Seizing My Day

Its Sunday!!   Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

Since our week was … well… Extremely EVENTFUL…

I couldn’t resist all the extra pictures!  Enjoy!!

Our week started off with a few inches of snow on Monday

and your Oh so typical

snow penguin with a tasty carrot nose and feet!  =)

seriously… look at MERLIN!! drooling…

Yep… he ate the feet and nose!

day 2 of our week we woke to this…

uh…in Western Washington that is 9 inches past

NO SCHOOL!!

and the beginning of a really cool snow fort!!

built around 9-10 pm!!

rolled mostly by the daddy…

don’t let those cute kids fool ya!!

day 3 … Wednesday…

this is not unheard of in Washington…

but good grief… not typical either!  we had 21 inches by lunch!  =)

I’m not sure who had more fun… the kids or daddy!!

hm…

maybe the kids…

snicker snicker…

ps hubby is 6 feet 1 inches tall… so the fort is/was 5 feet plus plus?!!

7 kids fit in there the next day… probably could have squeezed in a few more?

Anywho… day 4 … we woke to this…

freezing rain… ice covering EVERYTHING…

dangerous… but beautiful!!

I love my cute fence… have I mentioned that lately?

even cooler with freezing rain all over it!

Oh yeah… the **photo scavenger hunt**…  finally! =)

Black and White

and this next one is a terrible shot ….

but check out the layer of ice on the 21 inches of snow!

Black and White x2

those posts half way up are 24 inches I believe…

cool ice layer, eh?  =)

CRAZY week in Western Washington …

actually Olympia was the “eye of the storm”  ** yay us!!**

Color

beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe…

Color again

this was the 3rd freezing rain storm I can remember…

in 41 years… =)  though dangerous … amazingly peaceful…

God never fails to present us with blessings of beauty (and peace) in the mist of a storm.

in our lives… and well… in our world.  =)

A Day in my Life

Every day we walk Merlin and he uses this fire hydrant… every day…

unless of course it is buried under two feet of snow and ice!  =)

sorry Merlin.

I liked this angle too… shiny!  =)

Four

ah… yes… POWER… of which we had none for 48 hours.

We were thankful for candles, the gas fireplace and hot water tank,

the camping stove …and well… the Harry Potter and Hermine wands =)

hours of fun!  Seizing our days in this peaceful blizzard!

Sunset

frankly with all this snow… we didn’t see much of the sun this week…

especially not at the sunset hour!

the “snow and ice storms” have begun to settle down…

but there is a lot of damage in our city from the snow, ice and falling trees

many homes/neighborhoods are still without power

and I hear we are in for some windstorms…next week … YIKES!

Wind with all the weak damaged trees from the snow & ice

That sky seems to be threatening us… don’t ya think?  **shudder**  =)

I do love a good storm… though  it is sad to see the damage after…

yet so peaceful and reassuring to see the community gather around

and help each other out… love one another… ya know?

funny how a storm can bring beauty and peace.  =)

anyway…

I hope your week is a little less eventful than ours is predicted to be!

Blessings~

Jenn

if you are unfamiliar with the Scavenger Hunt… click on the link below and go check it out… Ashley is an amazing photographer!!  and it is fun and inspiring to check out everyone’s interpretations of the weekly prompts!

Howdy Folks ~

I believe this week actually marks my 2nd year of blogging..

interesting.   =)

I started with such enthusiasm back then…

2 years later I have found myself struggling to blog

balancing my time is not my strong suit!

I am hoping to start fresh this year and put my heart back into it!

I miss it.  A LOT!

I loved Ashley Sisk’s Sunday photo Scavenger Hunt

so I will start here.. and WOW… how it has grown!!  =)

My goal is to get back into the grove of sharing my life through this blog…

hoping that my world will connect with others

maybe encourage others

be encouraged by others

inspire

be inspired

you know the drill! =)

That is the part I miss most!

so here we go … I’ll start with the weekly Sunday Scavenger Hunt … Hi Ashley!!  =)

This weeks prompts are:  Winter Wonderland, Frozen, Sweet, Stacked and Hole.

Winter WonderLand

Washington weather is apparently cooperating with this weeks theme

Merlin LOVES the snow

I love watching Merlin in it

I love how it collects on the branches

and our new little fence =)

Frozen

I don’t love how frozen my car is when I get off work at 11:00 pm at night!

my holiday job at the bookstore is almost over (kinda sad)

this week I will be actively looking for work again

we have found the extra little income is very helpful!

Sweet

I was going to post the cookies I baked … but Merlin is just capturing my heart this week!

it melts my heart how cute and sweet Merlin is… =)

doesn’t he look like the sweetest dog ever?

Stacked (and Sweet)

yum.  the end.

Hole

down the Rabbit hole?

doesn’t it make you think of Alice in Wonderland?

ironic  =)

I went out with friends this week to a place called the Iron Rabbit

and thought this coaster was perfect for this prompt!  =)

Alright folks… I have to skip off to work soon…

I will visit a few of y’all later…

I am excited to catch up with some folks I haven’t visited in a long time!!

Blessings~

Jenn

the mostly absent blogger these last few months! =)

if you are not familiar with this really fun photo Scavenger Hunt…

go check it out!

