The Brenda Photo Challange "Red"

I love her challanges! And if you know me then you also know that I love to take pictures. So it gets me thinking when I have a theme to go with. The theme for my photo club this month is also red so this one really had me going. I only get to pick one photo for the club and I have not decided what picture I want to use yet. But for this challange I can post all I want so here it goes...

who loves barns

and what goes better with barns than wagons

Ok, so the last one isn't really red but look how pretty!

Well how about some tractors and fire trucks..

and we have flowers....

and some other red I found around...

and how about a rooster to top it off!

Enjoy your day!

Photo Friday

CROCKS

The girls of The Primitive Pantry have started a Photo Friday theme. Today's theme is crocks! We all have them, we all love them so lets show them off! I have several but I am just going to share my favorite. I got it a little hole in the wall auction house for $15.00!  It is Blue ribbon Pottery Brand from Macomb, IL and I have no idea what it is worth. I will keep it for ever so my husband says it isn't worth anything if we aint going to sell it. They just don't understand sometimes, lol. And my kids did use it to hold toy guns but right now it has been moved and holds shoes! Go figure......

The Brenda Photo Challenge

I just love doing the Brenda Photo Challenge! This months theme was frozen. And lets face it we all have seen a little of that this winter. And some of you are still getting it or expecting more. Some of us only saw a little and even though it is mostly a pain in the bottom, it is quite beautiful!

It can show up on almost anything and has the oddest affects.

But even the slightest touch can give a sleeping plant a luxurious glow.

And what goes better with ice than snow?

 So the best we can do is take advantage of it. Not only by beautiful pictures but with winter fun!

So happy winter everyone! And remember to try to find beauty in everything you do.

Friday I have missed you

Oh it seems so long since I have had a weekend that wasn't full of basketball, shopping or family gatherings. Don't get me wrong I love doing these things but I am in need of some down time!  And crafting sounds like a great activity for that down time. It can be stressful but it is mostly enjoyable and can even be relaxing.
 My craft room is coming together and I have some orders to work on. And I am super excited to see if my organizational skills where useful when I set up the craft room or if I will be spending the day shifting things around.
 It is feeling like love is in the air..... and every where I look I am starting to see red hearts and pink ribbons.  I guess this holiday  is normally for adults but I can't help but think of little boys and girls handing out valentines and sharing candy. You know before the messy love stuff shows up and things are still so Innocent. So I can't wait to get crafting this weekend and have some red and pink items of my own to share with you.
Until then here are a few hearts to help get you in the mood for love. Happy Crafting!

Welocome 2011!

Well it has been a while since my last post and alot of things have been going on. As with the rest of the world the holiday season was very busy between school parties, birthdays and just the holidays alone kept me on my toes. Plus this was my first year really focusing on my crafts. It was all great and I loved it! We are in the process of converting a section of the garage into a craft room. This will give me plenty of room to work and create which I absolutely love to do.

My oldest son has also taken an interest in crafting and it making the most amazing things from paper and cardboard. He has made boats, planes, character helmets and he even made a suit of armor for his Halloween costume party. He is very talented and one of the best parts is he is drawing it out first and then using math, yes I said math, to convert it to the size he wants his finished product. He has not realized this fact yet so don't tell him!  LOL

So this year is starting out good, the Lord surely has blessed us. I will leave you with a few shots from my other favorite past time, photography.   I can't wait to share new things with you very soon.

Happy New Year!

The Brenda Photo Challenge

I have a passion for barns. I don't know when this started but I do remember that even as a child I enjoyed playing in the neighbors barn. To us it was a place to day dream, play hide and seek, a hang out, a climbing wall, a treasure hunt and we even had a swing in the loft. It didn't matter if it was raining or the sun was shinning, the barn was always calling to us. It was surrounded by corn so it made us feel like we were in our own little world. As a grown up I always noticed how well they were made and the usefulness of them. As a prim girl I always wonder what treasures they hold hidden in the walls or nooks of the ceiling. And as a photo bug I started noticing so many more than before and the angle potential of each and every one I saw. So now I take pictures of everyone I can and as we all know a picture can speak a thousand words. I will let you decide what this old beauty is saying to you.

