Seizing My Day

Yep… its true… I hate to see trees get cut down…

living in Washington ~  the Evergreen State…its hard not to love trees!

Anyway… I’ll get to that point in a minute…

Hope everyone had a lovely (Thanksgiving?) weekend!

We had good family time with some of my immediate family and good family time with some of our church family too… always a blessing! =)

and yummy food all. weekend. long.

this week will be less glamorous in the food dept.  tragic!

busy week last week =  I hardly touched my camera!

so I am stretching the prompts a teeeeny tiny bit! =)

the week:  couple, kitchen, bubbles, Home or Thankful, Trees

Couple

aren’t these two an odd couple?  cousin pups.  =)

beggars is what they are!  a couple a beggars! =)

outside was the only way to keep them out of the kitchen

lucky for them it wasn’t raining! ha ha

Kitchen

It could prove to be very a very comical adventure if I counted how many pancakes we cook in our kitchen next year – January 1 – December  31.   I/we make an obscene amount of pancakes in our kitchen!!  this time of year I buy the oh so yummy Apple Cider at Trader Joes and make a lot of Cinnamon Apple Cider pancakes, Pumpkin Apple Cider pancakes or Molasses Apple Cider pancakes… OH yum. Many gluten free… for the mama (thats me)… and many gluten filled for my baby birds!  the end.

Bubbles

terrible pic… but my only bubble pic … my Kitchen has terrible lighting!

I often have to hand wash my Pyrex measuring cups… new ones, old ones, big ones, small ones… I use them for EVERYTHING…

seriously I go through 4-5 a day!  =)

bubble bubble!!

Home ~ Trees ~ Thankful ~ Trees ~ Home ~Trees

these lovely trees behind our house aren’t exactly healthy

(far right = dead tree…one next to it…nearly dead… so sad)

sick, dead or not~they offer shelter, food, homes to feathered friends

even bats & owls & furry critters (all of which our cat often hunts)

but we won’t talk about that

anywho

they aren’t our trees … they are on HOA ground

I love hate our wee little forest just 50 feet from my back door

they scare the daylights out of  me during blustery weather

basically from Nov – May =)

the HOA hired some tree guys to take down the dead/sick ones on Sat

up up up he went

like a monkey – seriously as fast as Curious George!

I need me a pair of spikey boots! lol!

although we have 7-8 -9 unhealthy trees behind our house

we only lost two trees this weekend

love hate

hate to see them go…but

I am Thankful they are gone b/c

falling distance would split our home in two =)

the tree guy (as my kids called him)

scaled the two trees and tethered them

and just like that… the dead one is gone (3 minutes tops)

see the tree guy down there with his chain saw

yep

less than 3 minutes later

TIMBER!!!

Man Alive those babies make a Loud earth rattling noise when they drop

all 100 plus feet of them (KaBOOM!) – dead or not- Scary!!  yikes!

they also had to go down to the City trail behind the green belt

(about 50 yards from the tree line – which is only 50 feet from my back door)

Sooo –  they  went down to the trail to saw open the pathway =)

(maybe we’ll explore down there today and get pics?)

it feels so empty

a hole in our wee little forest

Sammy can’t wait to count the rings =)

at least he’ll get a Science lesson out of the deal =)

and

we’ll see a little more of the sunrise every morning

and a little less morning shade in the summer

(not sure if that is a perk yet) lol

Allrightygoodthen

that was our highlight of the weekend!

How about you…

any exciting highlights in your Thanksgiving weekend?!

OH… and…

Are you decorating for Christmas yet ??

or are you like me … and wait until at least Dec 1st arrives??! =)

sometimes my emotions want to decorate Thanksgiving weekend

but my head tells me it is not right…

(sometimes its painful being me… ha ha ha)

you see… my birthday is early Dec and I had Christmas decorations for my parties EVERY single year (my mom decorated before Thanksgiving sometimes) and I got weary of a Christmas birthday every year… now my brain can’t get over it… lol.. =)  see … painful. =)

see you next week!

Blessings~

Jenn

Since it is Thanksgiving and all…

I thought I’d start by sharing one of my favorite Bible verses …

Philippians 4:4-8

“Rejoice in the Lord Always, I will say it again rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. the Lord is near you.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. and the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on such things.”

it is amazing how your mind & spirit become naturally thankful in ALL circumstances when you set your mind on Him and give Him Thanks for ALL things… even in the hard things… we can Thank Him for being with us…for loving us unconditionally… for Hope.

On with my week at a glance – scavenger hunt style =) with Thanksgiving!~

Vision

many of you probably know this little man of mine has low vision

Sammy’s normal vision is 20/200 = legally blind

there is no correction available for the kind of low vision he has

alas – it is just a small part of the amazing little man he is.

we muddle through life pretty happy

large print included

or the help of  his tool that magnifies words

sometimes he is even  the cool kid ~

when you have cool tools to use =)

Magic!

Sammy’s boyhood is not defined by his vision

it is simply how God made him

beautifully and wonderfully made =)

I give Thanks to God daily for the blessing he is in our lives!

and we walk on a path that we would have never otherwise known

the path God has for us is way better than our own path!

