I was doing the dishes the other day and looked over as I was finishing up, the colors caught my eye. It was all unplanned or staged. I thought you know, everyone even if you do it now, should work at finding beauty and goodness around them. If you do it now, work at not letting that slip, forgotten. Everyday there is something to be grateful for. And to think doing dishes did that for me…ha, those dirty dishes, which by the way was once my most dreaded chore, has been inspiration to me more than once…whodathunk.

Pulling some pics from the computer.
These were taken a few months back. A lazy day. We just soaked up some sun and spent time lounging in the grass together. Of course, most of the crew was there, including our furry friends too.

Thank you all for your kind words and your shoulder a girl in the dumps can lean on. Breathe I say. It gets me through some of those more grayer days. But…..
The sun is out! Literally. I say that as I picture myself outside twirling around. It’s still very chilly, but I’m O’so happy to see Mr. Sunshine pay us a visit. The best medicine if you ask me.

That also means yard sale season is just around the corner. More flea market trip and more goodies by the curb. I’m quite excited about it all. Really! Last years finds were wonderful. I get all giddy just thinking about it. I’m hoping this year will be even better.

I found an older pictures on my computer of thrifted cup I acquired but haven’t shared yet, a picture on flickr that I haven’t blogged about and a dresser that was one of last years finds. Snapped a photo of it earlier today. A little this and a little that.

Dresser was a free by the road find. I wish I had taken a before picture. You would appreciate it so much if I had. It was horrible. When my husband brought it home. I wasn’t very optimistic about it being revived. The veneer was peeling all over it, one drawer was broken and it was marked all up. It looked like it should have been sent to the burn pile. I guess it was a good thing I wasn’t the one that found it. But…..with all of us working to scrap of the peeling wood, A good heavy duty sander, wood putty, and bit of carpenter know how on my husband part. A functioning dresser was born again. Bound for my daughters room, where a dresser was much needed. Hence, the white color. If I had a choice, it would be wearing a beautiful mustard tone. I promised to step back from decorating her room. So, white it became.

Then this fabric, which I just think is so beautiful. It makes me think, no wish of RV’s, road trips and colorful dreams. I’ll say no more. Don’t want to cause something to fall through. I’ve learned the hard way that some things are best to be revealed at the grand opening,(if it makes it to grand opening) not during work in progress.  No good to expect fireworks and only get dudes. My kids always make that sad..ahhh when we get those. So no ahhh here today..hee. Nope, sunshine thoughts.

A set of saucers, cups and bowls from The Second Thought thrift. A hidden gem tucked in a quaint little corner. These say comfort of Grandma’s embrace and warm belly of her chocolate gravy to me. I know I’ve said this before, but such a fond memory for me. Never gets old. She had a set similar to these when I was growing up. Her’s were a bit chunky and bigger. Bigger servings could happen.

Back to work. A friend of mine has offered to take the kids for the day so I can get some work done. I’m really excited with what I’m working on. It’s one of the things that has kept me busy and my mind off unpleasant things. Nothing like pouring yourself into something. What’s that saying, Idle hands is devils play? I probably have it quoted wrong, I think I read it in one of Tasha Tudors books years ago. I’m going to photo it before the sun set any further.

Happy Day.

Last year the kids put a little table by the road and sold some of the tomatoes. It was actually a big hit. My faith in the honesty of public was reinforced as well. It was all by the honor system and the ones that stopped definitely deserved a honor badge.  This year the kids are eager to start a garden, design a farm market stand and even go set one up a few times themselves. I have to admit, I like a small garden. If it gets to big, I loose the enjoyment in the large amount of work it takes. In short, the weeds. But the kids have me excited about planting a garden this year. Filling it full. Maybe it’s the sense that it will be our little community garden. All the family members working together, enjoy it together. Maybe that’s what I’ve needed all along.

First things first. The planning stage, deciding on the seeds.  The world is a classroom. We have already gathered several books from the library, pulled out our seed catalogs, taken favorite books off of our shelves. My little one picked the packs she liked the most. Everyone put in there two cents. We all put our ideas on paper. Now the only thing we need is the soil…but I think that will have to wait for a few more days, at least till some of the snow is cleared away. A clear path to garden center is a must.

Here’s a few of my favorite garden spots….

Chiltern Seeds

Seed Saver Exchange

Dave’s Garden

Park Seed

Baker’s Acres

Palatine Roses

So what kind of garden to you grow?

Hope you all had a Happy New Year!

