10 Things I love...

As we come to the end of the month of love, here are 10 things I love... in no particular order

 I love...

... Cooking in my Dutch Oven.  It just makes everything look prettier and taste better- it does!

This would be Roasted garlic, white bean and kale soup (with bacon) Yummy!

... When Lizzy picks her own outfits.  Here she chose polka dots... and lots of them!  

... The fact that Kyle can shoot his bow out of three of the four doors in our current house... the back garage door, the laundry room door, and the sliding door in our master bedroom.  It's become his post work ritual to shoot a few arrows, a great way to unwind.  

shootin' from the garage

... I love that Isaiah has a bow just like dad.  It makes for some great male bonding.

learning manly stuff

... This guy in a mustache.  He's a sweet little silly man and I love him.

the smile, the eyebrows, Luke you melt me daily

...Ummmm, coffee of course.  Isn't this a cute little cup?  Thanks Mrs. Bee!  My morning is incomplete without it.

...Babies... and blue eyes...  OK, I love any baby but these blue eyed beauties take the cake.

Lizzy

Lukey

Isaiah

... Watching Lizzy dance, at ballet or in our own living room.  She is a delight.

... Cousins!

... The majesty of Mt. Rainer that never ceases to remind me that we serve a big God who reigns on High, but dwells in my heart.

love, Em

more things to love at Mrs. Bee in the 253 and Simplicity with Power

I really love my... pink yard sale cowboy boots

I've been wanting to write this post for a while now.  Ever since Lizzy got her second pair of pink cowboy boots I knew it was a must.  You may remember her first pink boots from Target that I wrote about here.  She wore those babies out.  I couldn't even hand them down to my sister.  They were much loved.

When she outgrew these little guys I was so excited when my friend found her a new pair of pink cowboy boots at a yard sale in Yakima.  They became her new favs.  So.... here's the second edition of I really love my.... pink yard sale cowboy boots.

These boots are made for walking...

or saying Hi to Nana's horse

Pink boots are great for running errands to Michaels

or working in the kitchen

  Look at those chubby toddler cheeks she had... a lot can change in a year

Boot girls...

Just a casual day at the park

My sweet little cowgirl

These boots had a good run.  Lizzy has now outgrown them too.  Those kids just keep getting bigger.  She may have more pink boots in her life, or she may move on to other things.  One thing I know for sure,...for the rest of my days, whenever I see a pink cowboy boot I will think of my little golden haired, dimple-cheeked girl.

Mucho Amore

Well, for any of you out there that actually read my blog (Hi Mom!) you may have noticed that it has been a while since I've posted.  October 4th to be exact.  Chalk it up to homeschooling, or lack of pictures, or homeschooling, or exhaustion at the end of the day from homeschooling.... whatever the reason may be I'm not letting it be an excuse any more.  I like this little documentation of life and luckily I have some friends who want to blog a little more too.  Enter... blogging challenge.  3 friends. 3 topics a month. 3 blog posts to do by the end of the month!  Fun right?!

Speaking of fun, this week was Valentine's day.  Oh how I love any day out of the ordinary.  I also love the little things that make ordinary days special... like dressing your dog up like a princess...

or bubble fun in the tub...

But special days are built in celebrations and I love it!  We started the day with a special breakfast. I broke out the china for the first time in our 10 1/2 years of marriage and served up our traditional heart shaped egg-in-a-hole and red smoothies.

The kids and I had a great day making cards and cookies and deliveries.  And we ended the day with a big family date to Red Robin.  Wonderful day with my favorite loves!

Now, in this point of the post I am going to let you in on a couple secrets.

Secret #1... My husband loathes Valentine's Day.  Yes, I know, loathes seems like a strong word but he really "dislikes" it.  He thinks St. Valentine was probably a cool guy and he has no problem showing his love but he is one of those people who are convinced that the actual day of Valentine's was created by Hallmark and flower companies and chocolate companies to make some big bucks.  He loves ME, He just doesn't love Valentine's Day.  Even though he has talked about it, he has never yet boycotted Valentine's Day, for example, he thoroughly supported my request to get tulips at Costco and he brings me all the chocolate he gets from kids at school.

my tulips on the mantel

There is one thing I still get on Valentine's Day and that takes me to secret number two.

