The Life

Thirteen hours of highway broken up with some beautiful rollings hills, farm land, rain, Freddy's and Rock River Rapids in Derby, Kansas made for a pretty awesome road trip with my littles and SIL. (I should note that the rain was the first that I had seen in months. It was beautiful.)

Now that we're in Iowa, we have enjoyed the farmer's market with THE best homemade ice cream ever, extremely mild temps, more rain, estate sales and family water war. Ahhh, I love family vacations.

 do ya see that kickin' homemade bass?  awesomeness.

 (that's the face you get when brother "steals" the ice cream.)

world's best ice cream

the water war "plan" - boys attack girls from treehouse

weapons

 the attack

 boys team

girls team

Fun. Fun. Fun.  Estate sale and thrift store finds coming later this week.  I hope you're enjoying your family and these last few weeks of Summer. xo

Snip, Snip, Snap!

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Confession...I'm kind of in love with the army vest. And since, I don't see it cooling off in Texas anytime soon, I figure this pieces is a gonna be a wardrobe staple come Fall. However, at prices soaring into the hundies ($100) for one of these babies, I also didn't see it making it's way into my closet anytime soon. So I've been on the hunt for months at the thrift stores for an army jacket that I can snip into a creation of my own. Guess what??? Finally found one for $3.00.

I snipped off her little arms, pressed, pinned, stitched and voila...my perfect (and thrifty) Fall vest.

 (please excuse my very blurry and oh so crappy images.)

Check out Miss Kelly takin' it to a whole new level by layering it with a jacket. Sooo cool.

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Tee hee hee...I love it when things turn out so unexpectedly well. Yay! The hubs will be taking Senior photos of my SIL next week, hopefully I can get him to snap a few decent one of me in the vest while he's at it. (wink. wink.) xo

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Line Dry

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Have you heard? There's pretty much no spot in the States that isn't hot right now. In Dallas we are having our second hottest year ever recorded with our 27th (or something crazy like that) 100 degree and above days. As I do load after load of laundry, I can't help but think that things would dry much more quickly on a clothes line. I  know my summer sweaters and tie-dyes sure have. Come on folks, let's line dry those clothes and save some energy!

PS - It looks so pretty when clothes are hanging on the line... I think it might be where garlands.bunting got started. Do you see the similarity?

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Happy Laundering! xo

Follow the Line

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It all started with a book that we checked out from the library. Follow the Line. My oldest and I loved the illustrations, the "story", the adventure and the color palettes. Since this discovery, we have joined Laura on her line adventures Through the House and Around the World. Each book is amazing in it's own right. Countless hours have been spent following Laura's lines while giggling and making little discoveries about one another thanks to her questions found on each page.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from THE Laura Ljungkvist telling me about her new book. At first I thought it was an assistant signing off as Laura. Ha!  Complete cynic and skepticism on my part - sorry Laura. (PS. brilliant marketing) Laura asked me if I'd like to review her new book...Follow the Line to School!  What? Hello perfect timing! So without further delay, here's a little peek into Laura's latest book, Follow the Line to School.

Although I miss her more extensive line drawings found in her previous books, I know this one will become an instant favorite in our house. It's so much fun isn't it? Well done Laura. If you want to follow the line with Jude and I as school starts at the end of the month, be sure to pick a copy of your own - it's available now! xo

Weekly Challenge: A Whole Lotta Nothin'

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Three more weeks!  That's all I've got until school starts. It's kind of hard for me to wrap my brain around that.  It's a love/hate feeling for now. But I know my Jude will love it and his little spirit will grow beyond anything I can comprehend right now.

So how do I cope? One day at a time with a ton a fun wrapped up in every single day. Family focused with no self-challenges. No rules. No "plans". Lots of love. Lots of laughter. I got three more weeks of summer memory makin' to do with family, road trips, silliness and limited computer time (for me).  My posts will probably be sporadic at best, but I'm sure you guys will understand, right?

Come on people... it's the weekend!  Shake your groove thang! Cannon Ball! Have that extra ice cream scoop! We are only promised today - live it up! xoxo

The Fighter.