Maps

This bench is a photo map of our city… kinda … sorta…

well… for those of us who know the city anyway!

I love this bench!

I want to make one for my front yard!!

SO. Cool.

I am Thankful to live in such a fun/funky/artistic city.

Buttons

I LOVE metal buttons on my pants

rather than snaps or plastic buttons or (shudder) Hooks

i’m funny that way

button fly – even better

yes – yes I do wear men’s pants – why do you ask?

I am forever thankful for button fly Levis.  really! =)

Fruit

we have a lot of apple trees in my neck of the woods

that haven’t been plucked (tragic!)

my photo doesn’t do it justice

apple trees with no leaves and a whole lot of apples = pretty

country kind of pretty – right here in the city =)

today when I went to photograph it with my camera

No SD card – seriously!

this poor quality pic was snapped with my cell

doctored a bit

not so much to my liking

anyway – its all I have for fruit

I am Thankful for living in the apple state

it = lots of fresh pressed apple cider!

Strong

just picked up an order of Partylite candles this morning

the Strong Scent of spiced cider, spiced vanilla, holiday spice and mulberry fills me house ~ and I haven’t even put a flame to one yet! =)  love!

I am thankful for candles – esp. when we lose power to stormy weather!

its supposed to be a blustery week – this week!

fun fun

I’m Thankful for this little Rascal too

he got a hair cut this week

its amazing how strong one’s affections can be for their Adorable pets, eh?

Alrightygoodthen ~ busy but short week ahead!

Hope y’all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

I am looking forward to eating yummy food with family

and then burying my nose in a book

with hot coffee in hand & my new candles burning

while the blustery rain beats on the windows

and the roof and the gutters and the hardyplank siding

and drenches our lawn puddling in our streets and walkways

you get the idea! =) its going to be a WET week!

Oh – and don’t forget leftover turkey sandwiches!!

I’m looking forward to leftover turkey! YUM.

How about you?  what are you looking forward to this week??

Blessings~

Jenn

where the photo scavenger hunt fun begins =)

Sunny skies this week in Washington.  odd for November. usually its record rainfalls …a.k.a. wet, wet, wet… Nov. usually = flooding… not so much this year.   I am super thankful we’ve had a fairly mild November… at the same time I would like to note that my heart is with those on the East Coast who have not had a mild November, rather, have experienced horrific weather and storms this month… I pray that as winter continues to creep upon us … that you experience the love and attention(help) y’all need to recover from Sandy  and the wake she left behind…as quickly as possible.

anywho…my week  Scavenger Hunt Sunday style (and on Sunday too I’d like to add… rare for me!) = ) This weeks prompts were:  whimsical, vintage, nature, cooking, best of week

I am so indecisive … did I spell that right? hm…so I doubled up and my pics could have all been interchanged … its been an odd week.

whimsical

Whimsical means playful in nature or something like that … right?! 😉

kicking leaves in fall never ever gets old!

we went on a few Fall walks this week – did someone say sunshine this week!

Merlin is playful in nature  =) it was hard to get him to sit & stay for a pic!!

honestly when I think of whimsical I think of flow-y,  fairy-ish, frill-y, feather-y, fun,  etc.  anywho…  see that stunning yellow Ginko tree  back there… THAT is whimsical to me…  the leaves are fanlike… they remind me of butterfly wings… fairy wings… flow~y, fun, frill~y, feather~y, etc.etc.  whimsical… want a closer look?

Weeks best (favorite). or whimsical. nature. all tied in one =)

Aren’t the leaves dreamy?  =)

When my sister Linda and I were 9 & 10 years old we had red and white striped footed PJ’s.. the kind that zip from head to toe… we wanted to make scarecrows with them.  so we shook … yes .. shook all the leaves off our neighbors beautiful Ginko tree (oops) and stuffed our PJ’s with the leaves…cute scarecrows they were!  and yeah… we got caught & grounded… (we did it in plain sight.. we figured the leaves would fall off anyway so we were really doing them a favor by pickin  up all the leaves) *sigh* anyway…

Ginko Trees are my Favorite kind of tree. probably. well today they are.

fun memories. beautiful. stunning. whimsical (playful) trees. =)

nature (or vintage or weeks  best favorite) x 2

this old girl is OLD…vintage you might say.  she has weathered many wind, rain and  ice storms in her day.  she is too frail to hold herself up anymore… so she has to wear braces.

I have fond memories in this tree too. climbing it in my teen years… ok fine. in my twenties too! Sammy is dying to climb it too… but since the old girl is too old now… I won’t let him.  now that I have good strong common sense! =)

here is a better shot of her…

sad really. but still so beautiful in her old age. eh? =)

I love that beautiful old tree. every year we loose a few of our old old old  trees to wild weather.  its sad. last year we lost too many.  one by one they disappear and young ones are planted.  young whipper snappers. =)  ah. well… change. sometimes I don’t like it!  it makes me feel old to admit that!

cooking (or vintage) or whimsical)… lol… I’m very indecisive this week!

wait. this ain’t food.  technically it is. =) ? right?  so I made these cute (whimsical) little pumpkins .. and set them near my mama’s old vintage clock… cute, cute & an easy sneezy craft! I’ll try to post a wee tutorial tomorrow… they make great center pieces for Thanksgiving!  anyway… I did cook this week. even made pumpkin pancakes.  but I forgot to photograph food this week.  I made Thai Peanut Chicken, Cider pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, molasses pancakes (yum), mac and cheese, banana cake with frosting (yum)… and  not a single food picture! yes I love pancakes. its my one and only gluten free bread product that I love.

vintage/retro

I LOVE this retro tea pot style electric kettle !

