Weekend Visitors!

We had such a great weekend! Emily and Caleb came to visit. We had a lot of fun together--Enjoy the pictures.

Saturday Morning: Caleb played soccer and Mike made us a pancake breakfast.

Long lost pals--Amos had a very warm welcome for Emily. In fact, we couldn't get him to stop welcoming her. He was just so happy she was here.

If you come visit us I WILL feed you homemade chocolate chip cookies...among other wonderful things. So, COME VISIT!

Caleb reading Mike's James Bond book...he claimed to have finished it in a half hour.

Saturday was supposed to be rainy but it turned out to be a gorgeous day. We spent the day at Red Haw State Park. It is so beautiful there.

We had a picnic, Caleb and Mike played baseball (that's them looking for the ball in the tall grass), and Amos swam in the lake. Good times.

Scenery from me and Emily's walk to the beach. {G O R G E O U S}

Us at the beach

One of my best buds!

Amos enjoying a lovely day.

Random shots at the beach. It was a great day. I think we found a total of 4 wood ticks (eew) between the 4 of us and Amos. And I got a horrid sunburn (but no one else did???). It was still fun.

Sunday was a beautiful day as well. We went to see one of the Bridges of Madison County. There are 5 of the 7 original bridges left standing. This is the prettiest one--
the Imes bridge in St Charles, IA.

Us at the Bridge

We also went to an art fair...which was miserable. The art was great but it got super hot out and Evelyn cried the entire time we were there (literally--for about 2 hours). She felt better once we were in an air conditioned McDonalds. She ate daddy's hand for lunch. I wish you could have heard the sucking noise she was making--it was very entertaining!

It was a great visit. We miss them already : ( Give us a call and set up a time to come on down. We'd love to have you!

Randomness

The week is f l y i n g by, I cannot believe that tomorrow is Friday already. I am so glad it is because that means that Emily (my sister) and Caleb (my nephew) are coming to visit! Yay! We have a fun weekend planned, that is if the weather cooperates. Of course I'll take lots of pics all weekend but for now here are some of the things we've been up to this past week:

Evelyn has discovered her feet and is decided...feet are fun! I received these booties for a shower gift and can finally use them. They are colorful and jingle, what's not to love?

I warned you...more rice cereal pictures than you probably want to see. There is just something so irresistible about daddy bonding with baby. He just happened to be feeding her rice cereal at the time : )

Post bath--I think every baby ever born has pictures of them all wrapped up in their towel (well, there's no way to really know that for sure...but still).

Ev's 5 month pictures. I've got to say I'm a bit disappointed in them (luckily I take them so I'm not out anything but time). The lighting was weird. Then Amos kept coming in casting shadows and distracting Evelyn. Darn dog. Some of them turned out cute though.

Notice the blankie-back drop? Ev's Auntie Carrie made that, isn't it beautiful? And the adorable duckie, that's from Antie Em.

So I got a Cricut for Mother's Day and I LOVE IT! I'm not a big scrapbooker but like to make crafts etc with it. This is what I've made so far.

I made a sign for Evelyn's door. I re-did my 'simplify' sign. I'm a bit obsessed with making those paper flowers. They're just so much fun to make. And I tried my hand at vinyl. That was also fun to do. I believe Mike said, "just wait...soon our wall will be one big paragraph". Yes, some people do get a bit carried away with it. I don't intend to ; )

So apparently I paint everything green (if you don't already know, I l o v e green). That's my bedside table. I painted our Adirondack chairs the same color. Then I made some stuff for outside. I woke up the other morning with an idea for a copper flower and it turned out great. It was tedious but worth it in the end. I have a few more designs in mind for when time allows. I sprayed the paper flowers with a few coats of polyurethane to make them weather resistant.

Hope you're all doing well! Love and miss you.

The Napping House

..."where everyone is sleeping". Do you know that story about the napping house where EVERYONE is sleeping...the granny, the aunts and uncles, the cousins...dogs...cats......even the mouse? That was our house today. Name one thing better to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon than to take a nap.





Next on the docket is to make a fried chicken dinner (it's my first time making fried chicken-thanks for the recipe mom), decorate some oreos to share with friends, and call family to chat. Should be a nice evening. Hope yours is just as relaxing!

Sitting...Rolling(almost)...Laughing

Thanks for the sweet dress Grandma! (I wanted to show you it fits ; ) I think yellow is her color, it matches her personality.

She is getting SO much better at eating her rice cereal. You'll probably see more pictures of Evelyn eating rice cereal than you want to...but we think it's cute when she's this happy and her face is an absolute mess!

She sat up on her own yesterday! It was the first time we tried that. She was unsure at first but became comfortable soon enough. It made her out of breath working so hard to keep herself upright!

She has no interest on rolling from her tummy to her back but it's a different story the other way around. She almost rolled a couple of times. I'm sure it won't take her long now. I've noticed in the past 24 hours that she sticks her tongue out a lot. It's pretty funny.

Here's a link to a video of Evelyn and Amos--the first laughing video was such a hit I thought I'd share this one as well. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnmfrcEO47c&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

A Little Inspiration

As I have been unpacking/setting up my jewelry studio the past couple of days I came across my "Inspiration Board". I have a bulletin board where I keep my favorite quotes, pictures, and other inspiring things. I always put it in my line of sight so that I can refer to it while working. On this board I have my favorite poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. I thought I'd post it and hope it will inspire you today.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

by: Robert Frost (1874-1963)

WO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Every time I read that poem I end up with goose bumps all over--especially the last stanza. Often in my life I have chosen the road less traveled...I got married young (according to the societal norm)...I chose to get a degree in Art (a lot of people say that's a waste)...I make personal choices that are often not popular in the world today (not drinking/partying, having a "religious" life-style etc)...I have chosen to stay home to raise my child (believe me, that comes with sacrifice). But I can honestly say, with no reservation, that taking the road less traveled truly has made all the difference in my life. I enjoy a {HAPPY} marriage, my husband is my best friend. Every day I am enriched through using my art education as I work at my jewelry business. I am grateful for my talents and thank God for them often. And I have peace and comfort knowing that I am just doing the best I can to be the best person I can be. Yes, life is good!

My First Mother's Day

What a wonderful thing, Mother's Day! This was my first one and I've got to say that I'm already looking forward to next year. I was treated like a queen. Mike made me pancakes and gave me flowers and a very thoughtful card. He didn't let me lift a finger all day (unless I wanted to). We relaxed all day and enjoyed being a little family. The day ended with a foot rub and early bed time. It was awesome!

Me and my Sweetie Pie

I hope your Mother's Day was just as nice. I missed both of my mom's and was glad to spend some time on the phone with them. I love them both VERY much!

Red Haw State Park

Today was absolutely gorgeous! We had a picnic at Red Haw State Park in Chariton, IA this afternoon. It was such a beautiful place--we're glad to have it so close to home.

Evelyn enjoyed being outdoors. She was very content until she made a big mess in her pants.

This little piggy went to the market, this little piggy stayed home.....

Amos lives to play fetch in the water

Boxers are not typically good swimmers due to their heavy chests but Amos LOVES the water and swims very well.

He started playing fetch with two sticks at a time. We were quite impressed!

Mike taking care of that mess I mentioned earlier...that rice cereal, I tell ya, makes for some interesting diapers.

So very {h a p p y} to be a moma!

This is what pure {B L I S S} looks like for a dog

Part of our picnic, we had my fresh, homemade black bean salsa and subs from Subway. Yum!

We hope you were able to enjoy this beautiful day!