Weekending

The weather this weekend was spectacular! We began it Friday night with a trip to get fish n chips and a walk by the water.

Saturday morning the girls and I ran a few errands. Daddy came home from work so while he & baby stayed home for a bath (for her) and naps (for them both!) Ree and I went to run more errands. 

That evening we headed to my hometown for a quick supper; a walk on the "big beach" to look for rocks. There was supposed to be no swimming. Until Ree fell in the water. Then she and I decided it was warm enough to take a little swim. 

We left wet and sandy and with a bucketful of rocks. We headed to my parents house to give Ree a bath and to feed the baby while the husband and my dad went to pick up ice cream.

Sunday morning was Mass; a coffee trip and then home to prepare for Ree's four and a half birthday party. With her birthday in December and especially this year as she had a brand new baby sister, she didn't have a proper birthday party. We celebrated yesterday. The weather was gorgeous for a flower party outside with our family. 

Today is finishing cleaning up and spending lots of time outside. The weather really is gorgeous!

Linking up with Karen!

The essence of summer

Monday afternoon was the typical summer afternoon. Hot and a little humid. After the baby went down for her nap, Ree & I headed outside for an afternoon of relaxing. I set up a "tent" for her and I pulled up the picnic blanket next to her to read and sip iced tea. Except for the most part I found myself laying down with my eyes closed feeling the warm sun wash over me. I did take a few pictures of looking up at the beautiful sky. 

To me, this is the essence of summer. Relaxing on a blanket in the backyard during the hottest part of the day. Listening to the bird songs, the cars in the distance, the little one trying to "rest" but really running in and out of the tent playing her games. 

This first week of summer has been full. There has been Vacation Bible Camp for the 4 year old in the mornings. Afternoons full of being outside or working on her flower book project. Dinner has been cold things so I don't have to turn on the oven. Relaxed days full of life and learning. Just the way it should be!

Writing along with the Write ALM prompts (even if I am a little behind!)

Make & Listen Along

~ On Thursdays I will post what I have been making and listening to as creations grow. 

If so inclined post, on your blog or flickr, about what you have been making (on your own or with little hands by your side) and listening to while you create. It can be new music, flash backs, a song or a whole album... whatever you like. You can be stitching with needle & thread, yarn, paper crafting, painting, cooking... and beyond. Share what you are making and the tunes that are fueling your creativity. Then come back to my Thursday Make & Listen Along post and leave a link in the comments so we can be inspired right along with you! ~

Thursday again! The weeks are flying by. They have been full of summer fun, and summer has only just begun! 

For this week's make & listen along I have some owls to show you! I have had it in my head for awhile now to embroider a few little owls to hang in my downstairs bathroom. So I decided this was the week to do it! Then Ree said she thought her teachers at Vacation Bible School would like these. So my owls are on hold while I make up a bunch of little gifts. Which need to be done for tomorrow. So this afternoon will be spent stitching while I listen to....

the World Cup. I'm not much of a soccer fan (at all really) but my husband has been coming home rooting for Columbia. Columbia because many people he works with come from there and I guess it's a big deal down there, so they are pulling him in. To root for the wrong country though! So I will be rooting for the USA this afternoon! 

There's also been a little listening to Wimbledon. I enjoy tennis much more and look forward to these few weeks each year!

What are you making & listening to these days?

Clouds

Dawn from Mud Puddles to Meteors...a blog she writes along with Annie from Alphabet Glue fame...has been posting many beautiful pictures of clouds for quite some time now. Thanks to that, I have found myself looking up when we are outside. There has been some stunning cloud displays lately. 

Today the sky is blue blue blue for as far as the eye can see. I like that too! It is just not as photographic!

Also, check out today's Mud to Meteors post, Nature in Your Neighborhood. One of my egret pictures is featured along with a picture from Amy. Way to represent Rhode Island at the beginning of the week!

Weekending

The weekend began Friday night. We went strawberry picking! I now have a little less then 8 pounds of strawberries with plans to go pick more. I want to make jam. I've never made jam.

Saturday was a princess birthday party for a friend. About 6 little girls all dressed as their favorite princess getting their hair done, nails done, make-up on and dancing their hearts away. When you are 4 years old there is nothing better!

To celebrate the summer solstice we went to our favorite picnic/playground/beach. We had pizza for dinner, watched a paraglider on the water, collected shells & rocks, rode the swings, slid down the slide and walked the beach. It was the baby's first time at the beach and I think she enjoyed it!

Today is slow. Church earlier & our usual stop at Dunkin Donuts. Now it's sipping the coffee, listening to the husband cut the grass, a baby that is sleeping and Ree working on a project. I think I may sew!

Joining Karen for her weekending series!

A week of Evenings

I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!

Make & Listen Along

~ On Thursdays I will post what I have been making and listening to as creations grow. 

If so inclined post, on your blog or flickr, about what you have been making (on your own or with little hands by your side) and listening to while you create. It can be new music, flash backs, a song or a whole album... whatever you like. You can be stitching with needle & thread, yarn, paper crafting, painting, cooking... and beyond. Share what you are making and the tunes that are fueling your creativity. Then come back to my Thursday Make & Listen Along post and leave a link in the comments so we can be inspired right along with you! ~

 

I signed up for Lori's week long class on journaling. Last fall I picked up a journal for the first time in years and am happy to say that I have been writing in it faithfully pretty much every day since October. It's pretty disjointed. Thoughts, ideas, lists, writing along with some prompts. A mish-mash of our everyday life. This class is giving some good insights in organizing, how to use a journal & just overall good information. I am really enjoying it!

