little boy

Little Boys are Treasures

author: unknown

Little boys are treasures

Who are worth their weight in gold.

And charm everyone around them

From the time they're minutes old.

They're Mommy's little darling,

They're a special pal to Dad,

And the bring the very happiest days

A family's ever had.

photo: my nephew

a guest!

my mom is here for a spring break visit and we're having oh so much fun!

She is our first overnight guest and I wanted to spruce up the guest bath for her a little bit.

Adrian brought to me from his hotel because he knew I'd like them.

silver bowl from an estate sale, rolled up green washcloths, green ribbon from my stash and curly silver wire, B&B Works soap that I got on sale!

I collect these sorbet glasses in all different shapes and patterns but always green. It was fun to see some of them in Sandy's post this week!

My friend Erin gave me these floating lily pads one time and it's fun to

pull them out now and then for a touch of something unexpected. :)

and finally, below, I learned this trick can be for "at home" and not just hotels from my grandma, Sweetie!

Hope everyone's having a great spring break! Kelly

me and my Poppy

Grandpas are very special people.

My Poppy used to take me jogging with him when I was two.

He has built things out of wood for us to paint and craft, to play with as toys, etc.

He is known for clapping his hands together and saying, "hey!" in greeting.

He is a man of God.

He studies the Word and has led his family in God's truths.

I love to hear him pray as we stand around in a circle at the beginning of a big family meal. Sometimes he asks one of the younger men to pray too. He is leading the next generation and the next.

He is a very kind person. He watches out for new people and visitors at church to make sure they feel welcome and become included. He helps out to provide for people who don't have a lot of material blessings.

He has integrity in all that he does.

He loves my grandma! He loves his kids. He loves his grandkids and his great-grandkids and every new spouse as they come along.

I love you, Poppy! Kelly

Little Cowboy

A couple of weekends ago my sweet husband was out of town for work so I headed to be with my parents and brother, sis-in-law and nephew for just a fun hanging out sort of weekend. We took this little cowboy to the livestock show and it was so much fun.

Howdy pardner!

Such a cutie!

the boy doesn't get enough attention! :)

boys and dinosuars! Is there anything better?

listening to grandpa or "Dukka" as he calls him

oink, oink!

blowing a kiss to Aunt Kelly!

bye bye!

Travel Tuesday - we went camping!

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments and please keep them coming!

So many of you had such great things to say that we will have to continue to incorporate into our camping experience.

We went on our first camping trip together this past Sunday. We just went for one night. Adrian had one day off for spring break and we're just breaking in easy. :)

It was still gray and a little chilly early in the day but after lunch the sun came out and the weather was beautiful! The campsites were nice, right on a lake. There were a few others there but not too many which was nice. We all had some space.

Is it just me and my sweet tooth or does this rock holding down the tarp look exactly like a yummy chocolate chip cookie on top of a delectable brownie? hmmm . . . back to camping

My man set up our new tent!

I thought just for fun I'd count how many baby wipes I used on the trip. I lost count. :)

This is my new chair! I guess I didn't ever get a full picture of it but you can see a little more in the next photo. It has a foot rest. :) I love that about it. It also has this neat little zipper pocket. I said that it is a blogger's camping chair. My camera was always handy. :)

Adrian made some WONDERFUL beef stew for our dinner! He prepped everything at home and then cooked it over the campfire! um, yum!

I love this "action shot" of the stew being stirred.

Inside the tent!

We camp in style.

Seasoning the stew

These started out as just ordinary canned Wal-mart brand biscuits . . .

Do you know what these are?

I got this idea from my kids at school.

Kids are very smart, you know.

glowsticks!!!

We threw them up in the air and watched them spin around and hung them up for a nice little glowing light.

Those plain canned biscuits turned into the most amazing "fry biscuits" that tasted wonderful with our stew.

a few smores with gourmet French chocolate later . . .

(French chocolates a gift from Adrian's parents that we had on hand)

and it was time to hit the sack . . .

the next morning we woke up to another beautiful day!

So . . .

what you've all been waiting for . . .

