fresh picked whimsy

getting there

We always drive.  We actually enjoy the road trip!  This time, it was a little more stressful because of the crazy spring break traffic, which we had never experienced before.  But, it was still fun.  The best part of our road trip was the stop half way there to see my sister, brother-in-law and kids in Georgia. 

It was only one overnight, which was entirely too short, but it was so great to see them! 

We brought Kismet along with us on this trip.  She's simply too old and fraile to board at the vet, so we checked Sunny in for a week and Kismet got to go with us.  Katie said, "she's really checking a lot of things off her bucket list this week!"  Hilarious!

She was a pampered pooch and i think she enjoyed herself.  The kids set her up with a cushy bed in the van. 

She was a little confused about the rental house and it took her a few days to get the feel of her surroundings.  But, for the most part, she did wonderfully. 

Mark does all of the driving...by choice.  And, I don't usually sleep during our drives.  I love looking at and taking pictures of the signs, the other cars, unusual sights, funny things, weird things.  Here's just a few of the things i captured...

this is always a uneasy sight...

we've past these signs for years...what is Rock City? and, will i ever see it?  probs not...

About half way between home and Florida is McDonough, Georgia! 

And, if that weren't cool enough, the next town over is Griffin, Georgia!  Oh yes, he loves driving past all of the signs with his name on them. 

We bought the Hunger Games audio book and loaded it on my iphone and listened to it the whole way there. 

Katie was the only one who had read it and seen the movie.  Then, for the trip home, we uploaded the 2nd Hunger Games book.  We still haven't finished it.  It was very long!  On the last day of break, we took the kids to see the movie.  It was really good.  It's a very sad story and a little bit disturbing, but going to the movies was a fun way to wrap up our break. 

Sunny was so happy to have us home.  We couldn't wait to see that face again!

Feels good to be home. ♥

 

just another day in paradise...

 "The kids screaming, phone ringing
Dog barking at the mailman bringing
That stack of bills - overdue
Good morning baby, how are you?
Got a half hour, quick shower
Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on and I put it back
There goes the washing machine
Baby, don't kick it.
I promise I'll fix it
Long about a million other things"

Mark and I call that song by Phil Vassar our own personal theme song.  You can listen to the song and watch the {little bit cheesy} video here.  Seriously, it was as if the guy was in our house, watching our life when he wrote it.  That last part about the washing machine being broken is particularly true to life for us.  Only it's not just the washing machine.  It's the dryer, vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, kitchen sink, ice maker, shower stall, pool cover, pool heater, half painted house, half finished game room...and on and on. 

No, i'm not looking for you to have pity on us.  We live in an awesome, cozy, wonderful house that we wouldn't trade for anything.  Honestly, we adore it.  We are blessed beyond measure.  But, i was having one of those days today.  And, when you live in a 40+ year old house, things give out and things need replacing.  It's stressful and comical at the same time.  We have to laugh about it or we will cry.  There's always something...  And, when you're on the verge of making college tuition payments, you tend to try to repair things yourselves rather than pay someone else to do it. 

Mark has fixed our hand-me-down, duct-taped vacuum cleaner at least a dozen times.  The last time was this past weekend and today I vacuumed for about 2 minutes before this happened....

it literally fell apart.  and i had to laugh.  Made me immediately think of that scene in the movie The Money Pit with Tom Hanks...you know that scene...

  

 ok, just had to share my funny housekeeping woes with you...

and yes, i'm fully aware how fortunate we are and how unfortunate so many other people are around the world.  Like i said, i'm not looking for sympathy...just thought we would giggle together because i was having "one of those days" where everything seems to be breaking around me, the dog pooped on my shoe, the kitchen sink is backed up, i opened the dryer door and a bolt fell out, and the internet went out on me in the middle of typing this post.  And, i know sometimes you have those days, too.  Right? 

Yes indeed, life is very good...and sometimes you just gotta laugh.

front row seats

a little breathing room after the massive rush of the holidays meant it was time for the annual...

i LOVE going to the movies, watching movies, watching the award shows, etc.  Going to the theater these days costs a small fortune...especially when you're taking the whole fam.  So, we really enjoy Netflix and the On Demand movie channels.  It's so much cozier watching movies on your own couch, snuggled up to your family and four legged furry friends. 

We're not so much a popcorn family, as we are an ice cream family. 

Which leads to the stacks of yummy blankets and pillows. 

These are some of the movies that we've watched over the past month and my review of them {if you're interested}...

Super 8 - loved the 1970's setting of this flick.  Brought me back.  It was scary and entertaining, but the ending was just a little hokey.  big kids loved it.  Didn't let Griff watch it...too scary for him yet.

Dolphin Tale - good family friendly movie.  Not as awesome as Soul Surfer, but a feel good movie nonetheless.  A little over-acting.

I Don't Know How She Does it - eh. 

Adjustment Bureau - crazy premise.  good movie. 

Crazy Stupid Love - i love just about anything Steve Carrell does.  Totally didn't see the curveball they threw at me towards the end of the movie.  katie and i liked it.  Mark did not. 