Veteran's Day

I just wanted to take time to say thank you to all the service men and women out there who have served or is still serving. It is because of you that we still have the privilege of living in a free country. God bless you and your families. My father, brother, uncle, cousins and many friends have served during peace time and in war. And today my thoughts are about them and my prayers are with the many others I don't know that is away from their families today serving our country. And for the countless numbers that have lost their lives protecting us, God bless you! So remember them today as I do. And if you see someone in the service take time to shake their hand or even a hug and say thank you. And if the someone you want to thank now walks with the Lord remember they are only a kneel away.

Autumn Beauty

Justin

I went on my first photo shoot over the weekend. It was scheduled for the sole purpose of taking pictures and nothing else. Nothing extravagant or anything just some random fall shots. I went to the home of my former pastor to find some fall inspiration. He lives in the hills and it is so peaceful. You can see neighbors but there is hustle and bustle of town life. Even in the country close to town there is a constant sound of a distant highway. Not here it is just us and the sound of nature. And even though it was an overcast day I did catch myself standing in the middle of a pasture with my eyes closed soaking up the sun as it peeked through the clouds and thanking God for allowing me to enjoy the beauty he created. I took my youngest son with me because he is all about the outdoors. We walked through woods, hiked up hills, and walked through pastures. He is so at home in this kind of setting. He took only one picture while we were out but he chased frogs all the way around the pond. Thankfully for the frogs he did not catch them. And after he shared his lunch with the dogs one of them even helped in that quest.  Justin got his first ride on a tractor while we were there and he got a close up view of some cows coming to feed. He is such a blessing to have with me on outings like this. And even though he was scared to ride with me on the 4-wheeler we did have a great day. I wasn't expecting for anyone to be home so it was a great surprise to get to see Bro. Ron when he came home early. It has been years since I had seen him and was glad to see him looking so happy and refreshed by life. I learned allot from him and consider him to be my church father. I grew so  much spiritually and as a person in general while having him as a pastor. He was also the principle at our christian school and it was a joy to have him as an influence on our children. And I for one have to say he may have influenced my oldest more than others since he is the one who spent the most time at the principles office. It was to bad that I was the secretary he got to see when he got there. So I secretly hoped that he just wanted to see his mommy. 

Bro Ron wasn't the kind of pastor who lectured you on Sunday and then was not heard from till the next service. He was an actual part of the congregation. He played with the kids, and visited with the members and he and his wonderful wife even hosted hay rides in the fall at his home. He and his wife was a blessing to have as our leaders. And I am so very thankful that he is blessed with such a wonderful family to support him. And I do want to add that if you like to read that his daughter wrote an awesome book called Beyond Tomorrow! It is a christian based book set in the Civil War. Try it you will love it!!!

 So here are a few pics of our outing. And remember to take time to enjoy the outdoors with all of the beautiful fall colors! And if you have an opportunity to take a friend or family member it will make it that much better.

Beautiful fall colors

Bro Ron taking the kids fishing



Old Home Church



Justin and Pepper looking for frogs

  





Technology

Well the last few days I have been having a love/hate relationship with technology. Since it is now officially hunting season we were in the woods doing some last minute prep to the stands. We were not getting done in time to pick up the boys from school so I needed to make arrangements for them to go to grandpa's. While on the phone with the school my phone went dead. And of coarse I was not anywhere near a charger. My husband had his in the truck but it doesn't get a signal where we were. And even if it did, I didn't know the number because they are all programed in my phone and all I see are names when dialing. Just what happened to the old days when we were a walking phone book and could memorize dozens of numbers. You know back when there were only phones at home and kids spent a whole lot more time around their parents. Now, second graders have their own cell phones and my thirteen year old calls me from his room. Well the kids were taken care of thanks to the great secretaries at school that got just enough of my phone call to get them where they needed to be. But now my youngest is coming home from cub scout camp and I can't call and check on him because the leader he is with is old school and does not have a cell phone. We are very good friends and I trust him very much and I am sure they stopped for lunch or even went to a sporting goods store and will be home soon but I so want to talk to him right now. So as for technology I am glad and sad all at the same time that you have spoiled us by making things so darn easy!