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with time management that is…..oh my stars!

I miss the land o blog…forgive me for being so very NOT present these days

I had issues before I got a temp/part time job… yikes… how will I ever keep up!!??  =)

Here is my last ditch effort to finish the 365 photo challenge (jenn style… 7 pics a week)

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someone put my husband out of his misery…

stupid moles

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cold game of soccer on my birthday in early Dec… =)

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the tree

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snoozy christmas dog

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home schoolin with volcano art

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a winter band concert… with the one in public school

who happens to be the cutest flute player ever…

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ladders & shoulders

decorating the outside tree

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our neighbors decorated one of the street trees first

I loved it so much we did our own =)

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they ended up filling with water

and are now in the land fill… next year we will try to seal them?? =)

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Is that Robin hood?  =)

nope …just my little boy

he made a bow and arrow with daddy

it was a project for his medieval class =)

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it shoots REALLY well!  kuddos daddy!

I think we will wait another year or two before we buy him that

“bee bee gun”  he asked for on his Christmas wish list… =)

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cookies cookies cookies… we love cookies in December ( and jan, feb, mar..etc. etc…) =)

traditional date ball cookies …(only we didn’t use dates this year… I like the dates)

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we went to the local-ish zoo…

for their annual zoo lights

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moon was almost full that night

no rain… perfect!!  cold and beautiful night!

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can you find the moon?

the real moon?

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not bad for a snap and shoot on 57x zoom… ha ha ha…

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gingerbread (kit)  =)

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leaning tower of  tree

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Nana sleeping on the warm lights that fell …

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every year on New Years eve we usually do one of these A, B, C mystery puzzles…

you read a murder mystery, put together two puzzles that don’t look quite like the box cover… usually it includes a small area of one puzzle..then you try to solve the mystery with the pictures from the two puzzles…finally you read the end of the mystery.  anyway… I found this one in early Dec and  bought it with my birthday money!  and then came home and put two more I’d found that I don’t already own on my Christmas wish list =)  I have a collection of these babys now… good times with my little girl (she loves them too!)… I have most of A-F now I think??  This one made me think of The Pioneer Woman … of course!  Wonder if she likes puzzles?? =)  it was her birthday recently…

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my sisters and I have had our picture taken with Santa 3 times in our lives

once every 20 years… since I was 1… =)  this year we cheated a little…

next picture will be when we are in our 60’s… oh my!

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so every Christmas Eve we let the kids open 2 presents

(usually PJ’s and a stuffy)

shortly after the kids started ripping the paper from their new PJ’s…

I noticed Merlin…

Looking at HIS tiny stocking!!   HYSTERICAL!!

He’s SO smart!!

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we started laughing

and he got even more excited!!

he got 4 balls and two bones from that little stocking! ha ha ha

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Christmas morning the kids did their typical thing and got ready to open stockings in front of the tree…while we had coffee… and then there was Merlin again…

** oh the laughter **  poor Merlin!

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the kids let Merlin go first!!  =)

and put the poor dog out of his misery!

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speaking of misery… we got daddy a few things to help

put him out of his “mole” misery!!  =)

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we also got “daddy” Zombie Dice…

he doesn’t love many games … he tolerates them.  which is tragic for me …=)

he discovered this one at a Computer Geek conference he goes to every April

and has been talking Zombie dice since last April…

Now my hubby has his own Zombie dice game …

and we have created a Zombie loving church group … who enjoyed  “eating brains”

and trying not to get shot with a shotgun! ha ha ha … =)

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it really is very innocent… don’t let the box fool ya =)  see…

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we spent a couple days after Christmas in the land of giant raspberries

I mean… in BC visiting the hubs Canadian family…

and riding the raspberry round-a-bout?  =)

sorry I can’t help myself sometimes…

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sometimes I take pictures of things from the car window

so we can zoom in and show Sammy things he can’t otherwise see

it makes him feel a part of the world we so easily take for granted =)

take a look at the size of that Eagles nest..  =)

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over winter break we introduced our kids to one of my favorite movies EVER …

and one of my favorite actors… ever…. for ever and ever … Amen.

oops…carried away…  I heart Johnny D.  *snicker snicker*=)

he’s even handsome and funny as a lego character!

ha ha

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Merlin spent the week after Christmas chewing on his new bones

he got up to get a drink at one point…

and the bone just stayed there in place

stuck to the carpet…

never a dull moment in our house.  ever.

I love my crazy busy funny life.  =)

Two last things.

1. I am SO glad to be done with my take on the 365 photo challenge

2. I am looking forward to catching up with ya all!!

I am off to read some blogs!  =)

Looking forward to catching up with y’all !!

Blessings~

Jenn~

No need to ramble… I’ll just get on with it…

my life in 30 pictures… for Nov2011 =)

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meow… good bye October … hello November =)

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our “home school” Fall view … I love our Fall View!  and I love this shot b/c the window looks like a corner window if you look at it just right… kinda? maybe? no?

