I interrupt this silence...

to bring you the official end of Project 365. I'm making this decision after a visit to the Dr.'s office today that only confirmed, I'm NOT super mom and I CAN'T do it all...no matter how hard I try. (In case you doubted, I am human after all! ha!) So sorry to disappoint anyone, (another fault of mine - MAJOR people pleaser here!) but for my health's sake some things have got to go. And since none of my children are offering to leave, which means I still have 12 weeks of school left to teach and a 2 1/2 year old still waiting to be potty trained and I need my husband and I want my photography clients....things like 365's have got to be eliminated!

I plan to still share pictures, but it probably won't be real regular. This summer is starting to fill up with photography shoots (yea!), so beginning in the next few months I'll hopefully have lots of pictures to share with ya! I hope you won't weary of coming here and finding nothing new and stop checking in all together. I love having you all stop in and the wonderful comments have been and are such an encouragement! So without further ado.....more from the local artists......



This here is Cowboy Isaac, just in case you don't catch it. ;)

He is definitely a pistol packing cowboy with a deadly aim......I'll spare you the grim details at the other end of the chalkboard! Let's just say the four-legged varmint didn't get away!

Meet the "Smiley Brothers". (think The 3 Stooges)

And lastly another tough cowboy from a generation that is technology crazed and code word obsessed. He appears to be "laughing out loud" as he fires multiple rounds! :)

To further prove my littlest man is growing up all too quickly, this is his new bed. He is quite pleased with the arrangement and is the first of the boys to not fall out of it while sleeping. ***Please excuse the assaulting color of his room and peculiar blue line running down the wall. This room like many others are in a perpetual state of remodel and had previously been covered with wallpaper. It does nicely match the green stripe in his comforter though! :D

For those of you who aren't here locally or the surrounding area, after a week of beautiful spring like weather that melted all our snow, Monday greeted us with this! We are once again blanketed in a fresh coating of white stuff!!!



I'm curious if anyone has or has had one of these? A few posts back I mentioned my Grandma "Long Lane". Well she had a few dolls at her house, but it seemed there were never enough to go around. She did however have two or three of these monkeys that worked as stand-in babies. Quite a few years back now, my cousin found this little guy at a Cracker Barrel and surprised me with it. What good memories!!!!

And we come to our final picture. It just seems odd to finish with #49 and not have an even fifty, but you know what? I struggled with having five children. Odd numbers just don't settle in my even thinking mind real well, but I've had to get used to it. And so will you, cause this will be the last numbered Project 365 picture you'll see....at least for this year and a good chance forever! ;) Not because I don't love to share, but.......oh yeah, we've already covered that ground......I can't do it all..........humpf

So anyway, this here is my 5 1/2 year old who has discovered that he LOVES to wash dishes! It's incredible! We're talking the child who finds no satisfaction of picking up after himself and gets overwhelmed and grumpy when he has to go from one pile to the next to clean up, but he begs to do the dishes! Today he actually chose coming home with me to do the dishes over staying at his grandma's house with two of his brothers!?! Seriously?

I'm loving it! His face lights up and he delights in trying to make sure they are spotless. He feels so needed and thrives off the feeling of a job well done.....now if we could just channel that to other areas in his life, he could have some all around joy! Couldn't we all?!

Package Day

Today the boys got a surprise package in the mail. It came from Grandpa & Grandma Texas. Wow! What a treat! Cute "mugs" filled with a hot chocolate packet and candy cane to stir in some sweet peppermint flavor. Books, books, and more books! A few assorted school items and some yummy recipes. :) Buried way at the back was an adorable hat from Sweetle Dee Hat Company for Mr. Adie. It is just so cute and I LOVE the colors!!!! It is excellent craftsmanship and has a cozy fleece lining on the inside. If you've never heard of them, go and check 'em out, lots of fantastic hats! You'll want one of each! It just so happens Little Joe's head is small enough he could try it out too! ;) We all love package days around here!

Brrrrrrrr

it's cold outside!

