Favorite Things Friday!!!

Hey, Folks!

Those of you who have called, texted,

or emailed about my Dad, 

thank you so much for your prayers

and concern. 

Unfortunately, he's even worse this 

Friday than he was last Friday.

So, I'm leaving on a jet plane

tomorrow-- bright and early!

Can't wait to give him a great big hug!

But, on to something not so gloomy!

This week I went to the Train Museum with my 

friend, Jen. 

And we got some great pics!

I wish I could go through each pic 

and tell the story-- the suckers,

the lack of balance on the train track,

the fact that Carson LOVES to pose...as you can see.

But, alas, I cannot, as I am leaving for the

airport at 4 AM.

*yawn*

Hope you have a beautiful Friday!!!

Favorite Things Friday!

This week has been a roller coaster 

of emotion

My dad was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday

because he was completely incoherent.

He was babbling and couldn't 

follow simple verbal instructions. 

It was pretty scary.

We finally learned (two days later)

that he has a staph infection and 

they believe meningitis too.

Thankfully the antibiotics seem to be doing the job,

so we're waiting and praying.

But something great was this week too.

It was Chris' {33rd} birthday.

How did we celebrate?

 By lighting up our new fire pit.

Carson thinks we're camping when 

we light it up.

 Carson's many 

colorful poses!

 IDK...a cowboy move???

S'mores! YUM!

We love our new fire pit

{Thank you, Nana and Papa! }

and 

Daddy!!!

My favorite thing(s)!

GATOR!

We have been waiting for this day

for.so.long.

My amazing parents wanted to get the boys

a John Deere Gator for Christmas.

But, as we all know, December in Minnesota

is not a great time for 

such things.

So, we waited.

And waited.

And waited. 

The problem is that even though the snow

eventually stopped, the rain didn't.

And our back yard collects all of the water

that flows downhill in our neighborhood.

Which = mud.

So, here we are in May,

but the wait was well worth it!!!

This picture is my favorite! 

It says it all! =)

Trying to drive it 

right out of the car!

Love the expression on both of their

faces! 

Tiegan is thinking: Who let the FOUR 

year old drive???

Tiegan's loving it now 

just as much as Carson!

Don't you LOVE it?!

...and apparently Tiegan is already "on" it.

I think he's calling AAA

Roadside Assistance!

It's all fun and games, 

until Carson does a hit 

and run!

Oops!

Learning how to reverse

Carson kept squealing 

with delight and saying, 

"This is my best day ever!"

Thank you, Grannie and Hawpaw

for making it happen!!!

RVC is iPhenomenal!

This

is one of the 

many 

reasons we go to 

River Valley Church

{Yes, they're all from my church,
and yes, they're only using
iPads and iPhones.
How AWESOME are they?}

Favorite Things Friday!!!

You know what I've decided?

I've decided that life is 

too dang short

to have to look at ugly things.

Yep.

That's my new mantra.

One of the ugly things in my life that I have

held on to for 

far

too 

long

is this:

Not that I have anything against

wine racks. 

They serve their purpose.

But, when you can't stand 

the taste of wine,

then you don't have much of a need

for a wine rack.

Ironically, the wine rack was one of the

things I loved about the house

when we bought it.

Chris and I have never been drinkers, but

always aspired to be wine

connoisseurs.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

One problem...each and every bottle of

wine that we've ever bought has been 

a complete waste of money.

A few sips and we both were ready

to toss the whole bottle.

So, here's what I imagined our

wine rack to look like:

And guests would come over for dinner and

we would say,

"Oh, I have the perfect wine for 

this meal"

and they would think it was so cool that we

had our very own wine rack.

(except my drawing looks more

like bottles of milk, rather than wine.

Use your imagination.)

So.

The other day I just couldn't 

take looking at that vast emptiness that

was my wine rack.

I said to myself.

"Life is too dang short

  to have to look 

at that every single day."

So.

You know what I did?

I did a little demolition.

That's what I did.

I did not pass Go,

I did not collect $200.

 

I just WENT for it...
after a short hesitation and a
5 minute pep talk!

And you know what?

I'm so glad I did!!!!

I have a cute little nook to display my treasures.

Another favorite this week is 

this set of canisters that I found at Goodwill

and painted with chalkboard paint.

I {heart} how they turned out.

And these little cuties I found at the same time.

I'm really into white dishes right now.

Particularly milk glass! 

I can't get enough of it!

Eventually I would like to install

one of these

in the vast emptiness.

But for now, I'm enjoying looking

at pretty things!

My favorite thing!

Happy Friday! 

* Homework*

Okay, kids!

Look around your house...

what ugly things are you living with,

but don't have to???

There's always a way to make it 

prettier.

And if you can't?

Get RID of it!