Arthur - I LOVED the original and was afraid they would ruin it.  they didn't.  i thought it was cute.  Not a huge Russell Brand fan, but i thought he did a good job and had me cheering for him.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Katie and Riley picked this one.  again, crazy premise.  we all know how it ends going into this one. 

We Bought a Zoo - Mark took the kids to see this one, while i went to visit a friend in the hospital.  They all loved it.  I will catch it on Netflix when it comes out for sure.

Next on my list are some movies that are getting Oscar buzz...because its so much more fun to cheer them on when you've seen them!!! {Tree of Life, Moneyball, The Descendents, The Ides of March, WarHorse and The Help} Yes, i'm the only woman on the planet that hasn't see The Help, which is crazy because i read it so long ago and freaked out when i heard they were making the movie.  I'm DYING to see it.  Maybe this weekend...

any other movie recommendations????

 

time travel in a photo

 
Have you guys seen the blog Dear Photograph?  OH MY WORD.  The first time i laid eyes on it, i cried.  I am such a sentimental softie.  And this...just pushed me over the edge.  They encourage their readers to take photographs from the past and then take new photographs of that photograph in front of the location where the original photo was taken.  Confused?  Take a look at the photo above.  That's my Riley and Katie when they were probably 3 and 5 years old. That's their Poppy {Mark's Dad} watching them in the background.  That's a picture of our house that i took today, in the big picture.  Mark grew up in our house.  His parents lovingly gave us the house 13 years ago.  We've since painted the house, obviously, but the structure remains the same.  Isn't that fun?  I think i might go crazy snapping these photos.  We have so many from Mark's childhood, too, that would be fun to do.  Like this one of Mark doing the dishes about 35 years ago...

 
i die.  Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen? 

Now, go...give it a try!  It's a warm fuzzies kinda thing to do.  Speaking of warm fuzzies...thanks for all the love and concern for Katie after yesterday's post.  You're the best. xo

 

Magic

 
Said good-bye to some old friends this weekend.  If you haven't seen it yet, you really really need to.  It was AWESOME.  We laughed, we cried, we cheered...everything we hoped it would be.

 
We began reading these books when Katie was just beginning school.  We read them aloud, in the family room all together and i still remember the wide eyed looks of wonder that Katie and Riley would have.  It was simply magical.  And although there was a lot of darkness throughout the series, i still think it was wonderfully imaginative creation and i'm so happy it was a part of my children's childhood.

You must read Katie's blog post all about going to the midnight premier with her friends...all dressed up...so much fun!

 
 
 Which brings me to another magical thing...a new blogging friend of mine, Amy, of One Day at a Time and her sweet family are adopting Davis from Russia...and she is having a HUGE giveaway on her blog to help raise the funds they need to bring Davis home.  There are TONS of goodies to be won including an iPad2, gorgeous stuff from etsy and 3, yes that's right, 3 prints from me!  Click on over there today to help them bring Davis home and to grab a chance to win some lovely stuff!  Giveaway runs through this Thursday, July 21st.  Thank you so much, friends!

whatcha reading?

Have you read this book yet?

 
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

I read it one afternoon on the beach.  It's a quick read.  Mark read it the next day...

 
and Katie read it the following day.  It was so good.  I want everyone i love to read this book.  I want the world to read this book.  If you haven't read it yet, get it.  I promise...you will love it and will tell everyone you know about it. 

Now, what are you reading???  I'm looking for suggestions.  I'm not a big murder mystery or suspense gal.  I like the fluff and i'm not afraid to admit it.  I want a good summer sitting by the pool book.  Maybe a good romance with a little bit a hubba hubba.  Or something uplifting.  Funny.  Just nothing heavy.  Last summer i read The Help and LOVED it.  I'm counting the days until the movie comes out in August.  If you haven't read it, you should before seeing the movie.  It's SOOOOOOO good!!!

 
Let me know if there's something you've read that you think i'll love.  Thanks!

Who's been using my camera?

whenever i upload the pictures off of my camera, i never know what i will find.  Griffin was here...

 
and this lovely shot was from one of Riley & Katie's photoshoots while torturing playing with the dogs...hello, Sunny...

 

evidently we were examining his teeth, too... {he's so laid back!}

 
do you see how all of his canines are filed down flat?  That's from chewing sticks and stones in the backyard.  Oh, and this {which he finished in about 3 days}...

 
can't a dog get some sleep around here?...

 
 
i think they were trying to get a picture of him jumping in the air after a ball was tossed.  They got this, which makes him look like he is standing, which makes me laugh because he already reminds us all of Scooby Doo.  

Ruh-roh.

 

Scooby in disguise?...

 
Poor Kismet can't escape them, either...

 
but, she's just a little less tolerant of the camera.  ok, maybe just one more if you snuggle me...

 
 

"We've got so much time and so little to do...scratch that...reverse it"

...one of my favorite quotes from Willy Wonka {the original one, not the creepy Johnny Depp one}

"Where have you been?", you ask.  Well, let's see...

