Sea + Prairie

curbside shopping

I love Tuesdays...trash day. I love that on Tuesday morning for just a bit all of the trash cans are clean and the garbage is out by the curb. I also like trash day because I get to do a little shopping. Curbside shopping.  Do you remember the table?  I still get an email once in awhile asking to purchase it.

This chair will be going into the sewing room to replace the rocking chair that is currently in front of my sewing table. There was a loveseat that matched this chair, but it didn't fit in my car...the one that got away.

For more curbside shopping inspiration check out Alicia's patio firepit, the slide the Bridgman family scored and her porch is to die for, Meg's dress up corner and  and check out this quilt.  It never ceases to amaze me what get's thrown out. 

 

P.S.  When S walked in the house on Tuesday afternoon and the chair was sitting in the dining room waiting to be moved, his comment was "How did I know this chair would end up at our house?".  He know's me like the back of his hand.

a little vintage, a little chica

As far as my daily "uniform" goes, I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. In the winter, its my jeans paired with boots and a sweater. In the summer, with flip flops and funky beads.

But lately, I've been finding myself a bit stuck and bored in the wardrobe area.

Luckily, inspiration struck just as my favorite black gap t-shirt got a hole in its underarm.

First I saw this photo from girl hula and then I was introduced to Aida Coronado's site.

A little vintage - the belt was my mother's and the vintage leather tooled bag was purchased for $4.99 at a thrift store in Wisconsin a few years ago.

And a little chica - this top used to be a dress, given to me by my mother-in-law. I cut it off and took it in on the sides to make it a blouse.

Its still jeans, but at least its a step up from where I was before.  Yay for Mexican tops and flip flops.

So, what outfit do you "live" in?

fishing lessons

When S is gone, I do my best to stand in for him, trying to be both mother and father.  I taught all three boys to ride their bikes without training wheels.  I taught the older two how to lay a fire in the fireplace this past winter.  It think I do a pretty good job of it most times.

However, this was not the case with fishing.

Each boy got a new rod and reel this Easter next to their Easter bucket.  They were all so excited they wanted to skip church and head for the nearest tank.  (Read that pond, for those of you not from the South.)  I let Ian open his rod first and in less than five minutes we were all a tangled mess and one mama was in tears with the mess.

We put the rods up on top of papas surfboards in the garage and headed to church and I prayed for forgiveness for the ugly thoughts that had been floating around in my head on a less than holy Easter morning.

And then S returned.  The rods were out again.  Lines were untangled...with patience this time.  Bobbers and weights and hooks were attached, with one parent instructing and one playing safety patrol.  Aaahhh...It worked so much better this way.

The lesson of the day for one of my boys was catching his first fish, a little white crappie (that's pronounced cr(o)ppie, not cr(a)ppie).  And this lesson for me had nothing to do with how to hold a rod, or about how fast to reel in a spinner.  It was all about the fact that there will be more and more things that only he can teach them.  And Im supposed to just sit back, let go a little at a time and watch them grow into men.  Hopefully, a lot like their papa.

getting into shape

No.  Not that kind of shape.  No running shoes today.  Im referring to a different kind of "shape", the kind that requires a keen eye, a little bit of cash and a talent for negotiating a good deal.

Its the beginning of yard sale (garage sale, boot sale, estate sale) season!

Yesterday, a friend of mine and I ran over to an estate sale across the street from her house.  There wasn't too much to offer.  It looked like the family had taken most of the :good stuff:.  But I did manage to find a few goodies.

• Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook (.50 cents)
• four pyrex bowls and one square glass baking pan ($3 total)
• one vintage flat sheet in one of my favorite butterfly patterns (free, they were using it as a drop cloth)
• and a little cuckoo clock from Germany  ($3)

Ian woke up this morning singing Old Dan Tucker  down the hall on the way to the bathroom.  He couldn't remember the second verse.  So, we looked it up.  And now I have The Boss's version of Old Dan Tucker playing over and over in my head this morning.  Now you will too.  But its a pretty good way to start the weekend I think.

