Wishing For Pine Needles

An Announcement

Around here, blogging has quite obviously taken a back seat to the hustle and bustle of a growing family.  And I do mean growing!

This fall we will be growing by two tiny feet, two tiny hands, a fuzzy little head, and a precious brand new soul.

And as for the rest of us....we're happily enjoying these long, lazy days of summer.  We do appreciate the e-mails and even phone calls from our concerned friends and readers who wondered what on earth happened to us during our longer-than-expected blogging hiatus.

I'm happy to say we're doing just fine and couldn't be more excited for the arrival of this little one!

Basic Baby Hat pattern by Heirloom Stitches

Winter Catch-Up

I spent some time today browsing through our winter pictures, and realized that there is much left to share.  (I continue to strive to be a more frequent blogger, but until I reach that optimal blogging place the occasional catch-up post will have to do!)

Allow me to rewind back to mid-February (ahem) and a trip north to visit Great Grandma....

And some winter swimming in the hotel pool....

A lovely morning spent with my dear friend and college roommate, and meeting her baby girl for the first time.....

 

 

 

 

And, finally, our Valentine's Day magnet goodies!  My sweet girls simply could not understand why they had not yet been featured on "the blog."  Well....here they are, girls!

 

 

 

 

And not pictured:

A visit from Mimi and Auntie Nea

Five flus (which mainly happened during Mimi and Auntie Nea's visit, so hence the "no pictures")

A trip to the Fabric Shack

Lots of playdates

Some ice-skating

And lots of experimenting with and by our Cool Daddy.  (Even though I'm not the biggest fan of deep-frying, nothing will make me say no to a fresh, homemade funnel cake!)

I hope your winter moments are keeping you warm and busy!  Happy Monday!

Flour Sack Friday - A Stroke of Blog Giveaway Good Fortune

If you happen to enjoy the blog world as much as I do, I'm sure you've noticed the occasional "giveaway."  Maybe you've entered one or two before, or just maybe you've even won something.  ( If you're not as familiar with blog-world, a "giveaway" is nothing more than a contest created by the writer of a blog, who will give away something to a randomly-selected reader who leaves a comment.)

Before Christmas I noticed a giveaway at this little blog.  The owners of this blog also own Imagine Childhood which is a lovely on-line store full of different educational and hand-on products for kids.  Truth be told, it's not a blog I visit often.  But because it was Christmas and because I am drawn to the things in their store, I found myself clicking right on over there.  

To enter this giveaway,  I was required to leave a comment about how I would spend $100 at Imagine Childhood.  If I won, they would send me what I wished for!  Easy enough.  I've had my eye on these beautiful stuffed animals for a while now.  So I quickly chose an animal for each of my kiddos, typed them in the comment box and pushed enter. 

Hundreds of comments.

What are the odds?

Well, apparently, on this day, the odds were in my favor!  Because these beauties were delivered to my front door a week later, completely and wonderfully free!  (And just in time for Christmas!)

 I hope this encourages you to visit a few of the many wonderful blogs out there and enter those giveaways!  It's a great way to support bloggers and an easy way to come by some unique and often handmade items for free.  Wishing  you a stroke of blog giveaway good fortune!

Happy Weekend!

the Flour Sack Decision

Back when I started this little experiment, I had high hopes for a thriving, little second blog devoted to the general concept and history of "less is more."  But as time trickled on, however,  I realized that I simply could not mange two blogs.  (What was I thinking???!)

Since this subject has become an interest and a hobby of mine/ours, I really didn't want to abandon the idea altogether.  After pondering my predicament over this summer, a wonderfully simple solution finally dawned on me!

If I was only going to devote Fridays to the Flour Sack Experiment blog anyway, why couldn't I just do it here at Wishing For Pine Needles instead?  

So, there, it's settled.  From now on, Wishing For Pine Needles will feature Flour Sack Fridays! 

Because I don't have a great Flour Sack topic at the moment, I leave you by sharing one thing we won't have to buy for a very long time...

STRAWBERRY JELLY!

(I will leave the former Flour Sack Experiment blog live for now, so please feel free to browse through those past posts...)

Back to Blogland....and some Summer Highlights

After a month of being away, I feel convicted to get at least one post in for the month of July.

So here is the one.

(How's July 31st at 10:00 p.m. for being just in time?!)

We have had a wonderful summer so far, packed with with far too many fun things for me to post them all, so here I'll  re-cap some highlights.

The first has to be a nice, long two-week vacation to California to visit Dan's side of the family.  It came and went all too quickly as vacations seem to do, so we sure are glad for the fond memories and loads of pictures!

(This zipline is approximately 50 feet high....my girls are brave :)

 

  Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of our trip.....and that you are having a big share of your own summer fun!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Bit of Catch-Up

I was quite surprised when I saw that it has been 11 days since my last post.  11 days?  Really???

I guess time does fly when you're having fun!

Fun, like having a just-because-school's-out tea party....

Fun, like some late spring planting...

Fun, like painting for the first time...

Fun, like a neighborhood block party...

...featuring our very own Daddy as the entertainment (by request, I might add)...

Fun, like lunch downtown....

Yes, all this fun seems to trump spending time in front of the computer.  (And an evening gig I currently have scoring essay questions for 8th graders might also be adding to my blog-less-ness.)