This is the first of many {i hope} buntings that i am making to spring up my studio.  I will be selling them at my next Studio Open House {date and time TBD}. 

 
 ♥♥♥

Planning my lovely daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party. 

I still can't believe we're here...

 
we were just here...

 
  

♥♥♥

There are just 38 days until school is out, which means i only have 38 days to finish everything i need to get done before i have them home all day, every day!  Yes, we get out very early.  And, we will unfortunately be the first to go back...on August 10th.  So...not...cool.  They're trying to change the law here to not allow us to go back until after Labor Day.  Until then...August 10th it is. 

♥♥♥

Anne and I spoke last week at my alma mater high school about our book.  It was scary and exciting and i'm so glad we did it.  It wasn't so bad.

 
and now we are working fast and furiously on book #2

♥♥♥

Catching up on some quality time with my handsome hubby.  We are participating in a marriage enrichment series at church called "Ten Great Dates"...one date every month.  We are l♥ving it!

♥♥♥

Happily planning a beach vacation in Gulf Shores again this summer...just found out about it this week and we are so excited!!

 

♥♥♥

 Planning a new solar pool heating system installation, thanks to Mark's parents.  We have a shady backyard...shade is not good when you have a pool.  Mark opened the pool 2 weeks ago.  It's crystal clear, clean and lovely.  and, it's 55 degrees.  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Mark and R are pretty excited about the installation project and we're all excited about the earth-friendly {and pocketbook friendly!} system that is going to use the sun to heat our shaded pool! 

{i took this pic last week as we enjoyed the bbq next to our pretty but oh-so-cold pool}

♥♥♥

We will be celebrating my sweet grandfather's 96th birthday this Saturday! That's right...i said 96!!!!  This is him last year on his 95th.

 

   We had a big shindig for him.  You can revisit it here.  This year, we're going a little more low-key.  Just the family at Old Country Buffet...it was always a favorite of him and my grandmother.  The people who work there still remember them.  I think most people who know them would agree that you could never forget them. 

♥♥♥

 

She Left Proof

 
Photo collage made with Shape Collage.

I completely stumbled upon this and i felt like i was hit by a ton of bricks.  A wave of nausea came over me and i instantly began to cry.  This hit home with me so deeply that i knew i had to pass it along to you.  It's called She Left Proof: Aleida's Challenge.  Maybe you have heard of it; maybe not.  I'm going to let you read, what i read, because it's so beautifully and perfectly written {by Emelie Ahren}:

Aleida Franklin

 

Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn't know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.

She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I liked my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, "Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn't wearing make-up? Or wasn't dressed in a glamorous outfit?" Of course my answer was no.

She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.

Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away in an auto accident in September of 2008, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I try to take photos of myself with my children....double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all.

I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida's Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month.

I am so guilty of this.  After I read it, I immediately looked through the past 5 years worth of photos that i have taken digitally and have stored on my computer and confirmed my fears.  I use my camera daily...snapping up the most beautiful memories of my children and our family and friends.  I, however, am always the one behind the camera.  It isn't that I don't have ANY pictures of myself and my kids, it's just that I don't have ENOUGH.  Moms, I pass this challenge on to you.  Jump in front of the camera the next time you are capturing a family moment. 

P.S.  I have been pretty disciplined about not posting pictures of my kiddos on my blog for the past few years.  My reasons were mostly for security, but also because i didn't want them to be embarrassed or annoyed that i had put them "out there" without their knowledge.  Well, lately, my kids have become really interested in my blogging and often suggest ideas and help with the blog.  It's so funny to hear them say "hey, Mom, you should blog about this..."  This little blog has really become a scrapbook, of sorts, of our family life.  And...it's becoming more strange that they are omitted from it.  So, I've decided that I'm going to be a little more relaxed about it and you will begin to see them a little more often around here.   Nooooooo, this isn't going to become a "look at my kids" kind of blog.  Nothing about the blog is going to change, and you'll only see my monkeys when it's relevant, i promise.  xo 

 

May the force be with you...i mean, Merry Christmas!

We have about 9 Christmas trees in our house.  They vary in size, but all are lit and decorated.  However, there's one in particular that gets a lot of attention.  It's Mark's tree.  It was a gift I gave to him one year for his birthday (which is the week before Christmas).  You see, he's a huge Star Wars fan. 

Over the years, he's been collecting Star Wars Christmas tree ornaments.  They're just lovely.  They were slowly taking over the family tree.  And, because nothing says "Merry Christmas" quite like Darth Mol...

Queen Amadala and the Death Star...

a gun toting Chewy...

and a half naked Princess Leia {I'm sure I'm not spelling them correctly},

I got him his very own tree.  When I turn the tree lights on in the morning, I hear the Star Wars theme song and Emperor Palpatine declaring war...so festive!  (can you hear my sarcasm through your monitor?)

Actually, I will admit, it's pretty cool.  The collection keeps growing and he loves it.  And love him, I do {that's Yoda speak}.