a houston getaway

Last weekend Jeremy and I had a little getaway. I love it when we can make these times happen. The kids were happily off to friend's houses for the weekend, and we enjoyed a stay at the very beachy and bright Hotel Indigo, courtesy of American Airlines air miles. Live music, sitting outside in the surprisingly nice weather, and museum visits...ah, so nice.

We sort of missed the solar eclipse (unfortunately) since we were driving back, but I thought the sunset against the Dallas skyline was fabulous.

Did you see the eclipse?



Linking up with Communal Global for Sneak Peeks Around The World.

sweet potato kale curry

Jeremy rocked this dish the other night. Sweet Potato Kale Curry, oh my, so yum. This was only served to adults so I can't give you a kid's review on it, but all the adults around the table loved it. He used coconut milk for the non-dairy milk. Coconut milk and curry just seem to go together. He also doubled it for 4 people. We only had a little bit leftover. I highly, highly recommend this recipe!

I'll be taking tomorrow off to celebrate Memorial Day with my family. See you back here on Tuesday!

from shag to buzz

The other day Joshua suddenly decided he wanted to cut his hair. He asked me what I thought and I said if he wanted to cut it, then he should. Jeremy did the honors while I stepped out for the evening. Apparently he had some hair cutter's remorse after a pile of blonde locks were already on the floor. I think we're all getting used to it. It doesn't matter, though, he's still the cutest (or maybe I should say handsome-est) 10 year old I know!

Happy Saturday!

re-purposed men's shirt

This week has been a bit hectic with little time for creative things. It's a garage sale weekend. I hate garage sales. The house feels like mass chaos as you're going through everything and piling it up for pricing. I don't function well in that kind of clutter. I guess the feeling of purging, though, makes up for it.

However, yesterday, in the midst of the chaos, I remembered several half finished projects and thought, "Surely I can finish just one." I'll tell you, even a minute of a creativity, is soothing to the soul. Stepping away for just a moment has a way of clearing the mind.

I saw this idea to re-purpose a men's button down shirt in an issue of Sew It All. While I love the concept and the shirt in the photo, I'm still trying to decide if I like mine (and also if I should re-do the ric rac since I didn't really follow those instructions too well). It just sort of fits like a men's shirt. Nevertheless, it will be another good one to have for Africa.

 

Any fun creativity come out of your studio this week? If so, be sure to link up with Jennifer @ Studio JRU for Sneak Peek Friday!

Photos once again taken by Joshua. :)

here's lily {giveaway}

Here's Lily! is the first book in The Lily Series which has sold over one million copies. When it arrived in the mail, Emma G was so excited about the redhead on the cover exclaiming, "Now there's two redheads in the house!" (her Daddy being the first and foremost).

I was excited about this book for another reason. The message is one that applies to young girls everywhere...that real beauty is more than makeup and pretty clothes. That real beauty comes from within. It's comes from walking in the confidence of who God made us to be. As 6th grader Lily moves toward her goal of winning the model search fashion show, she learns this important lesson along the way. Emma G and I are only partway through this book, but we are loving it!

Giveaway

Up for giveaway is one copy of Here's Lily! courtesy of Tommy Nelson! Be sure to catch a sneak peek of this book by Nancy Rue, geared toward ages 7 and up. Giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only and ends Thursday, May 31st at 9 pm CST when random number generator will choose one winner!

 

 Entries

1st Entry  Answer this question...

How do you apply God’s definition of beauty with your daughters in today’s world?

2nd Entry  Tweet and / or share on Facebook the following...

#Win Here's Lily! from @TommyNelson & teach your daughters where true beauty comes from. #giveaway @jenprice77 http://bit.ly/KGyBde

Be sure to come back here and leave a separate comment for each entry. Also be sure I have a way to contact you should you win!

