Harris had a birthday party!

Last weekend we celebrated Harris turning three years old.

His love of trains and the mystique of their riding by on the tracks served as the decorating theme with Thomas the train.

Food and snacks were plentiful with stacks of pizza, piles of chips, and a train-load of fruits pulled by Thomas around the track.

The cousins joined in for the fun.

There was cake and the little man was the first to taste it.

Then, there were candles to blow out and singing.

Everybody needed to taste the chocolate cake and eat a bit of ice cream.

Then, of course, there were presents to investigate.

A pile of presents!

Digging in and investigating is something that Harris is really good at, too!

He seems to enjoy and appreciate each and every one, too.

It's always great to celebrate a birthday and little fellows certainly enjoy those times most.

They seemed to jump, ride, swing, interact, play, and enjoy things to the fullest.

A fun time seemed to be enjoyed by all and I think this fellow probably will remember number three as a special one, for sure!

Visit from the Grandsons

We always love visits with the grandchildren.  They add smiles to our lives and remind us of the wonders of the world around us.  They show us how to explore and enjoy the simple things.

Stephen and Bonnie brought Levi and Easton by on Mike's birthday to visit with him.  Those boys are just adorable and brightened up our day!

Levi is such a busy little fellow and had to run and climb and check things out around him.

It seems like they all like the chaise lounge on the back porch for some reason.  I don't know if it is because there is plenty of room for climbing or if it is because they like the size of it for stretching out.  Levi had to climb up on it several times and just sit and check it out.

Then, he was off again and running and playing and checking other things out as little boys are wont to do.

Easton is just before taking off as a crawler.  He leans out and will even get up on his knees and rock some but hasn't quite gotten it all together to be that mobile independent crawler...just yet.

I can't help myself.  I just want to kiss on his sweet little cheeks and hug him and snuggle him up close.  He doesn't have a lot of time for that, though.  He is ready to get down and go.

He is experimenting with standing and gets so excited about it.

When he has a helping hand, he will pull up on those little rolly polly legs.

He looks around to make sure somebody else is watching and smiles with pride that he is up and ready to go.

Then, he has to do a little bouncy dancing jig.

Meanwhile, this one is running round as fast as he can.

Climbing into and out of things to check out every aspect.

Up and down and all around just to see what he can do all by himself.

He must realize that little brother isn't far behind!

Then, the parents say it is time to load up and head up the hill toward home.

Everybody gets settled onto the ORV and instructions are given to say goodbye.

One sweet little fellow blows us a kiss and the visiting time is short but sweet and leaves smiles to linger on the grandparents' faces lingering for quite some time beyond the afternoon visit.

Happy Birthday!

Hope this third one is a big one, Harris!

Happy Birthday!  

We love you.

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

How lucky I am to have you as my bonus son.  Hope your day and this year is especially happy!

A Little Bit of Organizing

A couple of years ago Bridgette brought me most of her Stampin' Up! stamp sets and ink pads.  She needed space for Luci and her craft room became a bedroom.  I kept them in storage tubs and dug them out every now and again to create something quick and cute.  After Lydia and I did a bit of stamping during her Days, I decided to clean up and straighten up and have those where they were more accessible for crafting.  So, I put another thing Bridgette brought here to store into use and have a nice, organized crafting space.

This shelving unit with tubs used to hold toys in a corner of Bridgette's house.  Now it has stamp sets organized by size and alphabetical order.

I have it set up between the niche which holds my gift-wrapping paper and ribbon and my little craft table in my craft/sewing room.  The ink pads set atop the table I wrote my name on when I was a high school student that a former co-worker gave to me instead of sending it out to be trashed.

The supplies are organized and within reach for creating and crafting and I hope to soon have time to do a bit of both!

Now, when I walk into the room, I don't have to step over storage tubs and bags and stacks of stamps and ink and card stock.  It even looks a bit inviting!

Striped Pots

Back in July I was craving a good vine-ripened tomato and for the first time in at least ten or so years we had no tomato plants.  So, I stopped off at the local greenhouse and farm stand and picked out a few.  As I was checking out, I noticed the sign that said if I spent at least $20, I could also pick out some free flowers.  So, guess how much I spent?  Yep!  And I got four free geraniums!

Above is a photo fof them fresh out of the truck and before I even took time to deadhead them.  They are the most beautiful shade of deep red and I haven't had red geraniums in a while.  I knew exactly where I wanted to put them and how I wanted to enjoy them for the remainder of the summer.  Here is my inspiration:

I had seen this DIY tutorial for the simple striped pots and filed it away.  Now, I didn't have time nor the extra money to go out and get the cute square planters.  So, I just made-do with what I had on hand.

