Three Hours /// Simple Things

Three hours, a full tank of gas and a little bit of money, just a little... that's all I needed last Friday afternoon.
I only had around $12 on me, but I did have a lot of change, which is necessary when you are  driving randomly through the country
not sure at all where you are headed,  except...  South.
The change was for the fountain diet coke at the gas station.
Total mini-Road Trip necessity.

Somehow I ended up at one of my favorite junky thrift stores about 30-40 minutes away--
which, had I been thinking, I would have made sure I had more cash on me... but it all worked out.
{Just wait... you'll see}.
If you have been reading here long you know that country drives are one of my most favorite things.
Now that means that I have to allow for quite a bit more time than what my trip will actually take because I like to drive on the actual
country roads, not the highway.
You should also know that I am directionally challenged, so this is the other reason I have to allow for my little trips to take longer
than they actually should.
All I can say is, thank god for the compass and GPS on my phone.
I am a hot mess.

Sun shining, country roads, fields, barns, silos, tractors, lots of animals, big old country houses....
I am in heaven.
On my way back home I stopped at the cemetery to see my grandma + grandpa's grave...
and wouldn't ya know, I still had some change left so I was able to leave a quarter there for my grandpa.
It makes me smile when I stop there and see a little row of quarters lined up there left by his kids and/or grand kids.
My grandpa always gave us quarters when we were little, and maybe even when we were too old to be wanting quarters, so now
we leave them for him.

By the time I got back in town, home and inside my house I might have only beat the kids home by about 5 minutes, you might
say I cut it just a little too close ... but I made it.
And it was just what I needed.
Time to think, away from home and any responsibilities, no music playing... just completely quiet...
that truly does me a world of good.

OH! And my purchase... the one that made me GASP loud enough to almost really embarrass myself...
I almost missed this little beauty... this awesome little wooden lamp that plays music when you wind up the little
cat and the girl rocks back and forth.
I am in love.
This lamp that plays music and lights up and rocks and does just what the tag said it could was only--
wait for it.................................... $12.
Exactly how much I had on me.
Can you even believe it?

Maybe this little lamp will inspire me to finally do the big re-do on Charlotte's bedroom...
Maybe?
Hmmm...... Well anyway, in the mean time it sure does look cute in there.

>>>>>>>>>>

Hope you have a happy, happy Sunday.

{Perfect Afternoon}

A perfect afternoon.

Hours to myself.

In the car; Christmas music, large diet coke.

Antiquing.

Veering off of the highway onto the country roads.

Sunny skies.

Barns.

Fields and pastures.

Lost in thought.

Grateful for the time to myself.

Watching the sun go down...beautiful sky.

Time and space to breathe.

So very thankful for that.

Hope you all had a good Saturday.

Antiquin' and Barn-Spottin'

First :: Thanks for all of the comments yesterday.
I do love you guys and I do appreciate every comment and email and text and
every word of encouragement, truly I do.
I should have clarified; at the end of yesterday's post I was talking about Parenthood the tv show ; )
I do love parenthood the job as well and love these kids to pieces but Parenthood the show is
awesome and I have just recently started watching it. There, now I feel better.

***************

So yesterday morning when I dropped Charlotte off at preschool she said;
"I feel like going antiquing today!" That girl makes a mama proud.
I had actually been thinking about going sometime this week anyway, so antiquing we went.
We wen to an antique mall about a half hour away and just made a a day of it.
Antiquing, lunch and a drive through the country while the SUN was shining = perfect day.

Look who accidentally parked here, looked up and saw the sign and had to move.
Ooops.

I don't normally take my big camera in antique shops with me but today I did and I 

was glad because I saw so much cute stuff.

And the yellow flowered 1950's tray? Kinda mad I didn't get that. Super cute.

Ummmm....Santa?

Just a few of the many things we spotted.
Lunch was at this cute little All-American Diner, Ted's Garage.
Good food, super yummy milkshakes along with real cars and old-school gas pumps inside.
Oh and check out the lights above the tables, I am in love with those.
Wyatt would have loved it too, so we will have to go back.

We had to hop off of the interstate and make a bit of a detour through the country because
we had time to kill and it was such a pretty day.
A little cold but sunny and I don't think the sun has really shown it's face for nearly a week.
Or that's what it feels like anyway.

Charlotte is my little barn-spotter.
I have a thing for old barns and will happily go out of my way to take pictures of them so she is
always on the look-out for me.
My grandma and grandpa had a neat old barn like this when I was little, which started my
love of barns a long time ago...maybe one day I will have my own.
One of my dreams is to publish a book of old barns in the Midwest before they are all gone.
I might just do it one day...or I might just take a whole bunch of pictures of them and
not make them into a book.


Happy, happy day to you.
Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Remember this little radio?

I found this at a little antique store in Iowa last month.

I cannot pass up these vintage Fisher Price toys, I just can't, especially when they still work.

Besides being so cute and well made, these toys always bring back memories and a 

familiarity of childhood... 

I love that.

The last few days have been a little rainy, gray and cloudy.

It has been pretty cool and we actually wore long-sleeves yesterday.

I don't mind the cooler weather so much for just a few days but I am ready to see the sun all

 day again and I think the kids are, too. I do like the balance of a few really hot days and then a few

 days where you spend a little more time inside though when things have cooled down.
 It will be super hot again soon enough.

We took a picnic lunch to the lake the other day after the kids got done with Vacation Bible School.

I had everything ready to go and as soon as they got home we left, we had a couple of much

 needed hours outside at the lake before it started sprinkling.

This is how you wrap up chocolate chip cookie bars when you have can't find lids for any of

 your tupperware containers; wax paper and twine, in case you were wondering.

I am a strong believer in Quiet Time at my house. 

Just because my kids do not still nap (although Charlotte will on occasion) they do have quiet time.

Some days they do not think that they should have to have quiet time so sometimes I mix it up a little, especially after several days at home. This week the kids have built "reading nests" in the living

 room instead of having quiet time in their bedrooms.

They can get all of the blankets, pillows and stuffed animals that they want to for their little nests. 

They are just not allowed to be able to see each other from their nests because you know as well as I do that once they can see each other it is no longer quiet. 

We have been to the library at least once a week, we are keeping up with the Summer Reading Program and this mama is keeping up with her books and due dates and is determined not to go down the shameful road of huge library fines again. I can do this.

*****

Right now I need to get ready to go see my kids sing at the ending of VBS this morning,
Wyatt is so excited for me to hear their songs and I can't wait to hear them, too.

Hope everyone has a great Friday.

Another dreary day here so it looks like some art projects and a movie will be in our plans later this afternoon as opposed to a picnic lunch and Rummage Sailing as I had hoped.
Have a great day!