just poppin in

....to say "hello!"  We're deep in the throes of play offs...two teams down, one team to go!  Our Varsity Girls are headed to the state Semi finals...so exciting!  We wrapped up Middle School basketball last week and this weekend we finished off with Jammer's 10U team.  They both finished well....not quite what everyone wanted, but that doesn't take away from amazing seasons.

Jammer shooting free throws in round two of the playoffs.

I decided I'm done hoping for snow.  I packed away all my taunting snowmen.  They just sat there, reminding me of the fact that we haven't had any measurable snow since December.  Boo.  I've moved on.  I'm ready for daffodils and crocuses.

my old sled...on the front step....with no snow.  

My wonderful family threw me a surprise party over the weekend.  I knew about it.  (I know it's shameful)    Last week on the way to church, John asked me to send an email for him to his team.  When he handed me his iPad to send the email, and I opened up the app and there was a blank email right on top that read "Re: Lisa's Surprise Party".  Stink!  I didn't want to know that.  There is nothing harder than trying to figure out when you're going to be surprised and then how you're going to act surprised when it happens. ...but it was still an awesome party with all of my favorite people (minus a few that couldn't make it :)).  I really had a wonderful time catching up with everyone and enjoying my awesome friends and family.   My dad even made it.  He decided to skip the post game show and high tail it back to Maryland for the party.  He does the color commentary for the WVU men's basketball team and they had a game on Saturday.  He missed just for me.

flowers at the party from my mother in law....I only got pictures after the party of the decorations

Reflecting on the party, I thought I was a pretty laid back wife...you know, compliant, easy going, flexible.  But this surprise party made me realize that I'm not quite as flexible as I might like to believe.  After Jammer's morning basketball game, we came back to the house and my husband suggested that he and I go out and do some shopping.  Hello!  West Virginia was playing at 2 o'clock.  I did not want to go shopping.  I wanted to stay home and watch the game.  The girls suggested that I DVR the game.  Hello!  Who DVR's sporting events?  Not me.  Just as I was about to be stubborn, it dawned on me that it was all about getting me out of the house.  So I said "Sure!"  And off we went.  We had a great time - just the two of us.  We actually listened to the broadcast of the game as we traveled to the outlets.  It all was great (well not the game...they lost).  But I knew that if it hadn't been for my suspicion about the party, I would have been less likely to agree to this interruption in my agenda.  Ouch!  So, I'm working on it....you know, being who I thought I was!  Trying to not hold onto my agenda...to allow myself to be open to change.

party favors from my mom for everyone at the party

It's been a good week....lots of basketball, plenty of love and surprises and a bit of stretching and learning on my part!  Hope your days are filled with all that makes you smile and that along the way, you grow, learn and keep on enjoying the blessings around you!

sniffles

We went college visiting last weekend....and I brought home a cold.  Despite my cold, it was a good visit and was actually the last of the visits that Maggie wanted to do as she is wading through this entire college decision process.  I've been so proud of her as she has applied, prayed, visited, researched, prayed and talked through all of the options that are before her.

We're all learning so much throughout this journey and most of it has nothing to do with college!  It all has to do with trusting the Lord and leaning on Him for wisdom and direction.  (I feel like I keep learning some of these lessons over and over....I guess that should tell me something, huh!?)

So, I've been froggy all week and nursing my throat with hot drinks.  I actually had the house to myself 2 times this past week, but I felt too cruddy to even enjoy it!   (you know it's bad when that happens!)
 I've been having to remind myself to be nice....even when I haven't felt very nice.

I've been trying to lay low and get better.  What's that they say about a cold lasting a week or 7 days?  I think I've put in my 7 days so I'm hopeful that this week will be on the upswing!

 I've got to finish reading The Great Gatsby for book club and I think my energy level is up enough that I can keep my eyes open long enough to knock that off.  Have any of you read TGG before?  This is my first time and I'll wait until I finish it to completely decide how I feel about it, but so far I'm feeling like empty extravagance seems quite fitting.  Sometimes I wonder who decides what makes a book a classic.....Anyways, have a great start to your week!  Hope it's full of sunshine and substantial blessings!  (the photos all came from my instagram feed this week....)

hello monday

I'm linking up with Lisa Leonard to welcome a new week.  Here are some of the things I'm saying hello to this week:

 Hello to beautiful fresh cut lilies on my dining room table...they make me smile every time I see them.

 Hello to an almost finished quilt top.  It turned out a bit smaller than I liked so I'm adding a border to the outside before quilting it.  Hello to figuring out a way to make it all work!

 Loving the time I got on Saturday night for working on my project 365 album....thanks to not having to run my daughter out to a dance....she drove herself!  Hello to our newest driver!  (and hello to higher insurance rates!)

 Hello to a new dishcloth...just for us.  Love this cool breeze color way!

 Hello to new grass slowly coming up in our front yard....I'll be happy to say goodbye to the sprinkler!

 I'm loving these endless summer hydrangeas....they are gorgeous every day.  I have one pink/purple and one blue...right beside each other!

 Welcome summer...especially with our new !!red!! umbrellas and flag.  The deck is my favorite room in the summer.  I could spend all day out there!

 Hello to a new chalkboard for my kitchen...super easy and fun!  I just painted the inside of a frame with chalkboard paint and painted the frame a happy color!

Hello to cooking dinner with my Kenzie love...we made this corn casserole, quinoa salad, hamburgers, and blackberry cobbler.  So fun to work alongside of her!  Even more fun to eat what we created!

closing in on Christmas

As we get closer to Christmas, I find myself trying to snatch away moments for savoring the season.  I'm certain that the hours fly by faster in December than in any other month.  In between school, basketball games, and practices we've been:

***learning how to play chess....John and John Samuel have been challenging each other as often as time allows (this is a teaching set and it shows you the moves and directions you can make for each piece...very helpful for me!)

