Apple & Pumpkin Pickin'

We had a great day at the farm with Mima and Daddy.
The bean could not get enough of the fresh-picked apples, as you can see in the pictures below!

Birthday celebration Shots

Here's Charlie trying to make his Daddy smile.

I am so blessed to be his Mama. Charlie waking up to you (you're our alarm clock)
each morning is such a gift.

Beached...and a birthday

This past weekend we had our 4th annual Lobsterbake on one of the islands off of Norwalk. It was a ,lot of fun but the tide was unusually low and we ended up getting stuck on the island (our boat was stuck in the mud). Four hours later we made our way home way past the bean's bedtime, but we all fared ok. We also saw this crazy NASA experiment while we were warming by the bonfire.

Yesterday was Joe's fortieth and, no joke, I spent most the day prepping for his dinner. The star of the 'menu' was Lobster and Crab Ravioli, I made a few modifications to suit Joe's taste, very yummy indeed.

Tomorrow the front door should be put up, so hopefully I can snap and post some pictures of that. And maybe I can post some before's of the siding since next week it will all be torn down and carted away.

Charlie seems to be learning a new 'trick' everyday. Yesterday he started saying 'baby' and today it was 'digger.' Amazing.

Heirloom Party

I'm coming to this party a little late, but please take a look over at Marie's Heirloom Party. Here is my submission:

This is a civil war gun chest that my husband's grandfather gave to us several years ago. It is lovely and though, right now it sits practically unused, I have several ideas in mind for it. Joe is going to install lots of shelving, so we can really put every inch of space to good use. Please excuse the box in front of our heirloom ;o) it serves a temporary purpose: to keep the doors from opening up.

If the gun case does not stay permanently in our office as an adored bookcase then it may find life in our kitchen as a hutch for kitchen crockery and cookbooks. Since we are going to eventually have an all-white kitchen (ala Something's Gotta Give) I think a warm dark wood piece would really pop with the white.

In other news, we are working on getting our new front door to the right shade of deep chocolate, something between milk and dark ;o) Tomorrow is the second coat.

One design dilemma I am still grappling with is whether to stain the sidelights (panelled windows) or to paint them white. What would you do if your cedar shingle siding is a warm beige color with white trim?

White (or cream) Sidelights:
Stained Sidelights:
What do you think?
When you're finished looking through Marie's lovely website, take a look over at hooked on houses for another blog party. That's all for now, happy weekend!

The little tree hugger

and airplane lover too...

As I was looking at this last shot I focused in on the little shell of Charlie's ear.
That perfect, tiny body part reminds me of how miraculous life really is,
and how incredible our creator is.

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:7

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Psalm 139

Potpourri

Here's our chalkboard wall going to good use. I'm really enjoying it. Please excuse the dustiness of the board, I'm not allowed to wipe it with water for a week.

We are in full swing with house renovations right now. Current projects are, new doors (including the front),siding, and planning of the bathrooms... oh and the backyard too. I've been running all over for door knobs and locks, paint and stain. I'm also working on a big birthday surprise for my sweet husband's fortieth coming up in a week.

One quick cute story, today Charlie and I were checking out at Home Depot. I told Charlie to wave bye bye to the nice lady, instead Charlie said "Buh-bye." He also said "shirt" today for the first time, but his favorite word is still dirt- a true boy!

Chalkboard Love

A few months ago I tested out how easily the floral circa1975 wall paper would peel off the wall. Not so easy- it gripped on for dear life.

I regretted the impulsive action ever since. We won't be renovating the kitchen for another year (and that wall will be torn down in the process) so I needed a cheap, temporary fix/cover up. Enter the ever-handy chalkboard paint...

Before:

After:

I can't 'play' and draw on it for three days, but I'm looking forward to putting a chalk calendar up along with a grocery list and drawings for Charlie. Ahh, one less wall of ugly wall paper to fix my eyes on :o)

Now go visit the hooked on houses party and see what everyone else is loving this Friday.

Hooked on...Dash & Albert

I'm in love with the beachy feel to these rugs...
and the prices are very reasonable to boot!

This might be nice for our entry way:

But then, upon closer inspection of their website,
I found some beautiful wool rugs as well.I think this one might be beautiful in our bedroom:

Now go check out and see what everyone else is hooked on. Happy looong weekend :o)

My sweet, gentle boy

Do you know your Mama misses you as soon as she places you in your little bed? The moment I close your bedroom door, I look forward to seeing you again. Each day, though I didn't think it possible, my heart swells a little more with love for you.

Each morning , though it takes you a few minutes to 'warm up' just like your Daddy, you are so excited to explore your world. This week your favorite word is 'dirt'. Other favorites are hi, uh oh, mama, and light. You've taken up reading in the car (mainly books on tractors and the farm), which I find hilarious but so adorable too.

You already have mastered the art of flirtation because every time I say, "Charlie, do eyes" you bat your eyelashes and blink like an old pro. You are also learning where your ears and nose are.

Today you were in love with keys and locks and tried to twist my car keys into every cabinet knob in the kitchen (once you finished with the doors). You still love pointing at everything and directing me with your pointer finger demands, ha. You're also trying to communicate so much more with nodding yes and no.

A first for today: we played with sidewalk chalk on the driveway and you had fun drawing scribbles on the ground.

My prayer, sweet little bean, is that you will always know how much of a treasure you are to me and to the Lord.
Love, Mama