From Days Gone By

I looked through some lovely vintage toned wedding pictures today and was inspired. I like vintage. And I happen to have a few items that are real treasures to me. When I was 12 (if I remember correctly) my Grandma "Long Lane" died. Believe me, she came by her name honestly!!!! She was actually my great grandma and though I don't remember much of her today, I know that she was special to me and I loved her very much. Unlike many elderly people's homes, I loved going to hers and it was a sad day when she passed away. ....nothing has been the same since. This is why I'm thankful to have a few precious dishes that once would've been  found in her home all those years ago. Now they are snuggled in my china cabinet.

What do you have that's tucked away and all but forgotten that holds memories from an era long ago?

Wrapped in Love

Today's picture(s) was taken today, but was my alternative idea(s) from yesterday's I Heart Faces challenge.

Speaking of which, I should've done this yesterday, but didn't even think about it until my picture was spotted and then featured on I Heart Faces facebook page because I had used their "love" doodle on my entry. The doodle was a fabulous freebie and it was my first time using any of the set. Thank you I Heart Faces and sorry I didn't acknowledge that in yesterday's post!!!!

Brotherly Love

It's been a long time since I've joined in the weekly photo challenge, but this week I felt inspired with the theme Hearts. :) I had two ideas, but since you can only enter one, maybe I'll show you the other one some day soon just for fun.

(If you click on the picture, it looks much better larger!)

 Thanks for stopping by and be sure and click the button below to hop on over to I Heart Faces to see some amazing entries!

This is.....

getting humorous.....or annoying. I'll let you make the call! :) First I decided to try and do a picture a day this year and it's gone, well, so so. I was doing great at taking a picture each day, but not keeping up on getting them posted daily. So I've turned out to be a super "batch" producer! Well tonight's pics don't even qualify in the "daily picture" category! These were all taken the same day. So not only have I not taken a picture a day, but I'm also going to leap ahead and cover tomorrow's picture. How's that for cheating?! What a mess I've gotten myself in. :)

And while I'm on a roll, I've flunked two other themes. What happened to "Flashback Friday" (that has happened once) and I Heart Details (it got done three times)?! Oh boy, good thing I'm not getting graded! I just hope you all could care less what's going on here as long as you have something to read and look at! :)  Right?

Well enough tattling on myself, if it wasn't already obvious to ya, and on with the show.

***Teresa, ya you, I know how you've anxiously been waiting for this update, but you may as well go get yourself a cup of something warm and toasty before you look further because what your about to see.....well, I'm afraid you just might not appreciate it very much. Can we still be friends though? Perty please?!







As most of you know, we've been dumped on with snow, snow, and more snow and the boys have been loving it! We spent several hours the other day digging snow caves in the huge pile that's been formed from clearing our long lane. These here are in the snow drift that runs along our basement wall.

This last one is for Sunday, which it technically is now. :) This was to be my 4th I Heart Details shot, but my mind is so groggy right now that I'm sure I'm not going to do it justice! This little guy is a true one and only! I've never met anyone like him!!! Often times at loss to even describe him, but oh how I love him!!!!!! And that's all I'm going to say for now about this shiny eyed boy. :) My sweet 'lil Joe, he makes me smile!

Our Impersonator

Today's detail spotlight falls on a very willing, self volunteered Isaac. He bugged me most of the morning about when I was going to take his picture for today's 365. LOL! This son truly lives up to the meaning of his name, laughter. He either makes those around him laugh or he himself is laughing......even over things that are less than amusing..... Anyway, he loves to imitate and can do a pretty good job of it. He can watch a movie once and have the voice and several lines down and will gladly repeat them over and over till you can do it too (or are ready to scream)! Since we've been going through the Andy Griffith seasons he's got several characters under his belt, but in light of his love to dress up, even in his miss-matched suit (that he'll wear all day long, every day....(picture this at a school desk! ha!) and these new silly glasses.....here's day 31............

Yesterday was to be the first "I Heart Details" picture prompted by a fellow photog friend, Salome. I wanted to join in, because quite frankly, I need some direction on this 365 thing!