I mean the design on it could have been cuter. but who cares?

I NEED it.  I want it. I WILL have it. the end. =)

my birthday is coming up… and I am 99 % sure my kids will talk daddy into buying it for me. b/c I’ve made sure they know I want it for my birthday! lol!

hm. I wonder if I can find a cuter design with my friend google?

alrightygoodthen

supercallafragilisticexpialladocious

this is Abby and her friend Maddie… Maddies feet/legs… and Abby grinning away… Abby had a sleepover with four girls… and they each posed similar to this with Abby’s scrawny legs  and their torsos … including Abby’s purple PJ bottoms… it was hysterical… b/c they all had the same legs… yet the pictures seemed kinda normal… you’d have to see them all… alas… my silly blog rule… OH wait…. I have one of Sammy…

with Abby’s legs of course… looks kinda normal… yet… odd. =)

anyway… I had tears streaming down my cheeks photographing this sillyness!  =)  I posted them on facebook. They look almost normal… yet… odd.  something is just a little off. too funny.  I can’t wait to see comments and see if people realize what the girls/kids were up to!  =)

I’ll report back next week if you like.

after the sun rises (or not) and sets (or not) for yet another 7 days!

Quack

Quack.

Have a great week!

Blessings~

Jenn

go and see more Scavenger Hunt Sunday fun with Ashley

you’ll be glad you did… whimsical… entertaining… inspiring….just plain fun!

Sunday Scavenger Hunt – Candyland style ~ plus a few extras from my busy week/life as it applies to the prompts!  =) this weeks photography prompts were Classic, Welcome, Vibrant, Adventure and Wild! =)

Classic

so while shopping at world market the other day I stopped to admire this beautiful vintage typewriter art and my 10 year old son says: “mommy what is that?”… CLASSIC!!  I about died laughing… poor kid… I guess we’ve never had the opportunity to introduce a typewriter to him.  and never mind he is visually impared… so if he has ever seen one… how clearly did he see it? =)

Vibrant

some of you who visited last week know… the vibrant colors of Candyland came to life for our youth group this week on Halloween… and I put the whole shin dig on… and I sort of promised pictures this week… but… *cough*… it was a WILD… crazy ADVENTURE… and this chick didn’t get to be the photographer… with very little time before or after .. and nevermind during.. my pictures of the event aren’t stellar…they were taken quickly and my stupid snap and shoot isn’t great with indoor lighting either and maybe I haven’t learned how to use the features it has… the auto feature doesn’t do well with crappy lighting… so… without sharing any of the faces of the Youth or leaders… here is a peek of my limited not so stellar pics  that aren’t fabulous… but…. I’ll share b/c I said I would!  at least you’ll get a glimpse!

for the record… I was so bummed I didn’t have time to capture some great shots before the whole thing got out of control!  =)

here is a beginning stages of planning… creating… =) Candycanes… the little guys one would move around the board… the beginning of the lolly pops

Adventure

Gumdrop Pass/Mountains  and Jolly!

I made the pink squares like… little “gumdrop” … kinda pictured above *ugh*

oh… commercial break…

we had a mini trick or treat adventure downtown first!

many local businesses passed out candy and coupons… it was fun… something new we hadn’t done before…

Mrs. Robot, Lord Licorice’s son & Ribbon Girl! =)

Wild

Princess Lolly doesn’t know about my blog.. so I can’t share my really fun pic of her in Lollypop forest… =)  alas… here is a blurry pic of her wild legs!  it was so fun to have  “youth leaders” dress up at every stop on the board game!

Princess Lolly, Queen Frostine and King Kandy threw candy at each other and the kids… Gramma Nut threw peanuts at them… Lord Licorice cracked jokes at them… Mr. Mint was silly…  it was SO funny!! =)

Welcome

from the beginning of the game

to the end of the game

there was a character to welcome the “kids” …with Candy of course!!

all 16 of them… ages 11-19 … seemed to love it…

SO FUN planning , creating and conducting this crazy life sized board game!

but … it was exhausting… man I am getting old! ha ha! =)

want to see a few more pics

to give you a better idea of what it all looked like

so remember the  clip of Lord Licorice above … from the actual board game… yeah… my man played Lord Licorice in our life sized game… he was SOOOOOO  Handsome!! lol…

he was a good sport about it! lol! =)

OH… and I was the runner with all the cards in my hand… giving them their next turns… chaos… fun… fabulous…chaos… so I dressed as a little girl in overalls… like the one on the actual board =)

again… sorry about the poor quality – half hearted pics

a glimpse of the lollypop forest

gramma nut & her peanut brittle house …

Mr. Mint’s Peppermint forest…

Queen Frostine’s area was SOOOO cool… and I got nothing!!

no pics… well… except one or two with her in them…  but …

she doesn’t know about my blog either…

I’m a little shy about my blog with my local friends!! ha ha

anywho… thats all I got folks… I had high hopes for time to properly photograph our fabulous giant creation… sad… anyway… y’all get the idea!

we stored the game at church (though I considered selling it on Craigslist) Hopefully we’ll use it again next year… or maybe we’ll play life sized clue??  who knows?! Apparently Life Sized Board Games are a hoot!!

