Friday, September 9, 2011

Gypsy Dreams!

I have been away from blog land for a month due to some weird issues with my blog/work accounts! I just got on today and see that there is a fabulous Gypsy Dreams party hosted by the fabulous Celia! Please visit her blog to see all of the participants of this party! I don't even know if I am in time to be a participant but thought I would give it a try:)....and show you some pictures of my favorite little gypsy......


What little gypsies do....



Little gypsies wear cowgirl hats.

Little gypsies walk barefoot through sunflower fields


Little gypsies daydream of magical lands far, far away...




Little gypsies smile at the breeze kissing their face and dancing through their hair...



Little gypsies sigh at the sound of waterfalls, windchimes, and guitar serenades...


Little gypsies are surrounded by ladybugs, butterflies, and shafts of sunlight...



Little gypsies worship the sun, the moon and all of the seasons...




Little gypsies rejoice in living out loud!





Please join the other gypsies at:


xo





















Sunday, August 21, 2011

I love the farmers market!!

My husband and I have been going to the farmers market every Saturday morning before going to breakfast for the past month. (kids still sleeping:)

I look forward to it all week!


I love our farmers market....it is one of the best things about living in Iowa.....we truly have the most amazing display of local farmers and artists....the entire market is BURSTING with good things!

I have been trying new recipes with the produce that I have been bringing home....


Zucchini Bread (even the kids love it!)

Rubarb Bread

Tomato Basil Salad (divine)

Blueberry crisp (omg)

Corn & Bean salad (with tomato and feta cheese)

Grilled veggies (including eggplant which I had never tried before:)

Sweet potato with rosemary biscuits (from scratch!) yum!

Creamy tomato and basil soup (from scratch)


I am now in the process of canning and freezing for the winter.

I feel like I should get an apron and start raising chickens!!


Tonight my parents are coming over....it was their anniversary last week so we are making them dinner!

The Menu:

Grilled chicken (with a honey mustard/rosemary glaze)

Roasted rosemary potatoes with goat cheese

Peaches & Cream corn on the cob

Watermellon (which is AMAZING!!)

Blueberry Crisp and homemade ice cream

Strawberry/lime ice tea (until we switch to wine)


Bon Appetit!!

xo


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A bouquet for you!

Lately you will find me~

PAINTING! PAINTING! PAINTING!

Cleaning floors and shopping for new carpet

Harvesting herbs~basil, rosemary, lavender, catnip

Making Pesto!

Watching HGTV (while I am painting)

Getting Max (and me) ready to go back to school :(

Meeting my friends at night for wine (with paint in my hair)

Watching hummingbirds

Did I mention painting?

Making flower bouquets with the flowers growing in my garden

Dreading going back to work!

Reading the book "50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do"

Realizing I could have written that book

Researching the best name for my new canary arriving in a few days ;)

Going crazy with all the painting we have taken on right before school starts

xo





Saturday, August 6, 2011

Life is Art!



My friend and fabulous designer, Jennifer Stackhouse Agan, had this on her blog and I had to steal it! Check her out here : ohmigoshblog.blogspot.com


Have a fabulous weekend my loves!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Vacation Snapshots!


























Vacation Highlights


Frank-Train into NYC, Broadway, Curly's Cafe, Grand Central Station


Me-Bus tour of NYC, Seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway, Family Game Nights, Making and racing sailboats, swinging on hammock, Salem!


Erin-NYC, Mary Poppins, Salem


Anne-Mary Poppins, Kayaking, Monkey Trunks Zip Lines, Rocks in Maine, Salem


Max-Monkey Trunks Zip Lines, Rocks in Maine, Survival knife Frank got me in Maine, the Army Barracks in Salem with Frank, catching fish with Opa, hammock, Legoland, eating lobster,

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Where has the time gone!!

Hello my friends!! HELLOooooooooo!!!

I am here....

I have missed you madly!


We returned from our annual Family Road Trip about a week and a half ago...

...but have been overwhelmingly busy since our return.....