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one of my favorite streets in me hometown…  I walked that street a lot in high school … and I worked on that street 2 times in 20 yrs and many life changes inbetween… and now my Canadian hubby works on that street… its “my street” … ya know?  and Look How gorgeous it is in the Fall… *sigh* =)

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here it is again 1/2 through Nov

(my pics are going to be out of order this month) =)

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and there it is now at the end of the month…

after a wind/rain storm… *sniff*

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Lets talk about my hubby…

I think I might have to admit him into a mental ward soon

poor obsessed hubby

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this is becoming a daily routine around here

and nope… he is not trying to start a new fashion trend

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nope… not fashion…. you see…

he’s trying to kill the little bugger who is destroying our yard!!

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looks kinda cool dusted in snow…like ancient writing?… =)

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oh yeah… snow… we had one little dusting of snow

in Novem..bbbrrrrr….

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this is what Novem…bbbbrrrr should look like….

beautiful colors… NO snow… NO rain… =)

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funky clouds in the sky

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we’ve actually had a decent Novem…bbbbrrrr…

for the Pacific Northwest =)

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one morning I woke up to funky spider webs EVERYWHERE

how do they do that over night??  my entire back yard was covered in these mass web creations… and long strands from the fence to the bush… bush to fence… fence to bush… CRAZY!

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CRAZY… EVERYWHERE I tell you…must have been thousands of the creepy little critters… is all I can figure… **shudder**  ((double shudder))

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one morning there was a thick fog…

when the sun was rising…

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beams of light were peeking out from behind the fog

and the houses

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makes a girl stand in awe … you know?

sunrise

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sunset   =)

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beautiful Fall colors

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gingerbread pancakes … what more can a girl ask for?  =)

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I know ~ I KNOW ~ Yum right?!  =)

I need to perfect the recipe before I share

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but round 1 … really was delicious!!

soon… OK?… I will share it soon… I hope…

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you see…

I started working Nov 3rd?   Proud bookseller in the bookstore…=) it really is a good thing… my daughter is in heaven knowing her mommy is surrounded by books she can access at a discount now… ha ha ha… I am working evenings and weekends… so I can stay home and home school my little man… and bring in a little extra… we NEED it… =) Now… Life is busier… crazier… more insane… less time for sleep & housework…. and well you know… my lil ole blog!  but I love it… I love you all … I can’t quit… so I forge on… ONCE a month… *yipes* its not enough… I WILL find a balance!!  =)

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the monkeys are handling my absence… 25 plus hours a week…

pretty well… they whine a little… =)

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the animals… not so much…(look at Merlin trying to lay with the kitty)

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ok… fine… the cat doesn’t care…

she’s just mad that the weather is cold & wet…

she’s a big fat baby when it comes to winter weather!  =)

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MERLIN!!  how embarrassing!  ha ha ha…

Merlin has been a bit more naughty since I started working…

he’s chewing things again while we are gone…

digging things out of bags, bins, off tables…etc… and CHEWING them!

we thought we were done with the chewing thing… little bugger!!  *ugh*

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hm… What else??

oh yeah… THE protesters… they are all part of this giant tent city that has taken over the Capital Lake Park… calling it “Occupy Olympia” or something like that… *ugh*… I will be nice and NOT SAY ANOTHER WORD….its just better that way…

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speaking of turkeys =)

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!!

time with friends and loved ones!

anyone else tired of Turkeys??

I mean Turkey?   =)

gobble gobble!

I have many blessings in my life and much to be Thankful for!!

Much much to be Thankful for.  =)

Blessings~ to you and yours ~

Jenn

**yikes tomorrow is Dec 1st and I have done NOTHING to prepare for the beautiful and fast approaching Christmas season!!**   Is it just me… or are some of y’all a little behind this year too??  (someone please say yes!!)….. snicker snicker!

October was a bit odd this year… usually by October my life is in Fall routine and I am going with the flow… but not this October…I should have known it was going to be an odd month … when my daughter started wearing her pillow on her head =)

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Here is my Odd Month at a semi-QUICK glance… 365 photo style…

yep I know… quick is very unlike me … if I succeed! =)

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Sammy and I did some baking together

(that isn’t too weird for us)

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Gluten Free banana bread

(I will type this recipe out for y’all one day!)

A good gluten free version.. not too gritty.. just moist enough… =)

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isn’t this steamy picture kinda dreamy? =)

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home made cranberry sauce for Canadian Thanksgiving on Oct 10th

Easy sneezy:  1 cup Apple Cider, 1 tbsp Vanilla, 1 Cup Sugar, 1 bag o berries… boil… reduce heat and simmer your steamy pot til the berries break down to your liking… puree a bit for thicker sauce… sweeten it more or less… Tasty!  eat on turkey…eat on bagels… eat on cheesecake… eat by itself!!  YUM!

(this doesn’t count as talking I was sharing a recipe!~!)  =)

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Amazing Spicy Pumpkin Syrup

www.thepioneerwoman.com

Click on the tasty kitchen ~ search ~ as titled above.  =)

You WON’T regret it!!!

and you will want some when you make these!!

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes = a little bit of bliss!

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you didn’t think I wouldn’t tell you HOW did you?