I found great ideas from folks who have done this before… I love the land of blog… where I got many of my ideas!! =)

allrightygoodthen

Looking forward to seeing your interpretations of the Scavenger Hunt!

and if you don’t play along… come check it out… Ashley is sweet… her new baby is adorable and regularly featured in the hunt now.. 😉  and

it’s Fun!  and it is a great way to share my week in this land o blog

Have a Great Week !

Jenn~

there is so much truth in my title statement… SO much truth… I could go on…and on… and on…

today I will focus on the facts in that truth that have kept me  MIA lately…

My sweet Abby girl is in 7th grade… in the youth group at church…

I volunteer my crafty self to help with said youth group – such a blessing ~

recently I volunteered to pull together a not so Halloween halloween party for said youth since Halloween night falls on a youth group night!! =)

I figured the project would take me 1/2 or 1/3 of the time it actually did…

typical me… underestimating time!! =)  thus … no blog time at all…

I barely managed to home school Sammy the last couple weeks!

we did a LOT of art this month … before, during and after Grammar, Math, Social Studies (wait dropped the ball on that subject), Science, Spelling, Reading, etc.etc. it has been So. Much.Fun.  planning a giant board game is a hoot!

I  even took pics for the last couple Scavenger Hunt Sundays… yet failed to post.  time.  never enough time.

Want to see what has kept me away from the land of blog for 3 weeks?? =)

Scavenger Hunt Photo style of course!!

Sneak Peek of Life Sized……! =)

Signs

I drew and painted this sign… for our Life Sized CandyLand Board Game… the one we are going to play with the Youth Group “kids” at church on Halloween!  it is going to be SO. MUCH.FUN.  =)  it has been a blast planning it… exhausting.. but right up my alley!!  (i’m getting old!)…

Sparkle

these sparkly babies are now gumdrops for our life sized game =) … Sammy and I paper mached (spelling?) these balloons for art one day.. ALL day. =)  they were my pink picture … last week or the week before?  anywho… I’ll show you the final product after our wild and crazy not so halloween-Halloween party! =)

Patterns

Sammy copied the patterns of the original little itty bitty board pieces and made these giant guys… cute!! love how well he pulled this project off… the youth group kids will actually be the board pieces…but we thought it would be fun to use these guys as decorations! =)

we’ve made a lot of patterned things this month… again…. you’ll have to wait til next week to see all the life sized patterns!!   snicker, snicker!!

but.. after a month of putting it off… last night I sewed Abby her “Ribbon Girl” costume… instead of getting my blog post up only one day late (sigh)… its 2 days late b/c my little girl needed her costume! =) anywho… I made a Pattern with the ribbon colors and sizes… =)

her and her friends are going as craft supplies… Ribbons, glitter, feathers… tule… too funny! =)  it is not quality sewing folks… but I got it done in a couple hours  and she is going to be SO. Cute! =)

Machine

i love this dusty ol machine… hello baby.. .its been a while! =)

The highlight of my busy month was taking an afternoon off and zipping up North a wee bit to see/meet my sweet blog friend Naomi… we’ve been blog pals for a couple years now… we share a few passions… our love for God, the beautiful outdoors, camping (ok I am a wimpy camper…but she loves me anyway right?)… sewing, cooking, cast iron pans, coffee, homeschooling, reading,  coffee… did I say that already?!  anyway you get the idea!… we only lived a couple hours away from each other… and in the last year… only 45 minutes away from each other… yet we never managed to meet!! …until last week… the day before she moved across the States!!  ack!! *sigh* ta ta for now Naomi…=( I hope we get to play in person again one day! it was a blessing to meet you…Thank you for giving me a few of your last hours in Tacoma… =)

oh… and she has that sweet baby who  stole my heart!! =)

I also brought Abby to meet her girls… and though our girls vary in age… they got along swimmingly… (why do people say that?)!

we started off our day in a lovely little lighthouse park.. on the shore… with lots of ROCKS and STONES… the girls played on them for a while… until they found a few fabulous pieces of drift wood (kinda)… and built a fort together… it was SO cute!!

*I didn’t forget the last Scavenger Hunt prompt for the week…

Rocks/Stones (in the background!)

the proud finder of this fabulous fort stick!~! I love this pic Naomi!!

I really wish I had taken that fabulous stick home with me… I loved it!!

i could drive 45 minutes to see if it is still there…. hm….. =)

anyway…  tonight we transform the church into a Life Sized Candyland Board Game… I am now in panic mode… I better scoot!! =)  I’ll be around to visit soon… I miss y’all out there in the land o blog!

