Random Roundup

He acquired an Aeronca Chief. And has been trying to get it up and running.

 I picked so many of these ruby red gems.

 We got our first egg! Always exciting!

 Making Banana Muffins for the Lemonade Stand.

 Pretty cute, right?

 And then this happened! Burst pipes meant a flood in our kitchen and holes to patch.

 At least I was prompted to pull out our range. I guess I should do this more often?

 We especially love our blue eggs!

 These boards may not look like much but I have big plans for them. Just wait!

 He lost his first front tooth. Twice as cute and twice as mischievous!

 We went to Jamestown!

 I love the ropes!

 My sweetie reused an old copper pipe to make this little trellis for my climbing rose.

 I love this, dirty feet and all.

We had about a week of all the cousins on my side of the family together, so fun!

 Scored this at a little shop in Eastern Virginia. It will go above the tub in our Master Bathroom, just a smaller version of the one in our Room.

Free sunflowers in a patch in front of a farm. I love that someone wanted to share.

We have zinnias!

Several of these pies have been made and consumed here. All the fresh berries and peaches have made it easy.

School is starting in a little over a week from now, it's the end of a great summer! But I hate change… it will be nice to settle back in to a routine and welcome fall.

Thankful and blessed,

Melissa

READ

This is fitting for my girl. And I had fun making the book letters, another great idea from Anthropologie.

Springtime Activities

This spring has been a whole lot of busy, ordinary days, just our family living life. How we do it best :)

The chicks have grown in to these incredibly crazy adolescents. And they now how this wonderful portable house that my husband designed and made. It's lightweight so I can easily move it around the yard, yet keeps them protected from predators. We have lost so many chickens to foxes and possums and I'm doing my best to keep this batch safe. (Most of our casualties have been when I've forgotten to close the big chicken house door at night and something sneaks in in the early morning hours and gets them.) Makes me think of THIS SONG ! 

My little guy has started playing T-ball. It's so fun to watch him learning the basics, like the first game when he ran the bases backwards! And he's so cute in his uniform!

And speaking of baseball, what a fun way to spend the evening with family! I had never been to a game before and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. We just sit on the grass by third base, it's cheaper and the kids can run around and not get bored. Go Hoos!

Here is another exciting development in our backyard progress, we planted grass!

I am such a slave driver. He was. so. tired. couldn't. spread. anymore. straw! 

Our Henny Penny "helped" with the grass seeds until we penned her up.

And here it is now, still patchy but green! I am thrilled to have grass again! I just hope we can keep it going this summer.

Thanks for reading, time to get ready for a T-ball game with some yard sale-ing mixed in! (hopefully)

We are hoping for some rain today to help our grass and lower the pollen count. We're all at different stages of sore throats, coughing, congestion around here. 

TTFN (Ta ta for now)

-Tigger quote :)

Your A Good Man….

…Charlie Brown!

Dresses for Lucy Van Pelt and Sally Brown. What fun - we really loved the play!

Lucy's dress may have been my favorite…

…maybe because of all the polka dots I had to paint on Sally's dress :)

Like all projects, I stressed out about it at first, and then, started enjoying it. In the end, I would do it again, so rewarding!

"Hunter" Blanket

Hi! Just popping in to share a knitting project with you. Like most gifted knits, I waited to share until it was received - and then forgot to share!

This was slow - I just wasn't in my usual cold weather knitting mood, and then I was embarrassed at how long it was taking, I almost didn't send it but I'm glad I did! I hope to see my little nephew this spring…

Right Now

We are two days in to the holiday and I've enjoyed the slow mornings so much already! The children maybe not so much, I had them help me do a marathon house cleaning yesterday and then last night my little guy came down with a fever :(

I have a few projects to show you, one being this buffet that I painted.

I can't seem to find the before picture but you can imagine, dark, speckled brown finish with lots of dings.

I put my hot chocolate tray on it. This is always a favorite in cold weather!

We are gifted every year with a large poinsettia and this year I decided to stop fighting the red and just go with it. I'm really liking the pops of red for now even though it's not something I want to live with long term.

I found this toast holder? at Goodwill. I like to put old photos or cards in it.

I had fun making this Anthropologie knock-off wreath with my daughter's help. I like it, though it does sort of look like shaggy carpet. :)

I copied this fireplace scene from Pinterest. I can't seem to link to it. Every winter I wish for a real wood fire, this is my make-believe one!

I am re-upholstering my yellow chair. I love the pop of yellow sunshine it brings and will miss that but it was getting too shabby with a hole in the cushion and some stains. 

Our local U-fab store just moved a bunch of their velvets downstairs to the discounted section and I was excited to find a lovely brown velvet for $10 a yard! (They have some really nice browns, grays and beiges for those of you who are local.)

This will be interesting as I've never worked with velvet or a channel back chair before.

The children had fun constructing these reindeer cookies - what would we do without Pinterest inspiration?

See you later...

Around our home...

Hello! Iv'e been enjoying fall lately. The weather is perfect - crisp mostly sunny days and cool nights.

We've been consuming a lot of pumpkin, and decorating with pumpkins also,

My daughter and I made over this little coffee table and I found that chalk paint is perfect for kids to experiment with. If it goes on too heavy, and causes drips and runs, you just sand it off.

I painted my master bath but didn't take any pictures because it looks the same - minus the mildew in the corners. I really hope this does the trick! Oh, here's an old picture,

And, I've been attempting to copy some of this cool chalkboard art that is all over Pinterest. I have really bad handwriting and must copy letter for letter sitting in front of my computer. But I love the finished product!

So, that's some of our highlights the last few weeks, thanks for reading!