Gifts from the trail

I found a place on my beloved new trail that is rich in blackberries.  We went the other day and picked & picked until our container was full.  We brought home almost 2 qt. of berries. After a few days of eating blackberries on everything (yogurt, cereal, fruit salad, & by themselves), I need to be heading back out there to collect more. 

The Pumpkin Vine Trail

The Pumpkinvine trail is a 17-mile linear park under construction on the former Pumpkinvine Railroad corridor between Goshen, Middlebury and Shipshewana in north-central Indiana.  They recently completed a 5 mile stretch that trail heads just 2 miles from our house. We have been taking advantage this trail quite a bit since it opened this spring.  We can now ride from our house to a neighboring town (8 miles) on the trail & it is so beautiful & relaxing. The trail goes through fields upon fields of corn & soy beans...

{They saying goes "knee high by the fourth of July}

... through cool shaded woods full of wild flowers & blackberries...

and into town where we can stop at the local coffee shop or get some ice cream before heading back home.  This trail has become my favorite place to be this summer. I am blessed that we live so close.

We have been having a heat wave here.  Hope you have been able to get outdoors to enjoy the summer fun.

Weekend Wreckage wk 4

This week I had a lot more fun with this project then I did the previous week.  I just wasn't feeling it before. It seemed quite pointless & well, a waste of time to sit down and wreck this book.

This week, however, I was able to get into it a bit more.  It had been VERY HOT  around here, so the kids and I were wanting to stay inside to stay cool. This made the kids very antsy, bored & therefore naughty. By evening I was getting worn out by them & decided to do some journal wrecking to calm my nerves. It was a great solution. I was able to be creative enough to calm myself down, but it didn't really matter how anything turned out.  Then I went outside with the book & my son joined me in some wreckage. We had a good time and it brought the relaxation I was looking for.

(Wrap this page around something)

(using the book as a knee pad for weeding)

We found out that California Poppies will leave an orange color when rubbed on paper. Bachelor button made the blue & clovers made the green.

Fairy Garden Tour

Hi! I'm so glad you came.  Would you like to have a tour of this lovely garden I call home?  You'll have to excuse me, there are places that are still being worked on, but come on back.  We'll have some tea.

These poppies are my favorite right now. The are always so cheery. It's hard to be grumpy when you see their sun-shining faces.

Past the poppies is the yarrow. They too make me feel happy, but who can't feel happy at the sight of tiny pink flowers. There, my house is just over there. Watch your step.

This is my house.  I still have a lot of work to do before calling it home, but it's a start.  Oh my, I should have swept before inviting you back.  These steps are a mess.

OH! Don't mind him. He is the elf of Holly Hock Forest. He may look a little grumpy, but really he is quite nice once you get to know him. I hope you enjoyed the Fairy Garden tour.  Please be sure to stop by again. There should be many changes over the summer. 

Happy trails!

Father's Day on the River

they were so excited to be in the boat

For Father's Day, we decided to float the river with dad. This was the first river trip for Jake & Nona.  We had to duck under fallen trees & cut through some logs. There were several mucky portages, but they handled it all like little troopers.  They were fascinated with the whole experience. I'm sure we will be taking them on more trips. 

Happy Monday everyone!

Weekend Wreckage wk 3

This week I ...

scratched

documented

& colored.

My favorite was coloring. I stayed up later than usual one night playing with the kids crayons.   It was a lot of fun to color just for the sake of coloring. I don't even think it turned out very pretty, but I enjoyed it. It actually reminded me of grade school when I would fill a page with color, then cover the entire page with thick black so I could scrape pictures into the wax.  So I did that. 

In my last Weekend Wreckage post, I wrote that my goal was to hand my journal over to the kids to do as they will with it.  I handed it over to my youngest (4). However, he didn't know what to do. He just looked at me like "What mom? What do you want me to do with this?" Eventually he went off with the journal to get his supplies, but stopped there. I guess he got distracted with something better to do.  I thought it might be better if I didn't pursue teaching my preschoolers how to wreck books... yet.

We are taking dad canoeing today for Father's Day. This will be Nona & Jacob's first time in a canoe. I'm really excited about the trip. Canoeing is one of my favorite summer activities.

I hope you spend the weekend enjoying the dads in your life!

Friday Finds

I thought I would share with you some artists that I have found to be inspiring. 

All these artists can be found on Etsy.

He says he can hear the Forest whisper by Hidden Eloise

Have you ever heard the forest whisper?  I have.

Hidden Eloise has a way of taking me back to being a little girl. 

I feel as though I could climb into one of her paintings and there find all of my childhood dreams come to life.  

Sassy Sea Urchin by Jessica Doyle

I have been admiring this magical sea urchin for some time.  Now that it is summer, I find that I am drawn to this painting as I am drawn to the water.  

What Page Are You On by Tollipop

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that Tollipop is one of my favorite places to visit.  So it is no surprise that I would include her here as one of my favorite artists. I do find the Tollipop characters quite enchanting, and the stories that accompany a number of them riveting. 

Ktog 19 . Oil Knitting Canvas Steel . 2009 by Rania Hassan

This is a relatively new artist to me.  I only recently found these paintings on etsy.  There is no guessing why this exhibit caught my eye. It is the perfect marriage of my two favorite disciplines, knitting & painting.  

Welcome

To all of those visiting from The Toby Show welcome! I'm so glad you stopped by. 

It's a cloudy rainy day here, but that is ok.  I have 30 jars of jam to put-up.  Why don't you pull up a chair to visit for awhile! 