I've decided to kick off the week with a reminder I need daily!!! I CAN'T help myself!!!!!!!! No matter how hard I try, it becomes only a more complicated mess. The sooner I grasp where my help needs to and will come from the better off I am. It is a huge comfort to me to know that there even is help for me, I'm not left on my own! Praise Him!!!

In the next couple of days I'd like to highlight my boys and a special detail about each of them. Mr. Noah just happens to be my first subject because he was available at the time. :) He's my one who would rather not be in the spotlight and runs from the camera continuously. I have to beg, bribe, or otherwise force him to give me a good picture. Noah is a tenderhearted, quite young man. He has been blessed with amazingly long eyelashes and a "beauty mark"/mole that is completely unique to him. They are his "trademarks" and they are a special part of who he is. Love, love, love this precious son!






Speaking of Noah and pictures......I did get a fun one today that he isn't pleased to share with you all, but I think it just might bring a smile to your face and some cheer in your heart....which is totally worth begging him to be able to share it! :) .....not that you would ever know it was him anyway! hahahahahaha!

Nature Walk

Today's post is a long one filled with pictures, so go grab a cup of your favorite hot drink, put on your slippers, and get comfy.....or not. :) Today was an absolutely gorgeous day! The sun shone and the snow glistened and it was hardly cold or at least not the bitter cold from this past week. So I decided to take a walk.

(Shadows can be very interesting, but give me a break! I had Carhartt overalls and coat on.....not exactly flattering to the figure!)

For those of you who might not know, talking a walk at our house is an all out nature experience. We live in a "little" woods with a big woods behind it. The little woods has "fire lanes" or breaks throughout, which work out great for going to Grandpa and Grandma "Back-of-our-house"'s house! Also gives all these boys lots of things to do and explore! :)

There is also a sort of food plot at the back of the little woods. I just love the tall grass/weeds that grow here!

We also have a nature preserve that comes up next to our property and we have our own little access path which is open to the public year round.

So anyway, now that you have an idea where I was walking, here is what I went in search of.....

What you can't find anything? Well that makes two of us! Actually, that isn't entirely true. I did find at least two if not three or so cardinals, but none of them felt like having a photo shoot today. About a week and  a half ago, I had went for a walk and had my 50mm on my camera, well it didn't do me much good for the woodpecker who was directly above me. :( So this time I went armed with my only zoom, an 18-105mm and this is as close as I could get to Mr. Cardinal. Rather discouraging, but I'm not going to give up yet! I did find lots of tracks though around the local bird hangout. ;)

Which is conveniently located in the brier patch and thorny looking trees. I tried hanging out there myself for a while, but them birds are smart little things and they weren't about to come and join me.

I did however get to get a little closer to this pretty bird. (Bird watching really has never been my thing, so I have no idea what kind this is. Maybe someone could clue me in.)  He was a friendly sort of fellow though and hung around long enough for me to get a decent shot.

On my hike I saw numerous trails in the snow made by rabbits, lots and lots and lots of rabbits!!! :) Deer, birds, and ones I'd probably rather not know who/what made them! Once when the boys and I were taking a walk we met a skunk! Thankfully he kept walking the other direction!!!

I saw more pricklies in the brier patch than I'd care to encounter!

Some interesting "monkey vines".

And dead weeds. I have a weakness for them. That was actually what a majority of my pictures from today were, but I'm saving you from sever boredom.....or I hope I am anyway! Ha! Anyway, it always amazes me how there seems to always be a flower within the flower....does that make sense?

It's very appropriate that our dog,Tucker, would go along with me since he's a bird dog and stands/points just like a true hunting dog, but see he doesn't really help out. He's more interested in running off and seeing what he can see then finding me some pretty birds to shoot....with my camera that is. :) Eventually he gets bored and heads back to the house to sit by the fire. What a life!

The sun was starting to go down and it was time to head back to the house myself.

Along the way a few more things caught my eye.

