Flower Power

We took the babies to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival for the first time in our livin’ lives. It was a lovely, lots of walking, flowery adventure. We saw pink tulips…

and crashing waterfalls,

yellow daffodils,

and secret gardens.

We saw orange and purple tulips…

and a cliff-dwelling mama owl.

We saw a sleepy baby Chompy…

and more tulips!

These were some of the really fancy ones–inside–entered in a competition for the most beautiful flower in the universe.

…although we did have a couple of our own…

and they were “blooming” cute.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

:]

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Happy Zucchini Bread Day!

Simple. Fancy. Frames.

Framessss

Simple? Fancy?

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Simple? Fancy? Sounds like somebody needs to pick a lane here.

But wait.

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You start with some pretty simple stuff…like basic, blank, boring wooden frames.

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Choose some scrapbook paper that you really like.

Frames

Find scissors and dig out the Mod Podge.

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You can trace around the frame if that floats your boat…

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or you can just cut out enough to fit the frame, generally. Either way.

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Paint on the Mod Podge. Have you noticed that it’s actually so much more fun to say, “Modge Podge?” I try very hard to say it just like that whenever the Bald Kid is around. It makes his eye twitch. That’s the goal.

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Even out the gluey stuff. Press the paper onto the sticky surface–right side up…of course. Smooth it out so that there are no bubbles under the paper. We used the end of the paintbrush and a baking scrapper… but you could use a bone folder if you’re really prepared. Now this is important—be sure to let the glue dry.

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Poke a hole in the middle and cut out the excess paper.

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Cut just a bit closer to the frame than silly Lyndi…keep cutting you nut!

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Now, take a file or emery board and sand the edges. It will cut the excess paper off in the process. If your paper and glue isn’t dry you run the risk of tearing the paper with the file. So again–be sure it’s all dry before you sand it.

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Keep going.

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Make sure to get all the edges…

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inside and out.

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Top coat it with another dose of “Modge Podge”… ha ha. There are eyes twitching behind me. Heh.

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Let them dry. Let them dry. Let them dry.

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Now—add the sparkly little doo-dads that make it fancy. Oh, I think this generation calls them “embellishments.” La-tee-da.

Whatever.

Framessss

Now then–is this the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?

Simple? Check. Fancy? Check. Fabulous? Check.

Bingo.

Or–if you just want someone to do it all for you–check out Somebody’s Stuff. You’ll love it!

 

Lyndi26th birthday (6)

Happy Birthday my sweet Lyndi!

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Week # 25 Food Storage Prompt is: 100 lbs. of wheat.

Happy Daddy’s Day…

…and everything that it means to you.

I have a lovely, sweet daughter that sees this day just a tiny bit differently—after many years of being raised by a single-mom.

She’s just a cute little reminder to me that whether you are—climbing mountains or sliding down them,  realizing reasons to rejoice or to mourn, lying in the warm sunshine or splashing in the rain—this life is what you make it–every step of the way.

We are determined to make it good.

 

 

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.
~Author Unknown

Baby Dolls

So we have this very sweet, very happy, very rubbery baby dolly at our house.

Believe it or not, she smiles allll the time and she’s even starting to laugh–a lot.

The funny thing is–I can’t really prove it, because whenever I point the camera at her…

…she stops whatever she’s doing–laughing, and smiling included—

and stares into the lens.

She’s fascinated by it.

Which makes it hard to show you what an incredible smile she has…unless…

we can point and snap the shot really fast…

before she goes back into the “zone.”

I think I love this baby’s smile so much because it’s one I’m very familiar with.

Pretty sure her mama had it first.

Connected- 2nd Generation

Twenty-six years ago when Lyndi, my second daughter was born, Grama brought little April to the hospital to see us and of course her sweet baby sister. Filled with new mama hormones and missing my “original baby” desperately, I was nearly in tears when she burst into the hospital room–just a few hours after the birth.

To my surprise, she ran right past me and my outstretched arms, around the big bed and straight to the isolette that Lyndi lay wrapped in. She climbed right up onto the side–with dad steadying it–and leaned over so close that she could nearly lay her head on the baby’s chest.

Because she was only 21 months old I was nervous that she’d be too rough and pokey–but just as I took her little arm to help her back down, she breathed a huge sigh, and whispered, “Ohhhh—I missed you.”

There were no words at that moment…

…and there are no words for this.