Magpie Art

Please go here and check out my friend Maggie's pencil portraits. She is amazing. I have never seen an artist capture a person as well as she does in her pencil portraits. Maggie always seems to capture that thing that makes a person unique. I think this would make a wonderful gift. If you are interested, she is taking orders.

~Karen

In Our Backyard

One sweet little girl. She's almost ready for us to remove her training wheels.
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Our future garden. Not looking so good, huh? I am hoping by Monday it will look a lot better.
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Look at Moe go!
He really is always happy.
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A super sweet dog...who really needs a bath!
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Last year, towards the end of summer, we were completely out of outdoor paint. Out of desperation, I colored the bricks with chalk, and let the kids use water and paintbrushes on it. Turns out that it makes a really cool paint that can be smothered all around. They like to do it, and it is pretty darn cheap!
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Our beautiful plum tree better produce some fruit this year. For the last several years it has not bore fruit. One year we got snow during April, and that seemed to mess the tree up....I am hoping this year we will have LOTS of plums!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
~Karen

Brightening A Rainy Day

Score! Books and Blocks!

Look at the pile of books I got at Goodwill. I really respect and admire Jimmy Carter and can't wait to read his book. I pretty excited about the needlework book too. It has everything in it. The only drawback is that it was most likely owned by a smoker, and has retained a smoky smell. Roald Dahl? Who is that you ask?? James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory....Can you tell I am excited???? :)

Another amazing book! I did order this one off Amazon. It is a great book. Although I love the internet, I still love to have plenty of books laying around. Another blogger Molly recommended this book. This is one you won't want to put down. Pretty much anything you can think of is addressed in this book.

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Another great buy! Generic Jenga blocks! The kids have been building non-stop, and have some pretty creative designs. By the way, not sure what Mimi has in her shirt. Probably a baby... :)
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Finally, evidence Spring will be here before long. I will remind myself of this later in the week. We are due for some cold weather and possibly SNOW! BLECH!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!
~Karen

Yay! It's Friday!

This week has dragged on...and on. I felt it would never get to Friday. I always seem optimistic and reinvigorated once it's Friday. I enjoy having Kevin home all weekend, and I enjoy sharing some of the workload! (Sorry Kevin!)

It's rather windy here, so we are hoping to fly some kites tomorrow. And maybe we will hit the zoo in the next day or so. I am glad warmer weather is here for awhile...and I hope it stays. I don't enjoy being couped up during the winter. I do get the kids out when it is cold, but for shorter periods. I am excited to see all of flowers poking up out of the ground...Looks like we will have a ton of irises and daylillies!

Mimi has been busy learning to read simple words. She is a self motivated learner. It makes things so much easier for us. Although sometimes she can be hard on herself.

This is for her friend Mary. She thinks I am wrong when I tell her Mary only has one "r" in her name. Oh, well.

I love her "R"...Makes me smile! Her star is pretty rocking too.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the weather and one another.
~Karen

More Home Improvements

I've been inspired by all the bloggers out there who are trying to "keep it real". In honor of this, I have decided to show various stages of a home improvement project in our kitchen thanks to our good friend Derek. Normally, I would just show the finished product. Perhaps you aren't interested in our mess, but I will share anyway!

Bye Bye old kitchen countertop!

As I've noted in the past, things rarely go as planned when working on our home. Derek discovered the above counter top was improperly installed, which is why it never was quite level. In fact, it had a pretty good slope to it.

Don't you love the faux brick?

Mess. Blech.

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Introducing...the new counter top:

Thanks Derek! :)

~Karen

For anyone wanting to draw

Recently I purchased a couple Ed Emberley books for the kids. I am so glad I did. I love the way he draws. The book show simple steps anyone can follow. Mimi enjoys these books every time she gets them out. Here are a couple of her creations:

a rooster

a caterpillar, a spider, a duck, and a fly

Hope everyone has a great week!
~Karen