I always feel so energized this time a year. Beginnings, fresh starts. I guess it’s the starting point in a timeline that seem so much more tangible to me.  Finding pleasure and peace in the little things to come. Letting turmoil of life past go with the flip of a calendar page. I don’t really make resolutions but I do reflex on goals, desires, achievements and what has worked in the past. Building on those stepping stones.

I guess becoming a better mother is always on top of my list. Ways of learning to deal with little spats between siblings. How to handle situations where my kids want to grow, need to grow but finding a way to let them and still provide that hidden safety of hands till they have mature enough to let them go. Guiding them in their interests, cooking better meals, learning to run the house of little smoother so that my time can be spent more on them and myself. One of the things my daughter and I were talking about was creating every day no matter how small. Sometimes during the work in progress of a big project, you can feel like not much is getting accomplished. So the small things are a great salve to the confidence, creative spirit of artist, mother, people as a whole. Seeing, holding and knowing something is complete. It was funny that during our conversation. She slipped in the teacher role and I become the student. She was wanted me to post all our creative things on my blog. A keepsake for her and journal for me. I felt during that moment that she became my partner of this blog. A support I didn’t even know I had. It was a bitter sweet moment, bring me completely full circle with letting them grow.

I guess that’s sort of my word for 2010. Complete. It seems to just fit and feel right to me. It can be used for any aspect of life. Complete……

So as requested my little partner, who ideas will grace more of my pages to comes.  Apple crisp, the requested dessert of New Years Eve.  Funny, I would have thought they’d want cupcakes with bright colored icing. This was made in the evening as you can tell by the poor lighting of the pic. I figured we’d take a picture of a baked apple crisp piece in the morning….but it was completely gone by the time new light of the day had risen over the horizon. I woke up to see my husband eating that last piece.

And the picture above is pin and hair bow holder. I used an old belt of mine. It was part of sweater jacket I once had. It ended up at the thrift store, but the belt I guess didn’t make it. While cleaning out my closet..a new years tradition for me. I found it. It was either throw it away or recycle and reuse. I felt better about the second option. 

So what are some New Years traditions, resolutions, goals or just favorite 2009 moments you have?

Making applesauce & cinnamon ornaments. Who needs candles with these hanging around.

Here’s the recipe.   A few tips~Discovered that if they are crumbling when moist, more than likely they will crumble before fully dry too. Causing sad kid as they hold up MR. Gingerbread Man in several different pieces.  Dried more evenly if patted out thin.

Do you have moments as a mom where you can actually see your child evolve and grow right before your eyes? That a spark in them has been lite and you can see it in their eyes. Hear it in the voice. Even their personality and attitude seem to shine a little brighter.

This was one of them. I watched six very excited but nervous kids hop on a horse picked for them. This wasn’t the first time for any of them to be on a horse.  It was the first time for my children to go on a trail ride. No one holding the lead, no arena to contain them. No shelter of the barn walls. No parents. Just them, the horse and the guides.  We watched them walk out, a little uncertain of themselves. They came back with a new confidence.  

I had locked my keys in the car and had to wait for my husband to come rescue us. Surprisingly the time was well spent. The kids chatted and talked about the whole experience. Silly things that the horse did, the beautiful woods they walked through. The scary moments, that they conquered. Bouncing on the balls of their feet, wondering when we can do it all again. I think I enjoyed watching them, seeing them, feeling the positive energy coming off of them more than they enjoyed the ride. And that’s saying quite a lot. I’m marking that moment in my mental calendar as a day I will cherish. A day I actually seen them grow.

It’s good to be a mom.

The new school year is here and we are trying to settle into our new routine. Finding a little more structure than the free lazy day summers. So, here’s what we have been up to these past couple weeks..

Calming our minds and noticing the small details around us.

Crafting…..

Kids getting in on the crafting too..

Thinking of future ideas…

And the ever present cleaning…

This is for you Beki.

You know how you come across a blog and the craft room is cleaned. The fabric all folded, the room filled with color, the book and paper tucked away. You look at it and say I want to play in there. They share how wonderful it looks before the creative clutter takes over once more..well I sort of want that too, before I share the room as a whole. Clutter can sometimes be a beautiful thing, and right now it’s not bad, it’s just with unfinished walls, a Hodge podge of furniture that need a little fixer upper applied to them.  The room sort of wants to wait until it’s all dressed before it steps out from behind the door. Till then, here are a few pictures of corners in my craft room.

We ……
played,
explored,
gathered,
shared,
laughed,
learned,                                                                                                                                                      talked,                                                                                                                                                             they fought a little,
Back to normal, the four us through the day.