jack!

my jack. so funny, cuter than words can describe and just plain fun. there have been lots of tears around here lately, and it was a nice change of pace to celebrate 4 years of life with our little guy today. he is just a bit obsessed with all things star wars. uncle chris sent him a real-life- every-man's boy's- dream- light saber. what an extra special surprise! i made him a homemade from scratch bantha- but it didn't get quite the attention that the light saber got! we love our jack and are so blessed we get to watch him grow!

saying goodbye

this weekend we said goodbye to a very special man. my grandpa bob. also affectionately known as "poppie" to some. some traveled, some were already there- but we all came together to celebrate the life of this wonderful, generous and dear man. although his death was unexpected and sooner than we would have liked, my grandpa led a full and blessed life. the weekend was spent remembering, crying, laughing,singing, eating!,celebrating and praying. as a tribute and a way to say goodbye we set off 87 balloons - one for each year of his life. we love him, we miss him and our lives won't be the same without him.

memories of my grandpa, a.k.a. poppie.

the lake.

sweet notes always with x's and o's.

homemade macaroni and cheese-with ketchup!
michigan football-
push that pigskin! 

cocktails at 5.

bebe guns and black squirrels.

picnics on the pontoon.

swims out to the raft.

lunch at dons.

murdicks fudge.

double mint gum.

ray bans.

big bear hugs.

i am sad today but you made me so happy. i will miss you grandpa and hope to see you again someday.

boo.

In the same way, let your light shine

before others, so that they may see

your good works and give glory to your

Father who is in heaven.

{the gospel of Matthew}

B says BUH.

learning B's with jack. we made beavers out of the letter B, cut out pictures that start with B from old magazines, wore beads and ate them (candy necklaces!) and played with blocks of course! what fun!

big sister. little brother.

childhood is the most beautiful

of all life's seasons.

{author unknown}

labor of love

every year i have the pleasure of making the centerpieces for the Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center fundraising banquet. our 5th annual gathering was a bit later in the fall than usual so i thought i would take advantage of the season and make something fun and festive for the tables. and who doesn't love candy corn!? most of the fun is finding pretty and simple supplies on a budget. once i have a color theme everything falls into place. the cylinders, vases, lollipops and candles came from the dollar store and the ribbon, candy corn and giant chrysanthemums came from walmart. i was able to create 38 centerpieces for around $3.00 a piece! fun and cute!

grandma and grandpa

birthday girl

God turned grace into a little girl and gave her to me - and her name just so happens to be grace. sometimes gracie. and more often than not.... grace elizabeth. if you know what I mean. :)
we celebrated her 7th birthday today and it was a joy. she is turning into quite the lovely young lady. she requested one of her momma's homemade from scratch apple pies instead of the usual birthday cake. I was flattered and happy to oblige!

pretty print

remember our apple printing art project? thanks to my stash of ikea shadow box frames I now have a pretty print for the wall!

a is also for alligator.

my jack is a busy little preschooler. teaching grace and trying to keep jack occupied has been a bit of a challenge this year.  then i discovered "letter of the week" at no time for flashcards. what a life saver! check out our alligators! we even took a quick trip to our local zoo and hung out with a couple of those green snappers. yikes!

we love fall!

fall is my favorite time of year. cool days, crisp nights and comfort food! we spent a day last week and took an impromptu road trip to fifers apple orchard! it was about an hour drive but worth every minute of it. we practically had the place to ourselves and took our time exploring the crates and crates of apples, picking pumpkins, jumping hay bails, and getting lost in the corn maze. our busy afternoon ended with fresh pressed apple cider and homemade apple cider donuts. yum.

apple printing

A is for apple and apple printing! This is a fun, easy art project that we enjoy every year. Jack, my busy little guy sat for quite a while painting, printing and learning that A says AHHH . Gracie enjoyed painting as well and we took the time to learn about positive/negative space, and patterns. This is a simple project that anyone can do!