Did I like it?

Well, yes, mostly. This is something that I want to share with Adrian so I'm just going to keep plugging away until I learn it. I liked Mindy's comment on the last post, that camping takes practice, that you learn, that the first time may not be perfect and that's alright.

Here's what I liked:

1. just sitting and reading in the great outdoors

2. hearing the lake water lapping at the shore

3. seeing the beautiful stars in the inky night sky

4. feathering our nest, be it for one night

5. being with my husband and watching him love camping

6. eating my husband's delicious campfire food

7. being pampered since camp work is man work in my man's book :)

8. not having the "pull" of ordinary life (laundry, etc.) and feeling like I had more time to do my Bible study, read, pray, etc.

What I'd like to find a way to make better:

1. our organization/staying packed for camping for the future so it doesn't take so much time/effort each time (I've got some ideas but would be happy for any you have)

2. the bathroom situation - I skimped on drinking because I didn't want to have to trek to the bathroom and use the one that really wasn't horrible but wasn't that great either. hmm . . .

3. I learned that it's no use just pretending you're just as clean as when you got there and putting off any "beautifying measures" until you get home and take a shower. I should take a real washcloth and at least pour some water on it and wash my face and put on a little mascara or something easy and put in my contacts. Maybe put some baby powder in my hair and brush it out? I like your idea Tawn about washing up. I'll have to do that next time. (good to hear from you by the way!) We did brush our teeth. :)

The stress of the unknown is already out of the way because now I know a little about how camping works so I'll know better how to approach it. Kelly

p.s. do any of you have a camping checklist you use? I'd love to see a copy if you'd like to share. Thanks!

i just might . . .

have used this for our wedding had I known of it back then. :)

camping

My husband grew up camping.

I did not.

He backpacked in the Grand Canyon with his grandpa. He lived in New Mexico.

I lived in hot and humid Houston.

The closest I came was staying with my cousins & my grandma in a camper WITH a shower & a toilet at Jellystone park KOA with lots of yogi bears around and a camp store where you could buy big yellow corn in little brown paper bags to feed to the various goats, geese, etc. on the property.

Then there was also the time that I went on a church family campout with my friends' Kori and Mindy's family and a whole bunch of other people from our church. There were cabins, some people brought trailers and some tents. I stayed in a tent with Kori and Mindy. It was a brand new tent as I recall. Being the city girl that I was, it didn't ever even occur to me that having a big ziploc bag full of homemade chocolate chip cookies that my mom sent with me inside the tent was a risky thing. um . . . a racoon ate THROUGH the wall of the tent to get at those cookies. I remember being impressed that my friends' dad didn't even get mad. I also remember being very sad about losing those cookies.

Oh dear!

So, I am going to venture into the world of camping as a married woman. I really want to like it. I would love to really enjoy the best of both worlds, camping some trips and nice hotels some trips as we travel as a couple and later as a family.

This is where I want to hear from YOU!

No horror stories please!

No discouragement.

What do you like about camping?

What are your favorite foods to take?

What tips do you have for successful, fun, romantic (is there such a thing?) camping?

Help a girl out. Thanks everyone! Have a great weekend! Kelly

two little touches

It's spring break and even though it's nearly freezing and pouring down rain outside,

I am feeling that spring cleaning/nesting bug.

The above photo is of a display in our entry hall that has been a work in progress

over a span of the last month or so. It keeps evolving and I really like it.

yep, that's an old folding ruler (I am married to a carpenter afterall) tied with black lace and a neat photo frame that I won as part of a bunko prize once upon a time. It holds one of our engagement photos. The sheet music is an old hymn rolled and tied with estate sale ribbon trim and then simply thumb-tacked to the wall inside the paper roll.

The music crown is from our Christmas crackers

at Adrian's parents house. A wonderful British tradition!

Here is one of my "two little touches" that I just did.

Why have a plain old alarm when you can have a little ledge for decorating?

"Vietato fumare" means "no smoking" in Italian

I bought it way back in 1997 at a little, dusty shop behind the Duomo in Firenze.

