Crafting Legacies

 Andrea and I spent the afternoon keeping Papa company at his house while my mom is out of town for the week. We chatted, cooked, did some laundry for him---easy stuff.

 We also spent some time rummaging through Granny's old crafting wardrobe that still has a lot of her patterns, supplies, and unfinished sewing projects.

 I didn't even know she crocheted but apparently at some point she was quite the doily and lace maker.

 There are yards of handmade lace, tiny vintage crochet hooks, and a giant tin of old buttons.

 I see where we get our habit of organizing by color. : )

 And there are boxes of antique necklaces, tiny wrist watches, and beautiful brooches that belonged to Granny or some of her relatives. I love seeing what my grandma and great grandmas thought was beautiful.

 It's stuff like this that keeps me crafting. How cool would it be for my great-granddaughter to wear my favorite jewelry or a dress I made (like the green dress in the first pic that was Granny's) or my kids' kids' kids to warm up with something I crocheted.

Like maybe this scarf I finally finished for Andrea's birthday.  I used this pattern. I didn't add the tassels and I think my edging turned out differently than the pattern shows. But I love how it turned out and it was a fun challenge to make!

Tomorrow morning we find out if our December baby will be a boy or a girl!! I'll be excited either way. We love having boys and there is something really special about raising boys to be great men. But having a girl would also be pretty sweet too! We'll see!!

Either way, I plan on swinging by my favorite indie yarn shop right after the ultrasound to get gender-appropriate yarn on our way to vacation. My December baby needs at least one mommy-made blanket to keep cozy : )

I'll pop in here and let you know!

Arian

The Horse Farm

 Wrapping up the last of our July 4th weekend photos! What a photo-rich weekend! The last day we spent time out at my great-aunt's horse farm. It's been years since I've been there.

 (the boys and their great-great Aunt Norma)

 There were fish to feed, horses to pet, wild flowers to pick, and a barn and garden to explore.

 The boys LOVED petting the horses and the horses were so patient with them.

 
It was beautiful and calm. We'll definitely have to go back sooner than later.

And here I am sporting my 18-week baby bump ; ) Yay!! Baby Armstrong should be arriving some time around Dec 10th!

Have a good one!
Arian : )

July 4th Weekend Part 2

 The rest of the 4th of July weekend was spent enjoying the peaceful, fresh, internet-free countryside of Kentucky. I love love love time at Papa's house. All is well there.

 Food tastes better there and more time is spent making it and eating it together.

 Like homemade ice cream in Papa's vintage ice cream maker!

 Raspberry chocolate chip on the front porch....yum.

 And there's lots of time to play and explore.

 And, of course, more fireworks : )

More July 4th adventures to come : )...

July 4th Weekend Part 1

 My dad and a portion of my step-family came in town for the holiday weekend!

 We crammed a lot into two days, including enduring 9 innings of the painful slaughter of the Cincinnati Reds to enjoy the big fireworks show at the end.

 They were loud but the boys loved them! (despite the look on Jude's face) : )

 And, of course, no 4th of July weekend would be complete without hotdogs on the grill and sparklers. God bless America : )

More coming up...

Arian

Happy Birthday, Papa.

We had such an amazing weekend with lots of celebrating, lots of family, lots of fireworks.  From downtown Cincinnati to the back roads of Kentucky...all good stuff. Lots of pics to show soon : )

We celebrated Papa's 91st birthday yesterday. He's one of the best dudes you'll ever meet. Served his country, owned his own small business, built a house on a hill for his wife and daughters, stayed by his wife's side til she died of old age. Still has a job, drives a car, lives in that same house on a hill, builds things with his hands, plays with his great-grandchildren, and can't talk about his country, his bride, his family, and answered prayers without getting all choked up.

Love you, Papa : )

Arian

Impromptu Adventures

I took the boys to the church parking lot down the street to ride their bikes yesterday. But it was so hot, that Hudson quickly ended up sitting on my lap on the pavement in the tiny bit of shade while Jude tried to cool off splashing in the 1" deep puddle that had collected near a drain in the middle of the parking lot. "This is ridiculous, " I thought. "These boys need real shade and real water."

So I grabbed a blanket, water bottles, and books and took a quick look at the satelite view in google maps to see which direction had the most trees. The hope was that, if we hopped in the car and wandered far enough in the right direction, we could find a quiet stream somewhere with lots of shade and a grassy spot to spread out our blanket.

And we did! We headed down a highway we hadn't been down before and just kept turning down smaller and smaller roads til the roads turned gravel, the trees grew thicker, and a little creek ran along side of us.

It was perfect. We picked flowers and skipped rocks and got wet. Just what we needed. Hopefully it was the first of many impromptu adventures this summer where we just pack a lunch, grab a map (or not) and head out to places we haven't been before.

Happy adventuring!

Arian : )

Beautiful.

 What an amaaaazing weekend. A.MA.ZING.

 (Hudson and Heron listening to the sound check)

(My sound genius brother-in-law getting things set up)

As we were cooking dinner in the GIANT, GORGEOUS home of my childhood friends who graciously agreed to host the house concert, Josh Garrels, one of our very favorite musicians, was warming up in the background. Daniel and I just kept exchanging joyful "I can't believe this is actually happening!" glances.

 We set up for the show, got to know the Garrels a bit over dinner, then the guests started pouring in.

 It was a full house! And it's a giant, giant house! At least 1/2 of the people I had never met before which is awesome. The word spread! Everybody was totally captivated by Josh's music. It was beautiful.

 Then the Garrels family stayed the night at our house (sweet!) We were up til 2am talking and learning more about each other's lives. Josh and Michelle are such good people.

 The next morning we woke up and enjoyed a long, leisurely brunch with my sister and the friends who first introduced us to Josh's music. Lots of conversations about music and collaboration, art, family, hopes for the future, etc.

 (the youngest Garrels....how cute is he?!)

It was perfect. I'm sooo grateful for this weekend and hope that our friendship and creative partnership with the Garrels family has only just begun : )

If you haven't downloaded Josh's new, free album please do yourself a favor and do so. Then tell a friend : )

Arian