***putting finishing touches on my decorations....this little tree was blank and boring so I hot glued wooden hearts, gingerbread men, candles and pine cones to it.  I tied some homespun fabric to the branches and now it's perfect! 

 ***cracking up at our dog....the kids found her laying on the remote, looking at the TV and they said she was watching Animal Planet! (I think this whole scene interrupted our math one day! )

***adding Christmas lights to more and more corners of our house....it's just so magical with all the beautiful lights.  It's so special to check on my boy and finding him sleeping in the glow of his Christmas lights.  (I always unplug them before I head to bed :))

***reading mysteries and taking notes as we go...after listening to Andrew Clements' Room One, my boy decided to solve the mystery of his chapter book in a similar fashion....works for me, I just like to see him reading and having fun at the same time

 ***for book club we read the light-hearted book: A Redbird Christmas...perfect for holiday time!  One of the ladies at book club gave us each a box loaded with an assortment of cookies that she prepackaged and labeled for us in little cello bags!  What a work of love...a delicious work!

And I've been knitting some little last minute gifts....dishcloths and toasty fingerless mitts....nothing like watching TV by the glow of the Christmas tree and knitting.  Some of our DVR'd favorites include:  NCIS, Person of Interest and Blue Bloods. 

So how have you been savoring these days before Christmas?  I hope you're finding time to enjoy the moments before they fly by!  It's closing in on Christmas...stay merry!

slipcovered

Gingercake has some great patterns in her shop.  I made some Lola the Owls back in the spring and  I've been eyeing her notebook slipcover for a while.  When Kristyn came into town for a visit, it was the perfect time to try it out.  

We headed to the fabric store for our supplies and after a couple of days of following two little boys around and playing, we got started.  I have to say that I am so glad to have had Kristyn here for this project. In addition to being so much fun.... She is meticulous.  She is careful.  She measures accurately.  She is so neat and careful.  I am not all of this....(at least not all at the same time).  I'm more of a "wing it and hope it works out" kinda girl. 

We talked through everything, because there were many numbers and measurements to figure out.  (I'm not saying it was hard, but you did have to be aware of each step as you measured and cut and went along.)  We helped each other think through the process as we went.

  We had so much fun making these slipcovers.  I even learned that my sewing machine has a thread clipper built into it! (who knew!?!)   When we got to the step where we were sewing the entire thing together, we had our fingers crossed.  And it worked out!!! (I love it when that happens)

 The notebooks were transformed from ordinary to extraordinary.  I'm using mine as my everything binder.  It holds my grocery lists, address book, gift idea lists, daily dockets and calendar.

A couple of days ago, I  made another cover.  This one was for my holiday planner.  The snowflakes and Christmas material were so fun and festive.

 I've got a bunch of other noteboks that could sure use some sprucing up and I really think these slipcovered notebooks would make great gifts for friends or even teachers.  After making the first slipcover, the second one was so much less taxing on my mind....it was easier and went together much faster.  (although it was 10 times less fun without Kristyn here!)  

Maybe this weekend will find me some more time for sewing and recovering... I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend and that you spend some time doing something you enjoy!  Oh, and I want to shout out a special thanks to Virginia of Gingercake for a great pattern! Check out her blog for tons of great inspiration. 

right around the corner

I've got some recently finished projects to share....soon.  Really, they are just around the corner and if I could just turn that corner, I'd get them posted.  But we're switching gears and heading into our school time routine and for some reason that just seems to stall me out.  It's all part of easing into the new routine.  Eventually I'll get moving again and when I do, I'll show you what I've finished up.    In the meantime, I'll leave you with some photos of our summer's end.....

[Kristyn came to visit. Whoo Hoo! We had a wonderful time catching up and making new memories- here we are heading out to dinner and to see the movie The Help]

[beautiful veggies from Kristyn's mom and dad ~ Thanks Jo Ellen and Howard. 

We've gobbled them all up!]

[John Samuel and Connor scootering down the street~ John Samuel was thrilled to have Connor here!]

[boys in shopping carts at the fabric store....a new project was in the works]

[a day at Greenbrier lake, playing and paddling]

[measuring and cutting...sewing, measuring and more measuring]

[tubing on Lake Meade....that's Maggie and her friend, Michelle]

[sunset on the lake and a very wonderful summer]

So, that's how we've been wrapping up our summer days.....I hope your summer is ending on a beautiful note as well and that you turn the corner into autumn with plenty of grace! 

flubber fun

Looking for something fun to do the other night, John Samuel and I found ourselves in the kitchen looking for specific ingredients.  I didn't have enough cornstarch to make play dough.  We were all out of heavy cream, so homemade ice cream was out.  Then I remembered one of the girls having brought home some flubber from science class one time. 

We googled the directions and were on our way in no time concocting and discovering.  We used this video and got perfect results the first time. (it helps that I use the borax for our laundry detergent....that's the only odd ingredient involved)  

This was the perfect activity for my creative boy....he played for a long time with the flubber and was delighted to show his sisters when they returned home.  (they were pretty impressed) And although it looks messy...it really was quite contained and relatively 'clean'. 

We just used regular old dollar store glue and added some food coloring before mixing.  The trick is having two bowls...one with borax and water and the other with glue, food coloring and water.  You pour the glue mixture into the borax mixture and after some mixing....voila!!

We're already planning on a repeat performance when Connor comes....it's so much fun! 

If you're looking for a fast, fun project that keeps you out of the heat...I highly recommend flubber.  Even the name is fun!

....and his daddy discovered that when stored in a small container...it can be squished around to make totally cool sounds that boys will especially enjoy!