IT STARTS TODAY..

A BRICK FARMHOUSE EVENT

Head on over and enjoy the day

Here is a few peeks at what could be there!

McMaster & Storm

{Above 4 Pictures when I helped them in 2009 @ Country Living Fair }

Authentic Mexican cuisine from my dear sis-n-law

When your stomach starts the rumble...

pic via m.

The most adorable hair clips & accessories.. Marcy from M.blooms

pics via Jill

The talented seamstress.. Jill

And SO many talented others

Here is where the full vendor list is

If you need Directions

Come! Come!

A scattered account...

....of our last few weeks

(all pics from phone....fuzzy much....hopefully can get my camera back soon )

Our festive breakfast

on the fourth morning in July

We, err more like I was in slow-mo most of the day

....since all the dear little & big feet had left the day before,

from our delightful weekend with a side of T's extended family.

(was almost 300 feet!! :)

That night way past bed time, we headed to watch the always impressive light display in the sky

the littles jumped

as each one boomed..all ricocheting inside of us

I showed them how to oooooh and ahhhhhh over each one (:

we pretended like the display was celebrating Thane's life too

Thirty two years!!

We went ahead and celebrated again the next eve too

with his style of meal...

bowls full of Popcorn

& generous portions of Strawberry Shortcake & Vanilla bean Ice cream

Quite interesting....all the plates were cleaned right up (:

Orrin asks most nights to go camping...

hopefully soon he'll be pleased as punch

--Thane & kiddos washed & cleaned out our vintage Shasta last night

Time to take it for another spin

Thank you Lord for each day you give us with this Man

How we love him and need to show him more

Next up ...Fever came for 3 days...

& then brought

the bumps & grumps

(the Roseola rash)

bumps have left ....hopefully the grumps will follow suit

I kinda forget this stage...well the older two don't really help to discourage the shrill screams, the loud No's & the pounding on anyone/ anything too close...

redirect..redirect...redirect....

then just at the last

the Grin comes out

whew!!

we'll make it through (:

Other going on's ...

-It worked out for me to take a day off out to Tipton and a few other stops with sweet friends

I'll let 2 of them show their perspective and finds as I didn't have my camera

Here & Here

-Now working on getting the next Joyful Mother issue ready for press..hopefully soon

-Office work comes around weekly..

And always mixed in is typical summer life..

-fresh garden abundance.. mmmm! Thank you to T's Dad & Mom

-late evenings working outside

-golf cart rides around the property & down to the river

-water play

..got a great idea from a cousin at the reunion ...Water slide down our hill with a tarp & hose!! How easy is that!

Better get busy today as we are looking forward to friends coming to dinner tonight...

Hope your summers are/have been full of seeking Jesus

and applying what HE is teaching you through each experience.

Go ahead and share ....

i would love to hear how you are praising Him today

..through the good and the hard...

Blessings , b

Mrs Spontaneous..I have missed you...

Lately it seems with our 3 little darlings I have to plan every detail just get through the day or to walk out the door with out falling flat on my face.

It is good for me to learn how to plan... I know but Saturdays like this last one was like eating a bowl of warm soup on a chilly day or reading 1 Peter 5:7 when your feeling like no one cares .. Just warms you up inside.

So here's the details.

Saturday plan was:

sleep in ...just a little...

Go to open house at greenhouse to buy flowers for pots.

kiddos outside with their Papa(Thane)

Grocery. -on a Saturday !! I know bad idea anyway (:

Finish Cleaning house.

Finish Laundry.

Make cake for our Mother's day get together.

Plant flowers.

so on and so on

until Thane mentioned the auction at his old school.....

we talked..oh we'll just stop by for few..........

Fly dear plans that make my life tick. fly.

We headed out to the auction..

It was like a reunion for Thane.

Seeing old friends and teachers.

We eyed all the goods.

Loving all the industrial lines of the old school furniture.

Watched the Auctioneers with wonder as their voices carry on..

"Who will start me off...

one dollar bid now here..who will give me two......"

I was too scared to join in or make a sudden movement thinking I would accidentally buy the whole lot of 25 desks

Finally we decided to make the leap and got our own number

# 294.

We still casually observed.

Watching the beautiful doors and transoms sell for a few buck here and there

Seeing the excitement over the delightfully RED lockers

and the first grade teacher getting the winning bid on the amazing vintage pharmacy cabinet.

And then we came across these wardrobes in each of the classrooms...

the watching stopped and the head nods started

the simple door...

the storage.....

SOLD # 294 !!

Soon the hours flew by,

Thaddeus and I wandered

through each room that my hubby had roamed many years before. I was looking for the kitchen to see a large cabinet Kara had mentioned.

It was LARGE, very LARGE ... but that is what we needed with our tall ceilings and long dining room wall for our china dishes . Then I started thinking about how many dollars we would be nodding our head at. Something this big... it surly would be way out of our price range.

I mentioned it to Thane and the wandering continued.

I found myself in the science lab.

Meekly put my bid in on a few metal card file drawers and later some glass beakers that nice dealer "let" me have them.

Chatted with Shannon as we watched in amazement of what sold for HIGH dollar and what was just a few. Love that we are all made differently and all have different interests.

After taking care of my littlest, I decided to go check to see if the other auctioneer had made it to the kitchen.

I peered in to see people removing items!

Asking the closest lady excitedly, "Have they sold in here already?"

