treat trip

we decided to get our vacation started off right by going out to ice cream the night before.

no really, honest. that was our reason for going.

we walked to diary queen. i love love love that so much is within walking distance from our house. this is one of the many reason why i love our neighborhood.

i got a cherry dipped cone, aaron got a blizzard

z got a cone.

and poor little effi got a styrofoam cup

she was pretty excited about it though:)



 here is the sugar kicking in:

thankful tuesdays

today i am thankful for trips.

it is so nice to get out of your ordinary routine, have an excuse to eat out alot and spend extra time with family, use disposable diapers.

so naturally i've been busy trying to get the house ready for our absence. oh i'm sure you know the list: cat sitter, chicken sitter, clean bathroom, clean floors, laundry done, diapers washed, beds made, dishes done, packed, clean car, clean out the fridge. it's ALOT of work to go out of town. by the time we leave i'm exhausted and really really do need a vacation ha! obviously this list is a little overzealous, i do not actually get all of these things done.

ahhh but isn't it nice to think; "this is the last sink full of dishes for 5 days," or "i don't have to make breakfast, or sweep the floor until i get back"?

here's what we've been up to today:

the last pile of laundry

the last sink full of dishes

trip treats

how about you? do you leave your house "as is" when you go, or do you scrub every corner before you leave?

living in the present

when we were first married i longed to have kids; actually i don't ever remember not wanting kids. i assumed that the "waiting for the right time" would get easier, but it never did. i have always been so excited to be a mom, and honestly i'm surprised we made it four years before we finally started having babies.

i caught myself yesterday daydreaming about growing old with my sweetie. having an empty (and clean) nest, just the two of us finishing sentences and having lots of time together. i'm glad i caught myself. my second thought was "when i'm old i will probably wish my kids were little again."  why are we always wishing or dreaming of what's to come instead of enjoying where we are at now. i know that i am getting much better at this (it was one of my new year's resolutions); but obviously i have room to grow.

it's funny because older people are always saying, "treasure this time, they are only little once." i always kinda rolled my eyes because i literally hear it about twice a week. lol
but it is so true. i am doing my best to enjoy this short season in my life.

honesty hour, in over my head

the husby recently graduated. he's done, already has a job and we are enjoying this new season in life.

so of course we all attended his graduation..... kids in tow.

what was i thinking? two little kids sitting way up in the bleachers for a graduation?

no way.

they were great for about an hour. then i realized that i was asking way too much of them. we took a little walk around the school, saw a clock tower (big deal!), walked across a bridge and rode in an elevator. we got back just in time to see aaron get his diploma, then we were off to eat cake

luckily i have amazing kids; and family that helped me out and kept me sane.

as you can see oma enjoys hugs more than zula does

ps do you have any stories of when you were in over your head?

what has happened?

i am sitting here trying to think of something to post.

blank.

i took some pictures of the living room the other day, so i thought i'd do a living room tour. but they are awful. the pictures are too dark, the color is weird and honestly things are a little messy. how did i not notice this when i was taking them? so that's out.

i've had alot of time on my hands this week, which has been wonderful. usually i feel like i'm running around like a mad person cleaning so that when it is finally nap time i can do a fun project. not this week, i put the kids down for a nap and....... nothing. no inspiration, no excitement, no drive.

i know this is not bad. it's good. i'm not running myself ragged, i'm enjoying my kids, i'm keeping up with the housework. but honestly i'm feeling uninspired. i think i might go sit outside and read. i hope you are enjoying this weather.



and just so i don't leave you without any eye candy:

this is a tin i recently found. it is currently on the porch holding our chalk. i noticed the other day that there is a heart around the mountain peak. isn't that weird? what are they trying to insinuate? that we will "heart" their lard. ha!

thankful tuesday: in the garden edition

it's finally nice enough to enjoy our yard.  our garden is growing well, if i do say so myself.
we've already harvested, strawberries, and lots and lots of lettuce. so much lettuce i dont know what to do with it all :)

i'm looking forward to more planting and harvesting and relaxing by the kiddie pool.
today i am thankful for our wonderful garden and lawn. did you know when we moved in it was all dirt?

baby pepper plants, in our new raised beds

our new grass

herb garden

thanks to the bestie for my new outdoor table

ps what are you thankful for today?

strawberry fields

i wish we had a strawberry field. instead we have three little plants. last year theresa, our neighbor at the time, planted them and i think we each ate maybe one strawberry, each. this year we've had tons more. and by tons i mean like 5 every couple days, which is not much. but is so exciting for a two-year-old. after our weekend away there were quite a few to pick. needless to say we ate them in about 3 minutes. here are the fruits of our labor.

 

a little DIY

i made some bunting for the bestie's farm chicks booth this year. here is the diy i did for it last year. check out her blog, gather and hunt, to see pictures of her booth and the fun heart bunting we made.


recently i made some circle bunting for farm chicks and for school house craft. they were such a hit i thought i'd share how i made them here.
this project is really easy and fun. for the farm chicks show i made my bunting from an old atlas and for school house craft i used old writing paper and an algebra book. i am planning on doing red and white for christmas this year. i am really excited to see how it will turn out!
here is what you will need:
-a stack of circles, i have access to a sizzix so this was really easy. if you dont you could just cut cirlces or use a circle cutter.
-a sewing machine

since i really like my stuff to be made from 100% vintage materials i used vintage thread when sewing my circles together.

#1-my stack of papers
#2- pull some extra string out of your machine so you have a tail to hang bunting from. start sewing.
#3- feed next circle through machine.
#4- a string of circles.

to create desired space between circles i continued sewing but waited a second or two before putting in my next circle. i experimented with how long to wait to get the desired distance.

here are some pictures of my bunting at school house craft:

its also fun to do different sized circles and alternate them along your strand.
be sure to check back to see pictures of my christmas decorations.

farm chicks 2012

well i am back and finally recovered from farm chicks! it was so much fun. i went and helped the bestie set up and sell. it made me really want to do my own booth next year..... which i just might do.
the thing i really enjoy about farm chicks is how well it is put together. it's not your normal antique show but has quality vintage goods. you can tell all the vendors put alot of thought and effort into every aspect of doing this show. its legit..... really legit. if you haven't checked out serena's blog, you really should.
here are pictures from our weekend:

set up:

the booth:

enjoying ourselves: