Not Ready to Say Goodbye

Summer… come back… =)

this has been one of the “fullest” summers I think we have ever had!!

busy busy busy!

Yet ~ full of fun ~ and I am plum tuckered out! just plain tired! =)

and~  looking forward to routine (a little)

but man alive…  I hate to say goodbye to summer **sigh**!

so anyway…

here is another busy fun summer week SHS style =)

weekly prompts were:

Small, Motion, Rule of thirds, Side Profile and School

speaking of saying goodbye…

we did this Small gesture to say goodbye to a friend going off to college! =)

Small

the whole family have a great sense of humor… so instead of removing them… they loaded his truck on to the trailer and hauled it across the USA to take him to college!  our little small gesture became a giant adventure as they trailed our post it notes across the USA … there were only 3 left on the truck by the end of their long trip… they posted pics on facebook all the way… something we thought would bring a smile to their faces in the morning probably ended up bringing smiles to just about every body who saw the truck being pulled down the highway with a couple packs of post its on it!!  ha ha ha… we wrote funny little goodbye notes on some of them!  too funny!

Motion

“daddy” got new light sabers for his birthday last week…

this has been an annual summer event in our house the last few years

light saber fighting in the back yard at dusk… Love!! =)

here is the other kid having a go at daddy too!

I used an edit feature to “boost” them a bit… er… maybe too much!  to get the sabers to really brighten up … the bodies look a bit bright too! ha ha!  its hard to capture motion… never mind in the dark! esp. with my little snap and shoot! sheesh!   =)  anyway… its what I decided on for my motion shots b/c they have sentimental summer memories behind them! =)

Rule of Thirds

not sure if I am getting this right… ??  =)  anyway… it was fun to play with the hose… I intended on using the hose shot/s for motion… but when the light sabers came out… well… I switched gears… does this pass?? (honestly?!!)

here is one more that I thought might fit the bill … maybe?

thirsty anyone? =)  I love watering my plants and or playing with the  hose in the summer… its a calm …peaceful thing…  to stand out in the sunny yard with the birds chirpin and the butterflies and bees flyin about… ya know?… anyway… does this one cover the Rule of Thirds?  ya think?

moving on…

Side Profile


so our little city has this fun annual event called Sand in the City … different businesses gather teams of peeps to create sand sculptures… craft, education & food vendors come out… dancers & singers hit the stage… etc. etc.  it is a fun fundraiser for the local Childrens Hands On Museum… fun stuff baby… we always go on Sunday b/c the sculptures are done and we get to see them completed!… I couldda, shouldda, wouldda used all sand sculpture pics for this post b/c they are all so cool!…  if only they had fit the prompts! ha ha! =)  anyway… this is  a captivating side profile of a really giant dragon… it was cool… he wrapped all around the square… it was long and detailed and fun… love the knight too! =)

School

So… some of you have seen this before… we are nearly done… this School project has lasted 2 1/2 years I think?!! =)  I got the idea from a Family Fun Magazine article and enhanced it a bit… by making a giant map to put them on!  =)  we have collected from friends, family, family of friends, blog friends, facebook friends, etc… and studied facts, landmarks etc.  from each state along the way!   We only need 6 more states and we can finally focus on Canada!!  ha ha!  =)  anyone know any one in Iowa, Mississippi, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey or West Virginia??  =)  Maine is pending right now!  It is/was great fun and I would encourage any teachers or home schoolin mamas to do it!! the kids love it! =)

ha!  one more… frog and toad …er… just frog in this one… off to school! =)

ok peeps… that is all she wrote… we have one more week before school starts out here in the Pacific North West… and we intend on making the most of it… seizing every moment of summer fun we have left!!

Hope y’all have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!!

Blessings~

Jenn

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Sunny August Days Are almost gone… *sigh* =)

I’m humbly apologizing with Ashley this week… =)  I  posted with SHS last week and then promptly went to the beach (oh wait… Ashley didn’t do that)… It was the “not” visiting anyone’s blog after joining the fun part… *ugh*… I had good intentions of browsing before our trip to the beach… but the laundry…dishes…packing…shopping…etc. sucked up all my time!  oops!  this week I am of course joining in late…but I will visit peeps!  I love seeing everyone’s take on the prompts and catching up with y’all!

so… my week at a glance.. SHS style… as always!

(I wonder if I will ever be a regular blogger again?)… *sigh*… =)

Forest

this little maple is growing next to our foundation… it planted itself from a seedling in the “forest” behind our house… ok…. so it is really a green belt… fine … a trail… but… it has forest trees …that scare me on stormy days when the wind blows!! =)  anywho… the plan is to move the little maple when it goes dormant for the winter… see if we can’t get it to grow a little closer to our  greenbelt …aka .. our “forest”… =)