Disclosure: I received a free copy of Here's Lily! from Tommy Nelson in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

bright and white :: family portraits

When a friend contacted me to photograph his family as a Mother's Day gift for his Mom, I was too excited, because that Mom is a fellow friend who works in Romania. I knew that this would be a priceless gift that would be treasured while she is away from her family. I think this was the largest family that I've ever photographed. I love the bright colors they wore against the white siding of this cute little church. I also love how the group photos of the boys and girls turned out! I guess I haven't photographed many families against straight lines. Thus the Photoshop ruler tool quickly became my friend to straighten photos! It's amazing!

 

And because this little princess was just too cute, I have to post this one...

These were taken at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Wylie, TX.

at the zoo

I love field trips! Last week Jeremy and I were chaperones for Emma G's field trip to the zoo. We were only responsible for three first graders, and still we only scratched the surface of what there was to see. At least they saw what was at the top of their list!

After living in Africa right by a game park, the zoo experience is usually just "Eh" for me, but I have to admit seeing this cheetah was pretty cool. I've only seen cheetah a handful of times in S. Africa. They're hard to spot!

It seemed we couldn't make it fast enough to the giraffe. They wanted to pet them so badly! Since I refused to pay $5 for three pieces of lettuce, it took a bit of coaxing to get them to come over to us.

Feeding the goats was more in our price range (only 50 cents), and I think the girls loved it!

Nothing compares with a true African safari, but I have to admit the "safari" through the Dallas Zoo made for some happy 1st graders and a fun day indeed!

giveaway day :: spring prints

Today is Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day. I love Giveaway Day! It's such a fun way to meet lots of new people. I'm going to keep this post short and simple, so here's the details...

 

Giveaway

I thought long and hard about what to giveaway and thought I would offer up something photography related. Hanging in my kitchen I have a set of three prints that I took at the Dallas Arboretum. I love these. They remind me of spring days amidst the flowers and butterflies. I'm offering this entire set (unframed) in 5X7's! Giveaway is open worldwide and ends May 25th at 7 pm CST when random number generator will choose one winner!

Entries

1st Entry  Leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing is about spring.

2nd Entry  Become a follower!

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure that I have a way to contact you should you win! Be sure to check out all the giveaway goodness on Sew Mama Sew!

Comments are now closed. The winner is sandyandcosmo!

last games of the season

Both of our kids played sports this Spring. It's been busy to say the least. We're a one car family, so figuring out schedules and toting them here and there has been quite the task. I will say, though, that I absolutely love seeing my boy play basketball and my girl play soccer!

 

Happy Saturday, friends!

 

pillowcase skirts

With Uganda on the travel plans this summer, I needed to make some skirts, ones that would be cool and airy for my two weeks near the Equator. I found brand new packages of pillowcases at Salvation Army for $1 and thought they would be the perfect, inexpensive solution. Now I wasn't blessed with slim hips. No, my blessing came in the form of being able to birth a nearly 10 lb. baby. One pillowcase doesn't cover those kind of hips, but 1 1/2 do. Jeremy said that one didn't look bad. I squatted to test it out and all I could envision was maneuvering this way and that to get the perfect shot while a seam ripped up the side. I'm not going for my most embarrassing moment in Uganda, so 1 1/2 it was.

There really wasn't a lot of measuring and carefulness with these babies. I did learn a bit of a better technique with the second one, using the additional "half" for the sides. Thankfully the black and white (or maybe it's dark blue??) skirt has such a busy pattern, you can't see what I did there. :) After getting the width I wanted, I made an elastic casing at the top and used 1 inch ribbed, non-roll elastic. A little embellishment from felt scraps at the bottom gave them a fun touch. For less than $3 each, I have 2 skirts to wear. I love that I don't have to worry about them getting ruined nor do I have to worry about ease of movement as I photograph my way through Uganda. :)

 

the oh so cheesy cool moi

With Joshua's growing interest in photography, I asked him to take these shots of me. It's not easy taking photos of a photographer, but I think he did a great job. I had to laugh as I modeled my creations for Jeremy. He said, "I didn't think they'd be so long." Perhaps on a person with a normal height, they wouldn't be, but on a 5'1" gal, yes, they're a little long. :)

 

Linking up with Jennifer @ Studio JRU for Sneak Peek Friday!