Weekend Wisdom

"Laugh a lot, and when you're older, all your wrinkles will be in the right places"

~unknown~

This picture was found in a drawer full of photos at the family farm. The larger lady in the middle makes me smile. They were trying to take a family picture (my grandma is the second lady from the right, and my great-grandma took this picture), but one of the kids started running crazy. I love that while everybody else is looking around concerned about getting this picture taken, or trying to get control of the child, this one lady is just laughing and enjoying it all!

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Hope you all have a fun-filled Labor Day weekend! We're going to be spending a lot of time with my family. Jeremy and my father-in-law will be tearing into our bathroom (our floor desperately needs replaced) tomorrow, so the boys and I will be staying with my parents till it's done. My "little" brother is coming up from Kansas City tomorrow for a family reunion on Sunday. We don't get to see him very often, so it's always a treat! My older brother and his family will be staying at mom & dad's on Sunday night on their way back home from Omaha. Should be lots of fun!

Vintage Thingies Thursdays - Jars and Spices

This weeks Vintage Thingies Thursday is going to be the contents on a shelf in my kitchen. The jars were all found at my grandpa's house and my great-uncle's house. I filled them with (from left to right) old fashioned lemon candy, mini scented pinecones, rosehips, Root Beer Barrells, and chocolate covered sunflower seeds. The three red spice cans on the left and the two red spice boxes on the right were rescued from the farm as well. They were going to go in the trash, but the yellow and red matched my kitchen, so I saved them (one has never even been opened!). There is also a little can of Durkee Chili Powder. I can't remember where I found that, but I just love old jars and spice containers, so I added it to the collection!

The little wooden "N" (for our last name) block is from a set of blocks I bought the boys that they never play with anymore. Most of the blocks have gone missing, so I took this one, added some self-adhesive felt to the bottom, and it is now our chalkboard eraser!

For more Vintage Thingies Thursday, go here and enjoy the eye candy.

I didn't say it...

The boys were playing yesterday while I was in the other room working on some stuff. This is what I heard (keep in mind they were playing with action figures and were talking in funny voices):

Taylor: Who broke my stick? Who broke my stick?
silence
Taylor: I said who broke my stick?
Landon: Not me!
Taylor: Who broke my stick?
Me: I did!
Taylor: Who was that?
Landon: That was God's voice!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Shawn, about 6 months old - check out his hand!

I know, two posts in one day?! But, I thought my big brother Shawn needed his own post. Today my brother turns 33. He's a good husband, father, brother, son, and friend to everyone he knows. If I were to take the time to say all the wonderful things I have to say about him, I'd probably still be sitting here tomorrow! Thank you, Shawn, for always being completely honest with me and for always pushing me to be my best. I love you, and Happy Birthday!

Learning and Thanks

Today is Taylor's 1st Day of 2nd grade, my baby is growing up! He was really excited this morning, and every 5 minutes or so, I would hear, "Is it time to go, yet?" I think he was anxious to see his "Beauty Queen" as he calls her. He met a cute little girl on his first day of Kindergarten, and they've been in love since!

Yesterday, I received a package in the mail - I love the kind of mail that isn't asking for money or advertising something I don't want, but I especially love happy mail! I received my goodie from Linda for PIF (I'm still looking for participants, so if you want to sign up, check a few posts down)!

Isn't this guy cute! Thanks Linda!

Last Wednesday, my mom took the boys to the Prairie Loft Center for their Mammology class. The gentleman teaching it is a professor at Hastings College, and he also used to be my grandpa's neighbor! He brought along many stuffed rodents, from bats and mice to a skunk and muskrat! Landon landed on the front page of the local newspaper - that's the 3rd time in four months that one of the boys has gotten their picture on the front page of a newspaper!

There was a lovely gal at the class, I believe she's the only full time employee at Prairie Loft, and her name is Amy. The boys really took to her, and when we got into the car to leave Landon said, "Mom, I have a crush on Amy, and I think I love her a little." Below is a picture of Amy, Taylor, and Landon when they found a bone while we were out looking for animal tracks.

Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue

I saw this iPod meme on Jenny's blog last week, and thought I'd give it a try. I didn't have the questions in front of me while I was doing this, so it was fun filling in the answers! Here are the rules: Set your iPod to shuffle then answer the following questions with whatever song comes on!

1. What would describe your personality? :
Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer (Nat King Cole)

2. What do you like in a guy/girl? :
As Good As I Once Was (Toby Keith)

3. How do you feel today? :
There You'll Be (Faith Hill)

4. What's your life's purpose? :
Help Somebody (Van Zant)

5. What is your motto? :
If You're Going Through Hell (Rodney Atkins)

6. What do your friends think of you? :
Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett)

7. What do you think of your parents? :
Days Go By (Keith Urban)

8. What do you think about very often? :
19 Something (Mark Wills)

9. What do you think of your best friend? :
Old Friends (Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings) - this one fits perfectly, don't you think?

10. What do you think of the person you like? :
You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban)

11. What is your life story? :
You'll Think of Me (Keith Urban)

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? :
Love & Luck (Jimmy Buffett) - I don't know if I can be this, but I certainly have it!

13. What do you think when you see the person you like? :
4th of July (Shooter Jennings)

14. What do your parents think of you? :
Tough Little Boys (Gary Allan)

15. What will be played at your funeral? :
Home (Michael Buble)

16. What is your hobby/interest? :
It's Been A Long, Long Time (Harry James & His Orchestra)

17. What is your biggest secret? :
American Soldier (Toby Keith)

18. What do you think of your friends? :
Moonlight Serenade (Glenn Miller)

19. What should you post this as? :
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue

Weekend Wisdom

"Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it."

~Anne Shirley~

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Paris Keychains

During WWII, my great-uncle Charles spent almost a year in New Orleans, then was shipped to England then Paris. He was really good about sending home souveniers, two of which are these keychains he sent to his brother and dad. On one side is the Eiffel Tower and on the other is the Arc de Triomphe.


The original keychain isn't much better than the pic below. We're still trying to decide what exactly is on the small plate.

Unfortunately, Charles passed away in 1984 when I was 6, so I never had the chance to ask him about his experiences. But, since that side of the family kept EVERYTHING, we have about 4 boxes full of letters that Charles wrote home and that he received while in the Army!

Kool-Aid and History

Along with being voted by Yahoo as America's Greenest City, my hometown is the birthplace of Kool-Aid, and 11 years ago they started Kool-Aid Days to celebrate Edwin Perkins' delicious discovery. We have been wanting to go, but it always falls on the same weekend we celebrate my parents' anniversary (August 10), and we would be in Kansas. Since mom and dad moved back here last year, we've been able to go to the parade and the Largest Kool-Aid stand. It was really wet and rainy, so we didn't stick around too long. There was supposed to be a fly-over by the Air Force, but it was way too cloudy. We could hear them circling, but never got to see them. We missed the cardboard boat races, but definitely plan on going next year. I hear it's a lot of fun to watch!

My mom, the boys (with their "Indiana Jones" bags for candy), and my nieces waiting for the parade to start. My SIL Amber is in the background.

This is my adorable nephew Brod-a-licious showing off his new teeth!

You can't have a Kool-Aid Days parade without the Kool-Aid man!

The Largest Kool-Aid stand.

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Were any of you watching the Olympics last night? I usually don't watch, but I thought I'd turn in on to see what all this buzz about Michael Phelps is about. This guy is amazing! Last night I watched him break a couple of World Records and earn his 11th career gold medal. What impressed me the most was his Butterfly. That is one stroke I have NEVER been able to do (I about gave my high school swim coach a heart attack trying to get me to learn it), so I have a certain respect for anybody who is coordinated enough to do it. But, MP did it, earned a gold, and broke a world record with his eyes closed! His goggles filled up when he dove it, and that is probably one of the most annoying and distracting things that can happen to a swimmer during a race. He just makes it all look so easy and effortless, and is just an amazing athlete.

