Balancing Bliss

happy happy birthday....

wishing a happy birthday to my oldest friend....my sister jenny... we became sisters at the age of 4...we are only 6mo. apart so we shared everything...bedrooms(except the time i taped a line down the room and made you go through the closet to get out...sorry), stories, friends, experiences...although going down different paths most of the time...we have common ground somewhere... our bond as adults has grown over tastes, craftiness, and now motherhood. i love you jen.....

 

and if i were able to be with you today we would;

 

hope today is a happy day for you....

a weekend of journey's....

 

starting us off on friday...

the middle school journey begins...

we took his school supplies to his locker and walked his schedule.. i knew this would be the only opportunity to take pictures... we all know i'm not getting within a .25 mile of the middle school on the first day..

then saturday morning;

i'm not a morning person but with the right amount of coffee, 1x a year, i can get up to see the hot air balloons rise @ 630am journey...

it does help that i know i will be getting doughnuts at the end...

followed by...

so lazy of a saturday that i took 40 pics of bees in my pumpkin patch...

they were just so covered in pollen i couldn't help it... it was beautiful...sometimes they would have to clean off because they were so covered they couldn't fly...and speaking of pumpkin patch...little out of control... and a couple more months to go...we aren't going to be able to enter the front of our house soon...

and our highlight of our weekend...

the over a decade in the making, wishes come true love story journey...

you know how some weddings are just REALLY that wonderful...?.... this was one of those... they had enough people taking pictures so i put my camera down most of the night and stayed in the moment... first off to set the scene... the wedding took place at their house, they live in the country and have a creek that separates their property, she came over the bridge to the wedding, they had it in their dahlia garden, they floated dahlias down the creek, it was evening, the food was great, the speeches made people cry, lots of tears on this one, until the dance floor came out... oh my... everything was beautiful.

our story;

heather and i go back all the way into high school but didn't really become good friends until we were 21&22...lets just say heather and i went on a little wild streak for about 8wks...we had a lot of fun...she is quiet and reserved but give her a couple of drinks and she is out on the dance floor...i'm social as can be but you can pour liquor down my throat all night and you won't catch me on the dance floor! i forgot all about it until i watched her out there on her night... when we were 23&24 we became mommas to two little boys (pictured above) just 8wks apart...i was able to hold her hand through the delivery and witness garrett coming into the world. amazing. we were single mommas and spent many days sitting on eachothers couches nursing and talking about our sleepless nights. through the years we try to get together for chats, birthday parties, blueberry picking or whatever...a friendship that doesn't need much nurturing because we always pick up where we left off... 20yrs in the making. i love you friend...

their story;

her sister described it best as 'God's backwards plan'...they went on a date, found out they were having garrett, were great parents to garrett although not a couple...not until garrett was about 2years old did they even start dating! they have blended their families...their teenage girls being the same age and their little boy..who isn't so little any more. they are kind to each other and have supported one another through the years. Heather is a worker...she finishes one degree and is on to the next. aaron is so good to give her the wings to do this. no one can really say why it took them 12years to finally do this but it was just beautiful and so right. so happy for them...

onto the next journey...the last week of summer. i had big plans to make the most of it but when i woke up at 5am (and promptly falling back asleep) i heard the sound of rain on my roof and our plans have been changed. no beaches, lakes, or riverbanks...but late pj mornings instead. after all...those days are coming to an end too.

proof of the Blissful day...

i was blogging from my laptop and lack of pictures yesterday so i thought i would share proof today...

the balloon that almost landed in our neighbors yard...those are my trees in the backyard. i know it's mostly tree but it shows it's size, the morning sun shooting through the trees, and the last one shows the basket with the people.

these are of a little girl in jammies climbing the tree...too far up in my opinion..trying to get a 'better look' ....if you look in the last photo you will see a tad bit of pink in that tree...over my neighbors roof...the balloon eventually went back up and away...

we had quite the spread of summer fruits and veggies...and to balance things out, i followed it with 4 smores...yes 4 smores...it felt so good to eat...to eat for joy and because i could...these days i just eat enough fruit, veggies, water and jerky (of all things but hey it's protein) to get by...not much else...so my day ended with smore bliss.

today started like this...

