little rays of sunshine

oh my... summer is almost here... i am so ready for it.

i love summer... but most of all... i love change. i am ready for the change of a care free schedule. i am ready for the change of being out of doors more than in. i'm more than ready... i'm crazy excited... almost on the verge of jumping up and down when i think about it.

 a few things i'm loving right now...

the way the jasmine i planted is climbing the front porch above (i must plant some by the back porch this year). it will bloom soon and the smell will be heavenly.

that the purple clematis i planted has finally found it's way up on to the front porch below.

the fact that this tree is covered with apples this year (last year it was almost bare... we were very worried about it).

how fast the grass has been growing right now. it takes about two weeks to look like a jungle... i love it when it's like this. however, i do not like the way the blackberries are also growing like a jungle and popping up everywhere.

the remodel that is getting just a little closer to finished every week. you can see evidence below that the painting is about half finished.

 a new counting "game" for the little ones inspired by this book and this post by amanda at sweet potato claire.

geninne zlatkis's desktop calendar this month... i will be sad to see this one go.

a late mother's day treat... eislee made me the little nest at school (it actually has four eggs in it)... love.

my new book... the nesting place... which i am really enjoying. instead of being a "decorating" book full of projects... it is more full of stories and encouragement. she says "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" and "done is better than perfect". this book is really speaking to my heart right now. i was feeling stressed about our remodel and the ways that i thought it should have turned out and the way it is... and of course many other things in this old, mismatched farm house... and i love the way this author encourages you to not only except but embrace those things and to not let perfection get in the way. i can't tell you how many times i put something off until i have time to do it "perfectly" and so many things just sit undone... but "done is better than perfect" isn't it?

my newest stamp... from the book making an impression by geninne zlatkis. i was inspired by her book to make these butterflies for the wall. in the book she stamps this one on watercolor paper and paints them and pastes them in "specimen boxes"... very cute... but i thought "why not put them on the wall instead?" so, that is exactly what we did. 

i am in love with the way that they turned out. i think we need to make about a hundred more and paste them all over the house.

Around the house

right now... in this house....

we are enjoying our outdoor spaces regularly (finally)...

little girls are learning how to play games together harmoniously (even if they make up their own rules)...

a certain desk is once again a disaster...

this mother is enjoying her various trophies from the holiday...

working on a new stamp... from geninne's book "making an impression"...

constantly looking at this pile of fabric waiting to become blankets for the little girls...

noticing how this stack of firewood is finally remaining constant....

anticipating this remodel finally nearing completion...

a little miss pesto the farm kitty got herself a collar with a bell (hopefully a warning for our feathered flying friends... it seems to be working!!)...

this post is the first to have photos uploaded from my iphone... because a certain silly woman left her camera in the back of a car that her husband took to the airport... it should be back this weekend though... she is excited to see them both.

a taste of summer

last week we had a heat wave. the temperature ranged from around 67 to about 88 degrees fahrenheit. on the first day that the thermometer rose above 80... i felt like i warmed up, completely, for the first time this year. our summer here, on the oregon coast, usually consists of temperatures in the upper 60's and lower 70's... days above 80 are very rare. i think i warm up at about 81. the warmth here (or lack of it) is the only thing that really bothers me about living here... or at least the only thing that bothers me that i have no ability to change. but luckily, there are many amazing things about living here that usually i don't even really think about it. only on days like this.... where we had a little taste of heat.... and now i am sitting here... cold... watching the rain pour down outside my window... missing the sun... that makes me stew just a bit.

but...

i hear that we are in for another heat wave next week... so, i suppose a good watering is good if the sun promises to return again.

oh, those summer days... i am so ready for them. we really enjoy our sun when we get it. digging in the dirt. baseball in the cow pasture... a certain nine year old is falling in love with the sport (and his silly mama missed the sign-ups... oops). dinners outside and roasted over a fire overlooking a sunset on the river. talk of those dreams again... these dreams. 

ah... yes... summer we are so ready for you here.

catching up

goodness...

life has been very busy here... in a good way... but i unintentionally took a long break from this space... and i am so glad to be back.

so, this post will be a bit of a catch up post... some of the busy that we have been up too...

first of all... lets finish up with the "kids" blogger swap

this is maiko's "sent" package... three carved stamps... some nature bits that we grew crystals on... and some other rocks and shells. as you can see, maiko carved the fish stamp on his own (i traced the template onto the carving block for him), he also carved the arrow stamp. i carved the snail (that makes my third snail... and i still do not have one of my own! i think i need to carve myself a snail). this package went all the way to maryland!

the package above is the package layla received. she loves everything so much! maia made layla a knitted snake, and a bracelet... she drew layla a beautiful picture and a card... she sent some pretty nature bits and a little butterfly.... and two hand dyed playsilks. layla has already used the playsilks for everything under the sun... such a thoughtful gift! you can find maia's mama's blog here http://littleleaffibers.wordpress.com/

and below...

is eislee's received package... it came all the way from new york... she loves it so much! julia made her a sweet little bag (and she embroidered those adorable little bugs and flowers on the front) which eislee treasures :) she made eislee a tin of "fairy dust" which is the sparkly purple stuff there (which smells absolutely amazing!), she also made eislee a little journal which i couldn't find when i went to take this picture, and the beautiful painting with a sweet written message on the back. once again, what thoughtful gifts!! you can find julia's mama's blog here http://www.fourwildblueberries.com/

then....

after we finished up with the kid swap.... these adorable puppies arrived.

one had a home waiting for her, but the little boy... well... he was available... and we were feeling we might need to keep him. we puppy sat for a few days and i realized that i was not ready to bring up a puppy, and miraculously the kids were ok with my decision. i think we had him just long enough that the haze of puppy love lifted and reality set in... and we all realized that this was not the right time. although, making that decision was one of the hardest i have made in a long time.

do you remember how i didn't actually receive a blogger swap package myself... well... the swap host amanda from http://www.sweetpotatoclaire.blogspot.com/ sent me a package... a lovely package... one that made my day. she sent me some peppermint lavender lip balm, two beautiful summer colored wash cloths, and the most amazing photo cards (see below)... the one with the little toes and potatoes is my favorite. thank you amanda... now i see how exciting it is to receive a package as well! and tell claire that eislee just loved her card :)

and while all of that was going on...

we have still been steadily chugging along with the "remodel" which seems to be getting bigger and bigger. unfortunately, this is not one of those fun remodels... it is the kind where you discover that you had a leak... and you keep finding more and more damage... and you do a TON of work just to put things back almost exactly the way they were before... ugh!!!

another thing i have been wanting to share with you...

see the sweatshirt below there with the awesome hand sewn owl sketch on the back... well... i am in love with it... and guess what the price was.... $36... i know... and it's a "quality" sweatshirt as well... crazy soft and cute... you can hardly get a plain one for that price. anyway, i thought i would share this shop... it's on etsy... here is the shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LadyCordeliaDesigns and here is her blog: http://www.ladycordelia.com/my-blog/ she has some really adorable dresses right now too... racer back tank dresses... really cute. also... if you want a different design... just ask her... i requested the owl on my sweatshirt... and i am planning to request a dress with a sun on the front... or maybe a bee... hmm... decisions. thank you cory! i love it so much, and it fits perfectly.

and in the midst of all of this we had a freak heat wave that brought some beautiful summer moments... i plan to share another post in a couple days with many more of the photos below.