1 egg, 1/3 cup Apple Cider, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon,  1/4 cup pumpkin… whisk… add gluten free bisquick (about 1/3 cup give or take) til it is kinda thick but still pours… I find GF pancakes hard to flip… thicker SMALLER pancakes flip easier for me in my Cast Iron pan… with a little extra oil… this amount serves two happy kids or one happy grown up!

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Note … smaller pancakes… =)  can’t you just smell em cookin?

I am obsessed with pancakes right now… Cider, pumpkin, gingerbread…

SO AMAZING!  all my own creations!  =)  I should write a pancake cookbook!

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hubby on the roof = ODD.

he doesn’t do handy work often~

its not his thing …

told ya Weird month…

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mini submarine just crusin down the highway…

not somethin we see every day…

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Abby at a book signing… this kid LOVES to read folks…

she wants to be an Author one day…

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Rick Riordan ~ Author of The Percy Jackson series = )

more recently The Heroes of Olympus series

Our city was 1 of 7 on this mini tour!!

ODD we got chosen over a bigger city like Seattle or Portland… =)

Exciting times for my little reader!

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Check out these funky fall clouds in the sky

we have had some weird clouds/skies this Fall!

I have a few funky Nov. sky pics too!

speaking of skies…

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Crazy sparkle sparkle falling from the sky!!

wish I had my camera ready when the sparkles first flew into the sky!

we were packing up to leave (darn it!!)

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You see… we were in Seattle

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at  the last home game of the Sounders

in the ‘regular season’

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my little soccer players’ team went as a group…$10 tickets!!

the soccer girls and all their families… all 60 of us… fun time!!

(the soccer families don’t know I have a blog yet… no group pics… I don’t post pics of folks w/out permission!)  =)

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last 10 minutes are always the most exciting!

The Sounders scored in the last 3 minutes & won…

sending them into the playoffs… (I think)   =)

*just like my little girls soccer team**   (odd)

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This little brother is SO OVER Soccer!

he’s been attending sisters soccer games for 9 months straight…

(well 5 years + 9 months each year …what a trooper!!)

Abby plays in a Rec league…  but this year was a bit ODD…

Her team were undefeated in the regular season!!

so they had a special play off  b/c there were two groups in the local league this year…odd… they took the 2nd place title in that tournament… their first loss in the season! =)

AND

Abby’s team played in a tournament … 4 games later they took

The District Championship!!

which means we go on to play Regionals and maybe State??

(its going to be a LONG FALL… soccer’s going to be 10-11 months this year)

One loss the whole season … with the two extra tournaments!!

**what a great season**  SO MUCH SOCCER and we are not done yet…

Better stock up on more of this

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YUM… egg nog anyone?  more importantly coffee anyone? =)

we had an odd little visitor this month too…

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I definitely needed coffee after this guy visited

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he was a pesky little stick stealer =)

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a pesky little ball taker  =)

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a pesky little shadow when Merlin barks at the folks passing by =)

AKA a pesky little mail man barker

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pesky little bugger sitting right in front of Mr. Super Sniffer

whilst he sniffs out the nearest cat, squirrel, deer, raccoon to chase/bark at…

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but boy he sure was CUTE…

and he made my blurry girl a happy girl that day!

puppy sitting is fun b/c you get to send him home at the end of the day!

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speaking of weird/odd…

this guy steals my camera and takes odd pictures of himself

ALL… THE …TIME !

he deserves a post all to his~self!  *soon* very soon*

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another crazy cloud day…

doesn’t this one remind you of dementors

you know … in Harry Potter… ????

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speaking of Harry Potter… doesn’t this little lego guy look just like him!!?! odd.

For Halloween this year we had a “Halloween Hide-In”… odd I know.

We introduced our children to Harry Potter… fun times!

dark house, glow sticks, good snacks, sugary treats and a movie…

PERFECT Quiet Warm Halloween!

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We packed up our Halloween stuff last week…

and our kitty has been missing ever since…

any ideas where she might be? =)

ha ha ha ha ha…

thats NOT funny!

ok ok …

I think its time to sign off… and come see what y’all are up to these days…

I hope my bad blog habits aren’t scaring you all away completely…

I miss this odd land when I can’t seem to find the time to visit!!

Hope you all are having a Happy Fall!!

Blessings~

Jenn

the odd one.

Yum… right? =)   256/365

even my very picky eaters will eat these little babys!

they aren’t  my  kids “favorite” meal… but they eat em!

here is what you need    257/365

a couple cloves of garlic (I puree it on that fun little garlic plate)

a few fresh basil leaves

dried Italian herbs (for lack of fresh ones in my pretend garden)

1 lb of ground turkey

1/2 cup (or one cup) of fresh Parmesan (a MUST in my house …YUM)

oh.. and one egg white (or the whole thing…whose watching!?!)

I love sauteed onions too… but I was out!

puree garlic, chop basil really really really small, whip it up with the egg white & dried herbs (oregano is my fav) & a little salt and pepper for fun…

then put the Parmesan in your hand like so…

and rub your hands together over the bowl to make a finer grind…

then mix in the ground turkey and get your hands really really groody!

and then form little burgers with the meat mix 

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because my littles eat so very little…

I freeze a few little ones for another day

then fry up what you need for the night in your mini cast iron pan!

they are really savory by themselves…

or you can put BBQ sauce on them, or Thai peanut sauce (YUM)

or cheese… garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, or whatever… =)

We made mini burgers b/c we found mini burger thins…

of course I ate mine without a bun b/c of the whole gluten free thing…

Either way… Simple & easy to make and enjoy!!

