i have to say...

miscellaneous

Many thanks for all of the sweet, encouraging comments yesterday!  I was very nervous about unveiling my little plan, but your response made me glad that I did.  When it comes to hatching plans, I can handle it, but actually doing things is another story, because I obsess over the possibility of failure.

Tell me I am not the only one who does that!

This has been a lesson in patience for me, because everything has taken twice as long as I figured!  Getting the fabric is not happening fast either, but I did manage to place my orders late yesterday and I am hoping the ladies I am dealing with will be able to fill my order before they leave for Quilt Market.  If they can't, I will have to wait another week.  I hope they realize that I want my stuff NOW!  (Read that last sentence in your best Veruca Salt voice--with all of the attitude!)

"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self‑control."Ephesians 5:22

Things are starting to grow around my house and I love it!  This is the most exciting time of the year for me because it seems so full of promise.  All things are becoming new!

As you can see, Maddie is becoming a beast.  She is going to be the size of a small-ish bear, I am sure of it!

Have a great day!

***I updated my shop with some hostess aprons.  Click here to see them!

good things

This weekend was warm and sunny. Perfect for:

**Capris and tank tops
**An early morning walk along the river
**Starting the flip-flop tan line on my feet
**A trip to the zoo
**Sewing--lots of free time on Saturday morning while my kids were at a friend's house!
**Washing the cars
**Making a compost pile (crossing my fingers that it works!)
**Planting nasturtiums

Mr. Sun, keep on shining!

Snow on Pike's Peak:

The cat rolling in the dirt:

Lovely flowers:

An "oops" shot, but I still like it:

Have a lovely Monday!

***PS---You will find a post at Me and My Girl today!

it can get rocky out there

In case you have ever wondered, the Rocky Mountains acquired their name because they are so very, well, rocky.  Technically, they could have been called the Big Rocky Mountains since they are big as well. 

Rock climbing is very popular here m Colorado, and in the winter, ice climbing is another nutty sport that outdoorsy types like to engage in. Personally I like to keep my feet firmly planted on solid, flat ground where it is safe.

My husband, however, is not of the same mind as I am, so he decided to climb the above pictured rock/mountain while we were geocaching this weekend.  Since he is the super manly type,  he didn't anticipate that a loose rock could fall to the ground when all of his weight was on it.  Of course, he could have consulted me and been forewarned, but that didn't seem to enter his mind. 

Once he was about 15 feet above the dry, hard ground, the rock that I alluded to above broke free and left him falling until he hit the ground with a thud.  From the midst of the dust swirling around him came a labored "I'm fine!", but I wasn't so sure that I believed him since he was covered with cactus needles and he was limping.

As this point, he felt that the best solution was to continue on our hike so that he could "walk it off".

***Ladies, I just want to know where men get these ideas from!?!?!

We walked on, he limped, and we all tried to act like nothing happened.

Here is am hugging him right after I gave him a good "talking to":

We skipped rocks:

Aubry posed with her official geocaching kitty purse:

What would a hike be without a bit of sister-ly love?

Green:

A lovely sky:

In the scheme of things, all of this is just small stuff:

Yes, my hubs is fine.  And I am pretty sure he will think twice before attempting rock climbing again! Have a happy Monday!

one link

I came across Adobe Photoshop Express (it's free!) and have played with it for about 10 minutes.  Here is what I came up with:

Neither photo is amazing, but for a free program, there is a lot to play with!

Also, did you know that The Pioneer Woman now has a photography how-to blog?  If you are a budding photographer, she is someone worth learning from!  Donna is a contributor on the blog too!

OK, so I said "one link" and gave three.  I guess I am in a generous mood today!  ;)

Don't forget about The Recipe Swap tomorrow. 

I hope to see you there!

welcome, spring!

happy

I hope your weekend is filled with happiness!

stepping outside...

weekends

I love weekends.

My hubs works hard all week long, leaving him tired on most nights.    Saturdays and Sundays are our time to reconnect and talk and plan and just be together. 

This Saturday we started off early with a trip to the Riverwalk.  Things are perking up slowly but surely around here, and Spring is popping her head in more often, letting us know that she will be moving in permanently very soon.

The buds on the trees are swelling, the willows are taking on a yellow blush, and the birds are everywhere, signing their favorite songs.

No leaves on the trees makes it possible to see what is hiding in the branches.  Lots of interesting little homes up there.  Is it a beehive?  A nest of some sort?

(A couple of dark, blurry pics ahead!)

We had to rush a little at the end, because the wind seemed to be threatening to bring the snow our way.

The best part?  We saw a newborn calf.  For me, this is THE SIGN that spring is traveling our way.  She is almost here!

brrrrrr!

We have hunted for and found all of the available snow goods.  Boots, gloves, hats and jackets have found their way back into our closets out of necessity.  It's cold outside!

As you can tell from the picture below,  some of my babes have chosen to grow out of last year's gear.

I told him not to make himself too obvious in the front yard when he borrowed my snow boots, complete with fur trim and orange laces, to go outside and sled.  I couldn't bring myself to snap a picture in that get-up, so you get the soccer sock/running shoe combination photograph.

Tomorrow I am heading to Target with Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa.

New winter goods will be making their appearance under the Christmas tree.

Yippee!

a christmas (post)card idea

Taking the family Christmas pictures can be stressful if you are trying to capture the perfect shot.  Over the last couple of years I just gather everyone together and say, "Give me 5 minutes"!  Then I start shooting using the camera's timer or a friend with a camera.   I pick the best shot and that's that!

Then I make about 50 copies of the picture and I do this to the back of  all of them:

Then I apply $.26 postcards stamps and I throw them in the mailbox.  All done.

