some things

number one.

we do not have bed bugs.

there was a day there that i was not sure.

but we don't.

number two.

i do have the beginnings of a sore throat and i am  not happy about that.

 i need my health.

number three.

we have our final walk through of our house on Saturday.

i cannot WAIT to have my very own house,

can not wait.

number four.

i go to target everyday.

it seems.

well, maybe it more than seems.

maybe it is.

it's like my true north in a storm of unfamiliar.

but i am actually getting a little sick of it.

until i tried walmart.

then i realized target everyday is a treat!

that being said, i made you a list of a few favorites things of mine.

1. lupicia tea shop- i got a cold brew iced tea pitcher and the best new honey dew tea
2. cute & mugs from starbucks-for reedo and i since he is trying to use our new keurig as much as possible(they were 50% off!)
3. i just ordered that rose afghan from an instasale! sooooo lucky!
4. ty can tie his own shoes! my favorite!
5. reedo's freshy longboard is so pretty, i sorta want to steal it to hang on our wall!
6. my pal lena goes shopping for me back home, since we don't have hobby lobby here. love her!
7. out door shower
8. my yellow modcloth dress
9. plastic mason jar straw cup from targs
10. welcome mat for our house from tj maxx (7 bucks!?)
11. driving to the north shore
12. tina fey's book (thanks meg)
13. stretchy jean cut offs from targs (junior size 13 people), that allow for my little monkey to hang on me.
14. surprise hoop art (thanks erin)
15. that sweet little church
16. my reedo with shaved ice (don't you just wanta say "yes please!" to that happy guy?)
17. this album (thanks les)

pumpkin patch paradise

taking a break from the gratefulness posts today.

but to see what i am thankful for today, go here.

i have been so looking forward to sharing this special group of photos with you.

i had the privilege of meeting up with some of my favorite people (you of course know leslie) at the pumpkin patch last weekend.

they, graciously,  let me practice my photography skills on a family besides mine.

(since my family get a little burnt on photos)

it was so fun!

a super lot of work, i will say.

but so so cool.

i had a blast.

and though i have a many many many areas to improve in and learn, i was very pleased with what i accomplished.

leslie  agreed to let me share a few and i am afraid its hard to pick just a few

(sorry les, moderation is not my strength....i have many other fine qualities?)

maybe it's because it's not just about the beautiful location and the streaming sunlight, but it's that i really love this family and felt blessed to capture them at this moment and see their love for each other through my camera lens.

i am sure anyone that is a real photographer is smiling and nodding and already knowing that this is the special gift of photographing people.

that new way of seeing them when you look through a lens....

so please enjoy this moment in the life of this sweet family.

and this moment in my journey too.

tiny pumpkins.

remember this from the day before yesterday?

yah, well, one of the MOST annoying things happening at my house right now is the "need" for everything to be fair.

i realize that the reason it is so annoying is that i feel like a failure at teaching the children to be grateful for what they do have instead of looking at each other and being jealous.

but, beside that, it's just super duper ANNOYING.

so when the boys saw that ella had these, OF COURSE they had to have some too.

and each person should have the same amount .

ugh.

well, i did have enough to make them all five each.

(no wonder they feel entitled, right)

so i did.

and then we named them.

and that was super funny.

good names.

right?

and everyone is happy because it's fair.

hope i don't get hungry and each one.

cause then i'd have to eat three.

Leslie and Bea

look at this picture.

i know, right?

what in the world? with the red hair....

if you have followed my blog(s) at all or just know me from real life you know that most days i am part of a lady duo.

the freckle faced side kick to this stunning red head.

the ethel to her lucy...ha ha!

i have always wanted to have red hair.

ever since i first heard the story of anne of green gables read to me in my mom's lovely low voice, i wished.

so maybe i am more of the diana to her anne.

she is certainly as dramatic as anne was (wink wink).

and maybe i became content to just look at red hair all the time, instead of actually have it for myself.

it is just hard to describe my and leslie's friendship.

she, like the others, pursues friendship.

she, more than the others, pushes for it.

you know i wouldn't be sharing this unless i meant that in the best way possible.

she pushes me to be more open.

she finds hidden truths inside me and then accepts them for what they are when they are exposed.

our friendship isn't perfect (non are)

but that is part of the whole deal, she is so committed to me as a friend and so i can always assume onto her the best, but even when i don't and feel too pressed, she sees my bad reaction and accepts me anyway.

yah, it's really hard to explain.

our friendship is not made out of carpools and a love for shopping (although we do have that)

it's made up of understanding and acceptance.

Leslie is God's searching heart, and His understanding spirit, and His unconditional love, and His idealistic hopefulness in my life.

thank God for Leslie!

now, for my gal pal, bea....

see how happy we are?

yes, we are so happy when we are together.

it used to be that that was every day.

when our first borns were still nestled in our tummies, we would bustle from the mall to in-n-out with daily frequency.

and even when they were newborns we'd stress about them and primp and smother them, as most new mothers do...

those were the days.

strolling with our strollers, shushing our tiny bundles to sleep.

then they seemed so hard and overwhelming, now it seems ideal and lovely.

now she lives a ways away and we have more commitments that stand between us.

but when we do have time together, we are so grateful.

it is usually lady time during the school year, but then the summer comes and our kids run together in the waves and sand once again...

remembering their life long bond that started before they were born.

when jake was a newborn and i was a recently made motherless daughter, i would come and sit bea's kitchen and she would make me lunch and lemonade.

we would talk about everything and she would nurture my lonely heart.

the feeling that her home gave me in those early days of my loss can't be put to words.

bea is God's nurturing love, His kindness, His gentleness, His affection for me again and again.  it always returns to me.  

thank God for Bea!

come see me!

come see me over at top of the page today.

it is my very first time guest posting...ever.

