Baby Feet - Day 29 (June 29, 2013)

It does not get much better than chubby baby feet

Unless it is happily~dirty, chubby, baby, feet. 

Secrets with Nana - Day 28 (June 28, 2013)

Not a great picture of Joe, but I love this of Caleb whispering to Nana 

Ruby & Daddy - Day 27 (June 27, 2013)

I love seeing Daddies with their little ones. 

It is even more amazing to see your grandbabies with their daddies.

~

Ruby (11 mos) and her daddy (David)

Pretties! - Day 26 (June 26, 2013)

Since I do not have a smartphone,

 having an old fashioned paper day-planner is helpful.

This elaborate, personalized one is worth the money in my book.
It makes me smile. 

Today I spent the day getting things written in and just in general getting familiar with my new life planner. 
~

I had my school year motto put on the front.

Be. Here. Now.

While many of my friends are wrapping up their active parenting (homeschool!) years while I am still in the thick of it, it is hard not to feel in a hurry to get to the next phase of life.
But life with my little guys is good.
Why hurry?

Playing with Logan - Day 25 (June 25, 2013)

Playing with the camera feature on my 'new' (since Christmas) laptop. 

Something new for me to do, fun with a little one.
He insisted I wear the hat

Fabric Play - Day 24 (June 24, 2013)

Finally finding the time to work on a project started a long, long

 (before married daughters) time ago

Daddy-Daughter Ball - Day 23 (June 23, 2013)

Off to the Daddy~Daughter Ball!

RC Airplane... - Day 22 (June 22, 2013)

...Caleb style!

Caleb made his own remote control airplane complete with controller, 

all with Legos!
(also love his 'One in a Minion' shirt)

Friend time - Day 21 (June 21, 2013)

Tea with a friend! 

Cutie Pies - Day 20 (June 20, 2013)

Not sure why, but did not get a picture taken on this day. 

So, for your pleasure, my two cuties that are always good for a smile!

 (picture taken on Father's Day)

Siblings - Day 19 (June 19, 2013)

Loved this scene of Abby and Joe hanging out side-by-side made me smile.
Abby reading a library book, Joey on her Kindle

CHOCOLATE!!! - Day 18 (June 18, 2013)

Even when on a restrictive eating plan, sometimes a girl just needs some chocolate to make her smile. 

Shhhh! - Day 17 (June 17, 2013)

shhh! Don't tell her she is doing 'school work' ! 

Father's Day - Day 16 (June 16, 2013)

Happy Father's Day

Here is Dennis and his Dad with all our kiddos

(not the best of pictures, but it the crew still makes me smile)

Ok- decided to make a 2-fer day. 

Dennis and the grands

Nintendo Boy - Day 15 (June 15, 2013)

Seth seems to love all things Nintendo. When he heard there was a special event to try out their newest games on the Wii U and one was going to be in Portland he REALLY wanted to go. So his AMAZING father drove him out to a Best Buy out by the airport so he could have 7 minutes of play time and receive a foam Luigi hat. What a happy boy he was.

My Guys - Day 14 (June 14, 2013)

Some pictures need no words

♥

Yarn - Day 13 (June 13, 2013)

This was a tough day. Found out that we need to replace our drain field ($$$) I did NOT want to look for something to make me smile, having a pity party seemed more fun.(???) 

But, challenge myself I did. 

So, I cleaned out the corner of my bedroom with current (I use the term loosely) knitting projects, some have not gone beyond the shopping phase. Just going through the yarns and supplies did lift my mood. In the picture is also included 3 different project bags - The sunflower one my mom made for me long before I was knitting, the green bug one was made by my friend Holly when we taught a knitting/quilting class together at homeschool co-op, and the on the right with yellow yarn was given to me by my friend Carrie when I finished my first pair of sock. The bags made me smile as much as the yarn. 

Oh, and after taking this picture I finished off the dishcloth in front as well as the blue & orange scarf tucked into the sunflower bag. Caleb has been wearing his scarf most the day. Way to go mom, scarf finished in June!

Boys Never Grow Up! - Day 12 (June 12, 2013)

You might think this picture is about the cute little boy on the front step watching our new septic tank be installed. But is more about the 40-something-year-old down watching from much closer. 

☺

Reading Lesson - Day 11 (June 11, 2013)

Facebook status ~

Favorite quote of the day...
Caleb (during reading lesson): "Can I just read the word instead of all the sounds?"

(I choose this page, as everything that looks like a scribble was actually quite an elaborate story!)

Self-Hair Cut Solution - Day 10 (June 10,2013)

Some pictures need no explanation

(thanks for the help Ben!)
yellow Popsicle compliments big sis Amelia

Self-Haircut - Day 9 (June 9, 2013)

After 26 years of parenting I can now smile at a self-haircut
(after a stern lecture)

Sure wish I had pictures of all of them, there have been...
A LOT

Miss Ruby and her Baby Quilt (Finally!) - Day 8 (June 8, 2013)

This is a double-smile.
First, I finally finished Ruby's baby quilt and second, how can you help but smile at that cute sun-kissed little face?!

Pic #1: Ruby - 10 1/2 mos
Pic #2: the finished quilt. Nicole picked this puzzle pattern offline,
easy to piece but was a pain to hand-quilt

Little Miss was worth it

My Little Artists! - Day 7 (June 7, 2013)

I was just starting to stir this morning and these two cuties decided to come and do some art in the corner of my bedroom. 

Glad it was on paper!
(and there were quite the stories to go with these pictures)

Fashion Sense - Day 6 (June 6, 2013)

This was the best picture I could get once I asked for a smile. 

First, the fact he was fully clothed made me smile (rare treat, we are working on it) and he choice of clothing made me chuckle as well. 

My little Joe - Age 4

Fishes - Day 5 (June 5, 2013)

My fishies! 

(btw: taking a pictures of fish is not easy!)

Pretty! - Day 4 (June 4, 2013)

"Look Mom!" - Day 3 (June 3, 2013)

"Look Mom! I have a little muscle!"

~ Caleb, age 7 

Bees - Day 2 (June 2, 2013)

Here is an odd one, but it does make me smile. 

Recently our one bee hive swarmed/split and headed high in a tree. Dennis did have a cardboard nuc box  jerry-rigged, just in case 

(This would be our personal choice, but had to go with what we had!) 

Long story short, the bees seem to be thriving in their new (all-be-it temporary) home. 

But what a sad looking hive it is, I can not help but smile when I see it and think of the work that went into getting the new hive situated into it. 

(and yes, we will have to move them into something permanent by the end of summer, something yet to be made/bought!)

For explanation - the box is on the sawhorse so it could be covered from the rain by the piece of plywood. 

If you look closely at the hole near the bottom you see bees heading home for the night
(I felt like I was on a landing strip when taking this picture as bees were flying by - who would have ever thought  I would hang out in such a place on purpose!)

(added a close up of the bees - they are so fascinating to watch!)

Here We Go! - Day 1 (June 1, 2013)

Last night as I was falling asleep after a busy graduation day I realized it was day one of my new blog. Fortunately for me a few pictures were taken that made me smile, without any thought about my self-imposed assignment. 

So for day one, I present to you...

Hodgepodge Acres Academy ~ Class of 2013 

(aka: Abigail)