Fun on the farm

Okay, I know it is Wednesday, but I really want to work on my photography, and that includes linking up to Sweet Shot Tuesday with My3Boybarians.  Plus there is an awesome giveaway for one participant... so I must participate!! :)

Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we have living out here in the country!! and the fun I have photographing my kids and their excitement... (one posed shot and one action shot of 3 of my 4 kids)

and for some reason, only 3 of them rode past me with Daddy... don't know why the 4th didn't take a spin!!  My kids have an awesome Dad... and I have an awesome husband... I did get a ride, too, but no pictures this time!! :)  I love riding the 4 wheeler with Wes!!! :)

So my photography readers... any suggestions, criticisms, praise??!?!!

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate

Totally craving chocolate right now... and I have none in my house... okay, that is not entirely true, I just don't have any quick and easy Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, which are soo easy to indulge in without overdoing it.  This prompted me to see if I could come up with my top 10 favorite forms of chocolate...

1. Dove Dark Chocolate ...seriously so delightful, smooth, creamy, a lot of taste in a little square!!

2. Betty Crocker Fudge brownies... I could eat a whole pan!

3. Oreos... seriously is there anything better?

4. Chocolate milk... made with LOTS of Hershey's syrup of course!!

5. GOOD chocolate ice cream ... bonus if there is peanut-butter and fudge swirled inside.

6. Nutella ... hazelnuts and chocolate make a dynamite combination!

7. chocolate covered pretzels... I love, love, love the sweet and salty combination

8. ... Oh My WORD! I can't think of 10 forms of chocolate, what is wrong with me???!?!?!  OH, Homemade Chocolate Frosting... love to make it, love to eat it, feeling the need to make a cake right now, just so I can have some!!

9. Chocolate covered orange creams or raspberry creams ... but it must be DARK chocolate

10. Hot fudge on a sundae... Oh, I am craving some chocolate right now, and I think it is just because I have no Dove Dark Chocolate in the house right now... :(

So tell me, what is YOUR favorite form of chocolate???

And for other fun Top Ten lists, go check out

13 years!

Today, I am just giving thanks for God's Blessings on my life for the last 13 years... Today, I am celebrating my anniversary!!  Today, I am thankful for God's grace in our lives!!

just counting some gifts with pictures from the past....  I spent way too much time reminiscing looking through old photos on my computer!!  No wonder it takes me so long to blog! don't have many pictures on the computer before 2003 :)

 13 years ago!!  :)

NYC 2002

Williamsburg 2002

 Wes' brother's wedding 2003

Christmas 2003

 Wes gets his Masters May 2004

Adding another kid 2005

 and another 2006

and another 2008

(photo credit DarkerShadesofBrown)

July 2010

 Festival of Ice 2011

 enjoying a 4 wheeler ride 2011

  Memorial Day 2011

 Florida trip 2011

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart... looking forward to lots more pictures and memories!!

Thanking God for the gifts with...

the wonder of childhood

Okay, so it's 11:00 pm on Friday night, and I should totally be in bed, but I really want to join in with Lisa-Jo's Five Minute Friday!!  I have been stewing over the prompt most of the day... WONDER! (does that mean I took more than 5 minutes?)  so anyway, here goes nothing...





START

Oh the wonder of a child... the incessant questions, the insatiable curiosity, the fascination with the little things, finding joy in simple pleasures.  Somewhere along the line we lose these things... and I want them back!!

I got a glimpse of it once this winter when I went sledding... most fun I have had in ages (although I still hate to be wet and cold).  Now that we have a great hill out our front door, I am looking forward to sledding again next winter (not looking forward to it, too much; I still want a nice long warm summer!!)

I hope I never lose the wonder of seeing wildlife in my back yard ... deer, turkey, a coyote, even a black bear, but mostly deer and turkey!! :)

I want to reclaim the wonder of dancing in the rain, splashing in puddles, picking dandelions...

I want to be a kid again and that is hard for me!!  Oh the wonder of childhood.  Oh the carefree ...

STOP


okay, that was shorter than I thought it would be; my mind kinda went blank. I blame it on the late hour, but at least I am "back in the saddle" with Five Minute Friday!  Maybe tomorrow I will get a chance to read through some of the other great submissions to Five Minute Friday... go check them out!

Red, White and Blue

It's Patriotic Week at CSI Project this week.  I am all inspired to make some decorations, or create something every time I go to this site, but I've been busy and distracted lately.  So my patriotic stuff won't get up until July 2... maybe!  But until then...

When I saw the Red, White, and Blue on CSI Project this week, I began to wonder why I never made any patriotic hand-stamped, handmade notecards.  Might just have to add that to my to-do list in the craft room.  then I began to wonder if I had ever made any cards with the Red/White/ Blue theme, because that is a great color scheme.  So off to my pictures folder in my computer I went.... searching, searching through my past cards to see if I had ever made red, white and blue cards and here is what I discovered!!

This fun flowered one from the archives!!  I just made this card again recently for birthdays, but I used different colors.  I might have to do the red/white/blue again!!

