Lord, Help.

I’m hooked.  This is really ridiculous.  I let my children eat them before breakfast, just so I could have some too.  Ack.  I’m such a good mother!

Good news is, we just shared two packages, making that 2 Little Bites a piece.  Now I do believe they are all gone, and I’m going to have to practice some serious self control not to make a mad dash to Shop n Save to purchase more.  We’ll see how long that lasts.

***

Erick’s last day of summer school is today, so tomorrow we are finally going to treat the boys to a well deserved vacation.  We are taking them to see Thomas the Train near Boothbay at the Railway Village, then we are camping out at Hermit Island, fitting in some time at Popham Beach.  I’m so thrilled.  Monday, E and I will head out for a couple of nights, and we plan to spend a day in Boston.  It’s a pre-10 year anniversary trip; our anny is in October, but it’s hard to find the time for a vacation during the school year.  Anyone have any suggestions for must-see’s around Beantown?  Even though we are only about 3 hours away, I haven’t been there since vacation when we lived in New Mexico.  That was eons ago!

***

And here is a little sneak peak of the New House.  Be still, my heart…I’m so happy I could burst.  I finally feel “at home”, as much as I can before I reach my true Home.  I can’t wait to share “afters”.  I can’t wait to put my own spin on the place.  I’ll follow up with a few more pics and stories in the next post!

Have a great weekend, ya’ll!

red front door! i love red front doors!

and...i finally have a porch. blessing upon blessings.

more to come soon.

Food, Inc.

When I found out that Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farms and Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm were involved in this movie, I knew it would be incredibly trustworthy.  Although I haven’t watched it yet, I have no qualms about encouraging you to see this film.

Click here to find out more information!

Alan Claude’s 2010 Calendar…it’s so nice to already know what I’m going to have!  Isn’t it fun?

Today is Erick’s first official day of summer vacation.  And my dad’s birthday…happy birthday dad!  We’re going to celebrate tonight with homemade pizza and strawberry shortcake-gotta use up last year’s strawberrys; berry pickin’ season is a little over a week away!  So excited to see what adventures this season will bring.    Happy Weekend, everyone!

All over the place

This blog will definitely be here and there…I’ve much saved up to say!

First off all, we have spent the last few days in bed, feeling pretty cruddy.  Jack wanted to me to mark the occasion-silly picture but goes to show what we’ve been up to!

I can only pray we are turning a corner for the better, though…because the sun came out today and it’s been BEAUTIFUL!  We actually put regular clothes on and walked to the mailbox; it was so pretty that it’s hours later and the boys are still outside.  They were eager to bust their summertime toys out of the garage.

Yep, snow is still on the ground, but can you see the green grass below?  I love how on the east coast, green grass is there to greet you as the snow melts away!

(And yes, those are our leaves; we didn’t do a thing with the yard last year, so are seriously going to reap the consequences this spring…)

Anyway, it’s so pretty out there that I have the windows open in the kitchen, and Erick is staining the treads for our staircase outside.   Soon as this blog is done I’m out there until dusk!

*****

Off the subject, but I just adore Candice Olsen.  Had to throw that out there.  I wish she would come decorate my house, top to bottom, for free…  I don’t know if you have seen her “kitchen for moms and tots” episode, but I love it.  I can’t get any great “after” pictures online, which is a shame.

This doesn’t even begin to show the beauty.  She had some amazing built in seating and lovely windows installed…oh it was gorgeous.  The thing I love about Divine Design is that even if I wouldn’t go for the style, I always appreciate the artistry.  She’s one talented lady!

*****

Onto another subject; did I mention that Jack seemed to be the news-maker lately?  Well, Ryan made tears well up in his parents’ eyes the other night.  He has a special blue blanket that he has had since birth; he doesn’t need it all the time, but he loves to sleep with it, and if I put it in the laundry then surprise him with it when it’s clean, there are great “There you are, my blue blanket!” exclamations to be heard.  Jack knows that it is off limits for him, and he is really good about it.