What !....Missed it! Oh well.

I went on to find Thane to share the news.

And I found him with his big smirk of a grin.

!!!

casually filled until I get the boxes of dishes out.

Here is a few more of our finds

Vintage locker baskets, we got for a few dollars from shop class!

the earlier mentioned beakers

A fun surprise,

the auctioneer added on this cigar box to one of the loots

And the card files

one is to be filled with my recipes

At the end we found some stools, 4 tall and 4 short

and perfect for children.

Our few minutes of spontaneity turn into an all day outing of wonderful memories.

Old and New

Lastly came home to find this beautiful topiary that Arabella & Grandma had picked out for me for Mothers day...

Ahh what a warm and fuzzy feeling day.

Play date in California and what we came home to!!

On our last day we had a relaxing day with some of my best friends that I grew up with... and our babies... wow this crowd is growing!!!

Andre enjoyed his cupcake

water fun

dear Grady's head is turned & I missed getting a picture of you, Mel

but is was a special treat to spend the morning with you!! love you!

loving on sweet baby emma before we have to say goodbye

my dear besties

me.heather.kelley.bev

we were back in one spot!!

It was so fun to just BE together! Seeing all the places our Lord has brought us to in each of our lives. I pray for each one of you as you continue to grow in Christ. Girls, Continue be in His word daily. Bless and reverence your dear hubbies and teach & love on those sweet children.

especially if auntie barb is not around everyday to give lots of kisses & hugs

And this is what we came home to ... Framing!! I can actually visualize rather than imagine and now zoom to current day. The dry wall is getting put up as I type this!! yay!....except for that means I need to finalize on paint colors... let me say that I always thought I would know exactly what I wanted in a house...umm I don't.... I know what I don't want but can't decide which style I do want. It's obviously an old farmhouse so we don't want to make it look completely out of place but yet be what we like at the same time.

It is just different decisions than with our first house

{ our honeymoon cottage as my dad called it, I will put up a post soon to say "goodbye" to our little town house}

It seems more finale with this house. Intimidating to think that is what we could be looking at for the next 20 or so years ....

and then when I calm down

and really think.....

i realize

no one else is really going to notice.....

{ or at least be as big of a deal as what I'm making in my mind}

which tile/carpet/paint color we went with...

or

that we weren't able to use the old wide plank floors due to termite damage

or

that we used new replacement doors instead of the charming old doors for cost & efficiency reasons

{ i really had to let this last one go, I cried...lots of tears... poor Thane}

instead may our home come through as a haven of rest for our family and friends,

a place where we teach our children about Christ and his desire for our lives

a place that shows how grateful we are for the HUGE blessing of this house that

God is providing for us.

* Sorry for all the rambling. I am not a writer. I am a rambler...

**sigh... it sometimes feels good just to let the scambled thoughts come out even if nobody reading can really understand!!

{Arabella posing in her new pocket skirt from Grandma- post coming soon}

Her Kindergarten Class

School had just started the week we were in California. So we got to go see A. Leah's class room.(the cutest kindergarten class room I have ever seen) This is her third year teaching and my personal opinion is that those children has one great teacher who has all the little fun details down!(a little bias I know)The children were at music so we missed visiting them but Arabella got to see a glimpse of what you do in kindergarten.

.....Orrin just ran around....

(Sorry -blurry pictures)

{A lovely morning with precious friends}

Instead of meeting at a cozy Coffee house or a restaurant, *(benefit-no children crawling over all the walls...) I invited a few dear long time friends over to my Mom's patio for brunch. Her flowers & the surrounding areas are always beautiful. (unfortunately I didn't receive her green thumb)

The table was set with lovely items

--all out of my Mom's supplies

the coffee was brewed

We made the lavender sachets before hand out of old little quilt squares

I added a verse to remind us to go to our Lord to be renewed

We even made a special plate for Kate

My mom still has a few small sachets available here

I added a sash to a bunch of dried hydrangeas hanging on the swing

We fluffed up the outside pillows

....Arabella helped de-fluff for us....

picked a single hydrangea to put in this delightful metal flower frog of my mom's

Whipped up the spinach souffle'

and some Peach & Mango Parfaits

Peaches fresh from my parents trees-mmm

Menu

Spinach Souffle'

Moist Banana Bread

Peach & Mango Parfaits

Coffee & Berry Juice

Yay our guests arrived!!!

Ruth & Tara with Kate

We missed you Connie!

These sweet ladies actually started out as employers....(dear oh dear they better not dig to deep to remember my growing up stage!)

my sister & I started helping Ruthie when I was 13 or 14. I remember many hours of ironing french monogrammed coverlets, rearranging the back room and helping with her boys then eventually working in her shop, Fleur De Lis off and on until I moved to Ohio 5 years ago. Then with Tara's family I started helping them when I was around 15 and babysat many, many delightful times. The same with Connie's family. God made these families into people that I worked for to wonderful Lifetime friends! We may not be in each others everyday lives now but I know that they are always there and I am always here for them.

Enjoying our time together-

my mom was with us also, just no pics! sorry mama

Kate helping with my babies.

was so sweet especially being as I used to help with Kate all the time

Wagon Rides

A lovely morning with precious friends

*and a simple inexpensive one as I only purchased a few groceries for the food and for everything else we used what my mom had around her house.

** Just added this to Beautiful Life Fridays! head on over here to see more