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween!!

Blessings~

Jenn

Happy Thanksgiving Canadian friends!!  =)

My hubby and  my littles are Canadian… well… the littles are dual…  every year we celebrate 2 Thanksgivings!!  It is odd for me to celebrate Thanksgiving before Halloween… takes some getting used to!  =)  Two holidays with turkey, mashed potatoes, cashew stuffing, Pumpkin PIE! ~ oh my! I can’t wait for pumpkin pie tonight!  and let us not forget focusing on being grateful!  he he he … seriously we aim to be Thankful 365 in this house… aiming at keeping our cups overflowing rather than 1/2 empty! another reason why we love Thanksgiving around here!

“Be joyful always: pray continually; Give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

I love these verses because although sometimes it is hard we can always Thank God … even for the hard times in our lives… because they work together for the good… they really do!  and I am thankful our joy is found in Jesus … not our circumstances.  boy howdy do I know that first hand in my own life as beautiful truth ~ it is hard to surrender those challenging circumstances but so worth it!!  =)

OK ~ I’m chatty today ~ on with Scavenger Hunt Sunday, eh?!

Shadow

so this isn’t a real shadow… more of a painting of a shadow  =)  this is a fun modge podge craft we are going to do this Friday with our once a month Ladies Night Out group at Church.  I LOVE this craft!  modge podge old books, recipes, etc. and then paint black on it.  easy peeasy!

Keys

I imagine this guy has keys to a hot rod in his pocket… =)  this is a funny mural on the wall of a car repair shop downtown… it makes me smile every time I pass it… (at least twice a week!)

sorry –  I blew it on keys…

but don’t you think my imagination earns me points?!  ha ha ha

unedited

Remember my lil grape shot a week or two ago?  Well… I realized the little ones just aren’t going to grow… so picked all the grapes from my vines this weekend… and this is my “grape harvest”… note how tiny most of the grapes are!  maybe in another year or two I will get real bunches of grapes???? I hope? =)   These awkward funny little guys make for a fun picture though!!   =)

Spice

I made pumpkin spice cookies for our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend!! Although they already had pumpkin spice and cinnamon… I rolled them in  Cinnamon Sugar to add a little extra touch.   They aren’t exactly homemade… they are straight from the Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice cookie mix… those cookie mixes are to die for … everybody loves them… no fail impress your friends cookies!!  no kidding… I always get the most compliments on Betty’s cookies (rude really) ha ha!  with that said… After trying the pumpkin spice… I prefer to buy the Molasses cookie mix… and use canned or home made pumpkin in them… YUM!!  with all that said… so tragic they are not gluten free!!  Betty… wink wink…could you make gluten free cookie mixes please – esp. the Molasses mix?!!

Smile

Do y’all know who this is??  well …apparently… the infamous Kasey Keller grew up in my home town… (and I probably watched him play soccer once or twice when I went to high school soccer games back in the day… weird!!)  and he is probably pictured in my high school year books playing against the Oly Bears soccer team (too bad I threw away my year books!!)  hind sight! Anywho… now that he is retired from the Pro’s…. he’s doing other stuff… =)  like signing bobble heads at our local Auto Mall (among other more important sports promotions I am sure!!… never the less…  we are happy he stopped by our local area where his roots were sewn)… my sweet young shy little soccer player got to meet him this weekend at the local auto mall… Last year we  were among the thousands who attended his final home game for the Seattle Sounders …in the last 10 minutes  he had an amazing 3-5 minute action packed fin~alley where  San Jose was kicking on goal over and over… and he would leap, block, save, leap, block, save… it was so much fun to watch!!   Though Abby isn’t a keeper… she was excited to meet him and get his signature! =)  Thanks for visiting your home town Kasey Keller!!  Oh… and my sweet little girl had the sweetest kick on goal this weekend!!  and she scored a goal this weekend… lots o fun soccer memories this weekend!  =)

Allrightygoodthen ~ Thanks for stopping by my lil ole blog ~

time to get back to “Australia”… with my home schooler!  My little man is in 4th grade this year… I’m finding instruction time is growing as his subjects get a bit more detailed and/or well…  complicated!  Did/do any of you other home schoolin mamas find that you spend more time explaining, instructing, working with them as the concepts get a bit more complicated and in depth??  I am assuming this is normal… and as he approaches later middle school/high school he will be more independent again?  Do tell seasoned Home schoolin mamas??  I should really do a “home school” post one day! =)

Have a lovely week!!

Blessings~

Jenn

Getting Ready

to feed my family and our Youth Pastor the first Fall meal of the year!   since he is young and fresh out of college we figured it would be nice to make him a stick to your ribs kinda meal once a month! Abby joined the Youth Group this year and I am now volunteering for the youth group  under his wings… crazy… b/c I could be his mother!  lol!!  =)

Anyway!!  one of my favorite things about Fall is the food.

stews. crisps. mashed potatoes. comfort food. =)  pumpkin pancakes. pumpkin scones. pumpkin pie. turkey dinners (we enjoy 2 thanksgivings in our house. one Canadian. one American.  yum!  I could go on and on listing delicious Fall food … but you get the idea.   Fall = warm, cozy comfort food.

what is your favorite Fall food?? =)

Bright

along with the rest of the world

another one of my favorite things about Fall is the bright colors!

this is from my cranberry bush that stands about 10 feet tall now!

