around here : may 20

 Enjoying the tiny buds that will hopefully turn into delicious strawberries.

 I've already made my first smoothie using our garden spinach.  Matt told me that we should thin it out but I don't have the heart to do it.  It's like aborting tiny spinach plants.  I know that sounds crazy but I literally think I would cry.

 We caged all 6 of our tomato plants and I can't wait to dismantle that extra wood that was used to make a makeshift green house.  there was once a tarp over that because at 4500 feet we were still having some pretty cold temps..

 Loving this gorgeous iris that is in full bloom.

 I think we're going to be eating broccoli very soon.

 Lots of flowers in bloom around here.

 And our front yard will have lots of poppies very soon.

 Loving these too.

 And soaking up lots of afternoon sunshine.

 Saying hello to our trailor that came home after having some major repair work done.  Really looking forward to our camping trip in August and having some just-for-fun-sleep-overs in it.

 I'm pretty sure by tomorrow these tulips will be open.

 Reading my first book Finding Me (a memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings) on my iPhone.  It's an awesome read and a book that's hard to put down.

Dropping off our ballots at our local library.

wednesday ramblings.

 She likes to... build makeshift cat toys out of sticks and grass.

 She likes to... encourage the cat to play with her makeshift cat toys and the cat is eager to try them out.

 She likes to... strip broken branches of their moss covered growth.

 She likes to... pout on the bench when she doesn't get her way.  She wanted to go to the Yogurt Hut (it's her favorite treat spot next to the Human Bean).  Mommy said it was getting to close to dinner.

 This is Mr. & Mrs. Martin's beautiful cat (McKenzie takes violin lessons from Mrs. Martin).  My girls love cats and always look forward to a little play time with this one.

 So very happy that the sun made an appearance yesterday.

 So very thankful for her love of music.

So very thankful for two girls even if they drive me crazy most days.

around here : april first.

Around here, it's been one of those weeks where we have been getting a variety of weather.  Periods of sun then rain.  Periods of snow and then some hail mixed in.  I'm anxiously awaiting warmer weather.  I'm ready to plant... plant... plant...  I'm also super excited for our second growing season in our garden.  Mr. M. built FOUR 5x8 raised beds last Spring that supplied us with a variety of veggies all Summer long.  For now, we have planted some strawberries and broccoli which will survive the colder temps. we have at our elevation.  Today I watched as Mr. M. planted seeds that will hopefully grow into baby carrots.  It hailed and was super cold but we will look back 52 days later and say it was totally worth.  I really enjoy the process of planting seeds and watching them grow into something our family can eat.

Around here, Mr. M. has been cutting and stacking fire wood for next Winter.

Around here, flowers have been planted and crossing my fingers that our deer don't find them.

Around here, I'm wearing these most comfortable shoes on my days off.  I highly recommend sizing down a whole size because they do run big and will stretch.  I normally wear a size 7 and I ordered a 6 and I'm so glad I did after reading the reviews.

Around here, I'm enjoying things that are just about to bloom.

Around here, I'm watching to see who takes residence in our bird houses.

project life : week 48.

 It's week 48 and I'm still really loving this project.  Looking forward to documenting 2014.

click the photos to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

 Week of : November 25 - December 1.

 What happened this week:  Harvest lunch with Callie at her school.  Watched Callie perform in a Readers' Theater play her classroom put on.  I did some baking.  Thanksgiving with my grandma and grandpa.

 Anything special in this spread?  I ordered the Project Life Core Kit Midnight Edition and I love how the colors works with my Project Life Seafoam Core Kit.  I also ordered the
Project Life Sunshine Core Kit and I'm in love.

 Some of you may already know that I love adding text to white space in a photo.  And I love
the 5 senses journaling card from the Seafoam Edition.  I really need to incorporate this card more into my album.  That Flair button is from Elise Blaha Cripe's shop.  I'm a huge fan of her stamps and flair buttons.  These are my go to items that add just a little pop to my weekly spreads.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins.  I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly.

Jacksonville & Tree Hunting

McKenzie was supposed to have her annual holiday concert with her violin teacher last Sunday.  Unfortunately, it was postponed due to extreme ice and hazardous driving conditions.  This last week most of Southern Oregon had temperatures dipping into the teens and Matt spent most of the day thawing out a pipe under our kitchen sink with a portable heater he borrowed from his mother.  Schools were cancelled last Friday.  In fact Ashland schools have been cancelled Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Sheets of ice blanketing all over our town are creating hazardous conditions and with the freezing cold temperatures, nothing has had the chance to thaw out yet.

So we made the best of our day and headed out to Jacksonville.  We were going to make this trip next weekend but with the concert being rescheduled, we decided to see if Santa was in town.  And as soon as we headed in to town on foot, we ran into this smiling face.

We usually go on a horse drawn carriage ride but the roads were to icy.  But extreme weather conditions couldn't keep this jolly-old-fellow and one of his elves away.   I'm sure Santa and his little elf helper are used to extreme cold temps.

Callie didn't hesitate to let Santa know she really wants a "Flashlight Friend" and lots and lots of skirts.

 

Wishing I could have spent more time taking photographs but their toes were freezing so we headed back to the truck.

 But Callie is all about window shopping in this small town.  Lots of pretty displays to look at.

And then once our toes had defrosted, we made another stop to a local tree farm.   It took us all of 20 minutes to make our selection because our toes started freezing again.  Both the girls made a unanimous decision that this was the perfect tree.

Then we got back into the truck to start the frozen toe thawing process again and headed back to Ashland for a late lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant to celebrate McKenzie getting straight A's on her report card.