The little one visits the pond.

We had to run to my parents’ place {they have 40 acres of farm land and a pond by their home}, so I begged Eugene to let me bring the pup with us. I grabbed my girl, the pup, and my camera and we headed out to enjoy a little piece of nature together.

My parents have planted some fruit trees. Apples…

Cherries…

Peaches…

They also have a few grape vines…

Isn’t it amazing how tiny vines can curl so tightly on their own…

There’s one tree that kind of sits near the back center of the 40 acres, affectionately called the lone oak…

When we got married on this land, I specifically asked our photographer to capture us with the lone oak in the background, and it’s one of my absolute favorite photos…

Okay, back to reality. The pup LOVES the pond. He loves swimming, chasing, diving, and running. He is in doggy heaven when we take him to my parents…

The little one isn’t so sure about large areas of water – pool, pond – not a fan.

Eventually she warmed up to it, and even ventured to squeeze some mud through her fingers. {The girl loves anything gooey.}

They had a little patch of wheat that had yet to be harvested, so I snapped a pic. I love wheat {you can see why from the photo from my wedding day above and read a hint of it here.}

Lastly, I snapped a few pics of bees & lavender on our way back inside. My parents keep bees {I’ve mentioned it here & here before.}

The little one loves being outside. And I love that she loves being surrounded by God’s creation, in pure beautiful nature. That makes my heart full.

*

Better after.

Oh boy do I love me some good before & after photos. One of my favorite blogs for eye-candy is www.betterafter.net. So you can imagine how fun it is for me to see my own kitchen re-do on Lindsey’s website! :)

Thanks for the feature, Lindsey!  I’m proud to be among the awesomely awful before pics! ;)

Ut ut ut oh.

Maybe I’m “that” mom. The one that posts annoying videos of her child that no one other than her would enjoy. I know I’m the one that posts an overload of photos, but that’s why I have a blog rather than clogging everyone’s Facebook feeds. I digress.

Sorry if this video’s annoying, but to me it’s an instant smile. The little one’s newest favorite phrase is “ut ut ut oh.” She’ll say “ut oh”, but usually she stutters/repeats the beginning and really emphasizes the end so it ends up sounding like “ut ut ut oooooh.”

I think anything said in a little child’s voice is cute. There’s something sweet and simple about little kids’ voices. You just have to listen and smile. Proverbs 16:23 says, “Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” {I love that verse.} I think it’s true about a child’s voice too. Sweet to my soul.

Insta-dump.

It’s been a while since I dumped some of my Instagram/phone pics here. Guess it’s that time again. Again, most of these are my “wondrous things” of the day.

I don’t get to run very often, but when I do, I love my view…

Workin’ it on a Saturday night. We had around 6 weddings at 6 different venues this evening. Pretty…

Girl knows how to rock a purple rocking chair…

We took2 Dada out to his favorite breakfast spot for Father’s Day. These two are twins…

She loves trying to put on her shoes. This particular morning, she kept handing me two different shoes to put on her. Silly girl…

We got prettied-up for photos at our church in the morning, then I savored an hour of lazy quietness with my girl sleeping on me on a late Saturday morning…

The little one chilling with her Great Grandma Dottie {drinking iced tea, not beer, ha!}…

She thought she was pretty hot stuff on this toy at her great grandma’s…

I think I may have posted this one before, but she’s obsessed with her coup. Obsessed. She doesn’t go anywhere in it, just climbs in the door, sits down, and gets out again and then repeats that process for an hour. Obsessed.

I love the evenings that I get to take walks with these two best buds…

Eugene & my best friend, Libby, brought all three babies to a restaurant to meet me after work and our church small group for dinner. What a sight to see the three chillins all crammed into the backseat!

How’s this for some sweaty bedhead? Love her crazy nap/morning hair…

She’s a walking machine & never going back to her signature scoot…

We were enjoying the sun & her kiddie pool when she wanted a hug and some cuddling. I never turn down cuddles, but this time it might leave some interesting tan lines!

Little girl in a tankini {adorable.} She loves seriously loves all dogs.

I think she looks like a little fairy here. In addition to her coup and dogs, she also loves these pinwheels. I put some up for her birthday, and oh boy, she was in heaven!

So there you have it, a completely random dump of pictures from my phone. Probably an challenging post for those who prefer order and sense, but I want my blog to be a keepsake for my memories {phone pics included} regardless of how out-of-order “themeless” they may be! :)

Four years as one.

I’m so thankful for that perfect day, four years ago. I want to wish happy anniversary to my favorite blog reader & best friend, Eugene. What a journey we've traveled just in four short years!

We enjoyed a oddly timed meal out {we went at 3:30 in an attempt to avoid naps and meals for the little one}, a romantic shopping trip to Walmart, and ended with a sexy trip to Eugene’s high school coach’s office to look for softballs. Our concept of romance may have changed since becoming parents – we were just happy to have the bock of time to get some tasks done without toting a little one along!

While we enjoyed a dreamy evening walk on the beach at Walmart, I started to tear up as I saw yet another example of who Eugene is. A man riding an electric cart was checking out next to us, in fact, Eugene about backed into him by accident. After realizing the man was there, Eugene noticed the man had a heavy car battery in the basket of his cart. The man was struggling to stand up and attempting to lift the battery onto the check-out belt. Eugene quietly stepped over and lifted the battery onto the belt for the man. Okay, I know that’s not that big of a deal; anyone would have done that if they noticed. But Eugene didn’t start there, he slyly watched to see when the cashier finished ringing up the battery before he stepped in their line again to place the battery back in his cart. We finished paying for our items just a few minutes after the man, so as we were walking to our car, Eugene took a minute to walk to the man’s car {he was still sitting in his electric cart} to help him load his batter into his trunk. Simple enough, but that’s why I love him. He didn’t make a big deal, and it wasn’t a big deal. I love that about him.

I’ve come to realize this year, more than ever before, how rare a true Godly husband is. One who constantly strives to self-sacrifice for his family. One who admits when he messes up. One who cares more about what God wants him to do than his boss, friends, or family. One who isn’t ashamed to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider 12 times in a row and make silly faces just to get a one-year-old girl to laugh till she snorts. He’s not perfect. Neither am I. We fight. We’ve each slept on the couch alone before. We make mistakes…all the time, but he’s my best friend, and I wouldn’t want to do this thing called life with anyone else as my partner. I won’t get too mushy on you. I’ll just say I know I have it good. I know I don’t deserve a blessing this good, but God, I’m so thankful for him.

Our kitchen update was featured.

The national marketing manager for Woodcraft {the store where I purchased my butcher block sealer} contacted me a couple days ago to ask if he could feature our kitchen update on his Woodcraft blog.

Long story short, here it is – Woodcraft Blog: Kitchen remodeling Butcher Block Counters with General Finishes

Fun stuff. :)