~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

 

 

 

~coming home~

"There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again."

~Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

It never mattered where I lived. I always knew we were getting close to our house by seeing some type of landmark. 

My earliest memories are from when I was 5 years old. The airplanes circling in the sky and a park you could see off the highway gave me a sign we were close.

When we lived in California, I remember seeing the mountains far off through the front window, then the check in station at the Air Force Base where my parents had to show their military I.D. to enter, then the long row of palm trees that lined the entrance down to our neighborhood. We were almost there.

Back in Ohio, we stayed at my great-grandmother's cottage on a lake when we first moved back.  There was a pizza place about 5 minutes away that had a white sign out front with a black top hat on it.  My brothers and I would race to see it first and we'd say, "I see the top hat!" 

When we moved to another house, I remember a Burger King a ways down the road that sat on an intersection.  When I saw that place, I knew it was only a matter of time. 

Another house, there was a pond that we passed and we were close. There was a high school that sat right off the highway at another house that was a clue.  There was a movie theatre near an exit ramp at another house.  A college close to another... 

You get the point.  I could go on and on, considering that I moved more than anyone I knew growing up.  The city was always changing, the weather was different, the bedrooms were always arranged just a bit different, my age was different, the neighbors were new, the schools changed, and the friends were different. 

It's been almost 11 years since we moved into our current home.  This is the home that my husband and I bought together after we were married.  The home that our children are being raised in.  The home that we can't wait to get back to after being away from.   And now, that blue water tower standing high above our town serves as a symbol to our family that we are not far.  We are home.

~opening day~

Tomorrow is a holiday in our house.
It's on the calendar.
We take off work early.
We grill out and have lots of goodies to snack on.
We'll eat Peanuts and Hot Dogs and Ice Cream from our Cincinnati Reds cap bowls. 
We love baseball...
and especially our Cincinnati Reds!!

They boys are deciding which shirt to wear.
Bruce, Votto, Phillips, Cueto, or Rolen.
They have them all... in red or black.
I've got my flip-flops ready. 
Just need to paint the toes.

We surprised Austin last summer and redecorated his room one weekend when he was staying with his grandparents.  His room was originally a peach color.  We got by telling him it was "light orange" for long enough.  Our boys have more OSU and Reds stuff than we have room for.  So, it was only fitting to keep with similar colors and stick with the sports theme. 

The pennants in the first picture were something I found at a local store years ago.  I snatched them, just wasn't sure what to do with them at the time.  So, when we redecorated his room I wanted to incorporate them somehow.  I decided to hot glue little clothespins on the backs of each one and hang them from twine in his window.  Austin separated them between the two leagues... American and National.  Now he can move them around and keep track of their standings all year. He's all about the stats!!  (I've recently bought gray blinds that hang under the pennants, too, for privacy. They just aren't in these pictures.)

This old printers drawer use to hold my mom's miniature collection.  I thought it would be perfect next to Austin's desk so he could display some of his Lego and Halo guys.  It's usually empty... as they are often found scattered about the house.     

Just thought I'd share a quick peek inside his room.

I'm off to bed now.

Can't wait for 4:05 p.m. tomorrow!

Sweet dreams of home-runs...

Go REDS!!!

~where the green grass grows~

Enjoying the beautiful green color I see each morning blurred through the bottom of the glass. 

 Spring is here!

And it is gorgeous!!

This week the kids are on Spring Break.

Nine days off school.

Love it! 

No major plans.

We are taking the boys fishing tomorrow.

We'll visit a lake I have memories from.

Baseball. Baseball. More baseball.

We'll enjoy watching the Cincinnati Reds on opening day.

They'll spend some time with grandparents. 

No big vacation or travel plans far away this year.

For the most part, we are staying in.

And sometimes that is the best kind of break we can have.

Tell me...

What was the best Spring Break vacation you can remember?

Where did you go?

It could be from your childhood,

high school days,

college years,

or your married/family days.

I almost forgot! 

I saw the boys whispering on the couch this morning and giggling.

It can only mean one thing...

April Fool's Day plans.

I can't wait to fall victim.

I love it just as much as they do.

These boys!  

~vintage planters~

Little Lamb Crochet Hook Holder

One of my favorite things to do the first weekend of the month is to browse around our local flea market for junk treasures. 

Vintage planters can be found by the numbers, although I am rather picky about which ones I bring home.  I remember my grandmother having a whole cabinet filled with tons of these.  She told me they were filled with a plant in the back and were given to her as a baby gift after the birth of one of her seven children.  These little planters come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and animals.  I'm rather fond of these vintage planters, as you can see proof scattered about our home. 