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Tonight my mom and I are taking the boys to the Prairie Loft Center for their Mammology class tonight - should be fun! We just have to make it through our last minute school supply shopping first. Taylor just needs new PE shoes, a couple notebooks and a couple boxes of Kleenex. Shouldn't be too stressful, right?

Pay It Forward!

I have been trying to get in on a PIF for the last couple of weeks, and I was finally able to do not only one, but two with JoAnne and Linda!

This is how it works:

I will send a small gift of my choice to the first 6 (3 for each PIF exchange I signed up for) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this "Pay it forward" exchange.

Those 6 people will post the exchange on their blog, pledging to send a little goody to the first 3 people to comment.

The gift can be something you have, bought, or made. Please keep the item small so that it can be mailed in a mailing envelope or small box.

So, if you would like a little something from me, just leave a comment to let me know! Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you for your mailing address.

Let's Pay it Forward!

Giveaway at Artfulife

Summer over at Artfulife is having a giveaway! Head on over to enter, and if you leave a link from your blog, you'll be entered another 5 times. Better hurry, though - drawing for "Slugger" is at 4pm today!

Weekend Wisdom

"Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live"

~Author unknown~

This is one of my favorite pictures. These are my great-grandparents (my maternal grandpa's mom & dad). How can you not laugh and smile when you see this? In this picture, they had been married for 37 years. They survived WWI (GGP was in France one month after they were married), the Depression, sending two sons off to WWII, and one to Korea, and they always remained completely in love and made sure there was always something to laugh about.

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Cameras

I love these cameras. I haven't been able to find out any info about the Birdseye, but plan to do a little more research. I found it while we were packing up my grandpa's house.

The Brownie Junior on the left was found while packing up my great-uncle's house (you'll find that most of my antiques and vintage thingies have come from my family) - and it still has film in it! These were made by Kodak from 1934-1942, and I was able to find a manual for the camera here. After I have a chance to read the manual, I plan to use up the rest of the film, get it developed, and see the last pictures my great-grandma took. We have hundreds of photos she took, and she really had a talent for capturing what was going on in that moment. Her photos tend to take you back in time as if you were really there.

I'm off to hunt down some hard to find 620 film, and see if I can find a local vintage camera expert!

Go here to see more Vintage Thingies on Thursday!

Apron Giveaway!

Mercedes Rules is sponsoring an apron giveaway. You have until Friday to enter. All you have to do is go to Rick Rack Attack and pick out your favorite apron (I know, she has so many fabulous aprons it's hard to choose just one). Then go here and leave a comment! How easy is that?

Cork -n- Tacks

So I was inspired by Jessica's thumbtacks at How About Orange and by Sweet Jessie's corkboard tutorial, and decided to combine the two - with a few changes!

I still have to make the thumbtacks for Landon's corkboard, and mine, but Taylor's is done, and here is how I did it:

Embroidery Hoop Corkboard Materials Needed:
Embroidery Hoop
Fabric (my hoops were 12" so I needed 14" square/circle of fabric)
Cork (I just bought a package of 4 squares at Wal-Mart)
Utility knife
Glue Gun
Ribbon or something to hang the hoop with


Step 1: Place the inner hoop on the cork and trace around the inside.

Step 2: Cut out your circle. I didn't push all the way through, but it worked fine to score the cork and then break of the edges.

Step 3: Place the cork inside the smaller hoop and hot glue all the way around.

Step 4: Cover the cork with your fabric and add the outer ring. Pull fabric tight. Cut off excess fabric, but leave about 1 inch around the outside. Then flip over, and either staple or glue the fabric to the back of the cork.

And you're done!

Jessica at How About Orange has a great tutorial on the fabric covered button tacks here. Instead of glueing the tack to the button, I stuck the tack through one of the holes the loop left.

Weekend Wisdom

"I'd rather wear jewels in my hair than anywhere else.
The face should have the advantage of this brilliance. "
- Hedy Lamarr

I have a tiara that I found on sale when we were planning our wedding. I bought it, but never wore it. Taylor found it in my closet one day while I was sewing and plopped it on my head declaring that I was a Sewing Queen. I now wear it everytime I'm at the sewing machine!