i think it's going to be a good day.. just a sneek peek into her bedroom...it's progress..she is sleeping in there again...now to add pink knobs, a curtain rod, curtains, a white crib and a baby dresser...it might be a couple of weeks before i show the room complete because i need to put a little girl in school so i can 'go through some things' ahem....to make sense of it all...but it's getting there... and as you see..frenzy our kitty approves...

bliss in the making...

first off...75* outside... windows open...slight breeze...

woke up early...walked out to water my garden and found a hot air balloon floating above our street...13 more came to join the sky over the next hour..one came low enough for the people in the basket to say hello to my littles on our deck!

our home is coming together...SLOWLY...hour by hour...room by room....that brings peace to my heart and mind as it does...a little girls room getting moved into today...a boys room minus a vanity and a doll house... laundry folded and put away as it comes out of the warm dryer... hands soaking in warm dish water... can't say enough about 75* weather! (last night it was 85* in our house at 9pm!) Gods air conditioning... so grateful.

baby moving around and kicking in my belly....biggest brother holding little sister on his lap...eli blu playing with  his pups...hoping to pack up backpacks with school supplies and starting to wash and put away school clothes as the bedrooms take shape.. bbqing with the family tonight and making a campfire for smores... 

blissful day...

BLOG BURST......

 i just have no been me lately. the way to gauge that is to see how many pictures i have been taking. last night i uploaded photos, which i usually do everyday and i had no uploaded anything in 10 days! no blogging for 7 days! oh my.... so here is a blogging burst...

i am feeling much more me since i got my camera out last night. i uploaded photos last night and again this morning of a little project i've been working on. part of the reason i haven't been me is because i do not handle chaos very well. i keep things in order...it's just who i am and what i do. since last week we have had luci's room torn apart to paint and bits and pieces in every room in this house! plus we are painting the dressers so all the clothes are out of drawers and in laundry baskets. add bags of school clothes and supplies. it's total chaos for someone like me.

onto happier moments...

we celebrated a boy turning 11...here are some pics of gaven @ 10yrs old... 

by the smirks you can tell how much he loved getting his photos taken this past year. he is so excited about starting middle school this year. we are going to go put his school supplies in his locker this week and let him walk the halls.

painting with this little one was cute yet patience challenging...

those are some of the little details to her room. it is finally yellow. trimmed in white. pink details. just to keep her busy i gave her one of my unfinished birdhouses to keep her busy. she wants it hung above her bed...she has big plans...sigh..

then there are these;

i have primed, painted, and painted again 2 dressers for a girls room. 1 dresser is quite special. my grandmother bought it for my mom when her husband was overseas in the korean war and she had to move home with her little one. it has gone through 6 of us. i have only painted it 3 times now! for the first time it will be getting knobs...in pink. brian took the above shot of my pregnant belly painting it because i am always pregnant when i paint it...and this will be the LAST time..

also...not a big deal over this one but it was sweetly remembered...

brian went to the store with luci for charcoal for the bbq...because although i had planned dinner i do not think of such things...he came home with flowers and a couple cases of diet coke. he REMEMBERED. 10yrs ago we got engaged. i adore that man for so many reasons...1) he knows i like a simple bouquet of daisies/lillies and such 2) he showed me he knows me by getting me some much needed diet coke... i have been so good this pregnancy and he just wants to give me the ok...go ahead...have a cold diet coke and paint on!  3) one of the sweetest things he does is take a child with him so that they see him do sweet things for their momma.... most of all he just knows i'm a simple girl and that 10yrs doesn't need roses and diamonds...i'm not that girl...my spirits were lifted so much by a $9.99 bouquet at the grocery store and some diet coke....love him.

best 10 yrs of my life...the year before was probably thee very best of my life... it's when gav made me a momma... so glad brian joined us and added 2.75 more little people to this family. it's been quite a ride and we have only begun...

being happy...

after yesterdays on the verge of a pregnant rant and whine...oh my...

the weather dropped 35*+ , i opened the windows, my mood lifted significantly... this was of course after A/C hopping from friend to friend to library for hours....in between in a van with no A/C...