Morning Light


this… this is my most favorite~est place in the whole wide world… (yes I know most favorite~est is not real grammar!)…  I LOVE to see the morning light on the beach… esp. Cannon Beach!… I wish I lived nearer to Cannon Beach OR… and that it was sunny there 24/7 …365 days… ha ha! =)

actually a few moments after I took this shot… a bigger dog was chasing our medium sized Merlin… and Merlin sought cover by running behind me… but the bigger dog in full speed took out my legs and knocked me over like a bowling pin… yikes! .. nearly a week later I am still nursing a huge bruise on my hiney and a sprained shoulder!… made for an interesting trip to the beach… sleeping isn’t easy with a sprained shoulder!  esp. not while camping! it was totally Merlin’s fault… the dog owners felt bad… alas… this too shall pass!  and I have this image of myself looking like a bowling pin forever stuck in my head! I am sure it was a funny sight for others on the beach! =)

even if it it did hurt… one always has to laugh… =)

Coffee/Tea

Ah… summer morning coffee, in a special mug painted on a ladies night out (fun memory)… with a good book… kids still sleeping at 9:30-10 am… priceless…(if only the construction guys building a house 4 doors down could stop hammering!!) ha ha!!  =)

Newspaper

we don’t get the newspaper around here (internet is too easy and free!)… but I was looking for an old photo of Abby and a horse in my boxes of unorganized, severely neglected photos and came across this newspaper clipping … Abby, Sammy and I were looking at a funny exhibit at “daddy’s work” and the newspaper had been there that day… snapped a picture of little Abby touching the “creepy people”… ha ha!  =)  anyway… Abby and I got to ride horses this week =) fun fun… so I was telling her about when she first fell in love with horses… we lived down the road from a horse… I didn’t find the pic I wanted of her with the horse… but that cute one with the funny face was taken seconds after the one with the horse! Oh well… I found a newspaper for the prompt this week while looking! ha!! speaking of Abby…look how little and cute she was! ha ha…  she is about to turn 12… ack… only one more year left and she will be a teenager! yikes!  they grow up so fast! =)

Touch

**how cool is this… LOVE!??**  idea stolen though.. not our idea! =)

so on our 14th wedding anniversary… we had this gorgeous sunset on Cannon Beach…*swoon* =)  We go to Cannon beach with the kids every year on our anniversary and hubby’s birthday is the following day as well…(next year we might sneak away alone!! ha!)…anyway… on our anniversary evening… we were trying to recreate a fun pic that we saw on a google plus post my hubby found… anyway… good family fun to try to “touch/hold” the sun and much harder than it looks to try to snap a pic into the sun and get the person’s arms/hands “just right”… here are a few of our attempts!  the only one that really turned out was of me… hubby snapped it!! way to go hubby!  =)


daddy & Abby – snapped by me ~ oh these are all cell pics too… forgot the real camera!!  and what is up with that extra dot & redish spot? 😉


I REALLY love this one =) My man and my girl… (Sammy didn’t want to touch the sun… apparently its too hot)… ha ha! =)


*hubby’s pic of me* he was the closest to making it look realistic… *wish I had sucked in my tummy a bit more!* ha ha ha

alrightygoodthen…

Hope you all had sunny skies this week and are enjoying every last drop of summer before Fall sets in… I love, love, love Fall…

but I also hate to say good bye to summer and the beach…

oh how I hate to say goodbye to the beach!! =)


How about you?  are you sad to see Summer come to an end …

or are you sending it off with a smile and a wave… =)

Blessings~ until next week!

Jenn

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Seizing every Summer day! ~ SSH style =)

Summer has been keeping me on my toes…

I get way too busy dizzy busy!

we are having fun… planning fun things and engaging in fun things…

youth group, tennis, kung fu, camping, geocaching, weddings, friends, family,  church, BBQ’s, hikes, walks, the beach, board game nights,  house full more than not, sleepovers, crafts, climbing trees, etc… etc…. so much fun to be had in summer!  =)

All good self inflicted Busyness…although lately I feel so busy there is no down time and my head feels dizzy!  ha ha!!   but .. oh so worth every busy moment!

I guess one could say  this summer we are …

Successfully Seizing our Ssummer days!

prompts for this week…Mobile, Hanging by a Thread, Collage, Always Lookin on the Bright Side, and Home

Mobile


I have a picture exactly like this one on my mobile phone… but failed to download it yet… so its the best I can do!!  (fail!) nice pic though?? =) funny b/c I was running  between two events I slowed down to snap this pic b/c the sunset was calling my name as I drove past this “scene” =)  I had to stop…

it gets better…

Always Looking on the Bright Side

STOP… and watch the sunset or rise… just for a moment… =)  it made me laugh and caught my eye a mile down the road from where I was when I took that sunset pic above… funny how it peeked out by that stop sign… as if God was nudging me to really STOP… and enjoy the sunset a little longer… =) soak in his beauty!  I have been running around crazy busy (it really is all fun stuff… Youth Group , camping, hosting friends & family, short family trips, long family trips, helping at weddings, tennis lessons, kung fu lessons.. etc. etc.)… anyway… this was a funny little reminder to stop.. in the middle of the running and stand in awe of God… just for a moment… look to the bright side of  life… in the midst of whatever… for me lately the busyness…Stop and see what is good in my/your life! Blessings are everywhere when you stop to see that bright side!  =)

Collage

ok… this is not the greatest picture… but also funny… our good friend has a “collage” of pictures where he finds animals in his food!  it is funny… elephants in his fried egg… bunny rabbit ears on his smoothie… stuff like that!  so we snapped this one to add to his collection! =)   any guesses as to what we thought this cheeto looks like?!

