How Does the Garden Grow 2017

     My garden has been making me happy lately. Last summer, I planted a garden then got pregnant and super tired and the garden became a jungle and I just let it go. This summer, My Love had some large roofing tarps that we were able to cover the garden with so weeding has been a breeze. 

One corner of the garden we left un-tarped and planted cosmos, zinnias, and wildflowers. 

Loveliness. 

Marigolds don't grow on a bush you say...Well they do when you plant the entire packet of seeds in a 1 foot square. A happy burst of color.

Looking up at one of the sunflowers. They are SO TALL!

I'm not sure what's up with the Morning Glories this year. They just bloomed this week and they are still pathetically short, but pretty nonetheless. 

So far we've eaten onions, beans, peppers, a few baby carrots, and collards from the garden. Oh, and a few tomatoes but they seem to be taking their sweet time ripening. I will say though, collards+butter=deliciousness! 

We have a fence around the garden, but unfortunately this year it just wasn't enough and the deer decided we were a pretty good place to stop in for a quick snack. I took some anti-deer measures by hanging the red flags, and then my friend Katy, who is sharing the garden with me, came over and we strung over a 100 jingle bells in the hopes that the noise would be a deterrent to future four-footed snackers. 

Garden Bedazzlement 

     I was thinking the other day about how this little guy is with me pretty much 24/7. We go everywhere together and rarely is he more than 1/2 a house away from me, and then pretty much only if he's sleeping. While he's awake, he hangs out with me doing whatever it is I'm doing. And we like it that way. 

    All that to say, The One who created the beauty of the garden and put the sparkle in the sweet baby's eyes, wants that with us. He wants to be part of every little aspect of our day. Buirlen doesn't much care for it when I set him down and walk away for a minute, and The One who loves our souls desires that with us. Buirlen needs me, he feels safe and happy when I'm with him and generally just wants me there. That is what our relationship with our Heavenly Father should look like, because on our own we are as helpless as a baby.

     So, I hope today that you lean back and rest in the love of God, a love so big and fathomless that you will never fully comprehend it. 

Happy Today!

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul." ~Luther Burbank

Chair Deja Vu

   Not all that long ago, I posted about my freshly painted, kitchen chairs. I mentioned "Giving a moose a muffin," and that I had already started another project. It's like cleaning one spot on your wall; once you get started you see all the other spots that could also be cleaned. All that to say, after finishing the kitchen chairs I started in on the entryway chairs. 

   Luke's parents found these for us at a second hand store a couple years ago. They work great as a bench in the entryway and frequently get pulled into the kitchen when we have lots of company. 

  Useful as they are, I have never found them to be particularly beautiful. However, it never occurred to me that I could do anything to change that until a friend of mine was telling me about how she had recovered something and it really wasn't that hard.

Step 1: Remove the seats(Though technically the first step was to spend some time in the craft store debating with myself over which fabric I should pick).

  

Step 2: Sanding. These chairs were a breeze to sand in comparison to the kitchen chairs. They weren't all paint splattered and have flat surfaces, rather than curved, so I could use the power sander.

Step 3: Recover the seats. Luke stapled the new fabric onto the seats for me.(Look at those lovely kitchen chairs)

Step 4. gluing them because they were a bit wiggly.

Step 5. Was paint, then realize that they had some bubbly drips and therefore sanding again and repainting. Ugh!

Step 6. Reassemble and marvel at how fresh and beautiful they look. 

Look at all that lovely BLUE!

Yay!

Happy Wednesday.

"Working on new projects gives you the opportunity to learn and absorb new things." ~Michelle Ryan

6 Years and Forever

    My Love and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary this weekend. 6 years, the better part of a decade and some of the very best years of my life. I am so very blessed to call this guy my better half. He helps me to grow and be the best I can be. He does an awesome job taking care of his family and I have so loved watching him be a daddy and love his baby. I am so very glad that our stories intersected and that now and forever our stories go together. He's the best.

      Every summer since we got married, we have attended the Itasca Family Music Festival. The festival conveniently falls right around our anniversary every year and so we celebrate with bluegrass music, food, and friends. I love it.  

Our little music lover clearly excited about his first festival. 

May your week be extraordinary!

"A good marriage isn't something you find; it's something you make, and you have to keep on making it." ~Gary Thomas

5 Months

     Mr. Buirlen Elder Williams is 5 months old. 5 Months! That is kind of crazy to think about. It is so fun being this boy's mama. He has been busy this past month learning how to roll and scoot, tasting new things and growing like a weed. I measured him the other day, and he is 26 1/4(ish) inches and 18.2 lb. Meaning he grew about an inch and 2 pounds in this past month. Still nothing as far as teeth go, but he sure does love to chew...Who needs a puppy?! He likes being outside and music is the best thing ever. When he is crying and tired we put on the tunes and he calms down, sometimes almost instantly. He's all around adorable and we are blessed to be his.

Neckties are interesting.

He likes to sleep with his blanket up by his face. He didn't have it this morning, so he improvised. Silly boy.

Happy Today!

"The very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone." ~Jane Austen 

Christmas in July

      Last week my Mama and a couple of my sisters came up for a visit. We had a nice time and on Friday we all loaded up and headed south to Jackson, Minnesota for Christmas in July with the Shearers.
     My extended family has always gotten together for Christmas but as the years have gone by it was decided that gathering in the summer was a much easier way of doing it. And so, we celebrate Christmas in July. Over the course of the weekend, I got to see all of my siblings (though not all at once), parents, some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, and both sets of my grandparents.
   Buirlen was well loved on and took all the traveling and change in routine like a boss!

4 Generations. 

Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Francie Shearer

My dad, Rohn Shearer

myself

and Buirlen

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My mama and my baby

My youngest brother Mick and his wife Payge

Grandma Shearer(Baby Grandma) and Buirlen chatting.

 My sister Lydia, home from Alaska

My brother Jesse and Buirlen

So special to share your baby with your grandma.

My brother Jordan, home from Nebraska.

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Brothers turned uncles.

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(*Photo credits to Jesse Shearer)

Happy Wednesday!

"Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful." ~Thich Nhat Hanh