BUT...today i woke up with energy...i'm even ok having a cold...it's like 65* outside...nothing wrong with blowing your nose!  hot coffee felt good on the soar throat. i'm on my 3rd load of laundry before 9a.m because i can run my dryer...only so much happiness a clothes line can bring you by the end of summer...i'm over crunchy jeans and towels... looking forward to making a warm dinner with the window open...plans on cutting the broccolli out of the garden before it flowers and steaming it up...the word steam would have sent me into tears yesterday... maybe a walk afterwards with the kids and puppies...

plans on buying white paint today...finally and starting the girls room so we can put it all back together. it doesn't feel like a daunting task but a creative little dream. wishing i had $ to add all the little details i dream of but i know that much of my creativity has always stemmed from not having $ and so i will take it as a blessing.

on the baby front....i think we named this sweet baby girl! we have to have a family meeting and share with a few extended family members before throwing it into blog land but soon..

so a recap on blissful today; cool breeze, hoodies, hot coffee, soft laundry from the dryer, warm healthy dinner from the garden, walk with my loves, a pretty yellow room in the making today!

be happy...

be happy i'm not blogging!....

brian brought home a cold from seattle, i got it..it's been 100*, no A/C, 7mo pregnant, i'm whiney and miserable although i try to start each day happy while it's cool and i'm out watering my garden...it gets the best of me by dinner time...

the only progress we have on the girls room re-do is that we tore it all up! then promptly felt hot and overwhelmed...

registered my boy for middle school today...it wasn't too bad but he is gone on a camping trip.. when i take him to his locker with his stuff, i will probably cry then...

told you...be happy i'm not blogging...not much positive of anything here...okay i will try...

hmmm...the weather is making a dramatic turn in the next couple of days...my boy is coming home... i'm actually driving down HWY 101 to go get him... the kids earned free passes to the cool pool through the library...you know..that place we hang out in with A/C until they close....i have a wonderful husband who makes dinner a few nights a week because food is not my friend... there you go...positive as i can be...

summer in full swing...

finished up swim lessons... luci rocked them... passed with flying colors...the boys class was a bit more of a challenge and they will be taking it again over the winter...they earned free passes to the pool for a day so brian offered to take them down there... with 400 other people on a saturday at 95*+....

gav is finishing up his weeblo stuff and planned a campfire activity....lucky him there just happened to be a meteor shower that night...we made smores and watched the stars until 11pm... luci put on footie pajamas and fell asleep on my pregnant belly before 930... brian tried to take her but i said "how many times will i be able to hold both my girls?" it was a sweet night...

our garden has taken off leaps and bounds... it was a late late start with a strange, wetter than normal spring...so we are pleased.. not what we had intended as a garden but it's funny how things turn out just right...

we have quite the little pumpkin patch... in another month or two it will be so very festive. 

in just one week it has filled in completely! can't imagine what the 100* weather will bring to it. notice the buffet is missing out of the background... it is getting a facelift and will finally be put in our dining room.

 

laundry on the line...for a boy who is getting ready for his first camping trip without mom and dad...sniff sniff ....he is getting ready for middle school so i better get used to such things happen...sigh... 

guess i will have to keep myself busy this week. not hard to do. i do believe nesting has started. i turn into so a freak...i'm excited and scared all at the same time. i'm making lists....most of them i can't even do so brian is probably more scared than me!...he's done it a few times now and knew it was coming. he's stripping the buffet for me to paint later this weekend. we are painting a couple of little dressers white and a little girls room yellow...many updates this week i'm sure...

happy weekend everyone...

some school shopping.....

she had stalked this dress for weeeeeks...and was oh so bummed when they didn't have the headband anymore...afterall she is the girly girl who accessorizes ... so today we drove 30+min to another target and found the headband. she is a happy happy girl.

gaven likes to announce (to anyone that will listen) that he will be in middle school and luci then pipes in with i'm a 1st grader. 

the boys got cargos and hoodies....me? i got a maternity support belt :)

todays plans...

that good man who took the kids for the weekend...he brought me home 2 dozen krispy kreme...

it was so good to wake up to little people and think of someone elses needs other than 'what should I do next?" i'm sure this nostalgia will wear off soon...but right now i'm happy to do what they need.

todays plans;

let them lounge, lounge with my big belly (7th mo. now), the house stayed clean over the weekend imagine that...except to pick up my scrappy mess.. or create some more while the 'creative flow' is still around ...

speaking of;

i have 2 more pages started too. after waking in the middle of the night, i totally thought of a new sketch too...just like the old days when scrapbooking was so darn exciting that you would find yourself dreaming in patterns... hey i'm not the only one...i've talked with other girls who said the same thing... too bad i didn't write down that sketch!