(speaking of guessing… last week I had you guessing something and didn’t clarify at the end of my post…oops!)   my bubbling food dish was “German Pancakes”… yum!!  =)  and I am still hoping to call the shop about the wash clothes… stay tuned!  =)

Hanging by a Thread

“daddy” is hanging on by a thread to this battle… he’s looking pretty tired and beat at this point!  LOVE summer light saber battles… =)  fun times!

Home

Look what I got to bring home to brighten up my house after helping decorate & undecorate at a wedding!  =)  pretty pretty!

speaking of weddings… My man and I are celebrating 14 years this week… seems like forever ago we got married… =) esp. after attending a wedding and feeling like it was an eternity ago that we were young and blissful like that! ha ha…  but you know what…. I wouldn’t trade that young love for the deeper stronger love you feel when the bliss part fades and you are steady strong friends … with history… and a family… and enough youth to still play… =)  ha!  we are off to the beach this week… to camp… its what we do every year on our anniversary week! (with the kids)… marriage was just the beginning of our life together.. our family is our daily life… so much richer… (although next year for 15 yrs we might sneak away alone!)… but we love family time!!  anybody else do family stuff on their anniversary or …

are we weird!! ?? =)

on second thought… don’t answer that… =)

Hope y’all have a great week!

I’ll see you on the other side of the beach!

Blessings~

Jenn

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Simply Summer Fun

Howdy Blog Peeps =)

Summer is blissfully passing by way too fast … for this stay home mama… how about you??!….thus my one blog post a month lately!  =)

I’ve been Seizing my days … enjoying my beautiful quirky family.. playing hard… loving….serving…  spending time with our church family… our real families… our friends… our neighbors… all the folks God has placed in our lives… one day at a time…  blissfully busy… having fun no matter what task lay before us on these busy summer days… b/c we can… b/c it is summer ..b/c the sun shines in the summer!!  isn’t that a wonderful thing…(no comment from you peeps who get sun all year round ok… ha ha)… just kidding … I love ya… even if you do live in a sunny all year round place (sigh)… summer sun makes me sing .. and frankly … I’m sure my neighbors are glad when the rain begins! ha ha ha! =)

Anywho.. here is a sneak peek of our last couple weeks…  Sunday Scavenger Hunt Style of course!  I miss Sunday Scavenger Hunt when I don’t make it by!! =)  and I miss blog hopping to see how you all are… hopefully I will find a bit of time tonight to ” catch up a bit” and get a sneak peek into your summers! ! =)

This weeks prompts:   Going Back in Time ~Just for Me~Best Part of My Day ~ Look Up~ Night and Day

Going Back in Time

I used to bake this recipe as a child… any guesses as to what it is??  =)  watching it bubble up like that took me WAY back in time this week!  I baked them 3 mornings in a row… the first two batches gluten free…  they didn’t puff as much as this batch did with gluten! … but they were still yummy!

2 eggs, 2/3 cup flour (any kind)?, 2/3 cup milk and a splash of vanilla.. and a pinch of salt!  (gluten free coconut flour mix was my fav!)

melt a few table spoons of butter into a baking dish… pour in batter… bake at 395 for 20 minutes or so… sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar straight out of the oven… cut and eat… fast… devour! amazing! =)

Just for Me

I purchased a couple of these **fabulous** dish clothes last year… in Port Angles Wa…  a 3 hour drive from home..  and I love love loved them… almost immediately I had wished I had more!! SO… nearly a year later… last week when I went on my annual trip to Vancouver Island to play with wonderful friends we visit every year… I bought 6 more… JUST for ME!  =)  I LOVE them… they are small.. tidy… washable.. durable… they have a wee scrubby element to them… yet they are really just dish clothes! LOVE.  I forget the co. name… I’ll call the shop and see if I can dig up the info if anyone is interested!!  just holler if you are!

Here is another shot of them… both new… and old…

the stiff scrbby loops soften up over time… but they are still fabulous.. I hate dirty smelly germy sponges and I hate large smelly dish clothes… so these lil babies are a perfect fit for me!  they don’t get very smelly… or germy b/c I wash them every couple days! =)  Love I tell you LOVE… obsessed I am!!

see how small they are

not too small … not to big… LOVE.   cute too ~ right? =)

anywho… moving on…

Best Part of My Day

often times I find the best part of my day is watching my children do something that brings them joy… and confidence…  like when Abby learned to play tennis with 2-3 informal lessons last year… and then a week of “real” tennis camp this summer… and now the kid can’t stop asking if someone wants to play tennis with her!!  She’ll have all her friends playing by next year I am sure!  coming from my shy child who just blends into the crowd is attempting to convert tennis players! … LOVE it!  this pic was taken while Abby was teaching a friend to play!

and

my dear sweet Sammy who does very little “extra” curricular things … especially limited with sports due to his low vision… found something he loves this year… LOVES… and I couldn’t be happier… watching him enjoy something that is “HIS” thing… pure joy!  it is building joy, confidence and passion for something physical in this not so active kid of mine!  =)

Sammy was blessed by a fun informal week of Thai Chi / Kung Fu Camp

I hope I can find a weekly class for him to attend… He LOVED it!!