The stress of getting the perfect picture or crafting a great Christmas letter is gone.  And I think that people appreciate that Craig and I still add ourselves to the picture.   Have you noticed that the older people get, the less you see them in family pictures?  Personally I like to see what my long-distance friends look like these days. 

I vote for keeping the whole family in your photograph this year!

collecting

The longer we are a family, the more I notice the patterns and repetions, as well as the changes in our days.  It is something to be savored to send a child off to college or stand with your husband, looking at the Christmas tree, knowing that you have done this together for 6, 11, 13...18 years.  The small moments stack up too: soccer games, science fairs, and summer vacations.  After time it becomes hard to distinguish the memories one from another.

Our annual leaf-collecting walk happened this weekend.  Only three kids in tow left me feeling a tiny sense of sadness, thinking of years gone by, but the yellow sunshine and smiles and laughter kept my heart in the present moment, enjoying the people around me.

I made copies of this leaf identification sheet and gave each of the kids a ziploc bag to hold their finds, but I noticed that my 13 year-old son left his on the floor of the car.  I guess he was trying to tell me that he is too old for things like this.

While we walked I noticed that he quickly took over as Aubry's helper, making sure that she was looking for the right shapes and colors, not wanting her to miss anything on the list.  But it didn't escape my notice that he was also stuffing his own pockets full of leaves, collecting in his own way, on his own terms, making himself a part of our adventure.  Too old for a ziploc bag and identification sheet, but not too old for collecting.

I smiled.

Craig and I collected too.  Memories of another year.  Our pockets are full, bursting almost, but we always find room for more.  Our stash is ready to be retrieved and examined and relived at any time.  We are collectors who will never complete our collection.  There is always more to claim as our own.

life is sweet...

"That it will never come again is what makes life sweet"

--Emily Dickinson

It occurs to me on occasion that a particular moment in time is precious.  I can feel it when it happens.  Almost as if life is perfect for just a flickering moment.

Ice cream and a kid who hides behind his cone and another one who is oblivious to the fact that I am photographing, not her cute face, but her chocolate mustache, were the makings of a moment for me. 

Once in a lifetime are these tiny snatches of time.

Once in a lifetime...

peaceful

...walking through the trees...drinking a smoothie...snuggling and reading a book with my girl...watching a movie with my other girl... a few moments alone...a finished project...

...wind dancing among the leaves...driving with the sunroof open...hand stitching...morning "quiet time"...flowers from a friend...reading a great book...an afternoon nap...the hum of the sewing machine...

What says "peaceful" to you?

our weekend in pictures...

...and a few words!

a museum scavenger hunt:

The museum greeter, Roxie:

Contemplating the corndog:

After the rain:

Down the road:

Can you tell that my son is at that "I am a teenager so I don't like to be photographed" stage?:

I hope your Monday is a good one!

learning new things

o This weekend my hubby and I were able to get away for a couple of days.  Denver was our destination and we spent lots of time having fun and learning some new things.

The first thing we learned was that we were going the wrong way down a one-way street.  At the precise moment that a guy on a bicycle yelled something along the lines of, "Hey, wrong way, dude!", my hubby and I were trying to figure out why the intersection we were driving through had no signal lights.  The light bulbs above our heads sprang to life as soon as the guy spoke, and my hubby whipped the quickest u-turn I have ever experienced and, lucky for us, made our way back through the still green signal that was now facing us.  This was one of the those we-are-from-a small-town-and-we-don't-understand-the -big-city moments that I always hope don't happen in front of everyone, but all is well and we eventually made it home safely to our tiny town packed with two-way streets.

The second big event didn't involve any traffic violations on our part, but it is exciting as well:  I figured out how to use the ISO speed on my camera.  This is the setting that controls the speed of the shutter and it allows you to let more light into a picture in low-light situations.  I found this out quite by accident while I was messing with the controls at night trying to get a good picture of downtown.  Although I never got a good downtown picture--apparently you need a tripod to do that!--I noticed that the pictures that I shot in the morning of a shaded building (with the same settings as the day before) were washed out and colorless, as if there was too much light.  After messing around with the camera for a while I was able to get some decent shots, even thought the building was completely in the shade.

The reason I have never been able to figure this out?  I have always tried changing the ISO setting in the bright sunlight.  No one ever mentioned that the shade is a better place to get a handle on this.  Better late than never, I always say!

I suppose that I learned something else as well:  My hubby is a great guy to hang out with.  I have always known this, but it is always good to be reminded of what a blessing he is to me.  He is funny, smart, kind, honoring, and darn good-looking, even though he can be quite scary while driving the streets in downtown Denver. 

I am so happy that he is my man!

a great day to fly a kite!

wishing you a happy mother's day!

she's got the look AND a case of the wiggles!

planting day!

a walk around town

sunny day

Happy Friday, everyone!  I love Fridays because they are the beginning of my weekend.  Ever since the start of our homeschool journey, Monday through Thursday have been our school week, leaving Friday for some fun and errands.  Today we are doing a little bit of both.  First a stop at Pam's house for some sewing--and food and talking--and then some grocery shopping.  Sounds like a good day to me!

Enjoy your day!

march beauty

My blogging break has been refreshing.  Whenever this becomes a burden as opposed to a hobby, I need to step away for a few days until things "feel" right.  Obssessing over what to post and spending way too much time in front of this little screen is no way to live a life.  Perspective is a great thing to grab onto.

Spring is popping up all over the place!  Green grass is trying to crowd out the brown, gardening stores are displaying their wares, the forecast is 60 degrees and sunny ALL WEEK LONG, and my dear hubby shaved off his Grizzly Adams beard.   I love being able to see his face! 

Warm weather is on the way, Ladies!

Enjoy your day!