Mother’s Day 2013

This year for Mother’s day my wonderful mom had the fabulous idea of going to the “Sheep and Wool Festival” and I do have to say that it was simply lovely. There were sheep things everywhere. And really, how could you not smile at people with sheep hats, barns full of roving, smiling llamas and sleepy sheep? It was beautifully simple and so totally us.  We were all inspired. Since then, I think we’ve all been caught thinking to ourselves on whether or not we could possibly manage to fit a few llamas and sheep onto our lot. While that may be a few years down the road, it’s always good to dream.

We are so totally blessed to have a Mom who loves us so much. It would take me all year to tell you about how amazing she is… Most mornings when I begrudgingly roll out of bed and stumble to the kitchen, there she is… smiling with a pottery mug full of coffee and a joy that’s infectious. She’s a strong follower of Christ that constantly challenges me and encourages me at the same time. We’re pretty much opposites, so while I can get on her nerves (and vice versa :) ) we still manage to have a great time. It’s always an adventure, but it’s been a great one, speed bumps and all.

Happy Mothers Day Mom!

Spring

My oh my it is spring already. Yes, I know it feels nothing like it at the moment for those of us dwelling in the land of perpetual winter, but it’s here! And with spring comes all the wonderful things such as dirt and flowers, farm animal babies, and Resurrection Day…

Here’s just a snapshot of some spring happenings over here…

my sweet sister Lillie turned 16 this past week… what a beautiful day it was! She so loved the encouraging words of her friends, laughter, food, and simple graces that were shown to her throughout her special day… and I am totally loving her green headphones…

the 5 chickens whose Chicken Mama takes such egg-cellent care of them are doing fabulously. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying the 5 eggs a day, and now cannot imagine life without our fabulous girls.

I am so thrilled to announce that we’ve recently added 2 more feathered foul to our happy homestead…

Yes, I am ever so slightly in love with these two ducks.

They’re names are Puddle and Ginger, and we absolutely adore them. We think that Ginger (yellow) will be your standard white duck with the orange bill, but Puddle (brown) is a mystery, though we are pretty sure she’s either a Mallard or a Rouen (Ruen? Roun? Something like that… :) )

I launched a photography site this winter to help keep my portfolio “out there” and so far so good! I am simply excited to have taken 1 more step.

 

What’s been happening around your home lately?

Party Time

I am nearly 19. crikey. And my next youngest sister is nearly 16. One of the best parts about having a birthday so close to my sister’s is that the party lasts from the end of February to the middle of March. So this year, to prepare to celebrate our consecutive birthdays, we made tissue paper pom-pom things and hung them from the various tall places in our house. And I do have to say, they look simply lovely.

and in case you were wondering, yes, that second to last pom-pom was made by the boy, and since it was smaller, we put it on a stick in a flower pot. love!

Were these hard to make? Not at all!

Here’s the instructions we used:

(Thank you to Audrey from Oh So Pretty for the instructions!)

Here is what you'll need:
+ 10 sheets of the same color tissue paper (Most people suggest 8 sheets but I found they turned out best with at least 10 sheets.)
+ Scissors
+ Monofiliment or fishing line (for hanging the poms)
+ Bendable wire (I used 24 gauge)

And here are the simple steps for pom making:

1. Stack 10-12 sheets of tissue paper. I bought paper at Paper Source on the plaza. If you haven't been there I suggest you check it out...tons of great stuff to choose from!

2. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

3. Wrap your wire over center of folded tissue; twist until tightly secured. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.
4. Separate the tissue layers, pulling away from center one at a time. Once pulled apart evenly, fluff the sections until you are happy with the fullness.

5. Tie a length of monofilament to wire for hanging.

TIPS:

+ I found the poms look better when you cut the rounded (or pointy) shape pretty deep instead of just the ends.

+ The first pom I made was a dud. I made it too big and didn't cut the rounded ends very deep and it turned out poorly. I made some adjustments on my second pom and they all turned out great after that.

+ To make a smaller pom follow the same steps but simply cut down your tissue paper to a smaller rectangle or square.

+ I made a multi-colored pom using 4 sheets each of 4 similar colors (a fun alternative to a solid colored pom).

So really, all you need are these 4 things:

And wa-la! So pretty!

 

 

To top off the afternoon, my amazing mom made cake. Carrot cake. Yum-o!

Party on!

New Neighbors :)

I am so thrilled to tell you that construction has begun next door! The lot sold a month ago, and our family was a bit bummed to be losing the open grass next door, but on meeting the new owners, we realized how totally amazing it is going to be having them for neighbors, as they are super sweet people.