The  “Kung Fu Camp” was  run by a fellow soccer parent/ friend on his summer vacation… he’s a teacher and tennis coach Fall-Spring =)… ( he is actually the same friend who ran the tennis camp for middle school girls!)…  anyway.. it was a small group of younger kiddos doing the camp … not sure how I talked Sammy and his one true friend into doing it… but they did… and they LOVED it!  so good for my little man in SO many ways…

anyway…

those are the best parts of my day.

experiencing the Joy of being a mommy! =)

Night and Day

just before Day turns to Night…  a few moments  in between Night and Day …

the sky is just amazing.  isn’t it?!  esp. in summer months.  =)

Looking Up

the other day while Abby was teaching her friend tennis we looked up and found this young bald eagle waiting for mama to come home with lunch!  I have a few fuzzy pics of him (my little snap and shoot was on 56x zoom! ha!)… anyway.. fun to watch it waddle around the nest some 150 feet above ground… it even went on a branch… stretched its wings and pooped!  SO funny!  not every day you see a young eagle pooping off the side of its nest! ha ha!  =)

We saw these birds too… while waiting to ride the ferry from Port Angles to Vancouver Island …

I think they were deep in conversation… =)  interesting birds.

So there you have it peeps… the last three weeks we have been to tennis camp, kung fu camp, helped a friend go through hard times, enjoyed many o walks in the sun, coffee dates with neighbors & friends, sleepovers, play dates, pop cycles, cupcakes,  entertained family, spent a week with far away friends, youth group, outdoor movies, had a garage sale, went geocaching, dancing to our new “just dance” wii game… what a hoot!… OH.. and we  invested in a few upgrades to our daily living – put together some garage storage shelving, real office chairs (back heaven!)  and invested in a large enough tv that our little man with low vision can actually sit 2 feet away from and still see!!  why we didn’t invest in a larger tv sooner… *ugh*…  summer is busy busy … the rest of August is not proving to be any less busy… but surely just as fun as June and July!!  I will be so sad when Fall arrives and we have to start school again!  ha ha!  =)

Hope y’all are seizing your summer days… one beautiful day at a time!

Looking forward to seeing what y’all are up to!

What is your favorite part of summer??  =)

allrightygoodthen…

off to enjoy an evening outdoors with friends from church!  =)

Blessings~

Jenn


Summer is blissfully exhausting =)

its funny how we long for summer all year

we desire  summer 9 mo. out of the year

as if it is the most relaxing time of year or something?…

don’t we??

yet summer comes and I feel like we are WAY busy~er in summer!!

do y’all find that summer is blissfully exhausting too!!??  =)

I might be dreaming… but I am sure we are busy~er than our every day routine during the school year …which feels crazy busy … and every year I fool myself into thinking that summer will be joyfully relaxing… every year my kids get a little bigger and I find life getting blissfully busy in the summer months! So much fun to be had!! Things to do!  people to see! places to go! =)

anywho… note the word … Blissfully… ha ha ha! =)

moving on to… the Sunday Scavenger Hunt ~

hosted by the beautiful new mama =) Ashley!

Eight


Eight girls from Abby’s soccer team attended a fun tennis camp one of the dad’s (who is a tennis coach!)… so graciously put on for the girls.. . Abby learned a bit of tennis last year and loved it! so she was thrilled to wake early every day last week and play/learn more tennis!! =) Love it!

Fresh

All that morning FRESH air… brought out the monkey in Sammy!  He spent  every minute we stayed to watch tennis in the trees… monkeying around!

Petal

My lilies in the back have bloomed!

Calm

this was a fairly calm moment in the midst of a very crazy, wild, unusually LONG thunder and lightening storm we had on Friday night! Friday the 13th! ha ha!  We were having a ladies night out BBQ & lawn game party with ladies from church… planned in part by yours truely! couldn’t have been a better night for a lawn party!! ha ha!  some of us stayed out on the lawn and played ladder golf.. and had the most amazing view of the lightening ribbons and heard the most amazing thunder!  the storm lasted for hours and hours… what an exciting ladies night out it was! ha ha! =)

Water


This is the last Orca picture I will post from our vacation!!

Can you tell I LOVE Orcas??!!  =)

the amount of water they splashed while playing was incredible!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK folks…

don’t pass out or anything… I realize I am out of character…

no “extra” pictures this week!  and I think I didn’t “talk” all that much this time around!  ha ha!  I am too busy blissfully enjoying my busy summer! =)

(ok fine… so  it hasn’t been all blissful… but … mostly!!)

I heart summer.  I heart vacation.  I heart the beach.  I heart family time.  I heart being a mommy. I heart watching my kiddos grow. I don’t heart laundry. I heart sunshine on my shoulders.  I heart BBQ’s and friends.  I heart time to read!  I don’t heart cleaning.  I heart the fairly simple yet seemingly busy life God has given me!  =)  the end.

Blessings y’all!

I hope you are blissfully enjoying your busy or not so busy summer too!

ttfn!!

Jenn~

Simply Summer =)

Sunday goes by so fast I can hardly blink sometimes!