Ah well....'tis a season for everything...

I hope this season is bringing some fun for you!

Back On-line....(again)

Welcome to the last leg of our journey...a journey that ultimately brought us right back to where we started!

Home.

Ahhh....it feels good to be home! 

And I am, again, back on-line.  We completed the bulk of the move last weekend, but were told that it would take close to a full week before our local phone company could flip the switch to re-activate our internet.  And what a long week it has been!   One thing I have learned during this topsy-turvy couple of months is that there are many things I can do without.  The internet is not one of them. 

As we've unpacked, rearranged, and settled back in, we have been intentional about coming up with new uses for the various spaces in our home.  The rooms have been put back together slightly differently than they were before...more practical for the stages we are at right now.   One of our favorite makeovers is the master bedroom.  In the past, it has never been a place where we have spent a lot of time.  In fact, I must admit that it was often a place where baskets of laundry and an occasional un-made bed would disappear by the magical act of closing the door.  

When staging our house to sell, we knew that the master bedroom needed a transformation.  We did not go to any extravagant expense to make this happen, but simply cleared out furniture and items that were no longer practical, rearranged the hodge-podge collection of furniture that was left, added a few vintage linens from my collection along with the gorgeous pair of antique lamps that my grandmother gave me, replaced our ten-year-old bedding, and changed some of the artwork on the walls. 

And the best part is that now we get to enjoy it!

Part of our goal upon returning home was to make our bedroom feel like more of a place of retreat.  It is the one place in our home that is, well, ours.  While the kiddos are always welcome and love a good morning snuggle as much as ever, they also know that the special things that we have in here are mostly off-limits to them.  (Or, at the very least, the girls have learned that asking permission before going through my jewelry box and nail polish is a wise thing to do.)

The biggest addition to this room is our computer and work station.  In attempt to minimize the amount of furniture downstairs along with the distraction that the computer brings, we felt that our new "retreat" would be the perfect place to tuck it away.

Now, when we're homeschooling or cleaning or cooking or crafting, I am no longer tempted to swing by the computer to 'check' something.  And walking up a whole flight of stairs for those quick 'checks' of the e-mail or a favorite blog just won't do!

So tonight I write my "first" post from home, and also from our cozy little space that feels practically brand new on one hand and yet so completely familiar on the other.

There is truly no place like home!

Back On-line!

I am completely thrilled to say that we are officially hooked up to the internet here at our new location.  (This make me very happy!)

Although we are at somewhat of a resting place with our move and improvement projects at our other home, we are also at a place where we are constantly yielding the curve-balls that seemingly keep coming our way.   (I will keep you posted on these!)

But right now, I am content to be back on-line, catching up with friends and loved ones, on the world, the blogs that I visit, and reconnecting with their clever and creative authors.

I am equally excited to resume a more regular presence on my own blog, as well as the Flour Sack Experiment, which barely got off the ground before it received an unexpected hiatus. 

But, as I said before, hobbies are a lovely thing....mainly because they are so perfectly patient!

 

 

I hope this post finds you and your homes celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior....He has risen indeed!

On blogging and the Flour Sack

My one year of blogging anniversary has somehow come and gone without me realizing it, so I failed to pay heed to that special occasion!

When I actually did realize that I have indeed been posting here for over a year, I browsed through my archives to view all of the special times, thoughts, and moments we've shared together and with our loved ones. And whilst I imagine that some of these events are likely etched in our memories forever, I also saw many pictures and read many stories of some very ordinary times - ones that I'm not sure we'd remember if we didn't have this page to look back on. 

It's very comforting really, knowing that these special moments will always be here, for us, when we want to relive them. 

It, of course, makes me wish that I have been blogging longer and that I could quickly click a link to read about an ordinary day when Rylen was a baby, and Marianne, and some of our adventures back then.  But, full knowing that this cannot be changed and realizing the joy that keeping this blog has brought me, I am simply glad that I began this journey when I did.  Here's to looking forward!

And on that note of looking forward, I would like to invite you to visit my second blogging project The Flour Sack Experiment.  While I will still be posting here, The Flour Sack Experiment is a way for me to focus specifically on some ideas we are implementing around here.

You will find a link on this page, so please give it a read to find out more!

Embroidered fruit on a vintage flour sack towel.

on the Bright Side

Ahhhh, winter.

There is much that I love about it.

(and equally as much as I don't. ahem.)

I've recently been inspired by Shelley's lovely clementine post and the beautiful, bright orange images that graced my computer screen.  (Could there be anything better than a clementine tree?  Anyone know how I can get one? ;)  Shelley is a friend that I have made through this blogging gig.  She has such natural wit, funny stories, a great family, and a steadfast faith in our Lord.  Check her out sometime!

So, in honor of the clementines,  I decided to post some photos of things that we have come across in our own daily life that make the cold, grey days seem just a bit brighter.

Enjoy!

(Our version of a clementine tree...)

A pleasant surprise outside the window.

Unfortunately I can't take credit for this cool photo of my dala horse.  It was taken by my talented friend, Ellen.  We enjoyed the company of her and her family along with another couple over lunch after church on Sunday. 

See, winter is full of bright spots if we look in the right places!