OK…

I am going to run through the rest of my September 365 photos…

I realize in my last pathetic post (it really was horribly written …sigh!)  anyway… my 365 photos are off by 2 … meaning I tried to post 2 weeks of pics… but somehow added 2 extras?!!  ha ha… rather than post by weeks … I need 18 photos in this post to put me at the end of Sept…SOOOO behind! *sigh*

I guess I will do 2 posts next week with 15 pics each to catch up Oct?  =)

here goes…

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effective sundial don’t you think?  ha ha ha …

5:00 pm 2nd week of Sept.

not the first time we went to see how it worked and it was shaded!!

anyway… we went back the following day…at 3:30 pm

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Hello??  It must be ornamental?!!  ha ha ha…

I think they put it in to line up with the Capital??

alas… it was fun to see how it should work!

moving on…

Have you ever had a “mini” butterfinger blizzard with french fries dipped in it?

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YUM… try it… you’ll like it!!  sweet and salty!

Have you ever  eaten Coconut M&M’s?

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I bought them this Fall to try…

they are ok… I won’t buy them often… =)

just going to keep jumping subjects here…

Sammy and Abby had a few Tennis lessons this September…

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first second Tennis lesson… nice swing, eh?!

(bad mommy forgetting my camera the 1st lesson!)  ha ha ha…

Sammy played great for a kid with low vision… though it won’t come easy when we aren’t throwing the ball directly to him…  =(

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and my sweet soccer girl Abby… well.. she took to it like a Pro!!

I did not get a great shot of her that day… anyway…

it looks like she has some sport talentS this kid!!

makes me proud since neither hubby nor I were talented that way! ha ha! =)

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Abby celebrated her 11th birthday… how did my little baby grow up SO fast?!

ah…. she is now a young lady in middle school… *gulp*

I love my sweet, smart, funny, talented little lady… she has become an amazing little person with a heart of gold… I am proud of her in so many ways!!  gush gush gush… I won’t go on… might flood my laptop if I do! =)

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we gave her a wee camera for her birthday…

a little Cannon snap and shoot

since she’s been asking for one a few years now!

I have been holding out… b/c where on earth am I going to download all HER pictures??  I have enough picture downloading issues of my OWN!!  ha ha…

*cough, cough*

Soooooo

Long story… we don’t need to get into to much… but our sweet little soccer player is on a new team this Fall… of which the hubby is assisting the new coach …verses being the head coach (sadly… I admit I am glad about that!!) anyway… it was sad to see the old team die out… but… the new team is shaping up to be a good thing!  No more Cheetahs =( … now she is plays on a team called the Tsunamis… =) not a great pic but here she is in the new uniform…. on the field.

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no more yellow uniforms… that is nice too! We like blue better!  ha ha!

Abby even scored a goal during her first game on the new team!

good first impressions!  he he he…

we have had to do a little traveling this Fall ~ugh~ hate that part!

but…

in late September we traveled to the beach for a game…

y’all know I love da beach!

So … the last of my LONG September 365 catch up pics were at the beach!

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Cool …crazy waves …I love how the ocean always reminds me of how powerful and amazing God is… I always stand in Awe of Him at the beach!

oh… and it was not on the Oregon coast… surprised?

The soccer game was in Washington….( not my favorite beach) oh well  =)

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the kids really wanted to get out on this tree

they played chicken with the waves to get out there!  =)

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and

I got another lovely picture of my kidlings at the beach in 2011

and I love this one of my little buddy too…

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and for my last two pics of September

we can NOT forget this little dude

he rides in the car with us every where we go

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he’s getting a little smarter and more mature with age!

bwa ha ha ha ha…

are you bored out of your mind yet?

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**Yawn**

Thanks for staying to the bitter end!!

Whew!

My 365 day photo challenge is caught up to September!

I will try really hard to post twice in the next week…

with 15 pics each post… for the 30 days in our lives in October…

I have some fun Fall Color pics for the next couple rounds…

and pancakes…

I made A LOT of  pancakes in Oct!

Yummy flavored pancakes!

Oh how I love Fall!  I often call it my favorite season =) !

Alrighty good then… enough about me…

How about you??  Do you have a favorite season?

Jenn

now to come see what y’all are up to…

I am still failing in that dept. too!! =)

Blessings~

Hi folks!!

I hope y’all don’t have a heart attack to see me back in the bloggy world?!!

oh dear… I am so so so behind!  =)

I didn’t mean to take a long break from the old blog

its just…. well… time management is not exactly a strength of mine

Let me splain Lucy   =)

It all started just before Labor day weekend…

we had Rock delivered… just before Labor Day 239/365

(I wonder if I took enough pics for my 365 day challenge?  I take pics every week… but they are in desperate need of sorting and editing!!)