Summer is also going by so fast I can hardly blink! =)

I hope to give my blog a face lift and maybe even take it more seriously!  or maybe I will get to that in the fall!

I desire to blog about food, crafty things and play with my photography skills … lol… but time never seems to be in my favor… *sigh* =)  one day at a time… =)

alas… I hold steady with one post a week…recapping our adventures as a family and attempting to challenge myself a tiny bit with the Sunday (photo) Scavenger Hunt (which always ends up being Monday for me…)… Sunday we are so busy with church and then family time and our “life group” bible study in the evenings… all of which are wonderful!  As a young family we had such a hard time fitting into a church (long story-long road!) and now that we have found a wonderful fit… we are embracing it! =)  anyway… a million apologies that I am always late!!

This week we were looking for patriotic, tiny, mosaic, vibrant and view from above.

Patriotic

we celebrated the fourth with a few good friends from church

they set up this old riding lawn mower with a flag on it for the kids to proudly display as they got to ride through the little neighborhood!

my shy reserved one even drove it!! =)  loved it!!

we also found our first geocaching travel bug earlier in the day

have you ever geo cached??

so much fun!  (and frustrating if you can’t find it!)

it is basically an eco friendly scavenger hunt (wink) that encourages hiking!

I am all over anything that  motivate kids to want to hike!! =)

anyway… it was a football themed travel bug and being that we aren’t into football AT ALL (makes me feel so NOT patriotic to say that …lol!)… anyway.. we left it behind.. perhaps we will assist the next one we find!  =)

anywho… and of course we went to watch a lovely fireworks show downtown

it was so moving when we all stood to hear/sing the national anthem!  I would’ve snapped a picture of that… but it seemed so disrespectful…

anyway.. with very vibrant colors shooting into the sky… it was hard to pick just one to share!!

Vibrant

I loved the way this one turned out!!  my wee little snap and shoot that I use has a fireworks easy button that I used!  =)

and this one too!!  I could post all of them really… but I think y’all get the idea!

Mosaic


seriously… how cool is this… George made out of Jelly Bellys!!  =)  while we were touring the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA… they had many of these Mosaic portraits… so fun! James Dean, Elvis, Presidents, Abbot & Costello, Marilyn Monroe… Harry Potter!  =)  Pretty Sweet, eh?!   ok … so his lips do look a little creepy!! ha ha… we were only allowed to take pics of the ones at the beginning of the tour and/or the ones out in the lobby.  I only captured George and Harry! =)

Tiny

don’t the humans … I mean …trainers… look so tiny compared to that 9,000 plus pound Orca?!!  what a gorgeous playful creature… *sigh* =)

I realize I am putting two pictures from last week … but can you blame me?  =)  It is SO hard to let go of vacation!!  ha ha!

View from Above

I held my camera above this corn and took a picture of it… isn’t it pretty?!!  and yummy too!  it was grilled… in husk… very cool… I can’t tell you how to do it b/c well… I didn’t do it… and I didn’t ask… but it sure was yummy! =)

I was going to cheat and put in this one…

a View of the above =)   Aren’t summer skies wonderful?!

Hope y’all have a wonderful week with beautiful summer skies!

Blessings~

Jenn

Ramblings and Photos

tap tap… vacation? where’d ya go? sniff…

Hello Blog Peeps ~ remember me?

sad sad times in my house today. vacation is gone. gone. gone.

done. done. done.

over. over. over.

we skipped out of school a teeny tiny bit early

and drove to San Diego

from Washington. and survived!

kinda far. kinda long. kinda crazy. kinda fun.  =)

I heart vacation.  refuels a burned out mama.

awakens the soul.

and beach vacations… well … they especially move me…

automatically connects my mind, body and spirit back to its rightful place with my beautiful wonderful God!  I love how the beach refreshes me. immediately giving me peace and passion and desire to stop and connect with God… stand in awe of Him… appreciate my life in Him and all he has carried me/us through.  Gives me Joy to be there standing in awe of my creator!

ya know? =)

oh anywho…

Never mind me…

shall we get started on the oh so fun Sunday Monday Scavenger Hunt? =)

Sunset (San Diego style)

I could see myself looking at that every night for the rest of my life…

it was our view from the condo we rented in Oceanside, CA.

beautyful!

Sweet


Sammy had his 10th birthday whilst we were in California … these cupcakes were eaten at home … after vacation… we had to have another “birthday cake” time … b/c well… we just had to.  long story times 2. the end. =)

Hanging Around

Hanging around in Legoland on his birthday was a highlight for my little man =)

and

Hanging around on the beach is ALWAYS a highlight for my clan!


we are all blissfully happy on the beach!!

and well… this guy was  hanging around too… =)


hanging around ~ sleeping in trees ~ same diff right? =)

Silly Face

this giraffe is a new mama … wonder what she was thinking right then?

makin faces at us while we were all staring at her baby!

Silly Face

couldn’t resist!  Legoland was full of Lego surprises around every corner!

Space

this guy takes up a lot of it! =)

magnificent creatures

breathtaking!!

Be Still My Heart! =)

9,000 plus pound playful wonder!

I’ve always loved Orcas

I wish I could spend days and days and days watching them!

