I love these guys...

Irish Hooks & Yarn

Oh the photographer in me is itching to get my hands on one of these hats for a photo shoot!

Anyone have a brand new baby I could borrow? =)

You have to admit, these hats are adorable!

I love the byline of this etsy shop, "Hand-crocheted items made to create memories!"

Check out this cuteness...

Sue from Irish Hooks & Yarn is offering up to one winner during Blogmania recipes for Irish Scones and Irish Potatoes!

Description from Sue:

"These two recipes are favorites in our family. Both recipes have been passed on to me by word of mouth. I have been making the Irish Potatoes for almost 30 years and they are a sweet treat to make (and eat!) around St. Patrick’s Day.

The Irish scones are a more recent family favorite. The recipe came to me from a friend’s mother who was in her 90s when she gave me the recipe. The scones are a great addition to family gatherings throughout the year, not just for St. Patrick’s Day.

Since I always use my food processor for baking, I have added directions for using a food processor or mixing the old-fashioned way by hand!

The recipes will be sent to you as a PDF file that you can save and print.

Maybe these Irish treats will become a tradition in your family too …"

Tell me...

When did my baby get old enough to bake with me?

I love it.

Last Days of Summer

A peek at what we've been up to these last days of summer...

Dreaming about what we're going to be when we grow up.

Elijah - something involving a chain saw. Following in his Daddy's footsteps.

Ethan- the fireman. Following in his great Uncle's footsteps.

Elijah's been camping with his daddy and some friends.

Ethan spent some time meditating on the meaning of life. I say there's no better place for that then sitting by a beautiful lake! (or maybe he just sees a bug in the grass)

We've had our share of adventures.

Here's Elijah, our tribal man, or wildernesses explorer, you pick.

We've had brick oven pizza.

On a deck over looking the river.

There's been visits to the cousins in Springfield.

Sara and Ethan.

Enjoy your summer and take time to make some memories!

All i have to say...

Proud of their Daddy

What are these two looking at?

Their daddy was working on the trees in front of our apartment....

Elijah loves to watch his daddy work.

We're thankful to have such a hard working husband and father. 

 Yesterday on our walk we spotted him again hard at work.

ethan and the fire sneezing dragon

Story by Elijah

(4 years old)

"Ethan was a very brave astronaut. Ethan saw a dragon and he was so brave.

And he saw someone walking on the moon with no space ship.

Now it's my turn.
I saw a dragon.

I saw someone on the spaceship and a fish was on the moon. A flying fish! With Mr. Rabbit.

I saw Ethan on the moon.

He was trying to kill the dragon with this sword. I put a sticker on it. Ethan was trying to play with the baby dragon but the other one was bad.

Then i saw a dragon coffee cup. And another dragon coffee cup. A baby dragon cup.

The big one, the very, very big one was coming! The very big one had fire! And he saw a dragon fish and it had a long nose and then it sneezed fire out.

That's all of my story i saw."

-Elijah

Happy Accidents

Stephani shares, "HAPPY ACCIDENTS are those moments in crafting and in our lives when something we’re attempting doesn’t turn out as we expected. I’ve learned to turn those “problems” into “challenges” by stepping back for a moment to see how I can make a change that might make these experiences turn out more positively. More often than not, the conclusion of my problem or my project turns out BETTER than I expected. I’ve experienced a Happy Accident!"

Happy Accidents features hand poured soy wax candles in tea cups and mugs.

Once the candle burns through you are left with a beautiful mug that can be used again!

I'm not going to tell what goodies Stephani has offered up from her shop for Blogmania because I want it to be a surprise! But i can tell you that you'll love it!

Have a peek in Stephani's etsy shop and see if you can guess what it is.

Just for fun

6 Years Ago Today...

 

a birthday by the lake

Very few people are on campus these days. Every one is away to their various home towns around the US enjoying their summer break. Classes resume again in two weeks so soon people will start arriving back and the lake front will be a very busy place. But for now it's not too busy. There were still plenty of kids to help one of Elijah's friends, Eunchan, celebrate his birthday this week. 

There was ice cream cake, gifts and then a swim in the lake for everybody!

Geoff about to take off on the rope swing...

 Happy Friday!