Then an evening or two ago, while we were all in the living room together, Ryan just pops out with “So Jack can sleep better, he can borrow my blue blanket tonight!”  Shocker, ya’ll.  Shocker. He gladly gave it up at bedtime. Sob!

*****

One more thing, I promise!  I feel silly asking for prayer for this,  but I also believe that God desires for us to go to Him for every little thing.  It’s about the teenager in the family.  Her name is Camry (of the Toyota breed), and she was born in 1996.  She’s given us 208,000 good miles, but she’s been quite a rebel lately, and I think she would like to retire.  (Her cousin, my parent’s Camry, is pushing 310,000!)  Lately, she has decided to play tricks on us like cutting off at stop signs, or traffic lights, or just plain right after we’ve turned her on.  We’ve put alot of love (and money) into her in recent years, and desperately want to hold on to her, because we can’t afford another car.  We are a one vehicle family, not necessarily by choice, but because of the ol’ budget!  And we certainly can’t go out and make another purchase anytime soon.  So if ya’ll could just keep us in mind-we really need Ms. Camry to either last until a sizeable chunk of money or an extraordinarily affordable vehicle pops on the scene. 

I’ll never forget a couple I once knew; when they were poor newlyweds, the block in their engine cracked and they had no other recourse, so they prayed, and prayed hard.  One day that truck started right up, and guess what?  No more crack!  I know God doesn’t always work in that particular way, but it sure would be a miracle if we could coax another year or so out of our car.

*****

Well, outside I go.  Gotta soak up that warm weather.  Thanks for stickin’ in till the end!

Great Music, Great Food, Great Art, Great Cause

I’m suffering from time poverty today!   As soon as I wrap this up I’m off to scrape wallpaper in the boys’ room.  But I do have some good stuff for you today…

This video is a must see, people.  It’ll knock your socks off.  IL Divo’s rendition of Amazing  Grace at, of all places, the Colosseum in Rome.  WOW!!!!  I promise you that it is worth watching; it gets better as you go.

Tell me that didn’t start your Friday off well!

Mom and I made a visit to  Simply Divine Brownies in Freeport this week.

If you live in Maine, hello…make a trip!  If not, they mail, and they certainly are divine.  It’s a new favorite stop.

While we were in Freeport, we stopped at our second home, LL Bean.  And I discovered a new-to-me photographer, Ron Schmidt, owner of  Loose Leashes.  Even if you aren’t a dog lover, these will no doubt make you smile.  Go visit his site to see more!

Adorable!  What a talent!  And speaking of art, I had my second landscape painting class last night, which I am loving.  Yesterday I had my art supplies in the car, and Jack, my little artist, was determined to paint.  He would not stop saying “I be a painter!  I want to paint!”  On and on he goes while we are toodling around Bangor, browsing through shops.  Finally out of frustration, he tells my mom “I just can’t handle it.  I  have to paint.” Ha!

Alright, to wrap up, I believe the last number I heard was that over 1.6 million dollars was raised during Global Food Crises Day sponsored by  Compassion International on the 11th.  Wow!  On that note, I found another cause that is very worthy; click on the picture to learn more.

Living Water International canvases the globe, supplying wells for clean drinking water to those who don’t have it.  I can’t imagine being there to see the joy that clean water would bring.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Kudos Country Home

I don’t know, but I’m thinking Country Home went out with a bang; their last issue was probably one of my all time favorites.  And this little house had a lot to do with it!  You’ll have to excuse the pictures; I couldn’t find them online and I don’t have a scanner, so I had to snap the shots with my camera.  This little 545 sq. foot “Tree House” was my favorite!!

I adore the whitewashed walls and all of the color thrown in with the furniture and accessories.   It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted;  my husband would just die though, I’m sure.  But he is right in that if you go all white on the walls, it’s good to have some nice architectural elements in there (beams, beadboard, paneling, etc) to make it a little more interesting.  Most of which this house does not have.  ANYway, maybe someday I can build myself a little getaway like this.   Isn’t it adorable?

Yesterday was a really productive day in getting some accessories added to my house; I’ll share with you what I did tomorrow!