I would LOVE to interact with one! =)

a girl can dream ~ one day? ~ maybe? ~ you never know!

blissful vacation in Sunny Southern California!

*sigh* =)

Well anyway…

I don’t mean to be rude

but I gotta go

ha ha ha ha ha

Legoland was  such a blast with our 11 & 10 year olds!

Have y’all ever been there?

My little clan doesn’t love carnival rides… so Disneyland is not high on the “must do list” for my littles… Legoland was just their speed!

We did somehow, miraculously get our children on the new Manta roller coaster in Sea World… seriously… scary ride for them… what a rush! =)

for the record …our daughter is going to file a lawsuit against us for that one! (snicker snicker) or need therapy the rest of her life!  just kidding! she is proud she did it… but won’t EVER do it again!  lol!  the bad news is she is wiser now and won’t let it happen again! (ha ha ha)

anyway… back home now… getting into routine!

it was fun to sneak away and have vacation early in the summer… but now we only have little weekend trips to look forward to the rest of the summer! lol!

What are your plans for the summer? =)

any exciting, wild and crazy adventures or just relaxing at home with ice tea and good summer reading?? =)

Hope y’all have a Happy Independence Day!!

Blessings~

Jenn

PS

Congratulations Ashley Sisk and Naomi on the birth of your beautiful baby girls this month!!  Beautiful Blissful time of life!!  babies make my heart sing! So happy for you both! =)

anyway ~ click on the link below to join the fun!

Ramblings and Photos

Sunday Post (plus one) =)

Sunday’s are busy days for us with church in the morning

typically followed by errands and a little family/dog time

before we head off to our bible study group

so that is why my Sunday Post always happens on Mondays

in case you were wondering!  =)

if I even manage to get one up!

*cough* cough*

May into June is my crazy busy MAD month ~ thus my 3 week absence!

Soooooooo glad to be closing my annual crazy busy mad month!

vacation is on the horizon ~ can you see it?!!  =)

“Hello Beach… I’ll be on my way before you know it!

save me a drink of sunshine would ya…

since its been raining CATS

and DOGS the last couple weeks…”

*sigh*

I am in serious need of beach people!!  =)

isn’t that the cutest umbrella by the way??!!  =)

anywho…. Now that typical life is slowing down…

it IS in fact …

time to get the house & Merlin the dog ready for our Fantastic house sitter

to come so we can spend a  few days in the sunshine and sand!

I think I should do the happy dance… =)

but before I do that … how about a few Sunday Scavenger Hunt pics

since I missed a couple weeks …oops! =)

This weeks prompts were:

Travel, Silly, Black and White, Spots & Paper!

I was going to use that black and white dog umbrella pic for Black and White…

but you see my little girl had a band concert…

where they are required to wear

black and white =)

this little monkey had to stand up for the whole audience to receive recognition for being awarded the “Directors Award” for most outstanding 6th grade band student!  =)  I am so proud of this kid of mine! She has got an ear and a heart for music! I love listening to her practice and I love that she seeks out new things to play and even figures out tunes by ear!! (she must have gotten her music gene from her grandpa who still plays trombone in a symphony band!) he he

As you can see from the photo she was a “little” mortified to be recognized in a big crowd like that! poor quiet monkey!  ha ha ha =)

Spot  (aka Venus)

So… my silly little snap and shoot camera captured Venus cruising by the sun!! crazy!  my neighbor came home with a little eclipse viewing thing… and we all got to see the “spot” … aka Venus… well… except my little man with low vision didn’t see it… so being the crazy mommy I am… I pulled out my camera and against my better judgement… ignoring the warning on the little eclipse thingy… I snapped a couple shots through the shaded lens thingy and captured it!  although a bit blurry… I got it! CRAZY!  and Sammy was able to see what we had just seen …light years away!  lol!  =)  ok ok … so I am being dramatic!  but how cool is that?!!  it actually made me like my snap and shoot for a few minutes (I kid I kid… I am happy to have a camera!) =)  oh… and then my Pastor sent me a funny link on facebook …of a lady who looks A LOT like me… she was reporting on the Venus event in Hawaii!  *sigh* I wish it had been me!  it was unreal… she really does kinda look like me!  funny… they say we all have a twin…

anyway… speaking of silly…

Silly

were any of you children of the 70’s??  did you own one of these?  I nearly busted a gut yesterday when I saw this hanging off of a purse in Macy’s yesterday!  =)  my sisters and I had monkey’s like those in the 70’s!!

Travel

this bee travels …

from flower to flower

pollinating the world for us…

oops… it used to travel…

he’s not alive anymore folks…

that is a dead bee I put on my honeysuckle flower!

*ah ha ha ha ha*

oh… sorry.

I think I have had too much coffee, not enough sleep and have not been out doors enough in the last 30 days!  =)  what is WRONG with me?!

Honestly… my man found the poor guy dead and showed the kids… and I couldn’t resist the temptation to try and have a photo shoot with him… the poor little bug!

OK… last but not least – speaking of flowers

Paper

a kid at Sammy’s home school program painted this flower

on paper =)

it is SO beautiful … this photo does not do it justice!

I have no idea who painted it… (copyright?)… =)

I love it! and  I want one on canvas for my house!

