some days....

...it feels like you will never remember to do it all.
...it feels like you will never get it right.
...it feels like everybody is mean.
...it feels like you will always be out of the loop.
...it feels like you will always be the new guy.
...it feels like you should just quit. 

but i won't quit.  I'll change and adapt.  Because changing course doens't mean you are giving up.  It means you are shifting with the tide and altering your goals.  Making some sense out of this life and becoming happy again. 

that's what it's all about.

s

this week at our house...

....fall pumpkins made an appearance....

.....pond flowers graced the deck....

.....little boys played in the sand....

....littler boys tried your patience ;)...

....sweet girls gave u sweet smiles....

....children played together....

....daddy built a mini picnic table....

(another one of our 101 uses for leftover wood!!)

....littlest girls asked for "smilies" while waiting for the snowstorm in our boots....

(chuckle)

********************************

Every week here is filled with activity and silliness and Friday always rolls around too soon.  For somek, Friday signals the end of the work week, but for me, it's the beginning.  The beginning of two days of not being with my children, of not sharing in their day, of not seeing them discover and learn.  And that to me is not right.  They grow up before our very eyes and I want to be there to watch every stinking minute of it!  So everyday I plan and plot to get closer to my goal...of living the life that I want. I've come this far doing what I was supposed to do...working because I had to, not because I loved it.  Well, I did love it then (lol), but my old work has changed and it's not something I truly love anymore.  There are so many people I see following their dreams and doing what they love, making a living out of their creativity and their passions.  I envy them and I want that to be my life.  Risky?  Probably.  Fulfilling?  Yep.  I'm right there with it then.  Hook, line and sinker! 

blessings

sue

pink stone monster

If you can recall, I bought a dresser at Goodwill a few weeks ago...can't find the pic because I deleted them all!  lol...I'm so tech saavy!  Well, it was a big old Bassett dresser....very curvy and french-y but someone has painted the top with pink "fake stone" (what in the world???).  Yesterday it went from ugly duckling to....

beautiful swan!

this is the top post stripping and some sanding...love the Pepto Bismol pink paint!

YUK!!

It took me all day long, but I got it done. 

I love it, it's so beautiful!

I stained the top cherry.  The drawers are painted in flat white by Valspar.  I added the brown distressing with no other than....STAZ ON ink in timber brown!  Gotta love using your scrapbooking supplies in a furniture re-do!!

Now, if I could only make it fit where I want to in our bedroom....that re-do is in process...new paint color and going to redo our bedframe...but that's another post!

happy day!

sue

ten good things

From Soulemama...the inspiration to write ten good things.  If you don't read her blog, you should!

my ten good things

1.  dappled sunlight through the trees
2.  sleepy children walking slowly into the room toting blankets
3.  waiting for the bus in the pre dawn hours
4.  morning feeding time for the animals
5. toy story
6.  the smell of hay
7.  the color orange
8.  making great strides in our outdoor cleanup
9.  the sound of nature outside my door
10. the heron flying from the pond

sue

one week

The chicks were one week old yesterday!  They are already losing their downy coat and it's being replaced by feathers.  They are even getting little tail feathers...how cute!

They are pretty skittish when you do anything near them....you can see by the blur in this photo!!

Front and center...I thik this is Laverne (her sister Shirley is right behind her!!) 

She's got some pretty brown feathers coming in.  I believe she's the New Hampshire Red.

The other gals (Lulu and Chloe) have been out and about in the yard in the early evening.  They love

to root around and look for bugs.  And when it gets dark, they come up to the deck and look in the house windows!  They kill me!  Then the kids and I walk them back down to their pen.  They follow us and if they feel they are too far behind they start running really fast and sometimes fly...hilarious to watch.  Who would have thought these silly birds would find their way into my heart? 

Yesterday I drove the lawn tractor for the first time!  Even moved about a 1/3 of the lawn.  The dragonflies are just huge here...and everywhere!!  As I drove around the yard, they were flitting about everywhere.  This morning the heron was visiting the pond again, scooping up the remaining fish that perished in the attempt to clean up the pond...won't do that again.  We did however, see Big Ralph, the big old guy that Nick caught once.  We threw some bread in, but he wouldn't even bite.  Probably learned his lesson after being caught once!  He seems to be the reigning kind of the pond...him and Mr. Turtle. 

Funny, how we came here with two cats and now we have 1 dog, 3 cats, 6 chickens, a turtle and a whole bunch of frogs!  Our pond seems to be a feeding ground for the neighborhood stray cats....frog legs!  Yuck!

happy day to you all!

Enjoy the cooler weather!

sue

vultures and sandoxes

This morning while sitting on the deck, I spied two large vultures at the edge of our pond.  I went down to

investigate and apparently stirred them up (or ticked them off) a bit.  I heard a huge rushing noise then the sound of wings ferociously pumping in the air...and there was the heron (middle of the pic) being followed by two of the big old vultures!  They are just massive...not sure what everyone was doing around the pond...maybe fishing, maybe frogging?

Look at the wingspan on this bird...they circle and circle and circle my yard all day long.

Kind of creepy :0

Welcome........

little ghouls welcoming you up onto the deck...to be met by four other little ghouls!

We spent the weekend burning leaves and rotted trees pulled from the pond.

It was like camping...only I wasn't stuck in a tent!

Smelled great!  We got tons of stuff done, the compost pile is moved, the rotting old pile of plywood is gone

and today hopefully the rest of the wood from the deck will get moved behind the shed.

Busy.

Molly having a stretch.  Let me tell you this dog takes alot.

These kids pest her, poke her, and tease her all day long.

And she just keeps right on playing...

On my list of " 101 uses for leftover wood from the deck" was a sandbox.

A few cuts with the saw, hubby nailed it all together, 10 bags of playsand and

it's another opportunity  for fun for everyone!  Kids love it!

Hope you had a busy fun filled weekend too!

sue

New arrivals and the fall festival

The mailman brought this suspiciously chirping package to the door on Tuesday....

and inside were our newest chickie additions!  From left to right is Laverne and Shirley, they are a New Hampshire Red and a Buff Orpington:  the bigger black one is Coraline, a Jersey Giant: the more shite one is Barbie (named after our poor deceased Barbie) her breed escapes me right now.  The smaller black one was (she passed on Thursday evening, poor little thing) a Barred Rock Plymouth Bantam.  The rest of the flock is doing well.  They are a little more skittish than I remember the other girls being, but they are eating and drinking and growing!  They are a noisy little bunch too!

Brooklet Elementary Fall Festival

Goodies I made for the cake walk:

Caramel Turtle Brownies

and

Summer Harvest Cake

Rainy Day Basket

this basket was filled with all kinds of kids craft to do inside on a rainy day....

I dontated it to be auctioned.

Jacob and Emma at the entrance...lots of fun inside!

Emma didn't hit the target with the ball, so at the end she just went up and hit it...sending Stephanie into the cold water!!! 

Boingy antennae...lots of games to play:  lawn dice, fishing game, putt-putt, milk bottles!

Airborne!!

Ms. Madi thoroughly enjoyed this blue raspberry snow cone! 

Coming off the playground after some good hard play!

Cake walk:  emma won some yummy Rugala!

Dancing to the computer!

me and the gang...waiting for the raffle to be drawn!

We had such a great time at the festival....what a great school my kids go to!!

happy day!

Sue