Secret #2.... My husband is an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G card writer.  He really is.  By amazing I mean he writes the most heartfelt, meaningful, funny, adorable messages ever.  They are always perfect for whatever the occasion.  And in his cards he never skimps on words.  He writes tiny and he fills every available space.  Really, I rarely get a card that is not filled completely on both sides.  He looks for cards with as little of their own writing in them as possible so he has more room.

A few examples... check out the one in the middle

Some of my favorite cards from him have been his homemade ones.  Being a teacher he usually has crayons and paper around.  Sometimes he even gets his kids involved.  Here's one where each kid made a miniature card to me and then he put them all in one giant card.

Sometimes they might even be a whole book...

I love it!  It is a gift and I feel very blessed.... which brings me to secret number three.

Secret #3..... Having a fantastic card writer as a husband can sometimes put a lot of pressure on me, the wife.  Not that Kyle has placed any expectations on me, they have entirely come from myself.  It's just that when your own card is completely filled with words you feel a little bad if the one you are giving seems a little sparse.  Now let me assure you that I love my husband just as much as he loves me, I just maybe communicate it in a more concise manner.  Writing a little bigger can only take you so far... so this year in my Valentine's Day card I used a song.  Confession, Kyle and I have never officially had "a song" but we were listening to Kenny Rogers, "Lady" last week so it seemed like the perfect choice. I just tweaked it a little.

You're my knight in shining armor and I love you

You have made me what I am and I am yours

My love, there's so many ways I want to say I love you

Let me hold you in my arms forever more...

...For so many years I thought I'd never find you

You have come into my life and made me whole

Forever let me wake to see you each and every morning

Let me hear you whisper softly in my ear...

...Your love's the only love I need

And beside me is where I want you to be

'Cause, my love, there's somethin' I want you to know

You're the love of my life, I'm you're lady!

So you see, a song can be a great way to up the wordage on your cards. I think we also might have found ourselves an "official song."  In all seriousness, I am so thankful for my husband and happy to celebrate every day of the year with him.  He is my knight in shining armor.  Love you babe!

For some other great love songs (or card material) check out these:  Mrs. Bee in the 253 or Simplicity with Power

The beauty of backyards

Well, here we are at the beginning of October, finishing up our first month at our new house.  It has been a month of unpacking, organizing, adjusting and starting new endeavors.  Kyle's new job is going great and he loves teaching math all day.  The kids and I are ending our 4th week of home school.  This has probably been a bigger adjustment for me than the move but we are getting the hang of it and the kids are having a great time.

First day of school breakfast

There is lots to share and talk about from the last month but today I'm just going to tell you about one of the biggest blessings of our new home... the backyard.  My kids will play outside in whatever size space they have, but an almost two acre yard has been so fun, especially with this amazing weather we have had the past month.  We are still eating out on the patio; in fact we ate dinner outside tonight.  Love it!  Here's a little peak from last Friday...

Looking towards the house...

Debbie loves it too; running through the woods, laying in the sun in the front yard and chasing after squirrels. This last weekend the boys were cowboys and spent the day moving their horse camp around the yard and setting up their cooking fire for their pots of beans.  We've also been able to do some school and art projects on the picnic table.  Gotta do it while we can!

Cook his pot of cowboy beans

Lizzy making play dough cupcakes

I think I've always loved the simplicity of playing in the backyard.  You can have some pretty big adventures back there, no matter now big or small.  Here's a few of my favorite backyard fun photos from the summer.  I think they're just too cute not to share.

Fudgesicle 

love me some Lukey pie

and my sweet sweet Isaiah man too

 funny guy

She melts my heart

grape popsicles are her friend

Happy 4th!

Love this one

sweet cousins in grammy's back yard

sweet cheeks

I love my life

Alright, now that I got those pictures posted I am ready to admit that it is fall.  The pumpkin spice candle is out and we had pumpkin muffins this weekend. Bring on the apple cider and cozy mornings with coffee and the beautiful fall colors.   I have a feeling there is one more thing our new yard will be good for.... raking up and jumping in leaves!