The spool of pink thread came from a shop in Fredericksburg, TX.

Here's the second little touch. I really like that little rag ball with the word "love" pinned on hanging off this photo from our wedding.

Is this your spring break?

What will you do?

Have a happy one!

Kelly

Travel Tuesday - Jungle Jim's

Travel Tuesdays and Wedding Wednesdays and blogging in general have slacked off a bit lately but hey, I've been just LIVING and enjoying LIFE. Spring break is *right* around the corner though (hallelujah!) and the travel bug is nibbling. :)

Just a quiet little road trip to visit Adrian's parents led us to this GEM near Cinncinati, Ohio. Jungle Jim's is a foodie's paradise!!!

If you like food and are ever anywhere in the state of Ohio, go here!

There are six acres under roof of every kind of food imaginable all in a very fun setting. The "aisle of inferno" full of zillions of different kinds of hot sauces is topped by a fire engine. The Lucky Charms leprechaun, honeybee from Honey Nut Cheerios, and the "Trix are for kids" silly rabbit all sing and dance atop a yacht *in the store*! There are 8 (I believe) aisles of English food, English food, for real! And they are decorated with Robin Hood references. It is so much fun!

Have you ever heard of this place? Ever been? I would highly recommend a trip if you like food at all and are ever in the area! Kelly

edited to add: you're not allowed to take photos inside hence this singular outside photo

front page

hee hee hee, look what I just found!

http://www.racheldebell.com/

we're on her "front page" and in some of her galleries :)

I feel a teeny tiny bit like a celebrity. :)

kelly

i scream

you scream

we all scream for ice cream!

I really like these little P-A-R-T-Y dishes that I nabbed at a fun store near Cape Cod called the Christmas Tree shops. They have nothing at all to do with Christmas, they just have really neat, cheap stuff. I guess I would sort of compare them to a really cool Big Lots. Have you ever been to a Christmas Tree Shop? What did you think? Any great purchases?

Kelly

another springy kitchen photo

my favorite latte bowls from anthropolgie once again, including the little ones

that my sister-in-law started my collection of at Christmas one year.

She knows me so well!

also, neat parfait glasses that I grew up eating pudding and jello parfaits in lovingly made by my mom and topped with cool whip! We would eat them with long teaspoons. Oh the joy! My grandma and I ended up finding the exact ones at a thrift store one day and bought them! My mom found hers at a garage sale when we were young. So neat!

ignore the cocoa krispies in the bottom of the photo :)

a girl's gotta have sugar cereal from time to time to balance out the special K :)

a springy table

Last week we had a couple of friends over to help celebrate their birthdays! We had a great evening with Jenni and Sarah. Comfortable friendships are so . . . comforting!

It was fun to set a springy table! I enjoyed flipping through my Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn catalogs this week (Urban Outfitters, not at all! It was so dark and . . . ugly). Anyway, I do enjoy seeing all of the seasonal items in catalogs like these, but let's face it, they're whole purpose is to sell us a new set of dishes and accessories four times a year!

I used our white staccato place settings from Crate and Barrel that were wedding gifts. I used my anthropologie latte bowls that I collect usually one or two at a time on trips there. The "placemats" were used to adorn tables at our wedding and were handsewn by my wonderful aunts. The yellow gingham napkins were a wedding gift to my mom I believe. Somewhere along the line I inherited them and enjoy them muchly.

The bird placecard holders were thoughtfully bestowed on me by my sister-in-law's mom. I need to think of a good term for your in-laws in-laws who are very dear people, travel to your wedding and practically consider you their own as well!

The salad "bowl" is actually this really neat ceramic colander with a matching plate that was a wedding gift from Adrian's Aunt Penny who came over all the way from England for our wedding!

The bread basket was a gift from birthday girl Jenni several years ago filled with baby bundts of her famous chunky monkey bread & lined with yet another table square from our wedding. And finally, the butter dish is one of our creme brulee dishes! hee hee! How fun is that!

a touch of spring

spring's coming, slowly but surely!

Kelly