Friday Insta-Love

Hi there.
It's Friday!
I'm always happy for the weekend although the weeks have seemed to be going so fast since school
started.
Has it felt like that for you, too, or is it just me?
Hooray for weekends anyway though and cooler temps and no plans! No plans, I love the sound of that.

A little insta-love from the past week...

leaves are starting to turn * office door * sky * morning walk
modeling necklaces for the shop * walking to school * girl's night out * cool spider web
coffee in the back yard * office cleaning! * yellow * front porch getting all "falled up"
sunset * shop stuff * driving * hobby lobby dress up


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It has been an absolutely beautiful Fall week, like it was exactly what I would have asked for.
Windows open, perfect sleeping weather, sunshine and cooler temps.
All of it makes me ready for the pumpkin patch or maybe even the apple orchard first.

And because I haven't shared any of our pictures from our little trip to Indiana last weekend, here
are some of my favorite insta-shots...
The kids ready to go and excited because they got out of school for a half day.

the waterfall * our cabin * the waterfall again * so many trees *

evening hay ride through the park * flowers from my girl * cousins! * first trip 

We had so much fun in Indiana and I have a whole bunch more pictures to share next week.
What have you got going on this weekend?
Anything fun?

Hope you have a great weekend.

Weekending:: Andy Warhol, Rain Boots & A Rummage Sale

Friday night was date night for the kids and I.
We went to a local art show and out to dinner, just the three of us.
We got dressed up-well, we got out of our "lounging clothes" anyway, and grabbed the umbrellas.
There was a huge thunderstorm that ended just in time for us to leave.
Let me just tell you how happy Charlotte was about the rain and the puddles- she got to wear her  new
rain boots and splash in all the puddles, in a white dress. Yeah.

The kids loved the art show; they both love to draw, illustrate, paint and color.
Wyatt's teacher this year also has a degree in art, which is perfect for my boy.
He incorporates art into their daily work and encourages Wyatt with his drawings.
I love that.
Wyatt came home from school yesterday and said they did a "pop art" project and wondered if I had ever heard of Andy Warhol : )
Then last night at the art show Wyatt spotted a painting of Andy Warhol and thought that was really cool and explained to his sister who it was
and what he did.
Getting good reports on test scores and reading levels and all that jazz is good but the Andy Warhol thing made this mama proud.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Saturday we had a rummage sale and after it was over- or wait, an hour into it- I vowed never to
have another one.
Like never again.
You might wanna remind me of that in a few years though when I think it's a good idea again.
I  LOVE going to rummage sales but I do not love having them.
People are annoyingly cheap. A nice pair of little girl's Nike tennis shoes are marked $1 and the lady just has to ask if we will take
50 cents instead.
Fifty cents instead of a dollar because you know, that extra fifty cents she just really needed.
Really?
For a pair of tennis shoes that are in great condition?!
Grrrrrr.
Those people make me want to say no just out of spite...Mature of me, I know.
But when people are nice and friendly and are going through all the baby clothes I have
marked a dollar each and saying how cute they are I have no problem
telling them to pack a grocery bag full of clothes,  as much as they can possibly get in there for $4.
Okay-- rummage sale rant is over.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This morning it's still just the kids and I, Eric will be home from the Cabin today.
We have an open day with nothing going on, love days like this.
Homemade blueberry muffins for breakfast, coffee, windows open, kids spread out on the floor drawing and no school tomorrow.
Another 3-day weekend.
Hope you have a great Sunday, too!

Oh---- I almost forgot about the bracelet give-away.
Leslie, I'll be sending the bracelets your way this week! : )
Yipppeeee!

I Made It.

By Friday evening I was mentally tired and not looking as forward to the rest of the
weekend as I had been.
I was stressed and a little low on patience.
Okay, a lot low.
But we turned it around.
The rest of the weekend was good.
**********

This was 8:30 on Saturday morning....yep, already playing at the playground.
We live right across from a school so it's like having our very own playground, especially
on the weekends.
The kids got to have their cousins spend the night Saturday night and although they were up
super, super late, they were all up way earlier than my kids are on school days.
Ughhhhh.
So this was just what we all needed.

They are best friends.
I love that.
Yes, they fight sometimes too, but they also really love being with each other--a lot.
*************

Other weekend highlights included....
trying out our new popcorn popper (so exciting!),
making Pilgrim and Indian paper dolls,
and making homemade pretzels that were a huge success. Yay!!

It was a good weekend.
It feels good when you are able to pull yourself out of a grumpy, grouchy,
stressed-out funk before it gets the best of you, huh?
I hope yours was just as good.
See you here tomorrow morning for a little Virtual Coffee.

* are you on instagram?
i am @amylucky13.