I thought it was a dwarf! ???  we’ll see!

Teeny Tiny

so my grapes WILL be one of my favorite things about Fall…

once they stop producing mostly teeny tiny not so edible grapes!  =)

nevermind they were supposed to be seedless… um… not so much!!  *sigh*

Yellow

I love this picture… the dog on the left is hysterical!  Abby took this picture … of the yellow lab/golden retriever puppies that came to visit friends of ours …while we were visiting with them… we were having “birthday tea” with our favorite Scottish folks in the whole wide world! =)  this was on Abby’s actual birthday ~ they are such loving people who have been my christian/spiritual mentors, parent figures, role models, loving friends, etc. etc.  since 1990 and they extend their love, friendship, grace and knowledge to SO many others! ~ their friends stop by all the time ~ including us!!  they are also like grandparents to my babies … fine…  my littles… alright…fine… my almost grown up and are going to move out of the house before I know it peeps… **now I need more tea!** =)  back to the puppies… I think the one on the left is the one that is part yellow lab… they are 8 mo. and 18 mo. I think??  Abby was thrilled to spend her birthday “tea time” with not only Merlin… but those two crazy yellow dogs also!!  she’s a dog lover that kid o mine! =)

Connections

bear with me here… this plane pic is not fabulous…. but I like it… and

there is a connection between this super cool hobby plane

and this fabulous shot (also snapped by Abby on her birthday!) =)

which I absolutely love!!  love how she captured the shake… the way Sammy is reacting to the shake… the boat in the background… the lake… the pilot of the plane… =)  such a dreamy shot!!

I love that Abby’s birthday is in the Fall and the weather is usually LOVELY!

outdoor fun on birthdays are the best! =)

anywho… want to see the connection!??

SO funny!  what a hoot to watch those puppies

as they chased the float plane as it landed and took off !! =)

what a treat to even watch the planes be flown!  our Scottish peeps grandson was there flyin his planes… with his grandpa!

and Merlin… poor Merlin… he ran away … around the house and into the street.. when we took him off leash … so he had to stay on his lead… he wasn’t impressed he couldn’t run with the puppies…silly naughty Merlin!

he wasn’t sad he couldn’t go in the water though… he was actually wondering what on earth was wrong with the puppies for choosing to get wet!!  =)

love this shot too… Abby in the middle of her birthday bliss!

I’m not sure which she enjoyed more… the horse day or doggy day!  =)

alrightygoodthen

the weather is supposed to be fabulous for the next 10 days anyway…

we hope to Seize the Sunny Days ~ as much as we can!

how about you??  what is Fall weather like where you live??

What do you love about Fall in your area?!

Time to post this and browse the land o blog!

Happy Fall Y’all!!

Blessings~

Jenn

now go and see some more fun with pictures on Ashley’s blog!

or better yet… become inspired to play along! =)

My baby turned a dozen years old yesterday

she is roughly 4,383 days old now

*sob*

*be still my heart*

my baby girl isn’t all exactly a baby anymore

She has turned into an amazing young lady!

A 7th grader now! yikes! where has the time gone?

Celebrating Abby comes easy!  Abby is  kind, loving, beautiful, funny, smart, talented,  musical,  mathematical, witty, quiet, shy, silly,  sweet, cautious, courageous at times, artistic, crafty, clever, cute!, devoted to her family, her friends, and the God who created her! …. I could go on and on and on… I am very very proud of the amazing young lady she has become and of the young lady she strives to be as she continues her journey through life.

(don’t get me wrong… Abby isn’t perfect… just almost perfect! ha ha)

Happy Birthday Abby ~ I love you baby!

on with the Sunday Scavenger Hunt!

Bokeh, Ordinary Color, Fallen, Cracked, Fence,

*Ordinary Color*

brown ~ doesn’t get any more ordinary than that does it?  =)

I love LOVE this pic of my birthday girl!

on a beautiful ordinary brown horse named Jesse

Abby shares a birthday with another young lady from church… so a friend graciously allowed us to spend the whole day with her 2 horses… and 3 more that she acquired for the day…  5 girls…5 horses… one fabulous host…

= the best birthday evah … for 2  girls! =)

Fence

LOVE the handle on the “fence”… alright… fine… its a gate…

whatever… there are some fences there in the background!! =)

Bokeh ….

er…

blurrr???  =)

so bokeh isn’t really my thing…

and my camera isn’t that fancy anyway

so do y’all mind if I go with blurr instead??

I LOVE this blurry shot … taken by my lovely birthday girl!  =)

Fallen

one little tiny tomato has fallen from the branch

i love (d)  tomatoes

but I can’t eat them anymore

(don’t ask)

SO rude.

and tragic.

sad.

horrible.

awful.

you get the idea.

the end.

Cracked

We cracked up laughing when poor Apolla did this…

I think she was adjusting her bit?

she gave me about 5 of those faces…

2 of which I  captured on “film”… =)

so funny!  (poor baby)

September is always my insanity month ~  I could ramble on about all I do… trust me… its better this way… busy times. mostly fun.  Busy with a capital B!