Another Snow Day

I’m back!  And completely grateful for Erick’s vacation which led to my blogging vacation…it’s something else just to unplug from the computer for awhile!

Erick’s computer crashed right before vacation, and he didn’t get it back until Saturday.  Therefore; a glorious week free from technology.  We had a great time; good bonding, a “day date” to Augusta/Freeport for the two of us, and more than a couple of Home Depot visits.  We are on our way to finishing the kitchen!  Although we don’t have the funds for my dream kitchen below (Anne Turner Carroll’s place)

We did purchase cabinets for our wall; scrapped our current open shelving and are going for this general idea; cabinets a little higher up and the shelf below.  And people…I now have more storage than I know what to do with!  It’s a miracle!  We still have quite a way to go before it’s looking picture-worthy, but I’m thrilled with the way it’s turning out.

___

I also purchased this book:

and I’m enjoying every minute of it!  I wrapped up Searching for God Knows What, am nearing the end of Through Painted Deserts, and am going to re-read Blue Like Jazz at the end.    Very Good Stuff.

—–

We had a storm blow in last night.  Remember the post before last where I was completely thankful I could see the ground again?  That certainly isn’t the case any longer!  We are snowed in; under and over and side to side!  The silver lining being an extended vacation for Erick.  We are also praising God right and left because our snowblower was broken, but inspiration struck Erick last night and he was able to fix it up  (this after hours of working on the blasted thing).  It would of been  back-breaking to shovel the mess outside, so we are giddy with the fact that the big machine is working again.

Well, time to get a few things done around the house.  I’ll blog-visit in the next few days; I promised myself I wouldn’t get too sucked in today.   I’ll be back soon…

I’m Back!

That hiatus didn’t last long, did it?  Fortunately for me, Grammie took the boys and I’m going to spend a portion of my time on the blogging front, guilt-free.

And I am fairly bursting to share a new book with you.

Erick’s boss loaned him this book, and it was another breeze-through for me, although I want to buy it and read it again.  And again.  And again.

Thought provoking, mind-blowing.  I cried, and I laughed; it was so incredibly profound, in so many places.  It absolutely affected me more than any other work of fiction has.  I’ll have to steal some review quotes; the first made me laugh but totally sums up what I’m still feeling:

To sum up these experiences will take some time, but the gist can be easily described in my thoughts which often repeat its theme while reading The Shack…  Feedback overload!  System shutdown imminent!  Warning!  Warning!  Reboot! Jim Hawley

That might sound silly, but there were  so many ideas brought forth that I had a hard time wraping my mind around, but which really made sense the longer I thought about them. I thought this explained it well also:

Riveting, with twists that defy your expectations while teaching powerful theological lessons without patronizing. I was crying by page 100. You cannot read it without your heart becoming involved. Gayle Erwin

There is a website devoted to the book  that has a forum for discussion, which is fabulous because it definetily warrants conversation.  Erick is reading it right now; I’m chomping at the bit for him to finish so we can talk about it.

It’s another book that I would recommend to every reader out there; if you do pick it up (please, please!) I would love to hear your thoughts.

Cowboy Genes

Even though I’m now a Mainer at heart, you still have roots.  I’m crazy about this wallpaper.  (Yes, I said crazy about wallpaper!  Even after swearing it off for all time after scraping the layers off our walls!)

Look more closely…

(Cowboys, oil rigs, football)

I like it in this color, actually…

I love pops of red…  Heck, I’d settle with a small framed print of this stuff.

(Designed by Paul Loebach, from Studio Printworks).

A small way to contribute

I’ve found a worthy cause as of late, that really costs pennies, but I do believe it can make a huge impact.  It’s called the “Mentoring Project”, and I would encourage you to click on the link and watch the video.  It was started by Don Miller, author of this book, which is one of my faves:

Click here to see how Don is  trying to impact fatherless kids.  It costs 5 bucks a month (we can handle that!), and they are looking for more people to donate.  I heartily recommend the book, by the way!