I might try to paint my own version of this flower this summer!

on canvas. not paper!

Isn’t it beautiful!!??  Do you like?

So there you have it folks…

Do y’all have fun plans this summer?  do tell…

where ya goin??  whatcha doin??  =)

is it just me or does summer time make you want to sing too??=)

I just love having sunny weather that makes you want to be outside 24/7!

Yesterday our Pastor did an interactive “quiz” if you will…

intended to teach us how we “relate” to God

it was called a Spiritual Pathways Indicator =)

anyway one of my highest scores was the Aesthetic Pathway

(being in Nature draws my soul straight to God) =)

that one was no shocker for me!!  =)  I heart the beach, the mountains, the sky, the hills, the green grass, rivers, lakes, camping, animals… did I say the beach?  =)!

one day I would love to own a wee little beach house

in a sunny destination

for now I’ll have to settle for vacations!  lol!

time to surf  (all your blogs that is!!)  …

Blessings~

Jenn

Counting Down the Days =)

Summer is fast approaching ~  4 weeks ~ 20 school days ~ =)

until then I have a few more trees to cut down

or… um… “use”  =)  May is my planning month for next year.

seek, find, order & photocopy (make large print), cut, fold and file. (whew)

The titles above are a few of my favorite curriculum resources:

LOVE: Evan Moore(science, geography, social studies, math warm ups, grammar rules, etc.etc.)  LOVE: Teacher Created Resources: Math and Grammar Minutes, Social Studies Reading Comp, Science Reading Comp. LOVE: Drops in a Bucket Math & Grammar!  LOVE: Teaching Textbooks!! it is Sammy’s main Math curriculum and we “warm up/compliment it” with the others.  and of course we have found a few other fabulous finds along the way that are eye friendly to my visually impaired little man AND comprehensive for each grade level ~ like those fun Wonder Stories ~ daily Science Question answered ~ like Why doesn’t it Hurt when you get a hair cut? ~ silly scientific questions ~ fun fun! It is so hard to choose b/c there are so many fabulous resources out there! anyway… my days have been consumed getting ready for next year and closing off this year!  Today my little man finishes his 118th Teaching Textbook Lesson and the last Quiz ~ whoot whoot ~ Math Complete!! We’ll celebrate with Blizzard Time! =)

anywho… on with the wonderful, fun, fabulous Sunday Scavenger Hunt!

this weeks list: Trees, Rainbows, Fluffy, Letters and Metal.

Trees

this is likely one of the oldest trees left standing in Olympia.  =(

it has weathered many o storms this grand old tree!

I get to see it regularly b/c my hubby works across the street and we carpool him often!  and it is on the Capital grounds and we like to “play” there… =)

I love how green Washington is… even if it does mean a lot of rain. (maybe)

Letters

these “Letter” murder mystery puzzles are so fun! my collection is growing!  my little girl buys me new ones every year for Christmas so we can do them together on New Years Eve!! =)

Rainbow

this week Sammy and I went to the Painted Plate … b/c Abby and I went last week for a “Ladies Night Out” with friends/ladies from church.  anyway… Abby and I had painted Travel Mugs for our upcoming trip to San Diego!!  Sammy needs one too!  So Art this week included a rainbow of colors!

and a delish coffee in a mustache mug! =)

Here is Sammy’s final creation ~ he drew it and painted the ship and waves ~ and mama helped paint the sky ~ too teeeeeedious for him to paint around the ship, sun and waves! ha ha! =)

Metal

don’t those raindrops kinda sorta look metallic?

no?  really I just wanted to point out we lost our sun this weekend! sniff.

Metal (really!)

for all my gluten free friends… I modified The Pioneer Woman’s Texas Sheet cake on Friday… with gluten free flours… Y.U.M.  =)  success!  I will try to post the recipe this week (I’m so bad at mid week posts)!  and then I turned that yummy sheet cake into gluten free cake pops ~ to celebrate the last soccer game of the season! (Abby’s team tied 2, won 4, lost 2… I think…it is so fun to see the girls skills grow each year and see their happy faces as they play… I love being a soccer mom!  esp. when only one game was a wet one! ha ha!  Dry Spring games are a blessing and man alive were we blessed this season!!!

Fluffy

its a love hate thing finding a cute fluffy deal mole in our yard

these fluffy little creatures have been destroying our yard for 2 years now!

stupid little buggers!  *ugh*

so we sing songs of praise when the cat kills another one!

and another one’s gone, and another one’s gone… another one bites the dust!

seriously… at least a dozen dead moles in the last 12 months and they still keep diggin up our yard…. we have a HUGE society of moles livin on our little plot of land! LOL!

That is how I spent my week folks. It was very productive and fun!

Cutting down trees =). I mean pushing Papers. Paint. Rain. Baking. and Mole flinging. (we fling the dead ones back into the woods behind our house with the shovel…it is such a satisfying way to dispose of the nasty little critters…is that horrible?)

Can’t wait to bounce around and see what y’all have been up to!  Right after I take my little man too and from his Tumbling PE class!  =)

Thanks for stopping by ~ I’ll be around to catch up with ya soon!