I am happy to report that  my insanity month is coming to an end

and I can relax  “a little”…. =)

how about you?  do you have one  month in your year that tends to be a little ‘extra’ crazy or two (June tends to be insane for me too) … please say yes… someone… anyone?  what month is it and why?

for me it is kicking off school in Sept and one childs birthday

and closing off school and the other kids birthday

with everything else that keeps us busy =)

I  do love September!  Sunny & yet breezy.  Fall colors arrive.  Fall air arrives.  Sunsets are still lovely!  Blue sky.  Routine.  Sweatshirt weather.  No  sunscreen necessary. (amen!)  All things pumpkin. Hot Hazelnut Lattes.

yep. I can end with that. =)

Hope y’all are welcoming the first week of Fall with sunshine too!!

Blessings~

Jenn

I have an odd life.

I like odd.

I have a funny life.

I like funny.

I have a busy life.

no comment. the end.

have I ever mentioned that I love unique things?  quirky things?  out of the box funny and extra~ not~ ordinary?!  =)  like running across a giant knome while driving down a highway in British Columbia. (name that city – anyone?)  anywho… I also love to make up words like anywho… =)   anywho… I was thrilled this week when a few odd, funny, extra~not~ordinary things happened in the midst of my busy week!  Lucky you.. I’m going to share… Scavenger Hunt Sunday style of course! =)

this week we were looking for:  Askew/kiss/simple/plant/fragrant

I’ll start with a kiss =)

Kiss

this is an archive picture from 2 years ago?  I played with it recently and loved how it looked in pencil sketch! =)

it was  snapped with my cell phone at Olympia’s waterfront… the famous  Kissing Statue! =)

Simple

time – is a simple thing right? =)

Fragrant

this guy rarely smells like “dog”… its the Cavalier in him… their fur is more like hair…. *bonus* … anyway.. he went to the groomer this week and he smells like  yummy shampoo right now! isn’t it funny how he wraps himself all over Sammy’s legs in the car… odd… always Sammy… but in the house Abby is his person… or the mama!  =)

speaking of fragrant

these little guys (who were also at the groomer b/c they belong to said groomer… well… they had a different fragrance about them! ha ha ~  Despite their smell.. they are cute… aren’t they??

Plant

I doubt the folks who own this really cool, unique, inviting stairway planted any of those trees or shrubs or plants?  … but I love it!  I was going to use shot for askew b/c some of those stairs look askew… ya think??   but… You see my day just kept getting better… you’ll understand in a second! Abby had a soccer game in Montesano  (little town west of here)… and there was this beautiful oldish home on the corner by the soccer field… I was in awe of  (jealous of) this neighborhood/house… many of the cool features of said house/property make me weak in the knees… the clock from my simple shot… was the view from this house!! nice.  And the inviting stairs… lead to this huge white house!!  and you’ve GOT to see what they had in back  with a few other cool toys (boat style toys)… anywho… sit down.  wait you probably are sitting.  take a breath… breathe in and out… are you ready for this coolness?!  =)

How incredibly cool, awesome, unique, quirky, funny is that?!!  note the motorized go-cart style thingy on the bottom! = )

I  realize this has nothing to do with the scavenger hunt… but  I can’t handle NOT sharing this RIGHT now!  =)

I’ve never ever seen anything soooo funny!  alright fine. maybe I have.

but  isn’t this hysterical?!  =)

even better … our good friend … who is also the pastor of our church… well… when we run into him in public places like Costco.. he puts things in our shopping cart… or pretends to run us down with a shopping cart… etc. etc…. so…  we’ve been having fun with this pic in the last 24 hours on facebook… I tagged him with this one… then he posted a pic of a shopping cart attached to a bicycle … then I … well… I posted this one… =)

only it had 6 of us… including his daughter and wife… but since I haven’t told them about my blog yet… I don’t post their pics without permission… anyway… we are sort of having a cool/funny/funky shopping cart war of pictures…  of course he posted a pic of our new youth pastor pretending to sleep in a shopping cart… how did he get 2 pictures of shopping carts on the same day as my giant one??  seriously?!  =)  … who knew finding a giant shopping cart could be so fun!  now if I could just go back and ask the owner if I can drive it!!  =)

OK… Speaking of hysterical…

Askew x2 (taken by my sweet little girl)

askew x2

a good sense of humor runs in the family.

such a blessing for one who loves to laugh.

she took the best shot of the week in my opinion!

Way to go Abby!  =)

allrightygoodthen

Busy week ahead… birthday party to plan, home schoolin, beaver dams to build, youth group, soccer practice, soccer game, youth event, doc appointment, crafting, shopping, etc. and ending with a birthday party!   like I said.  odd life. love.  funny life. love. busy life. no comment!  ha ha… seriously.. its going to be a wonderful (busy)  week.

but I AM going to need a LOT of coffee =)

time to publish this and get on with it… so I can be on time for once!! =)

Cheerio!!  toodles!  TTFN!

