sunflowers

I planted some sunflower seeds this spring and hoped for the best.  I'd say it worked out pretty well!  We've enjoyed watching the goldfinches and chipmunks play in them!

Conner has been loving the sunflowers so much, that he decided to make some of his own using his new markers.  He added the sticks on the bottom himself.  Some of them were supposed to go to his cousins for their gardens, and some of them have a hole cut in them and they are now sunflower masks.

Next on our list is harvesting the seeds and roasting them!!!!

staying friends

Conner has been going to preschool this year with a lot of kids from all around our town and the neighboring town.  Most of them will not be at his elementary school, let alone his middle school or even high school.  He's very concerned about not seeing them again, so we decided to make him his very own "business card".  (It helps that mommy and daddy each have their own business card.)  I just made them using a digital pic & a label template in Word.  Then I printed them on cardstock and cut them.  He's going to bring them to school and pass them out before the last day.

(obviously I blocked out his last name & the rest of our phone number in the screen capture, but you get the idea)

Making & keeping friends is such a tricky thing... I've made contact with a few of the moms already anyway - but I like him being proactive about maintaining friendships that are important to him.

summer's almost here!

Have you ever "met" Meg of whatever?  She is an amazing photographer and has a great sense of humor.  She lives in Kansas with her kids & hubby and she is definitely a must-read for me.
She and her family made their summer list... and inspired me to make our list.  Looks like the kids and I are going to be busy!!!  Hopefully Daddy can join us for a couple of the outings.

Can you guess which one was my addition to the list?  Uh yeah... fabric shopping extraordinaire at Vogue!  Conner's excited about seeing how many parks we can get to on our list.

As much as we want to have fun, I know there will be times to be at home too. So here's the kids' home lists.  Guess which one I added to Conner's list. ;)  Abby's list says bike because we're hoping she'll be able to coordinate herself on her trike.  I'm also hoping we can get in some water play without the screaming and drama of the other day - that's why sunscreen made it on the list.

What's on your summer list?

fishing

We spent some time recently in Wisconsin with family & friends. This is my favorite shot of the bunch, I think! They were having such a great time together.

daisies

Other than highlighting the fact that we needed to cut the grass... I just think she's adorable! And I'm so glad she's growing into some of the stuff I've been making over the past year. The pants in this pattern looked kind of funny when I was making them, but put it on over her diaper and it's not so weird after all. Just another lesson in having faith in the design.

summertime

Just wanted to share my cute kids. We spent part of the afternoon yesterday playing outside and I think I got a few good shots!




I've been trying this "RAW" setting on my camera. Although I really have no idea what I'm doing, it seems like I'm getting clearer, crisper shots. Just might need to pink the kids up a little... but Photoshop is a little beyond me for now.

elevator bucket

Do you know what this is? Well, duh, yes, it's a yellow bucket. Oh, but it became so much more yesterday afternoon!!!!
Here's a hint. Figured it out yet?

Here's Abby trying to figure it all out. (It's also got another pictoral hint. See the rope?)

Yep - it's an ELEVATOR BUCKET. What you've never heard of such a thing? Let me explain. When I was a kid, my cousins and I invented an Elevator Bucket to go from the loft of the cottage to the main level (where the parents & food were). We toted up and down MANY snacks, drinks, books, stones, and who knows what else. So yesterday, I decided it was time for my son to have his very own.

He's so looking forward to toting up a snack for himself. But yesterday it was all about the ball, a book, and some nature treasures. He would roll the ball down the slide, she'd run over and pick it up, put it in the bucket, he'd pull it up and repeat. So much fun!
Off to have a snack in the tower!

travel updates

Here's a little bit of a travel update from Massachusetts...

First of all - any nature lovers out there?? What the heck is this white stuff????!!!!

The lovely Orchard House. I'm a bit of a Little Women fan... so I was excited to be able to get a peek inside and hear more about Louisa May Alcott's life. I gained so much more respect for their family!

Since I do try and keep it a little crafty around here... I thought you might enjoy seeing the quilt hanging in the library at the Eric Carle Museum. It's all appliqued renditions of some of his artwork. Gorgeous!!!!

And here is my son & his daddy making their collages "just like Eric Carle"... well they used glue and tissue paper at least! Abby did stick a couple pieces on, but she really just wanted to cruise around. After being stuck in a carseat for two days, who can blame her?!

our bags are packed

We've been on the road a couple of days and we made it to Massachusetts! Woo-hoo!

Can you guess where we're going today? Here's a clue! My son's shirt was from the Carter's line, the green ruffled edge dress with the heart in the middle was my creation. (I bought the dress, added the heart).

I've been looking forward to this for so long... I hope it lives up to the hype! Then we are going to continue the week with all sorts of other fun... Make Way for Ducklings... swan boats... Paul Revere... Louisa May Alcott...
Pictures and stories to come!

it's getting hot in here

We got a new air conditioner installed the other day. My son was complaining about it being hot inside. I go in the kitchen... and discover that he's found his solution! Quite creative, that kid!!