I will post a few of my favorite vacation pictures tonight!


Happy to be back and look forward to a glass of wine and reading your blogs soon!!

xo

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Magic Fort Inspiration

I am in the mood to make another magic fort

But I have a list a mile long of grown up things to do:)

So for the next two minutes....I will just sip my coffee and swoon at these pictures....

Enjoy!














xo

Thursday, July 7, 2011

I had this GREAT idea to order butterflies. It was, after all, on my summer bucket list!

I was sure that I could get my 10 year old son to read about butterflies, observe their development from caterpillars to chrysalis to the exciting emerging butterflies.

It would be a thematic unit....a way to naturally bring reading into our mornings and

encourage some organic gardening.

We would sit outside and have breakfast and read about the lives of butterflies.

We would sketch different varieties of butterflies and perhaps paint butterfly masterpieces on large canvases.

And then we would work together in the sun to make the perfect Butterfly Garden!


The caterpillars came, turned into chrysalises.

Max humored me by reading this book. With 0 enthusiasm.

Slow start ...But I KNEW once the butterflies emerged, he would be psyched.


I had all of the supplies we needed and set the stage for our new butterflies!

"BUDDY! Come look at our butterflies!"


"Cool mom."


Max did not care.

at. all.



But Lady Luna did.

She sat all day and all night....

watching....planning their demise....

But don't worry.....I had them in a very safe spot...because it was our thematic unit...

And I knew Max would be devastated if anything happened to his precious butterflies

Once all of the butterflies had made their dramatic entry....

{Max was so bummed to hear that he missed their "birth" due to a epic Nerf War Marathon}

we {I} researched how to maintain the perfect butterfly habitat.


It was time to release them into our {my} Butterfly Garden that we {I} had been prepping for our

butterfly release party!

Did you know that butterflies thrive on the sweet nectar from bright colored flowers?

To attract butterflies to your garden, try planting the following:

Purple coneflower

Black eyed susans

Butterfly Bush

Mint

Sage

Sedum

Phlox

Blazing Star

Vervain


Butterflies also need shelter (note the butterfly house I bought on Etsy.com last year xo)

....and they also need water....

The best way to provide water to our winged friends is to make them a Mud Pie.

Everyone loves Mud Pie!


Here is the recipe I devoured from my favorite book by Sharon Lovejoy ~Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars

1. Fill a saucer with soil and sand

2. Sprinkle with a dash of table salt

3. Wet the soil to make it mud pie (it will need watering daily)

4. Provide a landing spot, a flat rock is perfect!..

...Butterflies need a place to land to gossip about their day!

5. Sprinkle some maple syrup on the landing spot for an extra snack!

6. Place the saucer in a sunny, safe area among bright colored flowers....the perfect meeting spot for your happy winged friends!

Ahhhh.....we {I} have learned so much about butterflies this summer....


And our {my} hard work has paid off as word has apparently got out that our Butterfly Garden is the place to be!

We {I} have been blessed with an amazing display of butterflies to keep my company while we {I} garden..

Oh I almost forgot
A Butterfly Breakfast Party was necessary the day we released our new little friends!

Coffee and sweets were on the menu
Inviting my friends over for coffee throughout the summer is also on my summer bucket list...
...so this was perfect!...

Unfortunately, Max was already up and out of the house and swimming with his friends before we walked our butterflies out to their Butterfly Garden...
...so he missed the big, emotional good-bye!...
...I think he left so quickly so no one would see how sad he really was to see them go...

However, there was someone who was VERRRRY HAPPY to see them go...
We didn't see the Lady for the rest of the day....

The good news is:
I got a few things crossed off my summer bucket list with this little activity AND
I have a fabulous little Butterfly Garden AND I have many new winged visitors who greet me each morning as I sit outside to read the paper and sip my coffee.

The not-so-good news is:
I think I am going to have to stick to "tomato baseball," "whip cream water slides," and "blowing up watermelons with firecrackers" to get Max actively involved in my next idea!

xo