Strawberry pickin'...

Today, Bailey, Alexis, and I only got a half pint of strawberries...
...and here's why.

Yeah, that's strawberry juice all over his face and tum. Gotta love it!

Adaption and flexibility...

I am hestitant to change. I admit it. When we had to move from Cannon Beach back to Prineville, my water-logged little heart was clinging to our 2-bedroom, molding, leaning beach cabin like it was my dream home. What is it about making changes, especially ones that I don't want to make, that is just so hard? In the workplace, I am ALL ABOUT change. Change that makes processes more productive are my speciality. But changes in my personal life, especially when I didn't dream them up...well, they are really hard for me.

But sometimes, the pills that are the hardest to swallow end up being the best things for my life. Moving to Prineville has allowed us to own a home, plant a garden, serve in our church. Moving to Prineville has strengthened old relationships, and given me a few new ones that I don't know what I would do without. So, when I saw this picture that my husband took the other day at the Crooked River Roundup, I immediately thought about how change, adapting to new things, and being flexible is actually a good thing:

The first obvious thing you see is that straw hat! I have to say that I love this hat, but I would have never bought it unless I lived in Prineville. CHANGE. And the 2nd thing you might see is my darling son taking a nap on my back. With Bailey, napping on the back was NOT an option. I was a stickler about being home for each and every nap that ever took place. But with a 2nd child, you gotta make choices. Was I going to withhold a fun rodeo for our family because Sam wasn't going to get a nap? I just couldn't, even though I knew it was going to be stressful. But once the kiddo started snoozing, he got the rest he needed, and we all got to see the rodeo. ANOTHER CHANGE.

Gotta show a few more pictures just because they are cute:

I can't believe I got a smile out of her. I am pretty sure it's just because she was showing off her new cowgirl hat. Because this is generally what she does when I ask to take her picture:

Some things never change.

Cutest Kid Ever

I am pretty sure that my son, Sam, aka "Bubba Do" is the cutest kid I know. So what if I am biased? I love his bright blue eyes, his silly giggles, how he loves to smile for the camera. And who couldn't love a kid in a speedo, right? Thanks Grandma Karen for this fun birthday swim outfit. Perfect!

Seriously long time....

So, it's been a seriously long time since I wrote on this blog...I got to the place with two small kiddos and two small businesses that I just couldn't keep up with everything. And taking pictures, editing them, and posting them? Yeah, right. I found that I couldn't keep up with my blogging friends, or those that I followed in the blogging world. And was my life always worth publishing? Not really.
But now, I have a little idle time on my hands (wouldn't you like to know how I am getting it!!!), so I thought I might start things up again. Who knows? This might be only only post. But then again, maybe not. In any regard, I kind of miss blogging. I miss writing about my family, my garage sale finds, and all of the amazing things that my babies are doing.
Of course, this blog has hardly seen my son, Sam. Since he was 3 months old, I stopped blogging. He's now a whopping 12 1/2 months old, walking a bit, talking Sam-ease, and sleeping all the night through. He has my heart, through and through. I swear I would do anything for that kid, I love him so much. Baye is 4 now, refuses to wear anything but dresses, tutus and flip flops, got her hair cut, and remains as feisty as ever. Seriously. She is so much like me that we butt heads on a daily basis. But I love her anyway, and when she says things like, "Mama, I want you," my heart melts.
Next week, my husband is taking our kiddos to Grandma's in Pendleton. I just got a new job and have to work. Will I miss my kids? Will I go crazy with all my free time? Maybe a little bit of both, I suppose. If my life were perfect, I would go with my family on vacation, but it's not. We can't afford me taking a week off unpaid, so to work I will go. It's okay, I am sure that I will find ways to fill my time, but will certainly cherish my nightly phone calls with the fam.
So, I guess this is my welcome back. T'will try to post pictures as I can, though you might just end up reading my idle thoughts. It's good to be back.

Island of Opportunity

 

On November 1st, it will be two years that we have lived in this house. We have painted every wall and added our personal touch all around the house. One of the things that we heard most often when people saw our house for the first time was, "Wow. You have a big kitchen! Have you thought of getting an island?"

Well, yes. Yes, we have. We have been looking for about a year for the right island to put in our kitchen. "Right" means "right looking" and "right price". So when we found this on craigslist today for just $75 (chairs too!) we decided to take some garage sale money and, sacrificing some gravel for landscaping, purchase it. SO worth it.