It should be a good one around here.  We'll be trying out a few cookie recipes from the new (old) cookbook.  We're helping with an event for Stop Hunger Now tomorrow.  And our papa, who's been away for the past 6 weeks is coming in tonight.  We're a little excited to say the least.

Happy Yard Sale Season and Happy Friday!!!

the first harvest

We made our first harvest from our backyard garden yesterday evening.  Red leaf lettuce, butter cruch lettuce, romain, spinach, parsley and chives with a little apple and balsamic vinegar...mmm.    It feels good to eat something that we have grown with our own hands.

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And thank you for the outpouring of love over at Craft Hope.  This community continues to amaze me at how wonderful you are.  Thank you.

going back, i love my husband and craft hope

5 weeks ago S got on a C-130 headed west for a work trip.  While in flight, I guess he had some time to think, because about 4 hours later he sent me a text message saying "We are ALL 5 going to Nicaragua this summer."

Since then, we have decided that we will all NOT be going to Nicaragua.  We will take the boys with us at some point, but this is not the year.  I think the altitude might have been affecting his brain momentarily.  Our youngest is still pretty young.  And not that you can't travel with little ones, but a trip to La Chureca isn't exactly the water park, you know?

Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to do something big.  I read Madelyn Allbright's biography in college and thought I surely would be headed to the State Department and by 30 would be an ambassador.  Funny, huh?  A bit different than an ambassadorship to Malawi, but Nicaragua and the kids at Casa Bernabe are my " something BIG".

Everyday, we are all given opportunities to help someone put in our path by the divine.  And stepping into that we get to witness something bigger than ourselves, as wide and as deep as the universe.  Kids in Malawi need help too, as those in inner city New York do.  But the children at this orphanage in Nicaragua have have been put in my path, and they are mine. 

I am coming to learn that everyone's greatest desire is to be known.  Known by our fellow man and known by the God who made us.  We all yearn for someone to know us that intimately...truly known for who you are, what fires you up, what saddens you deeply, our good parts and our bad...and loves us anyway.  And knowing that I have a partner in all of this who understands that I need to do this...well, hes a good guy and I'm grateful everyday that I married him.  He pushes me and asks em to do things that I would never do in a million years, like write and snowboard and go to crazy out of the way places like Nicaragua.  So, that was that. 

I will be headed back to Managua with ORPHANetwork on July 2.

This time, there has been a request for handmade dolls for the younger children.  You can read more about how they will be used and how to contribute over at Craft Hope.  I want to send a huge thank you to Jade for helping get the word out.  You are wonderful for putting this together.

Can you just imagine it...some of the poorest children in the world, running around with one of the cutest dolls in the world?

So cool, eh?

This was a tough post to wrap up into a nice neat package, but I think that first photo taken at La Chureca pretty much sums it up perfectly.  Its all rooted in love, my friends.

The Magnifying Glass

I know...this is two posts in one day.  But Im just so excited about sharing this bit of news with all of you finally, I decided it warranted two posts.

I'm not sure if you all remember a little project called Six One Way.   Sometimes it seems like those photos were taken forever ago.  However, there is just something so timeless about so many of the images she and I captured last year.  Little boys playing in the mud, exploring the natural world, mamas following behind learning when to step in and when to leave well enough alone.  Trying to freeze precious little moments and discovering they are all so fleeting.

It was an amazing year long journey and I learned more than I had ever anticipated.  I really wanted to learn to take better photos.  And I did learn about depth of focus, bokeh and intentional blur.  But what I hadn't anticipated was making such a wonderful friend in Stefani.

She and I often joke that it is a good thing we don't live next door to each other or we'd be in a lot of trouble.  And quite possibly our husband's might divorce us.  Just kidding.  Maybe.

"Six" as we came to call it was a very special time and we just couldn't close the door behind us - hence the absence of closing week 52 photos.  We both knew there would be something more, but waited until "it" showed up. 