Blessings~   Jenn

Next week’s list: Beneath Your Feet, Capturing Movement, Texture, Face Your Fears and Currently. if you enjoy photography… click on the link below to see more of the fun and be inspired to join the fun!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Blessings ~ in disguise =)

Mothers Day is bitter sweet for some of us …=)

Moving straight into the Sunday Scavenger Hunt

I’ll explain as I go =)

(whats new there right?) =)

this weeks prompts were

Time, Close Up, With Mirror, Sidewalk and Inspiring

Time

time is precious peeps ~

this is where I go on Mothers Day to give my mama flowers.  she loved lilacs… the ones I left there were hers… I took a clipping the year she died… it is 11 years old and thriving now… =)  beautiful.

I have peace with my mom’s early passing.  She was far from perfect (as if any of us are perfect…ha ha ha) … anyway…I remember the important things… the things she did in her life that inspire me… things that flow through my life with my kiddos… like her love for gardening/flowers, volunteering in the class, for all things artisitic and craft~y…and of course… baking… her old cookie recipes!  when I do those things with my littles … I tell my babies about her… it brings her into their lives a bit…

I have faced many o medical issues …with my mama, my spouse, my baby boy (oops he’s not a baby anymore), with friends and even with myself… the kind of stuff that makes a girl think a lot …  =)  about how Life is so so so precious… time is precious… which is why I named my blog Seizing My Day.   To remind me to live intentionally. to love intentionally. to remind me to surrender myself to God and allow Him to Seize My Day for me/with me…  with hopes to be inspired and be inspiring.

See… this weeks prompts fit right into this theme of my life… =) Time, inspiring, mirror , sidewalk (of life ~ he he), etc. etc. etc.

scattered deep thoughts by Jenn.  some of you write your thoughts beautifully.  mine feel like they come out scattered. bear with me, eh? =)

Keeping in step with Mothers Day … My hope is to grasp the precious time God grants me to be a wonderful mama to my babies. to be a loving wife.  to enjoy & love those folks in my daily path. to love God. to allow Him to direct my daily path and flow through my life and I desire above all to be thankful  In All things…I have learned this lesson well… we can give God Thanks ~ ALL things ~ even the hard things ~ b/c He is the author of our lives…and those hard things work in us a good we can not work in ourselves…going through hard things can be inspiring and life changing.  Emmanuel God is with us. always..even when we fail to live life as stated above… b/c God offers grace too!  =)

Funny thing… our Pastor this week spoke about being Inspired.  which brings me to next prompt (thanks for sticking with me)…

He said the definition of inspired is: to be breathed into.

so Inspiring means:  to breathe into others ~ =)

the dictionary says:  to guide, to direct, to arouse by divine influence.  =)

Inspiring

my husband and I both love to play with the camera (some of us really only play…others are really good… but we won’t talk about how much better he is than I am)… *cough*… anyway… our love for playing with the camera inspires this sweet girl of ours to play with the camera too… (Just as Ashley’s weekly hunt inspires us to photograph outside what we normally would) ….it is fun to see  our littles enjoy things we enjoy, isn’t it? … I often wonder…. did my actions inspire this wonderful thing in my child??  (or not so wonderful thing in my child) ha ha… but lets not go there…  =) you know?

I hope and pray I am (inspiring) breathing into these littles of mine… things that will guide their little lives to … to become bigger people whose hearts are after Gods.

Mirror

and lets not forget this guy too… =)   His path will be far different than most of our paths… he will and does face challenges with simple things many of us take for granted… but God gave him/us this path… and for this we are thankful and enjoy it as the beautiful path it is… we’ve seen many o beautiful things we would not have otherwise seen being on this path… we have become different folk being on this path… a blessing in disguise… May my response to this path/ life… inspire my little man to accept and love his life… and God … exactly how they are.  =)

Time is precious… I am reminded of that regularly… and every once in a while I feel the urge to sing it out loud.. to tell others… I want to inspire my babies (and others around me)…  it is so easy to fall into a place of busy… to fall into a place of self… to fall into a place of worry… to fall into a place of doubt… the last few sermons at church…the last few conversations I have had with new and old friends… they have all been stirring my mind & heart… back to those things that are most important… surrendering my whole self to what God has before me today and loving it… and being thankful for all the tasks before me… the easy and hard tasks… the mundane and the fun ones… because it is how I see them and how I respond to them that allows the peace to dwell and the love to flow.  and my children seeing how I respond.  can make or break how I inspire them.  (yikes)  =)  I hope this makes sense to someone =)   I’m done  now ~ I was inspired to talk about such things.   I hope it blessed someone!!

on with the hunt… sorry!

Sidewalk

walking the sidewalk of life with our littles

the most important job in the world =)

blessing.  to be a mommy.  (and a daddy)

Close Up

just a semi-close up look at a  duck.   =) ha ha.

and its mate.  =)

I think ducks mate for life.

Geese do.

and ducks are in the same family.. right? =)

I think I’ll quack at my husband when he comes home tonight…

and see if he quacks back.  lol.

now y’all think I’m nuts… don’t ya?  =)  silly.  not nuts.  I swear!

Thats all folks.

Time is precious!

Bless and be Blessed this week!

Peace~

Jenn