summer love...

found here!

amtrak adventure

earlier this month we loaded up at


IN. THE. MORNING. to head to an amtrak station in a neighboring city.


we met up with karla and trent and kitt and bennett, and our parents, otherwise known as the lovebirds who are celebrating 45 years of wedded bliss! (thus the very reason for this adventure.)


we waited patiently for the train to arrive, and wondered if it would be on time for its 2:30 am arrival. we loaded at 4:30 am.
:)
a little insight. we live in the middle of nebraska, and train travel is a very uncommon, mysterious method of transportation. we didn't really know what to expect.


the time made no difference to our little travelers. they were so excited they couldn't have slept anyway.


the dining car was fancy and fun.


we were headed to grand junction, colorado. a 14 hour train ride. there were a few stops along the way.

i am a total homebody. i do not travel well. therefore, we were all a little uncertain as to how i would fare. (translated: would i be a jumper?)

let me just say: I LOVE TRAIN TRAVEL! i could craft, walk around, snuggle with my lover, have a snack, use the loo, buy a cold soda, all while moving without being strapped in by a seat belt!!!! it was quite glorious. and, the train is a great place for some serious people watching, too.

once we arrived in grand junction, we were off to sight see and spend time with family friends who live in the city.


the honeymooners. xoxoxoxo


these photos were taken along the grand mesa scenic byway on our way to land's end. just breathtaking.


the kids fed the chipmunks at land's end.


this was one of their highlights from the entire trip.


sweet memories.


we enjoyed more beauty at colorado national monument.


so amazing.


we even spent some time at a kid's paradise; complete with go-carts, bump-n-jumps, pizza and laser tag.


and homeward bound.



it was a wonderful trip!
you can read sissy's version and see more photos here.
love you, mom and dad.
happy day, friends!

barbie's extreme home makeover!

earlier this spring, i picked this doll house up at a garage sale for a great price. it had definitely been loved and played with, and was in need of some ty pennington kind of magic. however, months went by before she could get the attention she deserved.


so now it's like a million degrees outside, kitt and bennett are away at the cabin, and we are all caught up on most of our laundry, so beatrice and i decided to tackle this fun little project!


beatrice shopped like a pro at sherwin williams. she is a girl who knows what she wants. it took her about 18 seconds to select: clematis and drama violet for the exterior.


i let her dig through my paper stash and she picked out a couple favorites. we needed multiples to cover all the wall space and had to venture out in the heat to embellishments, our favorite local scrapbooking store for some other papers.


we used mod podge to glue the wall paper in place. she did a wonderful job slathering the paper in glue. my job was to adhere the sticky wet sheets on the walls.

here is the exterior. we are still working on the door. it is in disrepair and needs some help from the professionals. (the daddy.) she loves the flowers in the window box!


this is the attic/toy room. isn't the little girl paper so cute? she wanted pink polka dotted felt for the carpet.


for barbie's bedroom beatrice selected a walnut wood flooring found in the dollhouse section of your friendly hobby lobby! (coupons are out this week!) the wallpaper here is definitely my favorite; pink roses with little specs of glitter and a lace border. ahhhh, i'm ready to move in!


the bathroom is adorable. complete with vintage black and white "tile". beatrice chose a pink and blue polka dot paper for the walls. i topped it off with some pompom fringe.


this is the living room. the flooring is actually hot pink felt and not red as it appears here. the room next to the living space is barbie's art room. the art room carpet (purple felt) comes pre glittered, so barbie won't have to worry about cleaning up!


i am sure we will be on the look out for barbie sized furniture, or creating our own in the weeks ahead.

these are good days.



okay. i have to tell you this.
as we were working on this, beatrice commented several times that i needed to put this on my blog.
:)
happy day, dear friends!

hot. hot. hot.

it's like a million degrees here.


i should be feeling sorry for these little stud boys who were playing their guts out in this heat.


and i do.
but c'mon, think. of. the. mommas!
:)

before we left for the tournament, i made all us mommas these charms using an anagram with each boy's initial and a bingo/lotto piece for his soccer number. my lover, who also happens to be my husband, helped out with drilling through the anagram. it was my first real go with wire wrapping. definitely not perfect, but getting better.


it was fun to do something for the "team".


all packaged and ready to share.


the cyclones were midwest cup tournament runner-ups! great job, boys!


and the mommas seemed to genuinely love their charms!



it was a happy, hot weekend!

EDIT: okay, i promise this is not turning into some sports blog...but please, PLEASE, click here and watch this precious soccer story! it's all about perspective.

and f.y.i. the coach is married to our flower girl. and we love him, too. :)

little stitchers.

beatrice and mr. elliott participated in team tennis this summer. several of their friends were also playing, so as you can imagine, it was like a giant play date 4 times a week! so much fun!

the mammas, dads, and younger siblings had lots of time to sit and visit and, of course, cheer for our tennis stars! i had a stitching sampler that i was working on, and a couple of little friends were interested, so we got them started on their own. are they not adorable?



they each stitched up little fishies. so cute.


here is the sampler i worked on. it started as something to keep my hands busy. other than that, i had no plan for it.


if you haven't stitched in a while. give it a go! i have to warn you, however, it is an addicting craft.


i love freestyle stitching. no patterns. no worries.




once i finished, i decided to use it as the bib for an apron to have at school.


i used pink denim for the apron and added pom pom balls around the bottom. pom pom balls make everything fancier. :)

have a great weekend, friends!
we are off to a soccer tournament!!
go cyclones!

summer fun!

any fancy nancy fans out there????
if so, you may recognize the clubhouse from...


fancy nancy: explorer extraordinaire!


beatrice has been having an absolute blast!!! (she's got a great dad who also happens to be great at "construction"!)

meanwhile...
i'm hoping to earn some big time momma points with a little backyard boy bash.




i
love
love
LOVE
summer!

hope you are all having a wonderful summer season!