I had these simple black plastic pots that some shrub or mum or something had come in and I just wrapped blue painter's tape around it and gave it a quick spray with some inexpensive white paint.  I wasn't going for perfection or even being nit-picking about everything turning out perfectly because I wanted it done in a hurry.

There was a volunteer petunia in this smaller pot and I just wrapped it with a smaller width of masking tape and painted it, too.  (And you can tell I didn't clean off the table before I got a photo!)

I had three large pots and two smaller ones and I gave a quick tape and spray to all of them.

Then, I plopped my free geraniums into them and set them on the back porch.

My fourth geranium went into the big black pot I have in the yard-sale-bargain wire plant stand I keep on the back porch.

They were beautiful and still are!  Sometimes a cheap and free combination is just right and adds just enough perkiness and spunk to bring a smile to my face and this is exactly one of those times!

That was about the extent of my summer season decorating and it didn't happen till late in July.  Maybe I will get to fall fluffing before Thanksgiving!

Randomness Volume #7

It seems that for most of this year I have felt as if I was just scrambling and trying to keep up with life.  How do things get that way?

Is it because I'm getting older and trying to do things I should have done when I was far younger?

Is it just the pace of life and we all are doing that?

I look around and see so many things that need to be done.  I also think of so many things I want to do.  Yet, I feel as if I cannot get to the things that must be done.

Maybe I'm feeling this way because the scope of my job has changed this fall.  My supervisor announced to us this week that she will be retiring soon.  What was my reaction?  I am excited for her!  AND I am a wee bit jealous.  How wonderful would it be to have the time to spend with my husband and family?  How wonderful would it be to choose how the day plays out and how to devote your attention hour-after-hour and day-after-day?  Wow!

Here are some bits of randomness to share...

I loved this post and cannot estimate how many times I've wanted to tell random strangers in the market something like it.  Sometimes when things seem messy, actually what is going on is the opportunity to slow down and appreciate right where we are in that moment.

Even though this bedroom might be a bit over-the-top for my tastes, I think there are lots of elements that could be taken and applied here and there in a home to make it fabulous.  Like the cute bow pillow.  Like the window treatment.  Like the striped daybed.  Like the polka dots.  Like that closet space with the drawers for storage and the shelves for shoes.  I'd like that in my master closet.  Hmmm...

I clicked through every single one of these fall printables in this blog hop and downloaded and saved several of them - a whole file folder is devoted to fall printables at this point because I also added these to the file.  Where would I post ANY of these?  I'm not sure, but I am thinking on it and trying to figure out a way and a place.

I absolutely love this garland.  I am going to make one for myself.  I am going to splurge on those smelly pine cones at the craft store this fall and hang this near my door so that the delicious smell will greet me every time I enter the house!

I'm also cherishing this post of Ann's because I have really been feeling old this week with an aching back that has almost crippled me completely.  Thankfully, I have asked for help and Mike has stepped up and done just that.  He has done some cooking and some kitchen cleaning and that is truly a rarity - the cleaning, not the cooking.  He has even volunteered to run the vacuum for me this week.  I'm not holding my breath on that one but just the thought helped me to live with the dirty floors for another day today.  I think it is just the desperate need for a new mattress that we have ordered but has not yet been delivered.  The new mattress and springs set was originally promised before the 23rd and this week is staring that down.  It just cannot come soon enough.  Of course, that means that the old mattress in the back bedroom will go out and the one on our bed will go back there and the new mattress will go on our bed so there will be a bit of a fruit basket turnover and a mess to get all straight again but, Lordy!, it will be worth every bit of the straightening if my back stops hurting.

I've slowly been traveling through some blog fall home tours when I feel the need to sit as a new position reliever for my back pain and I'm getting inspired.  Maybe with the back relief I will also get the energy to do a bit of fall decorating.  I have noted that I want to set out some limelight hydrangeas for cutting and for drying because they seem to accent almost anything during any season beautifully.  I skipped summer almost completely.  Bridgette crafted me some cute burlap door hangings and that is about all I did.  Well, I forgot, I did paint some flower pots for my free geraniums!  I'll post about those later.

I am really liking all the Magnolia wreaths I see out there and even cut some sprigs that were cropping up under Mom's tree and brought them home to make myself one for hanging over the mantel.  However, life got in the way and now I have springs of brown, dead leaves.  I'm not going to throw them away just yet because I think I may get some metallic paint and make a DIY wreath kind of like this tutorial shows.  Of course, at the end of that post there are suggestions for making a boxwood wreath and a pompom wreath and gobs more.  See, I just need to retire and pursue some of these things!

Well, it is time for me to find a new position because sitting long enough to craft this post has lasted as long as I can stand this sitting one.  Hope your randomness is relaxing and wonderful!