These Summer Days

I'm finding it hard to believe that we are already in August...It seems I remember the "grown-ups" talking about how fast time would go by when I was younger, but I just didn't believe it.  These summer days of ours have been filled with so much, I keep meaning to find the time to sit at the computer and catch up with a blog post, but sure enough another week goes by.  Not that I'm complaining mind you, it's nice to step away from the screen a bit and our time together has been filled with such fun and adventure.  Here are some recent pics of what goes on around here: (by the way, the gorgeous Lunar moth was just hanging out while we did dishes while camping, I had to take a shot, he was huge).

Greg and I managed to find time for an anniversary dinner at Frontier in Brunswick, just a quick little trip out, nothing extravagant, but just what we needed to remind ourselves of our love.  

There was another weekend trip to Vermont to see our sweet nephews/cousins.  Oh my these two are something special!

We we around for a first s'more (yup the same guy who had a first ice cream with us, how lucky are we?)

 Oh this boy of mine was great with the littles, and they simply adore him!  I still can't believe my babies have turned into the "big kids"!

 There was much time spent on the lake.

And in the lake.

Some time on Greg's brother's boat.

And tubing.

A bit of napping.

 Ben & Jerry's (we are in VT folks)

And a Wilco show to boot! This is the 9th or 10th year that we have seen them live, it's really become quite a tradition they never fail to put on an amazing live performance!

 Around here there has been lots of stitching, this embroidered Mexican sugar skull pillow is for Molly's new room, she has been digging them a lot lately so you may see them popping up here and there.

Also I did purchase the Alabama Studio Sewing + Design book!  So fantastic, I made my first item, a skirt for Molly in some leftover City Weekend I had.  I love it and will show more later.  Wasn't sure what I would think of the whole hand stitching thing, but wow I found it quite meditative and the results are gorgeous!  I finished it off this am with a little hand stamped tag and she's wearing it now!

Tonight we are off to a Dark Hollow Bottling Company outdoor show that should be super fun (of course seeing the hubs on stage always gets me a bit giddy).

Hope your summer days are full of fun!

A Glorious Weekend Indeed

A break from this space was nice, trying to catch up on a few things around the house and catch a few extra babies at the hospital while the kiddos were away in DC.  They had a marvelous time by the way, so much to do and see, they took it all in and wrote reports about much of it!  Those two are something else...How fortunate to have such a sweet grandma to take them on this adventure.
Of course flying home they were old pros to flying solo, nothing to be nervous about, and we couldn't wait to see them and hear all about their adventures!

Well wouldn't you know that boy had a baseball game scheduled moments after his plane landed...being worrisome mama I thought he would skip after such a long week, but that boy of mine had every intention of getting right out there with his team mates and trying his best, including stealing home!  Oh he was a tired boy by the end of the day and there was some re-entry to deal with later  (as all you mamas out there know re-entry for the kiddos is always a bit rough), but it was worth it.

And then of course yesterday was Mothers Day, there are lots of opinions on how one should spend the day, for me spending it with the mamas that I know and love (along with their families of course) is the only thing that made sense.  So a Mamas day BBQ was had and it was glorious!
Molly got to work planting individual pots of petunias for all the mamas and Corey made some lovely vases for all the flowers that were sure to be picked throughout the day!
There was much merriment
There was laughter
Some water fights
Some mamas day car washing and cleaning
good food to be had
There were yard games
more food
a fire of course
roasted marshmallows
The papas did some much needed work around here
It was perfect...what a blessed mama I am indeed.  My night ended snuggling my baby girl who had a belly ache (hmmm...too many vegan marshmallows one mama has to ask).

P.S. as I was looking through this post I noticed I didn't manage to get a single picture of this mama with her pack (I guess when you are behind the camera most of the time that will happen), so I dug through and here's one that's a bit old, but it works:

Hope you had  a glorious mamas day!

linkng with Amanda

Around the Sun

Last week I celebrated yet another year around the sun.  Funny how sometimes I don't feel any different than I did 20 years ago, and yet so much has happened.  I have become so much...a wife, a mother, a teacher, a friend, a nurse...I could go on but you get the idea.  I didn't really have any plans of making a big deal out of my birthday this year, it's not a special year; 42 that's it.
However I was completely taken back by what a big deal the kiddos were making about it.  Molly made me Birthday tree a week earlier!

How stinkin' sweet is this?  Right by the front door, I'm assuming the plan was anyone who came through the front door could of course drop off presents.  Every time I walked by this little display I smiled.  Of course reminding the kids that gifts are not what is important, but they were so proud of their ideas.  Molly had been saving a lovely birds nest for me and Corey got to work one night in the craffice (no mom aloud in with the sewing machine on...)and presented me with this lovely pillow.

The actual day of my birthday was perfect.  The sun was warm, we spent most of the day with some of our favorite friends at the beach, running, playing and breathing in the air of warm weather.

There were treats of yarn, gardening supplies, a fantastic cookbook and tickets to see my one of my all time favorite bands Wilco (insert giddy squeal here) We've been going to see this band together with my brother and his wife for about 9 or 10 years now!  It is always new and exciting and is something I have come to truly look forward to.  This year the kiddos get to come (they've only seen them a couple times) and as an added bonus the show is in Vermont which means friends and family that we don't see nearly enough!
OK, I could go on for way to long about this exciting trip so I'll just finish here...
 We finished off the day with a super yummy gluten free, dairy free cake complete with singing and candles.
I feel so truly blessed with this family and all the friends we have.