Fifteen, Eleven

These two bozos continue to grow and have February birthdays. Joey is now fifteen and Kyle is now eleven. I chose these photos on purpose, because they both look younger than they are here. My babes - always. Everyone says it, and everyone is right - time flies. xo

You say, "Ninja Star!" I say, "Origami!"...

Kyle and I are homeschooling this year. When this semester began, I announced that we would make a more concerted effort to include art in our days. This was met with a big, theatrical sigh. Kyle loves art, but he is 10, so the sigh was not a surprise. Our first week back, he made himself a reptile and mythical creature journal (melt my heart) and this week, he is making "ninja stars" that transform into the wreath shape you see above (so enemies are unsuspecting that you have a deadly weapon in your pocket). Ok Ky - you want to make weapons out of my floral and patterned, many-colored origami papers? And you want to do this for hours? You win...no art, only weapons today. 

I have been making journals like crazy these past two weeks - just haven't been photographing them for some reason. There are fresh batches of my books at The Novel Neighbor, Flowers to the People and Maven. 

Happy Weekend! xo

River Glass

 

 

We rang in the new year at our favorite cabin in the woods. We think this may have been our fifth New Years Eve there - what a gift. I saw something new (to me) - these little ice spheres that formed around the grass blades in the most shallow parts of the river. They were breathtaking. Faith found a butt-shaped rock and is thinking about starting a collection. She says I can display them with my heart shaped rocks because they're equally special. Adolescence - how I love ya!  Her rock garnered far more attention and interest than my river glass...sigh...

Hope you and yours are well. Looking forward to 2015 and wishing you every happiness. Enjoy each day! xo

GeodeFest 2014!

 

 

 

This weekend we traveled to Hamilton, Illinois to attend the Tenth Annual Geode Fest. It. Was. Awesome.

I felt like it might be a bucket list experience - do it once and talk about it for a long time, like we know more than we do. But we all loved it. We dug for geodes, we spent two days outside in perfect Fall weather, we learned what soybean fields look like, we stepped foot in Iowa for the first time ever, we (read - David and I) celebrated 17 years of marriage, we talked with professional rock hounds, we (read Kyle) delighted in our one snake sighting, we (read - I) took major amounts of Ibuprofin, we watched and celebrated as other people found treasure, and we met kind, kind, kind people sharing their land with a bunch of rock scavengers, professionals to yahoos (read - us). And it was fun. If Faith had been with us I would call the whole thing perfect.

We also met The Geode Hunter - he was very wise and generous with his time and expertise, sharing tips and information. We learned enough to leave us wanting more. And we will go back. Most definitely. It was hot and rustic and dusty and we were dirty and smelly and achy and the whole weekend felt like an indulgence. Cool. xo