This particular sight was humorous to me. It looks as if someone cut down a tree, then placed the top of another tree on top of the remaining stump. :) Amazing feat huh? LOL!

Once I got back I noticed an icicle that I hadn't before.....

and took close to 100 shots just trying to capture a drip. They seem to hover on the end for a long time and then before you know it, it's off and gone! But I finally got me one! :)

So that was my afternoon spent in the woods, enjoying this wonderful day in the great white north and it sounds like we could have 18 or so inches coming this week!?! Wowza! That's a lot for this area, but it kinda sounds fun as long as we don't loose our electricity. Now how's that for being pampered?

Yesterday, was incredibly busy and I just didn't get a picture taken, so the following are both from today and were my favorites of the bunch. Hope you had a wonderful day too and thanks for coming along with me on my walk! :) Have a blessed week!

 My apologies if once again this post lacks humor or character, I'm making a horrible habit of blogging at an hour that I should have long been in bed. My mind is starting to go numb and things just aren't flowing anymore. Sorry! Hope it all makes sense at least and I know it has issues with some text being centered and whatnot, but it's giving me fits and I'm done messing with it. :)



{Flashback Friday} Family Wedding

I really hope not to make a habit of this all year long, but I seem to be getting good at it. :( We've just come through four solid days of dull, boring, drab skies and that has done nothing to help my creative juices flow. Thankfully today the sun broke through and how wonderful it was! Amazing how our setting can be so influential.....if we let it! And that's the hard part!!!

So anyway, in my funk, I've been doing some brainstorming about how to make my 365 a little more exciting or at least give me a little more direction. I feel a little silly doing this now as a fellow photographer friend just announced this week a weekly idea also, but it's pure coincidence. Guess that means both of us were looking for creativity huh? ;) I realize Flashback Friday isn't a new picture for the day, but it'll give me an opportunity to edit/re-edit or just share a picture from the past with you all. We'll see how it goes anyway. :)

In light of that, though this picture is really supposed to be for this past Wednesday's picture it is a few months old. Around that time I ran across the idea for "lens bling" to help attract the attention of little kiddos. I thought they were adorable and that I surely could make my own. So I made a pattern, bought the supplies, and wala! Meet Mr. Parrot! I've gotten to use a couple times and it does work at least for a limited time...ha!

Thursday's picture gives you a sneak peek at something else I've been working on, bettering my design. Details on that coming soon! ;) ....don't you just love surprises?!

And here we are to Friday's picture. My brother Orrin got married almost two months ago now and I hadn't even started touching the pictures I took at the reception until this week, but I knew this one was a favorite of our dad and my new sister-in-laws dad. It's totally a "right place, right time" shot and I just love it! Wish I had gotten one of the lovely mothers too! :(

And since I shared one, I'll share another from the reception. ;) This is my "oldest" (9 years younger than me) brother, Brandon and little Adin. Adin looks so much like Brandon did when he was that age. Two very handsome men!

And just in case you are rebelling against the idea of no "new" picture for my Friday entry, here is what we woke up to this morning.....and exactly why you shouldn't sleep with Silly Putty in your bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ......................just ask little Joe! LOL!

Bible Study

Small group of ladies + Beth Moore = absolutely refreshing bible study!!!

I am just so excited that last night we started the study of Esther! I have so missed the nights out with NO KIDDOS and connecting with other women, while sharing our spiritual journeys. It just doesn't hardly get any better than that! ;)

Jack Frost and More

Things like this bring back memories from my childhood. I remember waking up on freezing cold mornings to find beautiful full pane sketches left by "Jack Frost". :)

Our windows aren't supposed to do this, but guess this one didn't get the memo.

Why am I six days behind on my 365? Because we've been playing Life.....and living it.....

Sunday evening we saw a beautiful sun dog! Simply gorgeous!

Nature, I just love it! And I'm so thankful to be surrounded by it!!!!

I believe as of tonight this final picture catches me up. :) I grew up sledding on this hill and yes, it's still just as big as when I was small! The boys just loved it!!!