random . . .

What a wonderful morning!  

It is warm and sunny and smells like newly cut grass.

I have no place to be and that feels great!

  cats . . . big rabbits . . . paint and doodles . . . words on my walk . . . 

. . . and I think to myself

what a wonderful world.

Good Morning Lily . . .

I have the joy of keeping Lily during the week . . . since her mom still has to go to work.

Since it looks like our schools may be closed for awhile, I thought Lily should have her own space while she is doing her school work. 

An old table we sanded down and threw some stain on is working out perfect.

I surprised her yesterday by  hanging up some tapestries.  

She has trouble staying focused at times - and this seems to have helped. 

"Children are not a distraction from more important work.

They are the most important work."

~ John Trainer

"Young, Wild, & Three" photo frame . . .

Love our Avery Rose!

twotti fruitti birthday . . . .

 I had to redo a photo frame for Avery's Twotti Fruitii birthday party.

I wasn't completely happy with it, but it worked.  :)  

I really did like the pineapple in the corner though.  I should have gotten more pineapples. :)  

 They just make me smile!

How can she be two years old already?  

This is one sweet girl . . . with some unique attitude thrown in.

Love our Avery Rose!

doodles . . . journals . . . books . . .

I have written in a journal for years.  I started using a journal just to let everything out.  I was going through some tough times and someone suggested that it would help . . . it did.  There were times that I was amazed at how much better I felt after writing everything down.  Years later I burned all those journals.  There were things in them I didn't want anyone else to read and there were a lot of things I worked hard to let go of . . . I never wanted to read them again myself.  It actually felt great watching them grow up in smoke.  :)
I still journal . . . almost every day.  I have a personal journal, an art journal, a prayer journal . . . and various notebooks that I jot ideas down in.  Somehow it just feels right to write it all down.
I decided to use this post to list a few journal prompts that I was thinking about today.

1.  Good Things Today - just make a list . . . 

2.  What do you want your children and/or grandchildren to remember about you.

3.  What do you like most about yourself and why?  (Go for it . . . list more than one.)

4.  Write a letter to your younger self.

5.  Write about three things from your childhood that helped make you who you are.

6.  Write about three things in your life that changed you.

7.  Change . . . how do you deal with change?

GOOD THINGS TODAY . . .
a big hug and a sticky strawberry kiss from Avery Rose.  :)
Lily coming into the office today just to give me a hug
reading
talking to my Aunt Hess
watching "Bull Durham" . . .  (best baseball movie ever)
hot mint tea
folding paper cranes
dinner ready when I got home
candles and incense

"It's never too late for a new
beginning in your life."
~ Joyce Meyers

three girls and a boy cat . . .

 Little girls are full of magic . . . 

 . . . and silliness!

They make life pretty special!

Then there is this guy . . . he is around a year old now.  We adopted him back in February.

He has been making us smile and laugh ever since. 

Find JOY in every day!

let's paint . . . .

 She wasn't sure what this was all about at first.

She was a little timid about getting her fingers in the paint . . . 

 So then we had to try a paint brush . . . 

 I think she may have looked at grandma's hair and thought that

she needed some color in her's also.  :)

 I guess she started taking this painting thing a little serious.

She can be a sort of serious little person . . . 

 . . . and she can melt her grandma's heart in an instant.

I think she enjoyed her first time painting.

I think next week we are going to finger paint with pudding!!!

Be brave!

Be creative!

Be kind!

Be thankful! 

Be happy!

Be you!

celebrating . . .

I tend to take very few pictures at weddings . . . especially when it is someone I love.  I want to enjoy and celebrate.  So I have very few pictures of Sarah and Daniel's wedding, but will share a few that I  do have.  This is Sarah and her Uncle Whitney . . . an emotional dance . . . with Sarah missing her father on her wedding day.  Sarah was such a beautiful bride!

There were these two "Bridesmen"

 . . . and these three characters.  

How they make me smile!

. . . and always some crazy Grandma love!

Beautiful wedding!  Fun night . . .  celebrating love and family!

faces by avery . . .

charlotte . . .

Children are one of the greatest lessons in happiness, 

constantly challenging us to enjoy the moment, 

as the next one will not be the same.

family . . .

"The only rock I know that stays steady,

the only institution that works, is the family."

~ Lee Iacocca

Time to go back to work tomorrow . . .  after being off for a week.  

It was a good week, although I sprained my foot/ankle a few days before break and my plans to finish painting my living room were put on hold.  

So instead . . . I painted pictures and played board games with Charlotte, cooked Thanksgiving dinner with the help of Richard and Luke, binged on Netflix (Once Upon a Time . . . and Grace & Frankie), I read, stayed up too late, drank too much coffee and ate too much pie.  I drank wine, worked on a doll, put my feet up . . . a lot, kissed my granddaughter every chance I got . . . and enjoyed these amazing and unique people that are my family.

good things this weekend . . .

I usually try to jot down in my journal good things that happen each day.  

It helps me see the positive and to find joy in every day . . . something that is very important to me.

  I thought I would bring a little of that here once in awhile.

GOOD THINGS THIS WEEKEND . . . 

1. PINK donuts . . . (a special treat from grandpa)

2. A ride in the country . . . and wildflowers as far as we could see

3. Stopping by to see Jake and Kasey (Charlotte found her "secret garden")

4. Everyone coming over to watch The Walking Dead

5. Lunch, cribbage, and laughs with Richard Allen

6. Calling Roger to wish him a happy birthday.

7. PEACE & LOVE rocks from Brent, Ashley, and the boys

8. Sitting in the back yard while the wind blew the blossoms off the trees . . . Charlotte thought it was snowing.

9. Getting up early . . . I love early morning quiet with my coffee

10. Painting in my journal.

Take the time to write down at least 10 good thing about each day.

Even on a bad day . . . . especially on a bad day!

photo challenge 1/25/16 . . . sky

I love looking at the sky. 

 It can be when I am walking and I look up and see a sky so clean and blue that it feels like I could simply reach up and draw on it . . . or at night when I am away from the city lights and the number of stars I see takes my breath away.  I love clouds so big that they dominate the entire skyline and promise a storm . . . then afterwards 

allow the sun to take it's turn at painting something too beautiful for words.   

It does not matter what time of night it is . . . if my husband says to me, "Come outside, I want you to see something." . . . I will get up knowing that he wants to share the moon with me. 

 I am never disappointed. 

I figured there would be clouds in the sky today and thought I would snap some pictures when I went for a walk at lunch.  The day started out foggy (which I also love) . . . moved onto hazy . . . and didn't really turn into what I was hoping for.  

So when I was looking through my pictures for an older photo to use - I found this one . . . 

It made my day!

Charlotte in the sky!

love matters . . .

Today we wandered and shopped . . . and ate and laughed and kissed and wandered some more . . . and napped and watched the sunset.  

Message for today . . . LOVE MATTERS!

just because . . .