The Magnifying Glass has been in the works for months now.  Each of us working on it a bit when we had a minute between tying shoes and catching bugs.  So, check it out.  We hope you like it.

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Oh, and there is a new interview up over at Summer Unschooling if you are following along over there.  Jean (beetgreen) graciously shares a bit of what life looks like around their home.

Whew!  That's enough for today. I'm going to go make some baked grits and sweet tea.  Adios amigas!

spring break was...

: a little brother's birthday party : piles of dirt : their first 3D IMAX movie with the cool glasses : The Marine Science Museum where we got to meet Brady Barr from National Geogrphic : a nature walk : a visit to the zoo : a skype conversation with the orphanage kids from Nicaragua : a day at the beach with friends :

I think the older two boys will have plenty to write about today at school when their teachers ask them what they did on their spring break.  Don't you?

It was a really fun week, but this mama is really excited to get back to the regular routine.  Yeah for one on one time with my little buddy.  Yeah for time to work in the garden.  And yeah for some needing time in the sewing room.

Happy Monday!

I'm OK with Oklahoma

We live on the East Coast.  But when people ask, as they always do in a military town, "Where ya' from?" I say proudly I'm from Texas...and yes Texas is home to me and always will be.  My parents live there, my grandparents, all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. 

Sometimes I don't like to admit it, but a good part of my soul lives in Oklahoma too. 

We moved from Texas to Oklahoma when I was 7.  When we were kids we used to make fun of the state because the Oklahoma license plate bragged that "Oklahoma is OK".  Who wants to belong to a state that celebrates mediocrity?  I don't know for sure if the license plates still say Oklahoma is OK or not.

But truth is truth.    I graduated high school from there and even went to college in Stillwater.  Yep, I'm an Aggie!  My first little rent house and my first real job after college were both in the Sooner State.  I lived there until I moved to Virginia and got married...that's 19 years I was a Sooner.

Did you know the red bud tree is the Oklahoma state tree?  And mistletoe is the state flower?  That's what two semesters of Oklahoma History in 9th grade will teach you.  I guess some of what I learned stuck.  Today on our nature walk, the boys spotted a red bud tree far ahead of us and asked what it was.  They aren't hard to spot.  Their bright fuscia blossoms pop right out at you against the other browns and greens of the other trees.

But today, after the many years since living in Oklahoma, I didn't think about mediocrity when I saw the red bud.  I thought about Oklahoma and the red buds with fond memories of growing up in communities that were safe.  And of people who help each other when they are down.  You know, salt of the earth types who work hard and go to church on Sunday.  I thought about my brother and his kiddos...another one on the way.  S's sister and her kids.  My good friends from college.

Maybe this is a sign that Im growing up a bit.  Or is it that its been so long now that I am forgetting all of the red dirt and tornadoes that go with it.  Either way, I smiled today when I saw the red buds in bloom.

dirt - the best birthday present ever

I would like to say that Wyatt's favorite birthday was the silly string he received from his brother, or the print I got him from Sarah Jane Studios.  It wasn't even the police helicopter lego set his friend Joey got him.  Nope.

It was the pile of fill dirt delivered right in front of our house...and then the rain that followed.  Oh, and you see that interesting (and kind of pretty) swirling pattern we've got going on in our man made lake there?  Yes, that would be pollen.  Which explains why we're all feeling stuffed up and yucky right now.

All three boys have been playing in this pile for the past week.  They have spent many hours making bike ramps down the pile as their mama turns her head, sifting through the earth to find pieces of brick and rock...treasure to these three.

So, you know how a toddler opens the present, but plays with the box or the ribbon instead? 

Yes.  The same works with a huge dirt pile.  And my little guy thinks it was delivered just for his special day.

So, I offer my apologies right now If you try to email or call and we don't answer.  We're busy.  But don't worry, you know where we'll be.

P.S.  If you are in the midst of trying to play a little boy's birthday.  Stop planning immediately!  Simply order a large pile of dirt to be delivered in your driveway.  You'll be a hit with all of the neighborhood kids.  Promise!