ME

The weather today was ohhhhh sooooo

beautiful!!!! Temperatures in the mid 80's

and the humidity in the low 40's. AHHHHH!

The sky was the prettiest blue and the clouds

were fluffy. :) The sun was warm to the skin.

Sooo.....

I spent the day outside! Right there on the

swing. As my Father-in-Law says "I was

getting my vitamin D."

I didn't feel like cleaning, dusting or

bagging stuff for the charity truck.

Instead.... I read magazines, the JoAnne's ad and

enjoyed some ice tea. The birds were

singing and chatting, kids talking to

each other, cars were going by and

the breeze was flowing through the

trees. What a way to spend the day

and it was all for me!!!!!!

Don't forget to take some time

for YOURSELF!!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

SUMMER

As the song goes--"It's summer time and the living is easy." I think that is one of the best things everyone enjoys about summer. Summer arrived yesterday at 7:28 am edt. Summer goes from June 21st until September 22nd. I find it hard to think of September as a "summer" month, I guess it is because school has been in session for awhile. But... Summer's first day is longer, the night is shorter and the days are warmer. Warm--yes, HOT--NO! I enjoy summer don't get me wrong BUT I do not tolerate heat very well at all! Everyone needs a pair of these to see better with. Summer is a slower time, time spent outside playing in the water--boating, fishing, swimming at the pool or running through the sprinkler at home. More time is spent outside in the garden, whether it's puttering with the flowers or checking on the vegetables. We also have the lovely job of tending to our yards too. Time is also spent at the park with your family. Our family was enjoying a picnic together over last weekend when this little family showed up. Mom and her ducklings out and about for a stroll. No, Ken has not gone and changed colors--he had some blue icing from the Father's Day cake on his teeth. Very hard to get rid of--I must say. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Summertime and the living is easy-- take some time to have fun. Throw on the shorts, t-shirts, sandals/flip-flops and have a great summer. Rest, relax and do something fun! ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here are some fun things to do: 1-Go to an outdoor concert/theatre production. 2-See an afternoon ball game. 3-Check out the DRIVE-IN or free movie nights. 4-Hit the Farmer's Markets. 5-Go to an Amusement Park, the Zoo, Art Museums, and don't forget your local library. 6-Look for FREE things to do. 7-Take a daytrip. Be a tourist in your own city. 8-Cook on the grill-have a deck dinner. 9-Enjoy the night sounds. 10-Celebrate the Fourth in style. 11-Take a staycation boost your city's economy. 12-Read a good book. 13-Eat a popsicle. 14-Take a day and DO NOTHING! 15-Spend time with your family. Happy summer!!!!! ~Keep on Dreaming~

Monday Madness

Good Evening friends: We have had a busy day. My goal for this week is to tackle one room or area a day. Today's room was the master bedroom-- it was getting a little messy (no pics). :( Things here and stuff over there. I ran out of time so I'm going to have to finish our closet tomorrow. The charity truck is coming next Monday so this is my motivation to get the rooms done and get rid of things that we don't need any- more. We'll see what Tuesday brings. ****************************************** Ken came home early--he had an appt. for an x-ray on those kidneys and then another appt. with the kidney Dr. The Dr. reviewed his x-ray and he still has some fragments on the left and a couple of stones still on the right. SOOO we will have another round of sound wave blasting next week. He still has the stents in and they'll stay there a little longer. He is about 75%. Oh and he is still dealing with the blood clot. Which IS getting better but not fast enough for him. ****************************************** Saturday we took Ken's car to the shop. It had some issues with the AC so several hours and bookoo bucks later we picked it up. Sunday it started making a noise. GREAT! Now what? SOOOOO on top of everything else, we took the car back to the shop today and they said the freon needs to work it's way to the compressor. So now we wait. ****************************************** I'm tired--how about you???? ~Keep on Dreaming~

Fabulous Fifty!!!

Today was a special day--Some friends and I celebrated another friend's 50th birthday! We met at The Mission Road and Antique Mall and tucked in the back corner there you will find a delightful gem. The Bloomsbury Bistro.

Here we are: L-R: Myself, THE BIRTHDAY GIRL--

Ann, Alice and Kristen.

The bistro has some of THE most delicious

food I have tasted in a long time.

Above, Alice had the Bistro Special--

Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup

and half of the Seafood Salad Sandwich.

Kristen had the Welsh Rarebit with Tomatoes

and Turkey and a Garden Salad.

I had the Bistro Special--Half of the Chicken

and Ham Roulade and the Garden Salad.

The birthday girl had the Bistro Special too-

She chose the Cucumber and Dill Soup and

half of Cari's Got A Beef Sandwich.

Oh so yummy I must tell you!!!!

Time for presents--"What does one get someone

when they turn fifty? I gave Ann a really cute card

and a "gift certificate" for our lunch.

Opening the card for the next goodie.

Little teeny tiny cakes ! She was happy with

this present--I just clicked too fast. :)

Now let me tell you these little cakes are

also most delish and they come in all sorts

of flavors. Yum!

"Would anyone care for dessert?" Well, of

course we would!!!! Alice had the Mango

Mousse with Lime Curd Fruit Tart.

Kristen had the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

with a Cookie.

Ann and I split the Toasted Carrot Cake.

This is served warm and let me tell you this

is not your ordinary carrot cake! See that

creme filling, the carmel sauce, and those

nuts??? Goodness gracious !!!!!!!