Then I found this one, that I did recently for my sister... she just had a baby boy and needed lots of thank you notes, so I made her a set of these!

My most recent one was this one that I did for Father's Day... I even sold two, but never even sent one to my dad, I am horrible at actually mailing all the cute cards I make!! :)

and then I found this one...I actually still have a set of four in my stash!  I think I am having a hard time parting with it, because A LOT of work went into this card. (but if you want them, they are for sale, here)  There was a lot of stamping, a lot of shading, a lot of cutting and then the assembly of the cards themselves!  A perfect Man thank you!

So there you have it... my non-patriotic contribution to Red White and Blue week at CSI Project... now go check out all the patriotic submissions!!

Celebrate!

Today is my sister's birthday (it's a big one) ... (She's older then me)  :)  I haven't seen her since last fall... Can't wait till she comes and visits this summer!!  Here's us!

In honor of her birthday, I sent her some of my most recent creations ... birthday cards, but I left them blank so she can send them to her friends/family!! :)  I also made the effort to actually list them in my Artfire shop, so if you like any of them, you can order them to send to your friends!! :)

So, Happy Birthday, Sis!!  Love you

Photographer's Block

Okay, so I would never really call myself a photographer, except that I do take pictures, so I guess that might make me a photographer.  I committed myself to taking at least ONE picture a day for the year 2011... and I have been doing pretty good.  I did it with the intention of finally taking my camera off "AUTO" however, that really hasn't happened.  However, the last 3 days have been a complete bust.  It becomes 10 o'clock at night and suddenly I realize that I haven't touched my camera all day!!  so I sit on my couch and pick up my camera and try to find something interesting in my living room to take a picture of ... these are my pathetic attempts to keep taking one picture a day...

a lighthouse mirror hanging in my hallway... nice and all, but not really all that phenomenal as far as photos go... not even an interesting photo subject

and a wad of pretty... but fake, flowers I bought with the intention of making my house a little "springier" but then I did nothing with them.... look, they still have the price tag on!

thankfully, my son lost a tooth today, so that at least gave me an interesting photo subject, but it sure isn't comparable to all the photos you will find linked up with Darcy at My3Boybarians and her "Sweet Shot Tuesday" link up.

so somebody, please, send me some inspiration... or my Project 365 is gonna fall flat this year!!

So for this week's entry into Sweet Shot Tuesday, I pull this from the files of our trip to Florida 2 weeks ago.

Why is it that my "Sweet Shots" are almost always of FOOD... I think I have an obsession! :)  This one is a "homemade hostess cupcake", and it was delicious!!  So if you are ever near Sarasota, FL, take a little detour and check out this cupcake company!!

just keep counting, just keep counting

So, I have been avoiding blogging lately in an effort to get the right perspective, right priorities... it's not working!  I have not been counting my blessings either, so I want to just focus on what is RIGHT in my life right now!  So here's my re-cap of the last 2 weeks!  Last time I counted some of my blessings, I was in the middle of some time away with my sweet hubby (read more about him, here).  so here are some other things I enjoyed on our mini-vacation along with a recap of the last 2 weeks...

672. some great Spanish food
673. a massage
674. window seat on the airplane
675. a new VAN for our family!!

676. Attending LYFE Conference
677. beginning with some great entertainment from Harris III

678. some fantastic fellowship with ladies from church
679. some great workshops and encouragement from God's Word
680. great food, including a warm apple dumpling

 681. a new coffee mug... reminding me that my God is not stuck in a box!!

682. hugs and kisses from my kids after many days away
683. my 3YO ... "I missed you,  Mommy, I missed you a lot!"
684. the beauty of a red cardinal in my yard

 685. the awe of a black bear in my back yard...  sniffing out my chicken coop... in broad daylight!

686. making delicious Peanut Butter frosting for a chocolate cake for my son's belated birthday!
687. my 6YO and 8YO giving me the "morning off" by making breakfast (bagels)
688. getting a hair cut after WAY TOO LONG!
689. a beautiful moonrise

690. taking one last picture of our cat...

691. tender hearts of little children
692. rain to mix with tears
693. flowers on kitties grave

694. taking the kids to a ball game!
695. attempting to get a normal picture of my four kids (normal is relative!)

 696. eating dipping dots at the ballgame

 697. being mom to the cutest 3 YO ever!!!

698. cotton candy and blue tongues

699. fireworks after the game
700. tired but happy kids
701. Saturday morning pancakes made by my hubby
702. milk mustaches

703. my girls remembering the Wkids fun center at Wegmans after a long day (childcare at the grocery store)
704. the prospect of a new lead pastor at our church
705. hearing our candidate preach!
706. singing in church
707. steaks on the grill for Father's Day
708. my dad calling ME on Father's Day! :)
709. counting my blessings, naming them one by one!
710. knowing His mercies are new every morning ... and there is grace for the day ahead!
711. receiving One Thousand Gifts in the mail last week... now I need to go read it!

getting closer to 1000 with Ann Voskamp...