Me out hunting!

I just wanted to add a few pics to show some of the things I have been working on.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well I have been very busy lately. I guess it's just that time of year for everyone. I have to start this story by telling you about my dog Lucky. He came to us seven years ago as a stray starving with heart worms. We took him to the vet and it was a long process to get him taken care of but we did get him fixed up. The vet said he will always have trouble breathing because of the damage and he estimated him to be about four years old. He has always followed me everywhere. He is right step behind me at all times. Even when I mow the lawn I can't go backwards because I will fall over him. He likes to spend time with me. So Lucky is around ten and his hips are getting bad and he can no longer get in the truck and won't use a ramp. And the last time I tried to help him into my durango I almost killed us both. Because needless to say he is like me and a little bit heavy! I got a new van about a month ago and thought that it would be great for him because he can get into it easily. But since I have been so busy I had not got a chance to take him for a ride yet. Well it should have tipped me off that I needed to slow down when I came out of my craft room and the boys had taped a gun target to my hutch and had a competition with spit wads. YUK! I knew I needed to slow down but I had so much to do. Well today Lucky let me know again that I need to SLOW DOWN! After I came home from the lumber yard I had forgot and left the back hatch open on the van. The garage was open because my husband was mowing the lawn. I went to the craft room and got to work. Well after three dolls I received a text from my husband along with this picture.

Lucky wanted to go for a ride! We don't know how long exactly he had been in there waiting since we were both doing other things. But none the less he was there waiting for his mommy. So tonight I took him for a ride and we visited our local gas station that hands out dog treats through the drive up window. And this is where he discovered what he had to give up to be able to get into the car, a window that rolls down. ha ha ha So I say thank you to my children and their spit wads and to my black lab Lucky for letting me know when I am too busy.

Why Am I Here?

This is not a deep question I am asking myself it is a normal, easy question. And the answer is I have no idea! I had decided not to go back to work and stay at home to take care of myself and work on my crafting business. But after several comments from people that I will not mention, I felt bad about not "working" and gave in to working only when I am scheduled and not as a call in. But now as I set here I am wondering if it is worth it. I have worked two days already and after each time I have had to take a very long nap because it has absolutely wore me out. And now I am scheduled two days this week and I am already feeling the tired kicking in. And as I sit here all I can think about is the show I have coming up in three weeks and everything I want to be doing for it. So again I ask myself WHY AM I HERE? I should be crafting! Don't get me wrong I love to be around other adults instead of that darn cat. And I enjoy seeing all the kids at school, well at least most of them, I just feel like I am setting myself up for destruction. So for now I am at the school, posting shh, and planning my fair and that is the closest I am going to get. Did I mention I am in a computer lab where most sites are blocked and there are hardly any kids in here unless they are with another teacher? So here I sit waiting for lunch so that I can at least see my oldest pass my by without speaking. He loves me, but mom is so not cool at school! Have a good day everyone and bring on 3 O'clock!

Cloud Watching

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. Since it is Labor Day it normally marks the end of summer. And it just reminds me of how fast time is going by these days. I had to push my kids out the door to get them to go play outside this summer, and that includes swimming in the pool. It seems they have always got a video game they are playing anymore. I remember when I was little we would be out the door as soon as we got up and didn't come home until it was time to eat. We rode bikes everywhere, we played kick the can and hide and seek in the corn field. We would roller skate on the basketball court and since everyone didn't have a pool like they do now we ran through a sprinkler! Yes, I said sprinkler. My kids don't even know what that is. And some times we would just lay around and watch the clouds go by to see what shapes they would turn into. Oh how I wish things could slow down like that again. The lazy days of summer, when even when it rained there was puddle splashing. And it didn't matter if you where wet, dirty or even bare foot back in those days it was perfectly fine. Now maybe I am just a country bumpkin and they did things different in town but that is how I remember summer. Swinging on a swing set and leaning back with my eyes closed so that I could let the sun warm my face. How sweet it was. And you can still catch me stopping on a nice day, with the puffy white clouds against the blue sky, leaning my head back with my arms stretched out letting the sun warm my face. And being ever so thankful that God made such a beautiful world.