 

Here we have some list making going on. What your ten-year old self wants more then anything and what your present day self wants more then anything. A few of those things are still the same!

 

Still making the baby's quilt! More progress was made yesterday. Fingers crossed that maybe I will be onto the quilting part of it by the end of today!

And mess making on the dining room table. Yesterday my brain couldn't get focused on what to do: sew? read? write? So much good things to choose from!

What are you making and or listening to these days?

Morning::Noon::Night

Morning, noon and night...three little peeks into my day yesterday. Joining with Kim

 

Morning:: 8AM

 

Noon:: 3PM

Night:: 8PM

Adventure Day

One of the things on my summer "bucket list" is to take my girls out in nature more often. Even if that just means walking around the neighborhood in a different direction. Yesterday morning Ree & I were talking about swans and I knew of a place where I've seen them before. I made the mistake of saying I know where we can see them (Note to self: never say that. Just say "hey lets get in the car and go look at water!" because when you are at the pond for almost an hour and there are no swans and someone has to go potty....you may have just a little melt down on your hands.)

Other then that it was a beautiful time. She loved running from one end of the deck to the other. Watching the water flow "Momma it feels like I'm moving but I'm really not!"; seeing the lily pads; watching the ducks, although I think they were loons and enjoying the beautiful breeze.

I happend to look up from the happy baby to spot a few big white birds flying in the distance. One came pretty close to wade in the water looking for food. I was thrilled to see an egret this close up. I've seen one or two fly over our house but never one like this. Ree was excited too and was so cute looking through her binoculars at it "I think it's looking at me. Will it come land here next to me?"

Such a majestic bird as it walked and flew. We both were mesmerized by it! 

This Moment

A single picture from the week of a moment I want to remember. Big Sister reading to Little Sister. Have a wonderful weekend friends!

Make & Listen Along

~ On Thursdays I will post what I have been making and listening to as creations grow. 

If so inclined post, on your blog or flickr, about what you have been making (on your own or with little hands by your side) and listening to while you create. It can be new music, flash backs, a song or a whole album... whatever you like. You can be stitching with needle & thread, yarn, paper crafting, painting, cooking... and beyond. Share what you are making and the tunes that are fueling your creativity. Then come back to my Thursday Make & Listen Along post and leave a link in the comments so we can be inspired right along with you! ~

The other day I came across the 2014 Index Card a Day Challenge. Ree and I wanted to do some art but we weren't sure what exactly we wanted to do. So I got out the index cards and made some up.

The theme for the first week was words. So I got out my journal and found a few quotes I liked and made index cards with them. Ree decided to just paint paper that she had cut into the approximate size of index cards. Then she threw a bit of a temper tantrum because she couldn't get hers to look exactly like mine. I have no idea where that came from since usually she has no problem doing her own thing.

I most likely won't make one a day for the challenge...too many other projects! but this was something to fun to do during our morning creating time!

Listening has mainly been to the sounds of the outdoors. All the windows have been open so it's been lawn mowers, and weed whackers, and children playing and birds singing.

What have you been making and listening to?

Dappled light

It is no secret that I love taking pictures of the way the sun comes into my living room. Especially in the morning. I love watching & trying to capture the way it casts shadows on the walls, floor & furniture. Of course this morning, when the prompt is "dappled light" it is gray and raining out. No sunlight to be found!

Thankfully I love photographing it so much I have these pictures from this weekend! The lower one is actually from Sunday evening. At the time I am usually preparing supper. Who knew the light was gorgeous in there at that time of day too!

Writing & photographing along with the Write ALM prompts

Weekending

fish and chips

errands

a new bike!

hours spent riding

pride on my girls face

an early Sunday to drive 

to the American Heart Association Walk

fun in the (hot) sun

home for baths

grocery store trip

evening Sunday Mass

home for a special supper for Pentecost

more bike riding until dark

the first full weekend of summer fun!

Joining Karen for Weekending

Make & Listen Along

~ On Thursdays I will post what I have been making and listening to as creations grow. 

If so inclined post, on your blog or flickr, about what you have been making (on your own or with little hands by your side) and listening to while you create. It can be new music, flash backs, a song or a whole album... whatever you like. You can be stitching with needle & thread, yarn, paper crafting, painting, cooking... and beyond. Share what you are making and the tunes that are fueling your creativity. Then come back to my Thursday Make & Listen Along post and leave a link in the comments so we can be inspired right along with you! ~

It's been a bit slow in the making & listening department this week! There has been nice weather so we've spent a lot of time outside. Today is rainy so I'm keeping my fingers crossed to finish the quilt for baby V.

We did do some circle doodles, inspired by Amy & G's sketches. I sat and made a list of intentions for June over the weekend. And a list of goals for the summer.

Other then that it's been pretty quiet this week! Even my camera has sat neglected for most of the time! 

Have you been working on anything? Please share in the comments!

Everyone Should

*splash through puddles

*make a clover crown

*sit on the front step eating a popsicle

*giggle with a baby

*walk barefoot through the grass

*dream big

*fall in love

*watch the birds

*sleep late every so often

*get up early

*watch a sunset

*watch a sunrise

*plant flowers

*go for a walk

*be alone

*be with others

*lay on a blanket watching the clouds

*take a nap

*read a book

*listen to a child's stories

*cook a meal

*order take out

*pick up rocks & shells at the beach

*make cookies

*paint a picture

*write a story

*create something

what is on your "everybody should" list?

Writing along with the June WriteALM prompts