5 cubic yards of rock  … oh my!!

the work began  240/365

transforming our yard from this 242/365

(long story… the neighbor built a beautiful fence… a little high and the rock drain was 6 inches from the fence… leaving their landscaping that is really our 6 inches of property…anyway it was  exposed under said fence… the area needed some help after the fence went in!!  a year later… )

243/365

Better, eh??!  =)

Lets just say Labor Day “week” was full of hard Labor…

my son even humored me and brought his old dump truck out of retirement

so he could help us haul.. rocks, clippings, weeds &  grass sod we dug up

244/365

we worked hard that week…

so we would appreciate the full JOY of resting on  Labor Day…

well…ok… we had 5 guests in our house that weekend…

so resting we did not…

245/365

Family visited so we played… and hunted geocaches…

ate gluten free peanut butter “breakfast” cookies

246/365

I’ll share some recipes soon… I’ve been baking lately…

Autumn rain will do that to a girl…

then… The Day before School started we played hard

to keep little nervous minds off of MIDDLE SCHOOL…(ack!)

we watched the sun rise  246/365

we went downtown to see Lady Washington sail away

after the boat show weekend (that we didn’t attend…ggrr…rocky weekend)

247/365

ain’t Lady Washington smaller than you’d think?

(she was in Pirates of the Caribbean you know!)

we didn’t wait around to see her sail… she took too long! ha ha…

instead we played with a River Otter in Capital Lake

he really was playing WITH us…. it was fun!!

he came out of the water… 248/365

and right up to the kids….

like… 10 feet from them!!

crazy!  Abby took this pic… =)

Twas a fun day that day before school

we played Snort… ate donuts…played Tennis… etc.etc.etc.

and I succeeded with my 365 challenge that week/day!  =)   249/365

I kept my little girl busy the WHOLE day

We played all day…  I will spare you the details

eventually the sun set  250/365

it was a wonderful day before MIDDLE school started!  (sob, sob) =)

251/365 Then it happened …

My girl became a 6th grader  (sniff)

this pic was taken after school… she was too nervous before! =)

apparently starting middle school wasn’t as scary as she imagined

and let us not forget my home schoolin 3rd grader!!

252/365

the start of home school always ROCKS my world A.LOT!. in Sept!

***Shall we take a Merlin intermission first?***

253/365 Lets not forget my Crazy Dog…

he is always up to his regular mischief!!  eating Toilet paper…

or trying to eat dead chipmunks the cat left behind

*ugh*   254/365

see the tail hanging out there… (ewww!)

Hoses are a wonderful thing…

when your dog hates water/the hose!!

*not sure how to move on after that… *shudder*…

OH…

speaking of dogs

I bought this hysterical dog cupcake thing

as an “after the first day of school treat” for my nervous middle school kid

255/365

who knew?  dog cake… ha ha ha

Abby decided then and there she wanted me to make them for her 11th birthday party that was approaching…  (lets just say we compromised…by the time her birthday came)

anyway…I was about to talk about Home School Curriculum…skip way ahead if you don’t or will never home school… Trust me!!  =)

I spent A LOT of time organizing curriculum in September!

not exactly 365 quality pics here folks… but it IS my real life !

(I think I won’t include these in my WAY behind 365 day photos!)

I use a lot of Evan Moor (Moore?) workbooks  and enlarge them on the photocopier for my little man with Low Vision…

( for anyone who doesnot know… my little man Sammy has 20/200  vision ~ that is not correctable)…  that is the main reason I love workbook style teaching with him!

I love  Teacher Created Resources and Creative Teaching Press too…

These companies combine well rounded Grammar & Reading with Social Studies, History, Science, Math, Geography … its a beautiful thing!

Teacher Created Resources

Evan Moore

Fiction and  Non Fiction Reading &  Read and Understand

Creative Teaching Press ~ Grammar Minutes

love the Math Minutes too

(we are finishing second grade grammar we overlooked last year)

3rd grade  is the first year I didn’t order too little or too much!! =)

SO yeah… Workbook style learning combined with readers, hands on art, science experiments, field trips …etc. etc.  works well for my low vision kid!  I am glad Sammy likes workbooks!  there are  so many subjects to explore with workbooks from these three companies alone!!!  =)

I use Evan Moore, Teacher Created Resources and Creative Teaching Press workbooks for Spelling, Vocabulary, Science, Reading/Comprehension, Science, Math warm ups, Grammar, History, Geography … etc. etc. etc.  They have too much to choose from!  Love love love them!!

Oh and how could I forget the Drops in a Bucket Grammar??

they have Drops in a Bucket Math too… not visually friendly for Sammy

(sorry about the sideways pics!) edit button is not cooperating!

Combined with reading books and art or science projects … the workbooks create  a very well rounded education plan.. I make “units” out of it all … for instance we are doing a unit on Explorers…  learning about early ships, famous explorers, geography/land & sea explored, Kings & Castles, Vikings, Pirates… all the places, people and things that were apart of that era… the unit ends up covering history, a little science, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, history and sometimes even math!  =)

*please note my chat style of blogging does not reflect proper grammar, writing, etc.etc.**  its how I rebel against such things… =)

The Readers we are LOVING this year … are these Usborne Early Readers!!  it is like they were designed to go with the workbooks!!  for *grades 1-4*

Love love love!!  Such fun subjects…

well… We think so anyway…

and this is only half of the books we are going to use for Fall/Winter…

Ships, Pirates, Vikings, Explorers, Castles, Knights, Cowboys..