********************************************

Needless to say-we had a most delightful birthday lunch and the best part is that

Ann didn't know that Alice and Kristen were

coming!!!! I was a bit sneaky on this. YEA!

I love it when a plan turns out!

*********************************************

Have a wonderful weekend--we have a family

picnic tomorrow and then Father's Day on

Sunday so I won't be posting for a bit.

Be back soon.

Happy Father's Day to all!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Show and Tell

A GARAGE SALE is an informal, irregulary scheduled event for the sale of items by private individuals. These sales are also known as yard sales, rummage sales, tag sales, moving or junk sales. They can occur at individual homes, on blocks or in whole neighborhoods. They are usually held to get rid of stuff and/or make money for a specific item or event and prices vary from sale to sale. Today I'm going to have show and tell of what I picked up recently at some neighborhood sales.

But first, what is better than a garage sale?

FREE, FREE, FREE ! Our city had large

item pick up and the chair, bench and

three-legged bowl were up for grabs. You

wouldn't believe how heavy the bench is!

It will probably go in the yard somewhere.

I'll fix up the chair too. The bowl-still

thinking about.

At the first sale I went to I picked up the items

in the two photos above. AND the best part of

this sale was that EVERYTHING was HALF

PRICE! The wagon cracks me up with it's

"monster wheels" and I love the metal can.

At the next sale I picked up the items in these

photos above. The watermelon print may go in

the kitchen--maybe? The two snowman pictures

are ceramic wall hangings and they are made to

look like Christmas stamps--love them!

Moving on to the next sale. As I moved around I

was going to leave THEN I saw these pillows and

the baker snowgirl--he said that I needed to take

him home so he could meet my other snowgirl

friends. The pillow with the chefs on it, will go

in the kitchen on my red stool. (My dream is

to have a red and oatmeal kitchen one day.)

Here we have a close-up of baker snowgirl.

She has been busy already--baking cookies.

Isn't she a cutie???

Look at this beauty! I'm sure at one time it

resided in someone's bathroom or at the end

of a bed BUT here it will have a new job.

It will become a plant holder! Maybe on the

deck.

These things came from what the lady

called a "sample sale." Greeting cards,

photo album and three round boxes

nestled inside each other.

Borrowed the "plant stand" to hold my new

purse. One of the girls at work has a couple

of these and I've been wanting one. I now

have one and the best thing about it other

than it is darn cute is the owner was asking

$1 for it! It is fabric inside and out and the

handles have denim on one side.

Our garage sale tour ends with some items

I picked up mid week last week.

A little white cart. a metal tool box and

a package of pretzel molds for Christmas

I think one could also use candy type sticks

instead of pretzels if they wanted to. The

white cart may go in the sewing room

(when I find it :) ) or it may go in the

laundry room.

Thanks for taking the tour!

~Keeo on Dreaming~

Visitors

Yesterday and today we had some very

small visitors. Baby birds! I'm not sure

how old they are but they appeared on

the front porch in the afternoon. Hang-

ing out on the front porch railing. Not

sure if this one is too happy.

His/her sibling was hanging out on the wagon.

If you look closely at the one above you can

see the blue feathers on the wing. There was

one more but it didn't look too good. (no pic)

Guess who came back today? The babies!

Mom was with them off and on but she

didn't want her picture talken so she flew

off.

Have you figured out what type of bird

my friends are??? If you said BLUE JAY

you are correct! I must admit I'm not

too fond of grown Jays because they

have a tendency to be mean! But these

little guys are way too cute!

Maybe they'll be back tomorrow?

~Keep on Dreaming~

*********************************************

ALERT----Blogger is up to tricks again.

That's why there is a spacing issue and

I'm too tired to mess with it. :)

SUNDAY

Good Afternoon blog friends: Just a ditty to say: THERE WILL BE A NEW POST TODAY! NO MATTER WHAT!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Please check back later for it. Thanks!! ~Keep on Dreaming~

Friendship...

Friendship is a personal relationship between two people. Female-Female, Male-Male, Female-Male, Young-Old etc. It is a relationship of mutal caring and concern, in the beginning-developing faith and trust in that person. There are friends--those who know you as a person and regard you for who you are. We have work friends, church friends, gym friends, neighbors etc. There are best friends--those who accept the good, the bad and the ugly about you. They are there for you at the drop of a hat. Friendship is about how much you care and understand each other. It's about talking, listening, laughing and being there for that person. Blogging has brought all of a lot of FRIENDS some we have developed stronger bonds with, which is one of the reasons I started blogging. It is fun to meet people from all over and particularly those who happen to be "in your own backyard."

Today I had the pleasure of meeting one of my

friends:

Valerie--From Our Front Porch Looking In.

We met at Mimi's for lunch. Neither on of us

missed a beat, the minute we sat down we

started talking as if we hadn't just met in

person. :) We have developed a friendship

through blogging and we were able to get

both of our schedules to match. What fun

we had! There was talking, laughing and

eating going on.

I brought a couple of gifts for her. One was for

the baby.

Receiving blankets for the little one.

For Mary and Ben bubble wands, bubbles

and wash cloths that "grow" when wet.

We had a super time! Valerie is a great

lady and I look forward to our next lunch

together.

Thanks Valerie for such a fun time!!!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~