(Almost) One Word Wednesday

La-de-da-de-da...

Milk???

 

Pushover...

Stuck...

melting!

When mom's moody

Once in a great while, even I get a little moody. (Okay- maybe a little more often than a "great" while, but we've all been there, right?)
During these "spells" I try to keep it to myself, bite my tongue and blow things off, but despite my efforts, I guess  it's pretty obvious. This was the case yesterday evening before dinner.
Well, it was only a matter of time before I was being ushered out of the dining room  by my 11 year old son.  He took me and my husband to our bedroom and told us to relax for a bit while he prepared a surprise for us. I wasn't all that excited about this. I was hungry and really just wanted to get dinner over with so I could put my feet up. But how do you tell that to your son who is looking at you with those big brown eyes and that look that says "you wouldn't dare ruin this fun for me, would you?"
So, as we waited, daughter 2 played her guitar and serenaded us beautifully, whilst wearing a tiolet seat around her neck. Yeah...really. I had purchased  it to replace the one in our upstairs bathroom. Apparently she thought it made a better necklace. We patiently waited.
After she played us a few numbers our son tells us we can come back in. This is what he had done:

Isn't that sweet?! A special dinner for me and dad. I thought he did a very good job.

And what of daughter 2???

She joined us as well...

Although she didn't want to lose the new fashion accessory when it was time to eat.

Hope you have a blessed day!

~Jen

An "eclectic", long overdue, springtime post.

"Eclectic" just sounds so much better than "A post crammed with all of the things I've neglected to blog about for the past month", Doesn't it? I've been around...reading everyones posts and all, just not posting as I should. Sort of incognito, you know?

 Anyway, I do hope you'll forgive me for the gap between posts. If you've followed me for any length of time, you know I'm not always the most consistent blogger. But in my own defense; it's been gorgeous around here up until this week and I've been busy spring cleaning around the yard and in the house.

My backyard is green again!

Some of my seed-starting pots.

Even Kye wants to be outdoors- This is a favorite perching place.

I've been planting my cool-season veggies, and got my seedlings started, cleaned up the flower beds, and put a good dent in the weeds in the garden! So with all that going on I've neglected my blog!

So to remedy that, I'm doing some "spring cleaning" in my picture files, and at the same time will catch you up on the happenings in this cherry life of mine.

Girl 2 had a birthday! She's now 14. Wow, how'd that happen?!

They were snuggling on the comforter she got for her birthday.

On a couple of the more Michigan-esque days (cold & rainy) I painted the living room, hall, and part of the kitchen. I've had the paint since last spring! It was time to just do it.

Since I was going to paint them anyway, we turned the walls into a giant slate to practice memory verses? They also wrote the different  fruits of the spirit throughout the hall. Peace, patience, kindness, love etc... I've wondered if we should have those permenantly engraved in the walls as a reminder!

Then there was the occasional self-portrait...

The cats enjoyed watching us work and tried their hardest to get paint on themselves and the floor. Luckily they didn't succeed!

A few days later Kye had to take a trip to the vet to be neutered- poor guy. This is him shortly after he arrived back home. I'm happy to report he's feeling much better now.

This is what I find on my camera when girl 2 or the boy get a hold of it! They've been busy snapping pictures themselves of things that interest them. I guess one of girl 2's interests is odd animal nicknacks???

Simon's enjoyed being outdoors more, too... although the extra exercise still hasn't put much of a dent in his weight problem. I'll have to share Simon's story with you, and how he came to be the overweight, loafy pup that he is today. Maybe I'll save that for later this week.

Our nephew came over on this day as a ghost-buster- Dr. Peter Venkmen, I think. His dad made him this proton pack. Pretty nifty! He's got an amazingly creative mind. The visit  before this, he was Indiana Jones.

I took a time-out to hang out with my friend, Jenifer one afternoon last week. This is the little boy she takes care of each afternoon. I'm a tad bit jealous of her. I mean, look at his little face!

And then there's the continual reminders, that keep showing up here and there, that my oldest daughter is about to become an adult. Ugh!

We took a few more senior pictures. I snapped this one when she wasn't posing, but like it.

But she was posing for this one...

What a trend-setter. Just like the models in anthropologie, don't you think?

For Easter my good friend, Terra, came over. I'm so undeserving of her friendship! While she was here she made us a delicious dinner and then breakfast the next morning! How sweet is that?

That's another story I'll have to share: How I met Terra. God's fingerprints are all over that story.

 

(The boy with his bed-head this morning.)

So that's it in a nutshell...

Busy, but so blessed. I hope you are, too!

Have a cherry day!

Hugs,

~Jen

One Word Wednesday- SCRAPPED!

Alright, today will be a few more words than one per picture. I mean I'm Irish! I have to wish you a Happy St. Patricks day! ...Happy Saint Patricks Day!
Oh...and  wanted to post a few of the shots I took for my oldest daughter's senior pictures. This is our "outfit #1" session. I was really surprised that she wanted me to do them for her instead of hiring a professional. Because I'm certainly not a professional! I still have a hard time remembering what lens to use for what and can barely navigate my way through Photoshop! I wasn't about to argue with her, though. Senior pictures are pricey!
I took these at the historical farm we had found last summer. I blogged about it back in August. (Click here to check it out.)
Anyway, as new as I am to photography, she made it easier (being so cute and all! She says I just say tht because I'm her mom...maybe...No I don't think so!)

Hope it's as sunny and beautiful in your neck of the woods as it is here! I so love spring! If it's not sunny, I still hope you're blessed and well. ~Jen

Kye is soakin' up all he can!

I was just thinking...

It just looked dreary as I peered over my cup of coffee into the backyard this morning. To be honest, I thought "This looks like a good day to stay indoors. Blech!!!" But when I stepped out  to pick my son up from orchestra class about an hour later, I realized how wonderful it felt outside!
...Not warm yet, but warmer. Not dry yet, but refreshingly misty with a scent that makes me think "clean". (Kind of like those old Irish spring soap commericals with the green rolling hills...just minus the hills, sun, rainbows and people showering in the trees...okay, so it's nothing like the commercials, but it's clean smelling!)

Everything still looks rather grey and winterish, but there's a bit more life peeking out here and there this week. My son even helped a big, fat earth worm cross the sidewalk to a tree last night at the library.  The sun we had last week was glorious, but this week the rain has washed away the dirty snow that remained and cleaned up the grimey roads and cars. It also lulled me to sleep last night. I love that. I'm just thankful that spring is on the way. Can you tell?! ...Thinking I need to make some garden mint soap soon!
I've not posted much lately so I'll catch you up with at least one of my projects.
First of all, I was very excited to get ahold of farmgirlcyn's stencils. I stenciled one pillow and was hooked! I know I shared the photo of my pillows just yesterday, but here they are again. what an easy way to upcycle old stuff! I would much rather re-purpose things than throw the old away and buy new, so I'm having a stencil heyday with this! I'll share some more stenciled items later.

I got this fabric from the local thrift-store for about $3. The matte fabric paint was $3.29 at Hobby Lobby, and the pillows were old one's I already had that needed some updating. I made the tree patch by painting my tree stamp with the fabric paint and then applying it to the fabric. So easy. So cheap to do!

Hoping you have a cherry day! ~Jen

One Word Wednesday...(for the most part.)

Upcycled !

Aaaahhhh!!!

Slurp! 

Ghostbuster! (My nephew)

One Word Wednesday

Sisters

Morning

Blue!!!

Warm

Sunshine!

Stormy