As you probably already know, Bailey and I do a lot of baking in our kitchen. And we have done it on the small corner counter, where we squish shoulder to shoulder with a dining room chair for Bailey's stool. The Bug gets too close to the stove for my taste, and there's just not any room to do anything. I wanted this island so we could bake sugar cookies and other goodies and use the island as our work station. I am envisioning a light flour dusting everywhere and colored frosting dripping from knives after a christmas cookie escapade. Oh, the bliss.

You may have also caught a facebook status update I wrote a few months about regarding carpet in our dining room. Who on God's green earth puts carpet in the dining room?!?!?!? Well, that's what we've got going on, so I am looking forward to eating breakfast AND lunch with the kiddos at the island and reserving the dining room table (and the awful carpet) for dinners only. Hopefully it will help us decrease the amount of stains on that blasted carpet...

Now, as if getting this island wasn't good enough, we also have a lighted hanging pot rack that Jeff is going to install this week. Another craigslist find from over 6 months ago, and the perfect way to show off our red Martha Stewart pots and pans we got from Jeff's mom for Christmas last year (as well as free up some more storage space to increase my couponing stockpile). Owning a home and finding the perfect stuff is great, isn't it?

The Tutu and the Trade

 

If you know me, you know that I am always up for a deal. So when my friend, Angie proposed a trade for this darling tutu I was all over it. I made her a set of birdie signs (www.selahcustomsigns.etsy.com) and Angie made two girlie tutus for Bailey.

Bailey loves her tutus and I love them too. Greatest part is that she has two of them...one for her and one for any girlie friend that comes over to play. No fighting over the tutu! Angie, you must have thought of this ahead of time when you agreed to make two, so thanks!

Good things come in small packages

It's the end of the summer, and for the most part, I would say that our garden was a great success. We hardly bought a veggie at the store all summer long (minus lettuce and carrots the latter part of August). We ate stirfry with fresh veggies, fresh green salad, dirty carrots, sweet strawberries, sugar snap peas off the vine. We canned 9 jars of green beans too (will do LOTS more of those next summer when I nix a few of our veggie selection...corn and cauliflower for sure). So today, we were tending to the garden and saw these tiny little cantaloupes growing on the vine. Literally the size of a small tomato. Bailey says, "Let's pick a cantaloupe!" I say, "No, Bailey, they aren't ripe yet." And she picks one up (totally Bailey-style not to listen, you know) and it was one that had already fallen off the vine. So, I bring it up to my nose to smell, and it's as sweet smelling as any cantaloupe I have ever smelled. "It's ripe Bailey! Let's go inside and have it for a snack!"

So, here's Bailey with her cantaloupe. It easily fits in the palms of her hands. We cut it open...look at how ripe and juicy it was! Still, it's only the size of one small tomato from our garden. Doesn't that tomato look delish, by the way? But needless to say, Bailey ate the whole thing. She has eaten a half of a cantaloupe before...but now I can confidently say that my daughter can eat an entire cantaloupe by herself!
And of course, I just had to throw in a picture of our little Sam, three months old tomorrow. Isn't he a doll?

BFF

 

There is something particularly special about two little three year old girlies that absolutely love each other. That's the case for our daughter, Bailey and her little friend, Ruby. First of all, how could you NOT love the name "Ruby". She's an absolute crack up and loves leading Bailey around in circles when they are together. The two of them together is like having a baby sitter. They can entertain one another for hours.

So, when Ruby's mama, my friend, Kara, suggested a photo shoot today at her family's ranch, I was all for it. And when she outfitted the girlies in little dancing dresses, cowgirl hats and matching t-shirts, we could hardly contain our own giggles. These girls LOVED dressing up and running around the ranch together, holding hands and looking for little kittens. Interestingly enough, the girls didn't like getting their pictures taken solo. They only wanted to do them together, which was fine by us. They made silly faces together, stuck out their tongues, and gave each other hugs and kisses. It was too cute!

So, the picture above is just one from the shoot today. Kara took over 500 total, so it will take some time to post the best of the collection, but I wanted to give you a teaser today. I love this picture. Can you imagine high school graduation, 15 years from now. They have a party together and this picture is hanging up. I hope they stay friends forever. I kind of like Kara too, just so you know. She's a fun gal to hang out with.