Romans, Aztecs, Egyptians, Vikings…

never mind the animal and science based ones… Volcanoes, Weather, Penguins, Birds, Mammals, Frogs, etc.etc.etc….so much to choose from!  =)

Seriously Sammy is SO excited reading through all these!

I LOVE it!!  he is not waiting for the “units” to begin!  Crazy!

The Castles, Knights and Pirates are my/our favorite so far! =)

and there’s more

(these are not Usborne books)

there is  more…

The list is endless…

Gso many fun people, places and things we will explore in 3rd grade…

as you can see… I’ve been very distracted… from my blog…

it’s all making sense now isn’t it??  ha ha ha  =)

I haven’t even told you about Math yet!!

We are LOVING the Teaching Textbooks Math program…

Sammy loves it & I don’t do Math…so this is a Fabulous MUST for me!!

the DVD’s do all the introductory teaching for me *wink*

Teaching Text books are fun, interactive, colorful, and entertaining!  =)

Sammy enjoys following up on the lesson in the workbook too!?!  Ha. Love it.

b/c they include pictures from the DVD lesson… clever!!

**Yawn**

are y’all bored yet….

I’ll stop here… even though I didn’t tell you about Abby’s Birthday, Soccer, Sounders games, Learning Tennis, our ever growing home maintenance list, painting dilemmas, looking for a job (**Sigh**), the endless piles of laundry, dishes (still no dishwasher), etc.etc.etc. …. oh… and all the yummy baking I have been doing!!  *sheesh*

HOW do you all do it??!!

I love blogging… I miss it when I am not here…but I can NOT for the life of me… manage my time enough to be a faithful blogger!  =)

(one blog at a time… right??… ha ha ha)

I really miss keeping up with you all…  now that routine is settling in (until I get a job and throw a curve ball into my routine!)… I am hopeful I can fit blogging back into my life again!!

Forgive me for the Giant blogging break??

Though my daughter has a couple soccer games this weekend… we are laying lower than we have in a long while this weekend… maybe I will find time to read blogs!!  Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here… so I can come visit you first!!  =)

**Can I come back and play again??!!   =) **

Blessings~

Jenn

Inspired by Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes …

the one in The Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook

if y’all don’t know the Pioneer Woman…

You must go meet her… must… she is funny …

an amazing cook and photographer!  =)  just sayin…

So I LOVE the gluten version of these pancakes… *sigh*

In January when I finally took the Gluten Free plunge (a medically necessary plunge…*sigh*  but Sooooo Worth it! )… I admit… I was sad that I would never get to eat these pancakes again… among other gluten filled goodies… oh never mind…

Ha!

well… as it turns out…

I think I can… I think I can… make GF Foods yummy! =)

anyway…

Here is my gluten free version :

(for now that is… I am still hoping to try it with coconut flour too!)

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp Vanilla

1 egg white

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup GF Bisquick

start by whisking the egg white (oops a little yoke got in)

with vanilla and sugar…

add the melted butter

then

in a separate bowl

whisk the sour cream, GF Bisquick and cinnamon…

it will be light and fluffy and sticky

whisk the liquid mix with the flour sour cream mix…

use a bigger bowl than I did… this step is a tiny bit humorous!

er ….sloppy… =)

I actually whisk with a hand held pastry blender (LOVE that thing!)

Ready to cook!

the batter is thick so it doesn’t really pour into the pan

you have to scoop it and spread it around a bit with the spoon

and they are not easy to flip either!

I flipped that one too early!

cook them on low heat

I use my cast iron pan, a little canola oil and a metal pancake flipper! =)

the metal pancake flipper makes a huge difference!!

and let them cook until the turner slips under it easily

you’ll understand after you try to flip the first couple!

(snicker snicker)

better… =)

this recipe makes about 7 small to medium pancakes

enough for two kids… or me…  ha ha ha…

I like them with applesauce

or Nutella!!  mmmmm….

That’s All Folks!!

OH… Gluten Free Bisquick is hidden on the bottom shelf… in the pancake and or baking section… at Fred Meyer, Haggan Top Foods and Safeway.

I have made the scone recipe from the box too… modified of course…definitely my favorite Gluten Free Pancake mix… with or without the sour cream!  =)

Enjoy!!

