It has begun...

well a big round of applause to all those talented ladies from the past two weeks!  Thank you so much for contributing.  With all of the packing I had to do, my blog would have pretty much stopped if you hadn't stepped in for me :)  So here's a little catch up of what I've been doing and what's going on in my life...

• We DIY packed our entire home and loaded it into two PODS (which I highly recommend by the way).
• Last Monday I was honored to be a guest contributor over at Sew, Mama, Sew!  (that's the pic up there) If you haven't see it already, go check it out!
• Currently we are house sitting for a friend - we will be doing this until we know where Ryan's job will take us.
• I had to pack the car for us to live out of suitcases for about 12 weeks - toys, books, bed linens, clothes, sewing machine...we're a miniature house-on-wheels.
• To help Charlotte cope with the transition time and the eventual move, she got to pack a special box of toys etc. that will always be with her - no matter where we are staying she will have her box.  I also made a photo book at Wal-mart into a story - with pics from our old house, pics of activities we will be doing during transition, and then we're going to draw a picture of what our new home might look like.

So that's a little bit of what I've been up to - I  hope you're doing well and enjoying these last days of summer!

xoxo

jessica

Where Shall We Go?

In Oak Ridge, TN there is a wonderful event that happens in mid-June. It is the Lavender Festival and it is wonderful!!! Crafty local vendors come and display their talent and wares. Musicians sing and play their instruments all day as you wander and peruse the many splendid creations. Lavender, heavy and exotic, perfumes the air with its bouquet. Can you smell it? Allow me to share some of what we saw.

Look at those wonderful Lavender Wands. The reeds of lavender are bound around the lavender buds and woven with jute or ribbon. All you do is gently squeeze the bulb and the lavender scent wafts to your nose. Great for stashing in drawers or trunks.

Literally lavender by the yard! This was a full yard of lavender tulle with lavender buds sewn into 6 inch pockets the whole length. 

 

There were people milling around the festival with these bunches in their bags, hands, pockets,and purses.

Isn't this lovely bunch amazing? I can picture it centered on my table or perhaps on my mantle. The room completely transformed by the aroma (sigh).

You get bunches like that large one from lavender plants like these. Aren't they gorgeous? The bumblebees were busily buzzing around each bud. Can you imagine how happy and relaxed they were? (giggle)

The girls and I stopped for a snack of French Beignets and Kettle corn (the food couldn't all be provincial),

and a craft of making lavender sachets. The girls have slept with those sachets under their pillows since Saturday. They say the sachets give them sweet dreams (ah, precious, aren't they?).

We visited my favorite farm Honey Rock Herb Farm . They have the healthiest lavender plants. I have two that are super huge and prolific. The farm has so much more too. Go check them out. They are the greatest!

We saw these GORGEOUS garden sun catchers

that were also good children catchers (note the lavender sachet in her hand).

Look at these wreaths. Aren't they superb?  I loved them both so much. Which one do you like?

Lavender was infused into everything; the air, the water, the lemonade. . . 

and yes, the ice cream as well. There was so much to see and smell and do. It was a grand day.

A Berry Wonderful Weekend

Last year, right after we moved up here, we hiked up Buffalo Mountain which is right by our house.

We were pleasantly surprised to find some berries right along the trail - so we picked them - here's last year's post.  So we decided to go again this year - my mom was here this past week so we all climbed the mountain and went berry pickin! Here's Buffalo Mountain:

Diligently picking berries.

Sneaking a few for a snack!

On the way home we stopped to pet a horse.

Here's our collection!

We decided to make little hand pies - which were AMAZING!!

We used a recipe from Delicious Meliscious.

I omitted the glaze but added sanding sugar, and I used the refrigerated pie crust from Pilsbury which is the BEST store-bought pie crust ever.

YUM!!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!  Summertime is so much fun.

xoxo

jessica

VBS 2011

Happy Monday friends!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Ours was lovely.  We were a bit tired, recovering from Vacation Bible School last week at the church we attend, but it was really fun.  

Here are some pics that I took one day - 

The main story was Jonah and the Big Fish and the theme was Love Your Neighbor.  They sprinkled in some other stories about loving your neighbor too - like Jesus speaking with the woman at the well.

They built a big fish that all of the kids could go inside.  

A guy playing Jonah was in there saying prayers to God.

Charlotte's comment was "whoa".

One of Charlotte's sweet older friends carrying her.

(E, I love this pic with A's little braids!)

Have a great day today and love your neighbor!

xoxo

jessica

April Showers brought May Flowers!

The other day, Charlotte and I took a walk around the yard to pick some flowers.  I was so surprised by what we found!  That is one of the lovely things about living in the country - lots of wildflowers!  

(and some that I'm pretty sure the previous owner planted :)  

Here's our gathering:

We put them in vases:

This is Charlotte's vase:

And this little bud holds promises of beauty:

Here's a pic of the beautiful Japanese Red Maple behind our home - love it!

So tell me. 

What lovely flowers do you have growing in your yard?

xo

jessica

4 hrs in the ER = no DIY for you today...

So yesterday I had to take a trip to the ER for a problem with ovarian cysts.  I won't give TMI, but I will say that I was working on a tutorial for you yesterday, but the pain got so bad I couldn't sew (that's how I knew it was serious...lol).  Everything is figured out and I am on some medicine and resting today - Ryan's home to care for me....such a great hubby.  So I hope you have a lovely weekend, and hopefully I will be back to myself by Monday.  Here are some pretty pics Charlotte and I took the other day walking around our yard.
xoxo
jessica

Come on Spring!

A few days ago, Charlotte and I were playing by the creek in our yard.

Everything looked so pretty - the grass is just starting to pop up.

Apparently, it's typical, but here's what my yard looked like today.

Winter had to have one last fling (I hope it's the last!) before spring.

 Mmmmm....spring.

hope you had a springy weekend

jessica

Appreciation Day

We've started a little tradition in our family.  It's called Appreciation Day.  Whenever we feel like one of us deserves some celebration or honoring - we can throw him/her an Appreciation Day.  A day to show them how much we appreciate what they've been doing.
Here's an example - a few months ago, Ryan had been working really hard at work and at home, so Charlotte and I gave him an Appreciation Day.  We made him yummy foods, made arrangements so he could go on a long bike ride (he loves to cycle), made cards for him - and just took a day to celebrate him - Ryan Appreciation Day (which also spells RAD and that makes him smile :)

Well, I was sick all last week and Charlotte and I have been having some difficult two-year-old moments lately.  In general I feel like she has had a lot to handle in the past week - so yesterday we had Charlotte Appreciation Day! 
Here's what we did:
After breakfast she wanted to play instruments - so we had music time for about 20 minutes. 
Then we got dressed and headed out to the Hands On Museum.

We had a lot of fun at the museum - she got to go grocery shopping -

and sit on a tractor -

 

and we saw fish and animals, and played on the playground.  For lunch, we picked Daddy up and ate at Earth Fare (an organic grocery store with a yummy cafe).  That's where we bought the special jelly bean treat ;)

After her nap (and my nap)  we painted Mommy's, Charlotte's, and baby's toenails pink!

When Daddy got home we had a dance party. 
It was a really great day - I love you sweet Charlotte!

Hope you all have a great day - and let the ones you love know how much you appreciate them!
jessica