friday = happy

hello there.

ready for the weekend?

i think i am but i am not quite sure.

there's been a LOT going on lately so i kind of just want to work outside, eat freezer pops with teagan, and take naps all weekend, but we'll be pretty busy with random goings on both saturday and sunday.


the boys were finally able to get in the fields this week and it has been kind of cray cray 'round here.

there's also been a couple bouts of rain, (with one being today) so they've had to park the planter for a little while, but thankfully the sun came right back out and is drying things up again.

so hopefully...

it stays dry for a little while longer so the boys can get some more work done.

and then hopefully...

it rains.

then sun.

then more work.

then rain.

then more sun.

then work again.

and then hopefully mid-june will be here and planting season will be over.

after that, it will be a flurry of weddings and summer get-togethers.


we have our first "round" of weddings coming up tomorrow.  two in fact.  one in chicago, one in champaign.

guess which one we r.s.v.p.'d to?

neither.

maybe, just maybe, we will make it to the reception in champaign.

i would at least like to have a piece of wedding cake.


but when you are married to a farmer, and you are invited to weddings in the spring, all you can do is just think about the wedding cake.  will it be white cake?  chocolate?  something totally crazy like carrot cake?  *gasp* maybe it won't be cake AT ALL.  maybe it will be CHEESECAKE  (i know that cheesecake technically has the word "cake" attached, but i don't think they should even be categorized together.  i could go on for a while about it, but that would be another 300 words.  so i'll just stop now).

now i'm hungry.

and i'll probably wake up in a cold sweat with half my pillow eaten.

so.


usually on friday i post something that makes me happy.

here's two:

1) check out this tiny butterfly i found in my driveway.

2) i cooked those morels the other day and good gracious they were yummy.  let it be known that i will forever and always love things that are coated in cracker crumbs and fried in butter.

3) last night as i'm tucking teagan into bed after a super LONG day of parenting, she says, "i wish i could go up to the clouds in heaven and visit Jesus, but i don't have a rainbow to walk on".

oh my word.

thank you Lord for knowing that my heart needed that tiny voice to say something so sweet and innocent and simple to remind me of You.

"whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

phillippians 4:8

so true.


hey...that was three things.

bonus friday.

lucky you ;)

have a great weekend!

hillbilly gourmet

have you seen these before?

they're called morels.

they're a mushroom.

where i come from (which is not where the white house on the prairie is located) they are a delicacy.

i thought that everybody and their brother knew about morels and how delicious they are, but as he often does, my husband informed me that i am a "hillbilly" and "normal people" don't know what these things even are.

*note* my husband often calls me a hillbilly because i am from an area of illinois that has a topography greater than zero.  it's a glorious place where there are rivers and "cricks" (that's hillbilly for creek), tons of beautiful wildlife, and endless acres of timber.

i love our little square of prairie to death, but good night, it is a boring landscape and given the option, i would choose my childhood home as my favorite place on earth.

(well, maybe second after disney world...i mean...it is the most magical place on earth after all.)

aaannywaaaay....

monday morning i found myself in a position that allowed me to go "mushroom hunting".  (that's hillbilly for walking out in the timber armed with a grocery sack and a long stick looking for mushrooms.)

mushrooms only grow in the spring after it rains and the weather is cool.  everybody has their own places where they like to go and look because these mushrooms don't just grow up everywhere (hence the term hunting).  usually, they grow in the same place that mosses would, like around dead trees.  my dad always said that they grew best on the north side of old dead elm trees (and now as i'm typing this i'm realizing that i'm sounding more like a hillbilly the farther i get through this post...oh well.  i think we've been friends long enough now that i can reveal this side of myself without too much embarrassment.  just don't tell anyone else mmkay?).

so monday morning i drive myself out to our timber with a grocery sack to look for mushrooms.  it's been a while since i have been out in the timber just walking around so at first i feel like a big wienie as i'm climbing around through the brush trying not to rip holes in my jeans from the sticker bushes, but after about 20 minutes i found my groove again and i'm pretty sure i morphed into katniss everdeen.

after about two hours i had only found four so i decided to go home because clearly i had lost my edge for mushroom hunting.

during my hunt, i think i had wandered out onto someone else's property because there were several deer stands that i know were not ours because we don't hunt deer.

my dad had informed me later that he thinks they belong to our local bank president, so i sincerely hope that he didn't have any deer cams that caught me stopping to take a tinkle out in the woods.