Blessings~

Jenn

PS

Please don’t worry about me… posting twice in one week… =)

I’m fine!!  Really… I am!!  ha ha ha…

I know this isn’t a shocker to y’all…

if you have been to my blog before

you likely know I am Blissfully In Love with the beach…

especially Oregon and Hawaii beaches…

but we can’t afford Hawaii every year…

anyway… on to the Sunday Scavenger Hunt in pictures… Beach Style..=)

Old  ~ Scared of Water Dog (last year)

notice the leash… we had to DRAG Merlin into the water last year

and he RAN out of it as fast as he could…ha ha ha

*he’s even afraid of the hose …STILL…**

232/365 New ~ Confident Water Dog (this year)

This year he went in the water solo… NO leash!!

he was a bit afraid at first …however…..

by the end of the day he was happily walkin in water up to his tummy! =)

Way to tackle your fears Merlin!!   *wink*

One more picture…

just so you really get the idea…

look at the FEAR in his face

after we drug him through the water!

ha ha ha ha ha… (poor Merlin) …

233/365 Sun

234/365 Night Photography (0ne)

does it get any better than that??  =)

235/365 (two)

236/365 (three)

** it was really really hard to pick one of my beach pics for each category in this post** and  speaking of cheating…

237/365 Cheesy (er… eggy?)

its all dairy right?  ha ha ha …

sorry got nothing in this category!!

but I did find this funny sculpture of chickens and eggs…

I have been to Cannon Beach a thousand times

and never saw this before… how could I miss it??!

want to see the whole thing?

which came first the chicken or the egg???

(I always tell my kids the chicken of course, the Bible says God made the Animals… not the eggs!)  =)

238/365 Music

the sound of the Ocean waves breaking on the shore…

ah… Music to my ears…

and the sound of my children enjoying the ocean…

A Master Piece!!  =)

Everyone in our wee little family LOVES the beach…

Pure Bliss to be at the beach….

Even Merlin is in Heaven at the beach!!

It will be a LONG Autumn/Winter without the beach….

*sigh*

Do y’all have a peaceful, happy place like that??

Have I asked you that already??  =)

I better go and have another cup of coffee…

Blessings~

Jenn

**anyone else in awe that we have made it to 238 out of 365 days?? (even if I am cheating by doing weekly instead of daily… I still can’t believe it!)  maybe next year I will manage the daily pic??!  **  crazy!!!

**oh… and for those of you who might have wanted the Gluten free Sour Cream Pancake recipe… I am typing it RIGHT NOW… won’t get up from my chair til it is done… **dang** broken promise… I hate that!!  sorry!!**

now go and enjoy others takes on these fun photography links!

and

Summer mornings are slipping away… sniff…

We have had a lovely week…

Monday was our anniversary *13 years!!* …

we went geocaching with the kids that day…

and came home without finding a single one!! *sigh*

the next day was my mans birthday

we celebrated by going Paddle boarding!!  *SO. Much. FUN!*

no pics.. Tragic!!  we didn’t want to drop a camera in the water!

anyway… now that we have been to a lesson we can rent boards..

which we intend to do before the summer is out (yikes!)

maybe we will get pics next time?!!

Have you ever been or seen Paddle boarding?  What a hoot!!

anyway… because it was a lovely week… and I love summer…

and I love extra time on summer mornings to make special breakfasts

sometimes for my kids and sometimes for me…

this week I was Inspired by PW’s Sour Cream Pancakes in her cook book

I had to make my own Gluten Free version this week

they turned out fabulous!!

(I love P-dub’s sour cream pancakes… I ate em before I went G~Free…sigh)

225/365

anyway… they were yummy…

I promise… I WILL post the recipe ..this week…

after I go to the beach again… ok?!!  =)

I am rambling today!!

… on with the Sunday Scavenger Hunt…

226/365 Geometry 1 (my little girls favorite)

triangle?

227/365 Geometry 2

( I was going to use before Abby fell in love with the other one)

triangle?!

SO this week we finally did something bold… (ha ha)

Our kids are 10 and 9… and we have never had a zoo membership…

We signed… on the dotted line… 228/365

we had to… Abby was desperate!!

it was all because of the babies     229/365

my little animal loving girl HAD to see these babies…

I say these b/c there are two… only one pictured for y’all…

b/c it was my favorite!!

they were so small… for 2 mo. old clouded leopard cubs…

one day they will grow up to be big like this guy

*Brush strokes*   230/365 (doesn’t he look like a painting?)  I cheat.  I know.

powerful beast… yet so playful…

like this guy… kinda…   231/365

powerful … yet playful… crazy … he is 3000 lbs… yikes!

since I am totally in the mood for cheating…

My *Collage* ... of animals… ?… =)

ok.. ok… I will quit…

I am such a cheater… I can’t help it…always cheating… sheesh!

I was going to go take a photo of a really cool bench downtown for the collage prompt…it has a collage of photographs… it sits right outside a photo shop… I mean a literal photo store… ha ha… anyway… I never made it down there…so my zoo animals are helping me make my collage…

oh… and one more…

Hanging by a Thread

sleepy little baby seahorse!

he could hardly hang on…

I love animals… almost as much as my daughter does (wink) … We had a  Perfectly Fabulous day at the zoo today… it was Sunny… we got there early.. to beat some of the crowd… and the animals were all frisky, playful, active and hysterical!  =)  It was wonderful!  …Tomorrow… We are headed to the beach … trying to soak up every last minute of summer …

how about you… what are you doing with your last days of summer? OR…  is summer over where y’all are?  I can’t imagine school starting in Aug… my sympathies to those of you who had to start school already!!

I will be around to see your pics later in the week~pinky swear!

The beach is callin…wink!

Blessings!

Jenn

and