As the machines rolled in, Mom ran up to get R out of bed. Here’s a picture of him last night, but I thought it pretty much depicted his face on seeing the diggers this morning. :)

He is so thrilled that a “Snort” (from Dr. Seuss’ Are You My Mother? book) has begun to dig out the hole for the foundation.

Who needs TV when there’s diggers and Bobcats to be seen out your sliding glass door??

Stay cool today, friends!

jk

Painting the Laundry Room

When we moved into our house nearly a year and a half ago, every single wall was either a neutral beige color or a simple brown. This was a bit of a change. The house we moved from in the city was many times more colorful than the beige: we had purple, blue, orange, green, and pink on the main level, and blue and brown in the basement. My mom and dad worked really hard when we moved in to get some color back into our home. So far, we’ve done two bedrooms, the kitchen, and the staircase walls all in some beautiful colors. I came home from play practice to find a beautiful surprise and a very happy mom.

An orange laundry room! How amazing is this??

My dad rocks- he put up shelves and painted while we were all running around that morning.

Now, the laundry room is not only much much sweeter, but thoroughly functional as well!

 

 

We hung a 2” wooden dowel along the hooks on the shelves, making more space for us to hang dry our clothes. It looks so charming!

 

 

We are all just a tad bit in love with the laundry room right now :)

and how could you not be? :)

 

-jk

Presenting…

This year, my sisters and I have the privilege of being a part of another Grace Farm Theater production!We are beyond thrilled to be a part of another great play with 30  God-honoring and joyful people.

Last year’s production of “The Hiding Place” was phenomenally awesome. We had a lot of fun (as you can probably tell by the picture :) ) and the Lord was glorified through it all, and we were so grateful for how He orchestrated the whole thing.

This year we look forward to seeing God at work again through our production of “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” This play is a bit more difficult, and has lots of scene changes and costumes. We are all looking forward to the challenge of playing people like Charity, Joy, Anger, and Intolerance.

The performances are in mid-July, and we as a cast are so anxious to see how it will all turn out.

We would appreciate your prayers for us this summer as well: prayers for God to be glorified, patience, joy in all weather :) and friendships to grow.

Thank you so much, dear friends! I can’t wait to share the stories of how God worked through the play with you all!

May you be blessed this beautiful day!

jk

Homestead News

Hey y’all!

Life has picked up as summer starts to roll into our life full force, and I am so excited to see what adventures God is going to take us on this summer!

Our first weekend in June was spent moving lots of plants, adding some details onto the chicken run, playing in the garden, and lots of bike rides on the cool afternoons.

Dad and Ruthie have been hard at work these past few days putting the pretty new roof onto the chicken run. We had a long week of hard rain that nearly turned our chickens into ducks, and they decided that it would be a good investment to put a roof onto the run. It’s hard to see on the pictures, but the roof is slanted so that the water runs off and not into the run. And do you see the new vent on the back door of the coop? Yep! Those gals needed a bit more air on the warm nights (and cool ones) so after some Pinterest inspiration, my dad put in a vent on the back door! I thought it was perfectly genius of them.

 

Those sweet faces we love so much are still keeping us hopping- especially that little white one :) You can read more about our latest escaped with Piper the puppy here. She recently discovered that we do live on a pond, and decided to try it out. My oh my was she a mess! It was very funny to watch her get hosed off afterwards though- her face just glared at us, and I could see that she was rethinking the pond jump.

The drills haven’t been the only machines hard at work these past few days. Our sewing center was recently rediscovered as all three of us gals plunged headfirst into some exciting spring projects. Lillie  (who just recently started a new blog! did you know? she’s going to let you know about some great books she’s been reading: the Hobbit, some Historical Fiction, and some great funny reads too! Check it out over here!) made a purse out of fat quarters and it turned out so cute that the Ruthie decided to make one too while Lillie makes another one for Mom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While my sisters are cranking out some darling purses, I’ve started another quilt! I am very excited, as this is the first quilt in which I’ve used triangles to make wonky stars. (isn’t wonky a fun word? :) )

I found precut squares by Moda fabrics at my local (Christian!) quilt store, and am so excited by the sheep, chickens, and flowers that I could hardly stand it. I am using the pattern called Starry Eyed off of the Moda Fabrics blog, Moda Bake Shop.

 

Hooray for spring!

More news to come later this week as our neighborhood starts to fill up!

Blessings!

jk