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"I chased my enemies and caught them; I did not stop until they were conquered. I struck them down so they could not get up; they fell beneath my feet." Psalm 18:37-38

Remember last Friday I told you that the Lord had taught me something while the hubs was away? Well, that Psalm above is it. Pretty powerful stuff huh? Night one I read it. Night two, BAM, there it was again! Night three... really God? Again? I was pretty sure I was suppose to learn something from it. And while David was fighting actual enemies, I couldn't help but hear the Lord whispering to me, "Your sins are your enemies. You can conquer them. Do it. Fight!"

So fight I will. I am gonna step into that proverbial boxing ring and kick some serious tail. It's high time I start making "...the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to Him." Psalm 19:14  Watch out world; my spiritual life is about to get ripped! BOOM BOOM POW! xo

Around the House: Work, Work, Work.

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Today I am knee deep in thread, fabric, notions and happy feelings! Come on Monday... no whammies, broken needles, or seam ripping! xo

Weekly Challenge: The Glamourous Life

International flights, glitter, late nights... Sound glamourous? Things aren't always what they appear.

It started with this...

Friday my hubs was Egypt bound.

The boys and I headed to the Lakehouse!

We got a bit of a scare...

chicken?

chicken pox?

Off to the doctor! No chicken pox, PTL. But my little did have a case of impetigo. Enter antibiotics and isolation.

Then came the late nights. Remember I don't like being without the hubs? A solid week was HARD, especially with no playdates and a sick kiddo.

Due to the isolation, I brought out the movies, games and crafts. That's where the glitter came in.  We tried this craft. My boys didn't want to touch it. What?  I thought they'd love this. I sure did.

glitter mud

See? Not so glamourous after all huh? I tried to survive my sleepless nights with movies, blogs and my bible. God showed me a lot about myself this week. (I'll do a specific post on that later.) My greatest take-away from the week? I can survive just about anything, with Him. And, I am stronger than I thought. What did you learn this week?

The hubs is home and the weekend begins. I've never anticipated a weekend more. Have fun homies! I sure will. xo

20, 30, 40.

Did you know that the absolute best time to shop for your Fall/Winter gear is Summer? There are deals out the yang. Don't believe me?  Guess how much I paid for the shoes above?

$20.00 (from $50.00)

$30.00 (from $200.00)

$40.00 (from $75.00)

I'll let you in on another little secret...Stein Mart. Serious. If you have one near you - GO! Their clothes aren't really for me, but their accessories are always great, with to-die-for prices too. Plus they do coupons on their sale stuff. Who does that? Happy shopping! xo

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Milk Jug Bird Feeder

One hundred dollars. That's how much the above Anthro birdhouse costs. Pretty huh?  I love it. But there's no way I'm spending that much on a birdhouse. Sorry Tweety. So I thought I'd try to make one myself using some materials I have on hand...

Materials:

milk jug

tape

marker

fabric scraps

wood scrap

drill

sandpaper

spray paint

glue

 Tape off your desired shape and mark it.

Remove tape and then cut with kitchen scissors. Don't forget to cut your little birdie hole too. (I used the milk jug cap to mark that opening.) Once cut, spray paint desired color and allow to dry.

My awesome neighbor, Sarah, has a wood scrap pile that she lets me rummage through - a lot! I found one that was just the right size and sanded down any rough edges. Favorite part about this project - power tools. I used my husband's drill and his 1 1/4 drill bit to make my very crude hole for the rope.

  

I then glued the spray-painted milk jug to my wood scrap using gorilla glue. If I had more time I would have stained the wood for a more polished look. (I did this yesterday afternoon while my youngest napped.)

After braiding my vintage barkcloth straps and tying a knot in one end I was ready to hang my little treasure. It's far from perfect, but it's cute none the less.

Next time I'll use an empty bleach jug (cleaning it out very well first) because it's a nice round shape and already white. I think I'll go the extra mile and stain the wood too. My birds need to shack up in style! I give my first attempt three stars out of five. Hey, ingenuity's gotta count for somethin' right? xo