Awanas celebration...

Last night, Gavin had his annual Awanas celebration.  They paraded down the church halls and into the sanctuary, where they were handed out their awards for the year. Gavin memorized all of the bible scriptures in book two of Sparks, so he was awarded the blue ribbon and completion award.  After the ceremony, he whispered to me "When I grow up, I want to be a missionary". I said, You can do whatever you put your mind to.  That about made me cry.  He is so sweet.

The parade

Being silly!

Can you tell gavin loves singing?

Smile for the camera.

Alex performing "Dream"

Show stopper Competition...

Alex had her last dance competition of the year, on Sunday.  She placed 2nd highest score in her category & 8th place overall.  I could tell she was very nervous for this one.  She still did awesome!  I love watching her dance.  She has a the talent of drawing you in while she dances.  She is a beautiful dancer & I cannot wait to see her grow.  Next year she will be competing in a group lyrical dance and a solo lyrical again.

So flexible!

The awards

Alex's dance "little sis"

Alex's choreographer & dance instructor Nikki

Abigail tried to stay awake, but it was her naptime.

Dorothy on a tricycle...

Abigail's two favorite things: Dress-up & riding her tricycle. She could live all day & night in a dress-up costume. I have taken her many times, to the store in one, because she refused to take it off.  I dont want her to grow up too fast, so I will fancy whatever little thing she wants to do now.  She is my last baby.

Sharing a session...

I had to share this precious picture of an infant I shot this afternoon. She and her brother were both just the most adorable little kids (besides my own, of course)!   There are a couple more on my photography blog here. 

My all time FAVORITE garage sale find!

Last year I stopped at a barn sale in our small town, to browse.  It was my lucky day!  I found a table full of vintage jewelry!  The guy told me, $1.00 per bracelet!  I found the most amazing pieces ever!  This was one of them.  Its an old 1930's vintage charm bracelet.  As you can see there are charms from all over the world: the eiffel tower, Africa, Hawaii, The sphinx, 1939 worlds fair, The Hotel Louvre, Austria, and a few more.  Isn't this a great garage sale find?  THIS is why I love garage sales.

Vicki, This post is for you!

My garage sale find...

Today I went out to a neighborhood garage sale with a few friends.  I was so excited to find something neat, but was pretty bummed out when I only found one thing!  The sale started at 9, but most things were picked over by that time. I guess people were arriving at 7am!!  Next time, Im getting an early start! Angel & Jolene, thanks for coming along!  Vicki, lunch was fabulous.  Conversation was wonderful! The lettuce wraps, divine.  We need to do this more often.

I did find a cute 7 up wooden crate to put my spices in (on my counter top).

Will the tooth fairy come??

Gavin lost a tooth yesterday, after about 2 weeks of hanging on like a monkey in his mouth.  After I pulled it out, he placed it in a baggy and set it on the kitchen counter & went out to play.  A little while later, I started cleaning the kitchen.  I didnt realize he put it in a baggy, and thought the baggy was empty.  I threw it in the trash!!!  Later he came in and asked where it was! Oops.  I dug through the trash but the tooth fell out of the baggy and got lost in vegetable compost.  Yuk!  So, he wrote the tooth fairy a little letter.

He got the 2 dollars, but no sucker!  The tooth fairy wrote a little note saying suckers were bad for your teeth!

Signs of spring (and soon to follow, Summer).

My strawberry garden is blooming like crazy.  Those little juicy strawberries will be popping out very soon. June will be here before we know it.  The 70 degree days will be consistent and the flip flops will remain by the front door.  I love the spring to summer transition.  I just wish it would last longer.

I have started planting my square foot garden.  The spinach, lettuce, and carrots are in the ground now. The little sprouts are peeking through. 

The flowering bushes are blooming and those pesky dandelions are showing their sneaky little heads.  Abigail says, "mommy, look at the pretty yellow flowers".

Spring is here!

Juicing therapy

I have been sick with a cold for the past couple of days.  This is the most important time for me to be juicing, to heal my body.  John also drinks green juice.  Its funny to see him grin and bear the taste sometimes.  He's a trooper!

Our liquid sunshine today consisted of...

1 large cucumber
1 broccoli stem
1 romaine heart
1 bunch of collard greens
1 lemon
2 celery stalks
3 carrots

DO YOU THINK YOU COULD EAT ALL OF THIS IN ONE SITTING?

GREAT FOR THE BODY, GREAT FOR THE SOUL!

Vinyl wall art

I finally ordered the vinyl wall art for my kitchen, living room, and bedroom.  I have been wanting to decorate with it for quite a while now.  I think it gives a home character, as you can see in the following examples.  These blogs below are where I got my inspiration for my wall art.   Thank you SO much Jolene!

The first one is My Sweet Savannah.  She is probably my favorite home designer.  If you get a chance, go to rate my space and see all of her pictures. You will be amazed at what she has done!


I ordered the:


Kitchen 21 Words Border... to go around my kitchen, close to the ceiling.

Taste • Mix • Whisk • Chop • Bake • Blend • Stir • Roast • Boil • Steam • Dip • Whip • Melt
Mince • Grate • Glaze • Puree • Fry • Recipe • Pour • Broil

My bedroom inspiration came from Just Beachy.  She is an extremely talented designer.  Her blog is here. I could browse her blog all day long.  She has TONS of decorating ideas, and loves teal like me.

This is her bedroom.  I ordered a capital H monogram in black, for above my bed.  

After my kitchen is finished, I am going to trim my bedroom walls like in the picture above.  She gives detailed pictures on how she did it on her blog! I think it will make a HUGE difference in my bedroom.