clean reading

Where is the most unique place you have found your child/children reading?  I think this would have to be mine:

Coming soon: Hobby Lobby

Rhinelander is getting a Hobby Lobby!  I can hardly contain my excitement!! (Neither can Isaac!)  So-long hour long car rides for craft supplies!

38

It happened.  I turned 38.  I got to go out to a delicious dinner at my favorite restaurant, the Brick, and to see the movie The Martian.  Both were really good!  Then the next day I got to celebrate with a piece of delectable ho-made cherry pie that Andy made for me! (And did so in my most favorite comfy jammies!)

big protector

I love finding them like this. ♥

Grandma and her boys

hunting season

Hunting season is upon us. We are nearly done with bow season and now are staring down the barrel of rifle season.  To prepare, Isaac and I headed out to the lake with Andy and Grandpa so they could site their guns in,

It was SUPER loud, so we all wore some protective ear gear.

Part way through Andy asked me if I wanted to try to shoot a rifle.  I was a bit hesitant but in the end I gave it a try. The target below shows my two shots.  Yes the two bullet holes without any marks through them in the orange.  Those are mine.  Not too shabby for my first two shots ever.  I honestly think Andy was a little stunned that I hit the bulls eye. (Then again.... I was too!)

Isaac has always been our little outdoors-man, mimicking his dad in whatever he does. ♥

There is nothing like having a great friend you can always count on. :)

Fall at the new house

When we moved into our new home this last summer, one thing I never really put much thought into, was how the big beautiful wooded lot would offer amazingly beautiful fall leaves.... that would fall to the ground and need to be dealt with. We are talking a TON of leaves. Our last home had two small maple leaves that required very minimal attention.  This yard is FULL of  maples, birch, and oak leaves.  This photo above was after we had already cleaned leaves up twice.

The kids have had a blast raking, jumping into, throwing, and sledding down the hill in leaves!
Andy has had his fill of trying to dispose of them.

After these leaves were all cleaned up, we had about four days in before it looked like this again... We didn't wait for them all to fall because they would have been unmanageable that thick!

This past weekend since about 90% of the leaves were on the ground, we decided to get the rest cleaned up.  We all worked for the majority of an afternoon getting all of these leaves deep into the woods.  Now I will only have to get the blower out one more time to clean up the few stragglers.

Regardless, it sure is a pretty time of the year!

tid bits

The other day when Isaac was feeling a bit under the weather, the kids built him his very own sick fort- complete with soft pillows and blankets and tall chair enclosures. He felt very loved. ♥

Let me tell you that it took a whole lot of guts for this guy to put this Hodag head on.  He didn't want it even in the same car as him at first. (as in refused to get into his seat when it was on the seat next to him) But all of a sudden, he got really brave and held it up all by himself.

Isaac has had a rather hard transition back to going to Adventure Alley at the Y while I work out.  I usually have to get him distracted by someone or something and then sneak away before he knows it (or have to listen to him sob 'Mama noooooooooo!' as I close the door... heartbreaking!)  Luckily his sadness is short-lived and when I return to get him, he is usually not ready to leave.  On this day he had been dressing up in costumes and greeted me in this adorable Transformer get-up.  It had built in rippling muscles and he looked so cute.  I asked him to show me his muscles which resulted in his usual arm flex/flexed face pose that he does.  I pretended that I was so impressed, and I convinced him that I was.  He kindly took me aside, pulled his shirt down in the front and quietly told me 'this is still the real me, mom.' as if to spare me any embarrassment.  I just about died trying not to laugh at his innocence. :)

terrarium

Early this spring I scored this really cool terrarium at a rummage sale.  It is pretty large - looks kind of like a small house.  I had been day dreaming about what cool plants we could put in it and did a few Pinterest searches as well.  Lucy was in on it and was just as excited as I was.  Well,  the summer came and we moved and the terrarium sat down in the basement in storage.  I kinda put it on hold until I got some other things taken care of.  Lucy didn't forget and every-so-often she would ask me if we could make the terrarium.  I kept putting her off.  Then her birthday rolled around and a light bulb went off.  I decided that for her birthday I would take her to get some plants and supplies to make the terrarium and then she could keep it in her room.  The girls' room does get some great light throughout the day so it really is an ideal spot to keep it.

Fast forward to her birthday and she was so excited to finally get to make the terrarium.  We went to the library and checked out a few books on 'do's and don'ts' and got some more inspiration.  I spray painted an old stool I got at a rummage a metallic silver to match the terrarium.  Then both grandma and I took her on separate occasions to different garden shoppes to pick out special plants and rocks and adornments.  We asked Andy to pick us some moss out at the land and we ordered some special 'activated charcoal' online as well.  When it finally arrived we decided to take a night and put it together.

She had a blast attending to every last detail... from where the rocks should go- you know some are for drainage and others... the cools ones... are to be seen at the top.  She carefully placed each plant and I helped her to get extra soil in to make sure the roots were set.  We watered each plant and she carefully planned where all of her animals and little decorations would go.  She was in heaven! Ok and I really enjoyed it as well.

I have a few other projects that I need to finish up, but I am hoping to make a few other terrariums for the house.  I mean, after all the research we did, and all the neat variations we discovered, it would be a shame not to. :)

Junk Bonanza

Marta and I made a trip out to Minnesota for our third annual Junk Bonanza recently.  It was a bonanza is oh so many ways.  This year we had a few planning sessions, and routed out a map of places to go on our way out, after the JB itself, and then on Saturday the next day.  The anticipation leading up to this event is always almost overwhelming.  No matter what I am doing- the simple thought of this weekend would send shivers of excitement through my body.  It is like Christmas Eve over and over! We hit up DSW and the outlets and then headed to the Biggest Candy Store in the State of MN that night.  We each purchased some treats for the littles back home, a few for our husbands and then a snickety-snack for ourselves as well.  It was dark by the time we got to our hotel, and we were both ready for a relaxed evening before we woke up for Junk Bonanza.

We got there early as we usually do and were maybe the 10th people in line.  By the time they opened the gate the line of anxious junkers was more than a block long.  We didn't find as many treasures this year as we had in the past but the energy in that building is wonderful.  Each and every booth had displays full of items that were so inspiring and exciting.  We took note of a few projects we'd like to try ourselves and I came home with a new bench for the mud room and a new coffee table.  Oh yes, and Adam Levine's little brother sold it to me. Or at least I like to think it was his brother...

Reuben Balls

We hit up our favorite fabric shoppe, ate at a terrific pasta bar and pastry shop, visited a few other occasional sales and junk shoppes and started creating a new plan for our trip next year.  We are going to change up a few things and visit places in a different order. I can't wait!

We are so lucky to have such supportive husbands that help make this trip possible!  We get to have fun together, shop to our heart's content, eat yummy food, and relax. While we miss our families, this trip is so therapeutic... and we are ready and rejuvenated when we return home.

I am so thankful to have such a dedicated, fun-loving, caring friend in my life.  We have such a blast together and I feel so blessed to have someone like her to share these experiences with ♥.