succulents in an old chair

A few years ago we garbage picked this old chair. It was ugly, but I thought it would be good for… something… I can’t remember what? Anyway, I gave it to Karen and Ryan and they “up-cycled” it for me into a bird bath. Very cute in the kid’s garden, but as all the plants have grown we ran out of room for the chair. Time to up-cycle again…

Grace and the soon-to-be kindergarten gang came over to watch. They heard I had the staple gun out and evidently that means “Ms. Theresa is up to something.” Good thing too because soon-to-be kindergarten students are great a demo work – too bad I grabbed the camera too late for that 😦

Once we had it down to just the chair with a hole in it we pulled out a scrap of burlap that I just happened to have in the basement. We stapled it on all hodge-podge to make a basket for the plants.

I recently bought a bunch of succulents at my favorite nursery using a gift card from one of my favorite students. We planted right in the burlap basket and found a place for the chair in one of the last empty spots in the garden.

Grace added a rock collection that she brought back from Lake Michigan yesterday, and a gourd bird house that has been unoccupied this summer.

And there it is… a bunch of succulents in an old chair… I hope the soon-to-be kindergarten gang, now jumping on the neighbors trampoline, is impressed!

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stepping stones… a fair project for the garden

This is another one of the entries that Truman showed at the fair. Grace and Anna Mae made a stepping stone too. We have supplies for Cole when he gets back – don’t worry.

The stepping-stones were made with a kit. We found everything we needed at Hobby Lobby.

I put Tim in charge of this one – I thought the kids could use some Dad time doing something other than sports. It was a hit and will be great in the yard. I love that I have a plan for all the projects this year…

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the crafty rainbow

We have been feeling crafty this week…

Getting ready for the county fair will do that to you.

We did this when it was really warm outside… I think that made it even more “melty.”

Blue ribbon #1 – for Truman and cool art work to hang in the basement for me – Yea!

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a stay at home summer day

“What I need is one hour of help in the garden and then you can read all day.”

..

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father’s day

Happy Father’s Day Tim… Thank you for the laughter, the love, the lounge chair afternoon. I know it wasn’t the perfect day, but it was a really good together day.

I love our family. I love watching you be a dad. I love that you can’t say “no” to ice cream.

I was thinking about your Dad too. I wish he were here to tell you that he is proud of you.

I wish I remembered to tell you more often. I’m glad we got to tell you today
that your a really great dad
and
we love you!

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cabin weekend for new years

New Years at the cabin with Bridget and Paul, our kids, and Parker.

A long, long time ago… before babies… when we were young and beautiful and had hardly a care in the world… Bridget came to the cabin for New Years. Lots has happened since then. Lots of really good stuff. So many blessings, that we needed a whole weekend away to enjoy them all…

We walked in the woods – the kids made snow angels – Grace shot the Red Rider (and kept her eye) – the boys warmed–up at the fire-place – we laughed and played – sometimes we cried, but mostly we had a lot of fun – except when Grace locked herself in the bathroom and Anna Mae got her hair caught in a brier patch – at the same exact time – but other than that – it was the perfect way to toast in the New Year…

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letting go… a little

The big 3 are back in school. Tim ran the mornings without missing a beat. He got them up and dressed and delivered. He even took photos of all of it. I am amazed at what they can do…. without me… a little sad… very proud… focusing on being blessed… looking forward to picking them up.

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fire

Be who God wants you to be and you will light the world on fire.

~ St. Catherine of Siena

Tomorrow the new students come for the morning and Thursday we are off and running with our first full day of school.

Summer was amazing. I loved all the time with my babies. I hope I can remember all the sunshine and smiles when the days are short, and cold, and dark…

I’m so ready to go back — I’m so NOT ready to go back — I am so going to do it better this year…

…This year I am going to be a great teacher, I am going to grocery shop, I am going to behave like I appreciate and love my husband, and I am going to drink water, I will keep up my blog, I will play with my kids, I will get my hair cut, I will not let them skip violin when I have to grade papers, I will take the car in for oil changes, I will keep up with the laundry, I will not forget about my garden, I will let my kids have a friend party, I will find time to sleep, I will find time to write, I  will find time to pray, I will read books for fun and talk about them with my friends, I will be a loving daughter, I will be a loyal sister, I will answer my emails, I will check my phone messages, I will buy cat food. I will be generous, and grateful, and optimistic. Really. Or… if I fail at all that…

I will just try to be who God wants me to be and then

I will hope for the best…

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stormy day fun

Friday afternoon we had a beautiful summer thunderstorm pass over. It would have been a great time to stay tucked in the house and watch the rain, except that I had a letter that I wanted to get to the post office before the end of the day. So I loaded the  kids into the car as the thunder howled, the skies let loose, and the questions began…

“Mom, can the car be struck by lighting?”

“I guess so, but I think the rubber tires provide some shielding and the  metal body of the car sends the lightning toward the ground. I think we are pretty safe..”

“Mom, can you have lightning without thunder?”

“No, the answer to that is definitely, no.”

“Mom, statistically what are the chances we get home alive?”

“I think the odds of being struck by lighting are about 350,000 to 1.”

“Is that good?”

“Yes, those are good odds, I think we’ll be fine.”

“Would we be safer in a building?”

“Depends, which building.”

“Why?”

“Because, the Empire State Building gets hit about two dozen times per year.”

“Do a lot of people die?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why”

“Because, they probably decide a thunderstorm is a good time to go to the post office, so they leave right when it starts.”

“You are so weird Mom.”

Drawings of the Storm…

Truman

Anna Mae

A poem from Anna Mae…

The Earth

The sun shines

The stars twinkle

The sky is blue

The grass is green

The trees wave in the wind

The flowers show their beautiful petals

The winds blows and

The Earth spins.

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4H Picnic

This has been our first year in 4H and I LOVE IT! My favorite part is that the older members put all the games and activities together and get the younger ones excited about learning and trying new things. As the summer moves on I am sure I’ll have lots of blogs about the county fair, projects, and our record books. Tonight’s meeting however, was an old fashion celebration of summer  – even if it was a little to cool outside to feel like June. They had a “cow” to milk – a pie eating contest – and homemade ice cream that the kids rolled in coffee cans. Needless to say… a good time was had by all!

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