The Little Lamb pictured above is my favorite.  It was my first purchase and I think it is just lovely with the gold accents.  It holds some of my crochet hooks so that they are easily accessible.

Polka-Dot Fawn Teaspoon Holder

 The Polka-Dot Fawn sits on top of our microwave and holds our teaspoons and tablespoons.  They look cute displayed out in the open, instead of tucked away in a drawer, and are easy to grab while I am preparing something tasty.

Pink Donkey Tea Buggy

Our Pink Donkey carries a load of teas in his buggy and you can find him sitting next to our Fawn on top of the microwave, too.  It's a convenient place to have tea ready to grab, rip open, steep in boiling water, and enjoy!

So, the next time you are looking for a lovely and frugal container for your goodies, look no further than your local flea market...  or you might just want to peek into your grandmother's cabinet.   

~sticky notes~

Ahhhhhh... to be a kid again!

These are the kinds of things that make me smile. 

Simple sticky notes scattered about our home that my little ones write reminding them of things "important" to them.

 

Austin left this one attached to his clock, set the alarm extra early, and woke us all up..... just so he could play a new game when he woke up.

Now that's important stuff, don't you think!?!

I'd trade one of my "Pay the Water Bill: TODAY!!" notes for this one any day!

~Day of Love~

 

I woke up this morning and found a beautiful vase of flowers and a card left on the kitchen table.  Guess our conversation at dinner the other night might have planted a seed.

No complaint's here...  they were lovely!

....................................................................

Derek's party at school on Friday was a blast!  Tons of sugared-up little cupids scattering about delivering lovely notes and playing games.  We picked up those Wooly Willy's for the treat bags and they were a big hit!  Derek's teacher had made these adorable mailboxes from cardboard and let the kids paint and decorate them earlier in the week.  They were SO cute!

A classmate was celebrating her birthday that day, also, so they got EXTRA sweets. Cookies AND cupcakes AND suckers AND conversation hearts AND chocolates.... oh my!!

And then it happened...and we all expected it would....

....my little guy was sick Friday night. 

It's pretty much a routine in our home.

It happens two nights out of the year.. 

Valentine's Day and Halloween.

Derek loves his candy.... but it just doesn't love him back!    

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's wishing you not only a day of love,

but a lovely year ahead!

XOXO

~baby, it's cold outside~



~Wishing you a lovely Friday!~

~through different eyes~

Lego Football:

My boys like to play with the Lego Mini-figures more than the actual Lego blocks these days.  I often find them playing what they like to call, "Lego Football".  They make up new plays, run them and then reset. I love to grab my camera to capture them playing together, using their imaginations, helping each other come up with new ideas, and just having fun.  

When I look back at my pictures I used to notice all the scratches in our one coffee table and think to myself how nasty they looked and how I needed to get them resurfaced someday soon.  That was, until I read a comment somewhere (wish I could remember where!!) that changed the way I see these pictures now.

   

Instead of focusing my attention on all of the nicks and scratches and marks all over this table and being concerned, I now see things through different eyes.  Each mark represents time spent together playing, sharing, loving, learning, fighting, creating.  I want my children to live in a home that lets them do exactly that.... be children. 

There will come a day when our hallways will not have little red paint marks where a football has been passed, our carpet will be spotless, our living room will not have toys scattered about, our garage will be in perfect order with all the bikes and balls put exactly where they go.  But that is not today. Or anytime soon.  

  

 

~clumpy icicles~

The icicle lights were purchased the year my husband and I got married. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary last month.... the same month that these lights actually came out of their boxes and were hung on our home. Better late than never!

I'll contribute our final light display to the following: a combination of very cold weather, scrunched up lights that had been in their boxes for a *very* long time with baggie ties tightly wound, day light slowly fading to night, and the fact that my husband does not like heights.

You can see in this picture that our lights (on the right) actually ended up matching our neighbor's. That is, except for the fact that theirs hung down like icicles typically do.

I found myself frustrated with the fact that our lights didn't look like they were "supposed to". I may have been guilty of voicing these opinions out loud, too. I'd peek out the window and look next door and see their lights hanging down and look up at ours and they were not.

But after a few days of pulling into our driveway and really paying attention to the way the lights illuminated our home, I began to think about how, in life, sometimes things don't always turn out the way we think they should.

Our lights may look different, but that's OK.

I love my clumpy icicles

and everything they represent.