a really great, very cool thing!

We have a lot of books at our house and usually read before each nap (still two a day, woohoo!) and bedtime and sometimes other times as well.

Earlier in the summer my mom suggested that we do the summer reading program at the library with David. I kind of thought that was for kids who were reading books like these

but I am so glad I got over my feeling silly and signed him up.

Because . . .

I learned that my little fourteen month old can help these guys

photo via

Isn't that amazing??!!!!

You see, the summer reading program goes like this

For every 20 minutes the bigger kids read or every 2 picture books the littler kids read, they get to color in a circle (here I thought I was going to have to write down a pageful of titles, authors, ISBNs . . . )

Simple coloring and thanks to the crayons Jenny gave him for his birthday, I discovered that he can actually color and he really likes it! So fun!

Anyway, you keep coloring circles and the first prize along the path is a coupon book for places about town, the second is a frisbee and the third is a book and bookmark.

But . . .

at the library they had a table set up with all kinds of different GRAND PRIZES!

There were tickets to baseball games, a ball popper for babies, etc. but the one that grabbed hold of me and made me so excited to get home and get to reading was

Chickens!!!

The librarians had the awesome idea to make one of the grand prizes for reading even more books a donation of a flock of chickens through Heifer International.

How cool is that?!!

I just love it and told them so and they thanked me and said they weren't sure how it would go over.

I love that my sweet little boy who doesn't even know about poverty yet or the fact that there are different countries in the world can read books with his Mama and Daddy and Nana and anyone else who wants to sit down with him for a few minutes and in return he can participate in feeding children, parents, a family in a village who will be able to pass it along to another family and so on.

Now THAT is exciting stuff!

Thank you librarians in the Pikes Peak Library District!

If you are local, please consider joining in the summer reading program and make a big difference in the life of others as you share such a simple thing with your kids. Even if you think that you don't have enough time left, we are nearly through with coloring in our chart and ready to start on the Bonus Reading chart that will earn the chickens without hardly trying. You can do it!

If you don't live here I encourage you to share this idea with your local library. I think it's a wonderful idea as most of our homes really don't need another "thingamajig".

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Kelly

edited to add: I did not realize that the chickens and all of the grand prizes were a drawing. That's how it works so I guess only one flock of chickens will be donated, one set of baseball tickets given out, etc. but that is still so cool that chickens will be donated. It's only $20 to donate a flock of chickens so maybe we'll just donate some ourselves whether we win the drawing or not.

summer fun

learning to like the water . . .

*************************************************************

Thanks for the photo, Mandy!

Kelly

summertime happy song

Megan has inspired me and I'm working on a little video of my birthday day

(thank you for all of the well wishes!!!!)

I am stumped on a song though.

What song do you think I should pair with a little montage of our day on Monday?

Something summery, fun, happy?

Thanks!

Kelly

garden progress

Adrian took this photo of our garden Saturday morning. It is coming right along. We have so much fun looking at the different things coming out of the ground. God is amazing!

I know we'll make quick work on the arugula, basil, tomatoes, cilantro, & Italian parsley but I am not sure how to best cook the Swiss chard. I know I've had it before and liked it but I haven't ever cooked with it. Any suggestions?

Kelly

summer table

a constant friend

"A constant friend is a thing rare and hard to find."

- Plutarch

photo taken the summer we were dating, 2007 at Bandelier in New Mexico

once upon a time . . .

when Adrian and I were dating, we went to Chicago where his brother was in school & his mom and granny from England had converged for a little visit.

fun little wardrobe with a neat row of hooks across the back for hanging one's articles of clothing

adorable sailboat bookends

I needed a place to stay and my brother-in-law was kind enough to inquire among some of the girls he knew and secure a guest room for me in the sorority house.

pink towels atop a pink rose laden bedspread

At the college I attended, we did not have sororities but we did have social clubs. I was in one of them (was president one semester in fact) but I do not have much experience with sororities or sorority houses. I found this one, the girls living in it and the accommodations to be quite charming so I took a little photo tour to share with you and in the business of wedding planning and all, never did.

Today is the day!

I liked this fun and different hook to hang my {overstuffed} purse upon

It's funny and a bit nostalgic to see my ipod. I gave it up when I got my iphone. Please do not fail to notice the pink painted butterflies flitting about the plastic tissue holder or the {faux} pink carnations.

even these ladies are fond of pink roses

a smart desk should I decide to do some studying

{the only thing I studied that weekend was a menu or a wedding magazine}

a place to rest

the {shared} bathroom

I love that door and wouldn't mind having one like it on my bathroom here at our house

old school looking for sure

I haven't even thought of Aqua Net in ages

a botanical shower curtain

I hope you've enjoyed your tour. I would love to hear your favorite aspect of the room and/or one of the most unique or interesting places you've ever stayed the night.

Happy Friday!