(nervous laugh)

ok, i might not be as poetic and brilliant as some people that i know and love and admire....

but i am pretty ok at taking pictures.

there will be pictures.

just come, ok?

i like to be in a group when i feel a little nervous.
and the words are about grace, so i'll try to give that to myself.

in this town, we call home, everyone hails to the pumpkin song...

we had a great time with our friends on halloween!
i hope you did too.
i hope you get to throw your candy away soon.
we are.
after i snag a few more butterfingers and twix....

'round here....my room

and now...
here is my room.
well, i guess it's reedo's too ;)
i made the pillows.
i really really love the pillows.
i really really love the wreath.
i am really really not into the wall behind my bed though.
boring.
i wish heather from blessed little nest would come over and redo it with her amazing
re-purposing style.
she'd probably find, like some cool old tin sign with some random numbers and a giant fork, and some other amazing-ness that was free on the side of the road or something.
and i would smack my forehead and say, "why didn't i think of that!"
so simple, yet beautiful.
hahaha! i am cracking myself up tonight.
ok. ok. maybe not a fork, but, you know? something random yet rad.
the kids are eating corn dogs and watch B and the B....again.
classy huh?
i am just sitting in the kitchen laughing at my own post.

i also really really like my little bath area.
those towels!
(to bad i couldn't fold that dumb tag up for the photo...leslie woulda thought of that for me if she'd been there.)
those towels are from walmart! they were like 10 bucks for 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels,and 2 wash clothes!
and the frame was 5 bucks at a thrift shop!

see, heather's thrifty creativity IS kinda rubbing off, huh?

i got that frame to use in some pictures that i took of my favorite red-head.

i still want to post some of those!

what do you think, les?

can i?

anyway, the towels, the frame, love them!
i heart cheapness.

'round here

i haven't got our fall stuff out yet.
i usually do that in early September.
but this year, huh, there's no pull to do it.
i did make some tissue pom poms to hang over our table, though.
i love them.
i feel like there is a party...but it's just us.
on the first day of fall, i hung them and made mac and cheese with the crumbs on top.
jake always cries when he sees the crumbs....
then eats a couple bites and remembers after eating almost all of it, that he like them.
i want to make him eat outside, but i give a stiff smile and continue with my niceness.
i think about how my mom, must have done that, more times than anyone could count.
make a nice meal, or do something thoughtful and then receive ungratefulness in return.
i even can picture her stiff smile.
not too many lectures, just grace.
sometimes i can't help but look at jake and ask, "what if you worked hard on a picture for me and tried to make it just how i like it, with my favorite colors and everything, and then i whined and cried when i saw it?"
then i feel like i hate the sound of my own voice and i wish there was someone besides me to stand up for me....
oh well...


i got a gym membership.
my friend leslie and i both did.
we have been going.
yay!
i don't think either of us really like it, we are just happy to have an excuse to see each other just about everyday :)
we are doing something that's good for us and talking....perfect.
she is the best kind of friend, to me.
she tells the truth, isn't too much like me, but we do have similar tastes.
she doesn't blame everything on me.
she almost always wants to hang out with me, even if she can't.
she likes anthropologie, target, antique stores, food, and iced tea.
she listens to me, and doesn't always assume that i am just like her in everything...i feel like i do that to my friends a lot :/
we wear the same shoe size...yessssss
we both like colors.
we both really want to be honest with ourselves....
ok ok ok...there is not enough room in blogland for all my love....
i am blessed by her friendship.
God gives me his love through that feisty little redhead, often.
i am thankful.


ty sometimes like to sit in ella's booster seat when she is taking a nap.
he knows it's sorta babyish, but likes it.
i love that little guy.

jake has been getting better at his homework, and faster.
he does much better when it involves some sort of creativity.
like making up a paragraph instead of copying one.
fair enough.
it get it.

i got new red lipstick, need i say more?
gym. red lipstick. ouch. sizzle.

i finished my book wreath.
i love it.
it is giant and beautiful.
leslie and i are selling them at some up-coming boutiques.



ps. how much do you think i should charge for those wreaths?
they are a lot of work, but not expensive to make.
how much would you want to pay, realistically?

summer movie night

the other night, my favorite red head and her darlin' family came over for one of our last late "summer nights"
we swam in the pool.
made a yummy dinner together.
the kids played.
the grown ups talked.
then Kevin, the dad, set up his whole projection system for us to watch "Jungle Book" outside!
right on our garage!
i loved it!
our kids were tired and snuggly in thier jammies.
they sat for the WHOLE thing (not very normal for the "little reedos")
and it was such a sweet night.