Dinner for 4

After a hot sunny day, there is no better way to end the day than to eat outside.  We love to eat outside as a family.  As the sun begins to dip down over the other side of the house, the breeze begins to cool.  The time spent gathering together to unwind and talk about the day is priceless. The kids love to help set up the table and make it fancy for dinner. I love the help I receive getting dinner on the table. Everyone seems happier. Dinner feels less rushed.  Our attention is more focused on each other.  This is a tradition that I hope our children will grow up remembering and treasuring. 

I am interested to hear what some of your favorite outdoor recipes are.

Thank you for the food we eat,

Thank you for the world so sweet,

Thank you for the birds that sing,

Thank you God for everything. Amen. 

Cousins

Growing up, my cousins were all older than me.  My memories of them are ones of me looking to them with fondness & admiration as all young kids to the older kids in their life. However, I never felt close to them, as though we were on the same playing field growing up.

I am very blessed that my children have the opportunity to run around, play & get in trouble with cousin their own age.  What a treasure these times will be to them being able to look back and share the memories with each other.

Although we don't all live in the same state, this last week we were able to have the cousins together.  We went to the zoo, played at the playground, went to the beach, and just spent time together. Now we all feel exhausted & worn out from all the playing we did. My house work has fallen behind & I need to do some catching up, but the time the kids got to spend together is priceless. I hope they grow up with strong family ties & fond memories of these times playing as children.

Weekend Wreckage

This book is all about pushing personal boundaries, by taking a book "Wreck this Journal" and wrecking it. Each page has a prompt of something to do to the book or that page (i.e. tearing pages, smearing food, fling the book, taking it into the shower...). I first picked up the book when I was working with some teens at The Boys & Girls Club on journalling. Now that I am working through this book for myself, I have found that I hold myself to a very restrictive standard in trying express myself (& I wonder why my creativity doesn't flow freely). I feel a need to create, but then block myself by saying "it must be perfect", "it must be magnificent". I am defeated before I even begin & a lot of times, I quit right there.  This book is about making it a mess, and after looking at other blogs (of people participating in this project), I see that I am still holding back. My book is still neat. It still lays flat. In my mind I think there is somehow a way to achieve perfect wreckage. COME ON - REALLY?! Perfect wreckage? That is a joke.  My challenge for myself in the next week is to let it go.  I will let the book be ruined! In fact, fist thing I'm handing it over to my children to write in. gasp! I can do it. The book will survive & their writing/drawing will abolish my expectations for the book.

Then Next Chapter :: Wreck this Journal

I've had this book setting on my book shelf now for 2 years. Just sitting there.

Well not any more!

I have joined The Next Chapter & every week I will be posting a page from this journal.  

If you want to join me, it's not too late. 

You can sign up at The Next Chapter & purchase the book here

What I'm loving...

This yak yarn from The Rocking Yak.

Playing with the kids at the park.

Picking fresh strawberries & making jam.

Making S'mores for dessert!

The warm summer sun & the anticipation of all the fun things we can do.

What are you loving?

You Are My Sunshine

The room is dark. 

 A soft pitter patter of ballet shoes can be heard as the dancers take their places.

The lights come on, the music begins and the heart of the crowd is stolen.

 Every eye is on the stage. There are giggles and "awe" rising from the crowd as the dancers twirl and plie to "You Are My Sunshine".

At the end, the girls curtsy and tip toe off the stage. 

The applause and laughter fills the room.

I have never seen a little girl who loves the spotlight as much my little girl. She is so comfortable up there on the big stage. She just shines with excitement as she looks out over the crowd. 

She did such a wonderful job!

My Morning Cup of Coffee....

I remember when I was a little girl, I would stumble out to the living room all sleepy & in my pajamas. My mom would be sitting on the couch with her cup of coffee watching the Phil Donahue show. Do you remember that one?  All I remember is  snuggling with mom, and becoming more and more impatient as I slowly woke up.  I wanted Phil Donahue to end so I could watch my cartoons.

Now I spend my mornings drinking coffee as I read through some of my favorite blogs.  It is here that I can slowly wake up, find inspiration, and become excited for the day.  I find new ideas of things to make and do with the kids, recipes for dinner, and inspiration for my own art/craft projects.

How do you take your morning cup of coffee?

Here is a list of blogs that I enjoy reading:

Soulemama

Tollipop

Monkey Lobster

The Artful Parent

The Toby Show

Princess & the Pea

I have been inspired! Amanda over at Soulemama inspires me on a daily basis, but it was this post that really did it for me.   Nona (and I) have enjoyed reading The Princess & the Pea for several years now. It has become one of my favorite princess stories.  So when I saw the play set that Amanda made I knew right away that I wanted to make one for Nona and every other little girl in my life. 

 I will be adding these "Princess and the Pea" Play Sets to my shop.  

Riding Bikes

I remember learning to ride a two wheel bike when I was a kid. I had this great bike that I had received as a birthday gift. It was purple and had a banana seat with a unicorn on it. We had a small hill in our yard. My dad would get me all settled onto my bike, give me a push and I was off. I remember falling on that hill many, many times. It took several days of trying with great frustration before I finally got the hang of it.  

I was not looking forward to teaching our kids how to ride, but knew this was the summer to do it. We took the training wheels off their bikes this weekend.

Jacob was so mad that he was in a fit of tears.  He was "very scared" to try riding without training wheels. We told him if really didn't want to try riding he didn't have too.

We went to the park and found a nice grassy spot to try it out.   Jacob had changed his mind and was the first one ready to try it out.

Phil got him on his bike, gave him a little push & he was off. He could do it!  He was so excited. He told us that he never wanted those training wheels back on.

Nona had a little bit more trouble getting the hang of it. It took her several times of learning to balance, to not watch her feet, and to not move her entire body with each push of the pedals.  She kept at it and before we left the park she was riding too.

The both need to work on steering, and getting themselves started, but I was impressed at how quickly they learned. 

 

We were so proud of the kids! 

We went for ice cream to celebrate.