Hannah's Fort Flag

 Hannah and Sophie are staking out different places on the property to have for their forts. First choice for Sophie was to rehab an abandoned chicken house...then she went out there...not so much.

Next choice was the barn....smells of hay and dry...good choice.


Not sure where Hannah is choosing yet...perhaps the wood shed which is pretty large would do?

She made the prettiest bunny flag for her club though. I will have to get photos of the club flag that Sophie made. Her's is turtles. :o)

laundry :: indoor drying

There are many things about this farmhouse that I love and for sure this indoor clothesline has become one of them. With prices skyrocketing in every area imaginable it pays to save in the areas that I can. 

One of these areas is in drying towels and coats on the line.

  

Every little bit helps right?

xo

For Japan

An ocean may distance us, but thoughts and prayers keep us connected with Japan.
I am listing a One of a kind, hand appliqued bag over at my shop that all proceeds (minus s&h) go directly to Samaritan's Purse to help the people of Japan.

Go take a peek?

On it is the word "faith" hand embroidered.

XO

This Moment :: Hannah makes Pancakes!

{ This Moment } 

A Friday ritual. 

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨

To enjoy more "This Moments" head over to SouleMama.

Moments

Days like yesterday and today where I long to be back to my old self physically cause me to slow down and take in the moments around me. After reading SouleMama's reflections about the little details and moments in a day, I started thinking about slowing down in a new manner. Maybe its good for me right now to not have a choice to slow down..I am noticing a lot more than I would have~

:: The twinkle in Hannah's eye when she gets it when doing a new math concept. If I miss out on that what am I schooling at home for? They can learn away from me just as well as by my side...It's the relationship...that's what it's all about.

:: new shoots of spring coming up all around our farm...Rhubarb leaves unfurling, bluebells poking through, gladiola and tiger lillies more than I can count, and the Peonies are poking through...the peonies!! How I love their fluffy heads so dark red and deep glossy leaves.

  rhubarb  

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

tiger lily

:: hearing the birds singing their "come Spring" song...sing louder birds, sing louder. Busyness would have blocked out their sweet melody.

:: the caring in Tessa's eyes as she hands me a plate of salad made just for me. sweetness

:: snuggling with a large golden lab in a warm bed and later listening to Hannah read from her story Bible to Sophie and myself before bed. ahhhh the memories...

:: looking through my old blog and remembering all of our life at the old house and some family pets that are no longer with us, shananigans kids have done, Christmases past, and neighborhood friends. some memories are bittersweet too, time heals though...
We laughed and remembered and sighed a little too.


*edited to add: A dear friend and I had a discussion about time healing wounds...For those of you who know me personally, you know that I find my healing in Christ. I do believe that God brings situations in His timeframe that can help with the healing that He is doing.


Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Isaiah 58:8

:: found our old menu plan on that blog that I thought was lost forever...YUM.

Here's to another day to take in the moments around me and let their memories buffer me through the more busy, hectic times...
xo

Weekend :: Sharing

As we linger between winter and spring the daffodils are cheering us on with their sunshine yellow-ness.
We found patches of them out under the plum trees and since we already have so many we thought we would share. Our church landscaping is looking very barren as they do in winter, so we shared there!
 

Aliss and I mapped out where would look the best and dug in the dirt. A bit of yellow here and there hits that spot longing for spring...
It feels good to help beautify a place that is special to my family.

Daffodils....a little preview of Spring.
xo

This Moment :: Spring Soccer for Hannah

{ This Moment } 

A Friday ritual. 

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨

To enjoy more "This Moments" head over to SouleMama.

PS. will join us as we pray for Christchurch, New Zealand and Japan after the natural disasters that they have experienced? 
Lori 
xo

Sophie is 9

Sophie baked her cake and I decorated it Zoobles style. We have done this type of cake in the past; scrubbing up a favorite figurine and decorating a cake with it. BTW did you know that if you are in a cake decorating pinch and don't have any frosting bags on hand you can snip the corner of a ziploc baggie, insert a tip in it and use it for the decorating. Treat it the same as a regular frosting bag and squeeze from the top down toward the frosting tip. If you have extra cheap baggies though (as I grabbed the first time) don't waste your time. It explodes out the side (ahem). Lotsa fun!                                                                                                              

the baby turning NINE is bittersweet. One last year before turning the double digits....but the sweet changes that I get to watch this one walk through. Some the same as older sisters and some so unique to her. 

Sophie had a blast at her party! She loved it that she had the cake that she helped make and was decorated in her favorite toys. With waves on the sides even. ;o)

She and friends swam like the fish at the YMCA and partied hard with cake and ice-cream/sherbet cups.

New look for the blog

It took me several hours of trying to make my space here pretty. In the end I looked for help and found
hot bliggity blog....what a life saver for me!
Mustard yellow and pretty patterns + buttons = always a winner for me.

Whadya think?

Lori
xo

sledding

{ This Moment } 

A Friday ritual. 

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨

To enjoy more "This Moments" head over to SouleMama.

Poochie Party

 

Daisy turned 1!

Sophie and Hannah made up the most doggy-liscious birthday cake ever to celebrate.

little helpers :: making snacks

 After moving here we have had a hard time finding our routine. You know the routine of when who does what chore. Before we moved we had a variety of chore charts starting with blank postcards and mama made drawings on them depicting the chore to be done. They started out in one envelope and when the little one finished they were transferred to another envelope.

Simple.

Now the youngest is turning NINE...sigh. After finding ourselves deeper and deeper in mama grumbling about this mess and that mess we are going back to the chore chart. There is just something concrete to see what needs to be done and the satisfaction of checking it off.

 With five hungry tummies (of the growing kid variety) around here there is a much needed snack around 3pm. And as one of my goals in life is to encourage my children to be good cooks and conscious of nutrition it would make sense for Sophie and Hannah to rotate the snack chore. They love it.

A chance to do a little impromptu (and invisible) on-air cooking show for the viewers. It gives them a great sense of accomplishment and us a yummy treat!

Tuna melts ala Sophie:
lay out bread (your choice of kinds)
top with tuna/mayo mixture
and top again with cheese (we like Tillamook Cheddar)
broil~be aware that it can burn quickly if you don't keep a close eye on it