Now get out... we're not going to refrigerate the whole house!

a REALLY happy 4th of July

My friend Toni ... isn't she an awesome photographer???!!!! I just have to brag on her a little. She just calmly snapped away during our party and parade. She lives in the moment and has great shots to share when she's done!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!Here's Abby in her onesie dress. (Anyone still interested in a tutorial? Maybe I'll have time to get that together this week!)

This has become a tradition - Shawn gets all dressed up for the parade, and we get a shot of him in the front yard with the kids. In our town, we have the parade the night of the 3rd. It's about 1-1/2 hours long. The amount of candy is pretty amazing, so the kids have a ball!The best part - all we have to do is invite our friends & go sit in our front yard!!! We have a picnic before the parade - yummmmm.... Then when the parade's done, we bring out popsicles, throw our parade watching stuff back in the garage, and go play in the back yard. We watch the kids chase lightning bugs, twirl on the swings, let our kids do sparklers ("it's like lightning bugs on a stick" one kid said) - and go to bed way too late. I love summer!

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

the porch - again

Ok. Well the heat index is like 100 all week. So I'm pretty sure we're not going to get much landscaping done. This is what it looks like now. If I didn't just post it now, it might never happen.Some of the plants from before are going back in, and we're going to have a little more empty space (I think?) which is probably a good thing. Maybe some bulbs in the fall... or annuals next spring.I'm just not sure I love the furniture set-up either. It's just hard because the windows aren't the up/down kind, they're the crank out kind - so you have to be careful what you put in front of them. And I don't really want furniture crowding the door. Ultimately, I'd love two wooden rockers I think. I don't want to be Cracker Barrel or anything, I just love the idea of sitting in a big comfy rocker sipping sweet tea while the kids play in the yard.

What DO I love???
I love that the posts are clean and simple (although at this point unpainted).
I love that there is room to sit on the glider and not kick the bushes.
I love that I don't hit the roof with the door when it opens.
I love that I have a blank canvas to decorate.

So, for now I will just try and enjoy my sweet tea, and try and dream up something fun so I'm more impressed with it than I am right now. What are your front porch dreams?

happy father's day

You know it's Father's Day if there are a lot of tools involved...And if you have steak for dinner & hamburgers and fries for dessert!

Happy Father's Day to the three best fathers I know! (and thanks to the grandpas for helping with the porch!)

(porch reveal coming soon. click here or here for hamburger/fries inspiration.)

concrete or cement?

We went to bed on Monday night with the front of our house looking like this.

The kids and I ate breakfast Tuesday morning looking out the window at this.
Now it's the weekend and we're finally getting the posts put on.

It's 2 feet deeper, and isn't cracking OR sinking - three reasons to be thrilled! Lastly, and most importantly - we didn't have to pay a penny for it! Our payment was our old pick-up truck which we'd been trying to sell anyway. I love it when things work out like that!

So now, I have two questions for you...
Do you know the difference between concrete and cement?
What would you add to the space? Keep in mind that I do NOT have a green thumb, I do not remember to water plants, and I can't even begin to keep up with the weeding that is needed everywhere else in my yard! Let alone, my budget is very small.

hi wheaton!

This is just a little tribute to my hometown, Wheaton, Illinois. It's not a perfect town, but I'm proud to say it's where I was raised. Although I live in the neighboring town now, I can still call it my hometown, right?

Today was the Taste of Wheaton, and although it was a little cool, cloudy, and rainy - we enjoyed it! Here's Conner on his first ever Ferris Wheel ride. He was LOVING it!

This would be the "mom, stop hugging me, I'm trying to enjoy the ride!" shot. (thanks Grandma for the photography skills.) Grandpa and Abby were waiting on the ground for us.Here's a view to the south. I included it for a couple reasons... just a little shot of my town, but also a possible last view of the town's first high school. If the Ferris Wheel is in the same spot next year, the high school will (probably) not be there - it's an old decrepit building that is being torn down and replaced by offices or condos or something. A piece of history, changing with the times.

Do you have a penny candy shop in your town? I guess, there's not really such a thing as penny candy anymore, but you know what I mean. The candy shop in my hometown was around the corner from the movie theater. It was actually just an alley that they covered and turned into "The Popcorn Shop". It's so skinny, it's address is actually 111-1/4 Front St. Too funny, huh? Here's my son continuing the family tradition. (Unfortunately, no movie theater anymore.) You pick up a little white bag at the front of the alley, work your way towards about the middle picking candy off all the shelves on one side. Then you give your bag to the worker who dumps it out and miraculously counts it. I would swear the tax sheet is the same one from my childhood tacked in the same place on the shelf - except that tax rates have changed! Then you pay and head on your way with a bag full of the best stuff you could pick! Our first treat was Pixy Stix. Yummmmmm....Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday - flying high, enjoying some candy, or whatever else made you happy today!

what a boy

I'm telling you - my son is livin' the life of a boy set free for the summer...

Catching frogs at the Arboretum...
and checking out the tadpoles in another area of the Arboretum... (sorry for the fuzzy pic)
"napping" on the front lawn (after intently watching the workers tear up the sidewalk for at least an hour)Digging up worms at his aunt and uncle's farm...
and finding baby birds...
And it's not even June yet!!!