{Weekending}

ahhhh....weekends!
it is a beautiful 72* here today and we are trying to enjoy every minute of it, especially since
the forecast is showing rain and thunderstorms nearly all week long.
yesterday we went to the county fair...i will be back with a bunch more pictures tomorrow.
happy sunday, hope you are enjoying your day, too!

addicted.

weekending...in pictures. with the boss' phone. that would be eric since i don't actually have a boss, ya know. i am officially addicted to the iphone now. {sorry, honey} i can do without the games and all the other stuff and i can get online on my own phone but all the fun camera apps? love, love, love. i have deemed myself not responsible enough for an iphone to date,  but i'm not sure how much longer that can last. i have dropped my own phone in the toilet countless times, left it on top of my station wagon and drove all  day with it up there while searching everywhere for it. i drop it daily, spill coffee on it....how long would an iphone last with me? it's not looking real good, is it? i know.

so saturday we had to go out of town so eric could take care of some graduation business...we made a day of it and ate lunch out and went to the book store. origami kit for wyatt, new book for charlotte and the latest artful blogging magazine for mama. oooh, what a good day. it was a nice family day, really.
 no sarcasm here today.

hope everyone is having a great weekend.
it is chilly here today but sunny.
we plan to go visit my sweet little baby niece later today and cook out tonight.
and i got my date night last night. life is good.
peace & love, y'all.

Lots to Love...

It's Friday, it's Friday!

I am sitting here in the peace and quiet while the little one is resting in her room.

Drinking tea and editing pictures. Waiting for Wyatt to get home and tell me all about his Valentine's Day party at school today. I loved the Valentine's Day parties when I was in school. 

Well, really I loved making the shoebox mailboxes the most.

But anyway...you guys, he almost wore a suit to school for his party today.
Well, a suit jacket, shirt, vest and tie to be exact.

 Almost...but then he changed his mind. I didn't talk him out of it,  he decided on his own he would just wear the outfit already laid out. It was one of those things where I wasn't going to tell him he couldn't wear it,  because that's who he is, but I had a quick image in my head of kids laughing at 

him for wearing a too-big suit jacket (with shoulder pads) to school.

 I would hope no one would,  but still......the things we worry about, huh?

 Oh, I love that little boy though. He really has such a sweet heart.
*And yeah, I did say shoulder pads.

But it's Friday. Friday. The weekend is here.

And here are a few things I am loving today....

$1.99 for a big bouquet of grocery store tulips. They don't last long, but ohhhh I love tulips.

A Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Yum. Normally I am not much of a latte drinker but this is good.

Blue skies. Yes it's freezing and Yes, I know I sound like a broken record. But the blue skies
 we've had this week make me so happy.

My new salt & pepper shakers. Aren't they cute? And just in time for Valentine's Day.
But just ignore my dirty kitchen window, k?

Jars. Ball jars, Mason jars, jelly jars, spice jars...any kind of jar. Full of flowers. Instant love.

********
Here are a few more things that I am loving this week...
these wooden rings.
this free calendar you can download here.
these adorable little aprons. love the colors! and her blog is just as cute.

And lastly, this picture of my boy....in said suit vest. And captain's hat his grandpa gave him.
 This boy loves his "costumes" and dressing up, he's quite serious about it.

Happy Friday!
Hope you all have a great weekend. Have anything fun planned?

::Indiana::

Well, hello there Monday.
How was your weekend?

I hope it was wonderful and didn't seem to just  totally fly by like ours did.

We spent our weekend at a beautiful State Park in Indiana, about three hours away.

We stay in the Family Cabins and oh, it really is just so much fun.

My parents used to take us when we were little, spending the week

 there with aunts and uncles and cousins.

And now my little family is spending weekends there once a year; with aunts
 and uncles and cousins and second-cousins. 

You know how much I love that.

I think our family, meaning my family on my mom's side, take up about seven or eight cabins.

They are all close to each other and have electricity, indoor plumbing 

and are just the cutest little cabins ever.

These cabins are highly coveted so we make our reservations for

 the following year while we are there each year.

We always go mid-September and this year the leaves were just

 starting to change colors, ever so slightly.

The first picture was taken down in the creek where the waterfall is, which is my favorite spot. 

The kids love walking through the creek, on the rocks, right through the water over to the Falls.

Due to lack of rain the water was low and the Falls were not nearly as pretty 

as usual but still very cool just the same.

I said the Falls were my favorite spot, and that's true, but my very favorite thing about the weekend

 has to be the hayride. Okay, I think I might even be more excited about it than
the kids sometimes, it's that good. 

We go in the evening and it is just so nice and relaxing, it's about a
 45-minute ride through the whole park.

How truly lucky we are to have such beautiful State Parks within driving distance from us.
On our way through Illinois and into Indiana we pass several other State Parks we have
 never been to that I would love to visit a some point.
You can check out a list of State Parks in your state right here.

*****
There's more pictures but I will stop here for today.
Hope everyone is having a great Monday and I hope you join
 me here tomorrow morning for coffee!