that would be pretty embarrassing, but on the scale of embarrassing things that i have been a part, of that would probably only rank at a four, so that's mildly comforting.

anyway, i'm about to fry up these puppies (not real puppies...just the mushrooms) and i just realized that i don't even have any eggs to dip them in so i'll have to go to the grocery store and then post another picture tomorrow of what they look like when they are all cooked up.

happy wednesday!

because moms rock harder than boy bands.

since mother's day is so rapidly approaching, i thought i would share this super cute video that i saw last night after watching team umi zoomi, a team of math-loving super heroes, save some tiny seahorses from almost-certain death (or at the very least a raging headache arguing with insurance adjusters) due to a leak in their aquarium.

it combines two of my favorites.

daily household chores and boy bands.

i just can't get enough of 'em...

that.

and sarcasm.

enjoy your mother's day mommies!

my very *first* sewing project :)

i'm a maker.

a beautiful garden full of vegetables...decor for my home...food for my family...pipe cleaner pretty pirate princess jewelry with my daughter and her cousins.

i just love it all.

it is where my heart lies.

sometimes i make things and it feels very natural.

like food.  cooking good food is in my blood.

i've recently learned that sewing is NOT like that.

it takes practice.

other than a laundry bag that i made during my early years as a 4-H'er in knox county, i haven't sewn much before.

but i am learning :)

i thought i would share photos of my *first* sewing project in over 18 years.

it's a bunting.

(thank you, captain obvious.)

it's for teagan's room.  we are going to upgrade to a big girl room soon, even though i said i would do it for her birthday last year.

and last christmas too.

but this time i really mean it.

really.

like, really, really.

for serious.

i made 21 feet of bunting to adorn her ceiling.


it seems totally appropriate for a princess-y room to have bunting.

i have another sewing project that is coming up very soon and i will post photos of my moderate failures triumphs.

but like i said, sewing hasn't come naturally.

oopsies.

it appears that *someone* can't sew straight.

ahem.


it WILL be put up by the end of THIS spring.

i swear it.

and then i shall flood this blog with photos of my triumph.


prepare yourselves.

blog makeover!!!

good monday to you :)

did you have a good weekend?

ours was really nice...lots of good time with friends and family...home improvement projects...movie and popcorn night...A BLOG MAKEOVER...and even a quick nap time ;)

there's just so much to tell you about...

like how i'm basically lining up project after project for matt (and yours truly, too) to accomplish before the craziness of spring time planting begins.

last weekend we sent teags to my parents' house so we could put in a new garage door together because..

"this will probably be the last weekend that we have to do any house projects together before planting starts."

then it rained.

this weekend...

"hey honey...we should probably pull out that old landscaping that i don't like because..."

"this will probably be the last weekend that we have do any house projects together before planting starts."

it rained friday, saturday and there is rain in the forecast for thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday.

:)

too bad we have graduations and mother's day get-togethers this upcoming weekend because there was probably going to be some serious stuff going on.


but i digress...

here's what is really what i wanted to talk about...

this weekend my new blog design was installed!!!

DON'T YOU LOVE IT?!?

ISN'T IT JUST THE MOST ADORABLE THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE?!? (BABIES INCLUDED)

(just kidding...there is NOTHING more adorable than babies...i mean really.)

ISN'T IT SO BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL?!?

ISN'T IT JUST SO ME?!?

ISN'T IT...

okay...i'll stop yelling now :)

THE BEST DESIGN EVER?!!

sorry, i just had to get that second part out :)

obviously...i'm a big fan :)


i was kind of nervous about this whole process when i first emailed sam at ss.love design.

sometimes i'm just terrible at describing things.

(you should see some of the haircuts i've had...it's taken me 29 years to figure out that i should just bring a photo along.)

but sam was SUPER-WONDERFUL to work with and even though she said we would try to only stick with three edits...it just took one :)

even though we have never met, sam took the time to try and figure out my style (which is hard to do over email) and translate that to my blog.

i couldn't be happier :)

if you are in need of a blog redesign i HIGHLY recommend talking with sam.  i just can't sing her praises loud enough :)

you can find her contact info at her blog: ss.love design along with other examples of blogs she has designed.

and one more thing...her prices are super-friendly and easy to work with too ;)


a couple housekeeping items...

this new design was installed last night so sam and i are still working on some small items like links, an easier way to post comments, and such.

hopefully we will have all the small things fine-tuned by the end of this week :)

for now, feel free to explore the new blog design!

(and visit ss.love design too!)