Blessings~

Jenn

howdy blog peeps…

I am late late late this week ~  last week we had 7 extra peeps in our house til Monday ~  thus my lack of attendance all together! oh dear!  Fall Routine is settling in slowly this week (kinda sad… I love and all… but…) anyway… by next week I should be right as rain (only I hope it isn’t rainy while I am right as rain… confusing… oh…nevermind)… =)

so… I have to start this post with a “funny” story – or two really!~  and they even fit into the prompts! =)

Hair

Cute, eh?  Do you remember a couple weeks ago I had a dog “take me out” like a bowling pin on the beach ??… and I ended up with a very bruised hiney and a sprained shoulder …which I am still in PT for… Yeah…  well… at least I could blame the dog for that one!  We had family visiting last weekend…so we went geocaching and I …um…. tripped on a speed bump that wasn’t painted to stand out *ugh* (while running)… yeah… it wasn’t pretty… lets just say this time I bruised my hip, scrapped up the same arm/elbow, my sprained shoulder took the brunt of the fall again (can y’all say ouch with me please)… and I bruised my ego!  and I did complain and the speed bump got painted the next week.  amen.  the end.

(stop laughing!)   =)

our week got way better!

FUNNY story… really… funny and a lesson to be learned!  So Monday after the fam left… we pulled out the stain to finally stain the fences on either side of our house … they are our neighbors fences …both different shades, styles, wood, quality, etc.etc. .. they both needed staining on our side and we were hoping to “color match” them a bit… with any luck!   (I could tie this one into the scavenger hunt… but I don’t think I will)… bear with me.. it is a funny story worth reading!!  ha ha or skip to the pics and never mind my rambling!   or consider it another F… is for Fencing.

(note the paint sprayer and the drop cloth being held on with ladder golf balls covered in plastic baggies)… =)  Let me start by telling you that our neighbors on one side are friendly, kind, sweet, lovely, perfect and we have a good relationship with them… on the other side… not so much… grumpy, hard to please, never happy, negative, vocal, older, set in ways, etc. etc.  (and he wasn’t happy I didn’t pick “his” color to paint)… anyway… we started on the side with the lovely neighbors…turned out to be a good move!  last year they had sprayed the stain on their side and it worked beautifully for them b/c our house is 10 plus feet away from the fence… so we followed their lead and did the same… I was even nice enough to ask them to move their garbage cans so we  didn’t spray stripes on them… (insert uncomfortable laugh here) yeah… well…. three fence panels in I made a joke that I think the sprayer actually hit their house… it was a JOKE….( or not) …you see… hubby looked through the fence to “tease” me back and realized we were in fact… spraying their house!!!   *gasp* (insert really really sick feeling here) YEP… we did in fact polka dot our neighbors house with stain!!!  you see their house is only 5 feet away from the fence!  (seriously blonde move here folks!)  ack! yikes! thoughts that ran through my head at the moment we discovered this tragic mistake…” RUN far far away, hide, maybe they won’t notice, pack, move and then sell our house via a 3rd party”… ” nah” … we told the truth right away… and spent the next 4 hours trying to scrub the stain off said friendly understanding wonderful perfect neighbors house! (small blessing it was on their side and not the other side!! lol!)… end story… scrubbing got some stain off… they had paint left over to cover it up…but… they did accidentally use the wrong paint to cover it… and had to paint twice … so hubby went over to help scrub the wrong paint off..  its been a long week…luckily with a lot of jokes and laughter…   just sayin… drama is over… everyone is happy… the end.  (oh and the grumpy one ended up liking the color we chose and went to buy the same color after loosing his cool with me twice over my color choice!)… good times.  the end.

I’ll never paint another fence in my life. ever. the end again!

ps if you ever spray stain on your fence… use a drop cloth as shown above! =)

moving on…

Soft

a flower. the end.

monochromatic

any guesses to what this is?   take a guess… and then see the end of my post!!

Starts with the letter…. F

F is for Fountain!  I love this shot.  the end. =)

Upside down

I love otters.  I love how they play, swim, eat and sleep upside down.

(so I actually just wrote above “U is for upside down” to be silly)

and realized it really WAS funny…rude funny… oops… those two letters should not be used so closely in one post!!

(oh dear!)… I need therapy. the end.

Anywho…. Want to see what monochromatic was???

P is for Peacock.  the end.

Speaking of  P…. I need to … nevermind.  =)

Seriously… I should sign off… I’m about to head to “Australia” with my son… in Geography class anyway!  Stay tuned next week for more SHS… maybe a fun craft I’ve been working on… a pumpkin recipe … and/or more funny stories… if you are lucky!  My life tends to bring them regularly. hiccups that is.  mistakes.  little side “trips” in my day.  just call me MRS. Charlie Brown  I choose to laugh.  makes life a whole lot more entertaining to respectfully laugh at these things… don’t you agree?!   got any good hiccups to share? please do!!   =)

Hope y’all are settling into Fall routines peacefully and without any major hiccups like polka-dotting your neighbors houses or accidentally getting speed bumps painted around your town !!  =)

PEACE ~ over and out~

Jenn

ps next week I WILL be ON TIME!!  =)  maybe even early!