I Heart Faces: Silhouettes

I decided to join in the I Heart Faces Challenge this week. This week's theme is silhouettes.

Swinging on the tree swing at Nana and Pa's is a favorite for our kids. Many hours have been spent flying high on that swing.

Check out all of the other silhouette entries by clicking on the box below!

When Kids Go Camping

My parents took the kids camping this weekend. To say that they had a great time, would be an understatement. They did not want to come home. But, come home they did, and along with the dirty kids, came all of their dirty laundry.

Laundry is always an interesting thing in this house. The list of things that I've found in my washing machine and dryer is a mile long. So, this morning when I was switching over a load of laundry from washer to dryer, I wasn't completely surprised when two snail shells fell to the floor.

I quickly called out, "Who put snail shells in their pocket?"

Grace replied, "Oops! I did. Uncle Dave and I found them on a trail, so I put them in my pocket. They were still alive." Then she asked, "Do you think they are still alive?"

"Probably not," I told her as I laid them down on the kitchen table, "they've just been washed in the washing machine."

About twenty minutes later, as I walked through the kitchen, I screamed when I saw a trail of slime going across the table, leading to one of our UNdead snails.

The kids immediately went to work googling "snail care" and gathering the neccessities for having a pet snail. So meet our new pet, Jesse.



**UPDATE**

As I was publishing this post, Abby came running in yelling, "It's awake!! It's awake!!"

I asked her, "Oh, did your snail come out and see his new home?"

To which she replied, "No! The other snail on the table...waked up!!"

So, meet our other new pet, Sandy. He/She is not dead, just shy.

Top Garage Sale Finds of the Week

New, in-the-box patio table to replace our table that was shattered last week during harsh winds - $20

New, in-the-box ceiling light for the kitchen -$2

Cinderella dress, angel wings, halo, princess wand, Dora backpack with accessories, big beaded bracelet, three purple necklaces, and a pair of Skechers light up shoes - $4

Abby enjoying her garage sale finds - Priceless!


(Click on picture to enlarge)

I decided to participate in Today's Thrifty Treasures over at Southern Hospitality. This is my first time participating and I'm sorry that I don't have photos of the table and the light. However, it's obvious that the best finds of the week are pictured up above! But, I'll make sure to take pictures of my garage sale/thrift store finds from now on!

Piano Recital

Grace had her first piano recital last night. She played wonderfully!

There was something about seeing her up there that made me get all teary eyed. And it made her Daddy get pretty choked up, too. Maybe it was the visual reminder of how quickly she is growing up. Are we really sitting here watching our little girl play the piano before this large group of people? Or was it how she bounced up on to that stage with such confidence (even though we knew she was a little nervous), played her piece with clarity and without hesitation, then walked away from the piano with a beaming smile? Then again, maybe it was the little flashes forward to the many, Lord willing, recitals to come; knowing that this is just the beginning and picturing her all grown up, playing even more eloquently than she played last night.

Yes, all of this was going through my mind during the, oh, approximately 35 seconds that she was on that stage. In trying to keep the program from running too long, the students were allowed to play only one song; for Grace, and many others at this time, their repertoires only contain songs with very few measures. So, it was a rather quick showcase of what she has learned over the last six months. However, it was definitely long enough to fill her Momma and Daddy with an overwhelming amount of pride, joy, hope, and love.

Bravo, Gracie! Bravo.