Kelly

June

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade." ~ Gertrude Jekyll

photo taken by Adrian in Missouri, summer 2007

neighborhood friend

I really like this song and have for a long time.

I used to play it for my students and they really liked it too.

Guess who one of our new neighborhood friends is?

Cool, huh?

I had never seen one of these in real life before.

These photos of the red fox were taken on Easter morning. (see the snow?!)

Since then we've seen him a couple of other times.

I am so excited for David to get big enough to get excited about seeing him too.

Kelly

a real boy

"To become a real boy

you must prove yourself brave,

truthful, and unselfish."

from Pinocchio

grass!

I have lived in Texas my whole life until now (and excepting the years I was in college in Arkansas) and I am used to green grassy lawns.

As we looked at houses here in Colorado, I saw backyards that were rocks or dirt or very poor excuses for grass and I was sad to think of my little boy playing in the dirt (which he probably would love of course) rather than having a "proper" grassy lawn.

This move has been full of emotional pitfalls and I have been meditating on Psalm 23 a lot.

After we had put a contract in on this house and were waiting to close it dawned on me one day that the house I believe God led us to has grass. Beautiful, well taken care of, grass!

Green pastures!

"He makes me lie down in green pastures" (from Psalm 23 NIV)

What a comfort to realize and remember that God cares about me and wants to take care of me. Even when facing big things like cancer and missing friends and just the stress of having life in transition, "He makes me lie down in green pastures". He cares. He gives me blessings big and small. I need only to look to Him.

Lest you think I am great at this, the whole grass thing hit me in the face that day. Sometimes over the past few months I've questioned, doubted, had trouble really feeling trust in God even though in my mind I knew that was what I would do, my feelings were not quick to catch up.

He is good. "He makes me lie down in green pastures".

I am thankful for this grass and hope I will always remember the realization of God's provision for me through it's presence at my home.

How have you seen God care for you personally?

Kelly

family room - gladiator style?

David is already really enjoying our family room (and finding Mama's iphone within reach! oops!).

Here is a "before" photo from before the house was ours.

The shutter doors go to the crawl space.

Gotta love that paneling. We have plans for this room. It will be the computer/craft/office/playroom. Basically where we can spend time as a family doing things we like to do individually but together.

Our "redo" plans are kind of on hold until IKEA opens in Denver on July 27th. I think it's gonna be great though.

And check this out . . .

Have you ever seen more gladiator spear-like curtain rods? And yes, they left them for us! Yippee.

So, where is your favorite place to shop for curtains and curtain rods? I've got some shopping to do.

Kelly

ten on ten - June 2011

morning indulgence

organizing my new closet with clothes I forgot I had after the season of maternity clothes

finally putting on make-up

Yea! an impromptu visit from Nana & Ducca

writing letters

(well, one single letter actually)

a little jaunt across the street to pick up free vintage cabinet doors being given away by a new neighbor

dinner out to enjoy the evening and cool temperatures

a little man enthralled by the musicians

German ambiance

{photo by Adrian}

after dinner drive

Mama & David

{photo by Adrian}

Helen Hunt Falls

{photo by Adrian}

Daddy and David

What did you do today?

See more ten on ten participants here.

Kelly

dolphin dream come true

Have you ever touched or swam with a dolphin?

It was something I'd always wanted to do.

I got to in 2006 when my whole extended family went on a cruise together.

This is me and Valerie the dolphin. :)

If dolphins aren't your dream, what is?

Kelly

restaurant review

One Saturday Adrian and I decided to get Thai for lunch to celebrate having battled it out at the DMV. We went to Lanna Thai for the first time and we really, really liked it. I would definitely recommend it if you're in the area and like Thai. It was probably the best Thai I've ever had.

This photo was taken on the film camera so it has that sort of old school look to it.

As you can tell, we didn't like the food one bit. {wink}

It was a nice place with white tablecloths, etc. but they were still super kid friendly and even had real high chairs as opposed to the ubiquitous wooden restaurant high chairs which do the job but aren't quite as nice as something with a tray.

Do you like Thai food?

Kelly

glimpse of the house

When we looked at our house before buying it we suspected that the brand new carpet in the living and dining rooms was covering original hardwood floors. The beautiful hardwood floors upstairs were one of the selling points of the house for us.

We had dining room carpet in our apartment in Dallas and we knew that we did not want to eat with a little one on carpet again. It is so messy!

We had plans to peel back the carpet and refinish the floors in the dining room. Curiosity killed the cat after closing and one of the very first things we did was peel back the carpet and look what we found!!! Hardwood floors in wonderful condition that needed no refinishing! Trim strips are drying from their coats of polyurethane in the garage and when they're ready the dining room floor "renovation" will be complete!

Here's a pic of the floors upstairs.

This is from when we saw the house before it was ours so the rug is not in the hallway anymore and you can see that beautiful wood.

more pics to come . . . lots of boxes to unpack

Kelly