Slick as Glass...

On the boat and waterskiing by 9:00am. Perfect skiing conditions and a beautiful morning.  My kind of Saturday and a great way to start the long weekend...

Celebrating Mom

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mom! 

I'm so glad to spend her birthday with her as well as the long weekend!

Duck Update

The ducks have been quite the neighborhood entertainment over the last 2 weeks.  Of course, I've missed most of the excitement, but I've heard that there have been many visitors and even some duck holding going on (hold at your own risk...your clothes may end up soiled if you know what I mean).  There ended up being a total of 19 ducklings.  We are still are amazed that Mama Duck Daisy could sit on this many ducks at one time.

Dad, who likes to wheel and deal, found a lady who wanted to buy 5 of the ducks.  He figured that having 19 ducklings in their yard was a bit much and that they could spare a few and he also wanted to recoup some of the money he'd spent on supplies and food for them. Somehow the lady left with 15 of them last Thursday!  I was sad at first at the thought of only 4 left (and also after hearing how crazy Daisy reacted when 15 of her babies were taken away), but I then realized that they were probably better off.  This lady wanted them for her pond way out in the county where we are sure they stand a much better chance of surviving.  Baby ducks, mallards, and geese (all of which we have around here in the canal these days) seem to have a hard time not becoming some other animals snack or dinner. 

Their little wings growing in look so funny as they keep tryinig to flap them

Cozy Crayon Caddy

One step at a time, one project at a time.  I would love to be breaking out my sewing machine more frequently and I'd also love more reasons to visit craft stores.  My creative projects these days (or the last 6 years) have been extremely limited with the exception of the aforementioned quilt that took me years to complete.  All this said, I've been itching to exercise the right side of my brain.  There's just something therapeutic about working to create something with my hands.  

I decided that this was the week to try a small little sewing project.  I got this idea from my friend, Beth (roommate in college), who has many impressive & beautiful projects she's tackled this year that I keep admiring on her blog.  I'm thankful for her inspiration and for the helpful pointers she's passed along.  Even though she does not live close, it has been fun to compare notes and share ideas over email. 

This crayon holder was super easy and took way less time than expected.  I almost spent more time picking out the fabrics, rick rack, and ribbon than making the holder itself.

     

Fun Weekend Visitors

I had the treat of spending the weekend before last with some of my dear friends.  Sarah made the trip down from NJ to spend the weekend with me and Katy joined us on Saturday for a full day in Richmond.  I'm thankful to Sarah's parents, Andy, and David who cared for all the kiddies so that we could all enjoy a fun girls weekend together. 

We often go out to find fun things to do, but we also are content just hanging out, catching up, eating, and taking pictures.  The misty/stormy weather wasn't exactly ideal for outdoor photography and our originally planned photo taking outing, but we still managed to find plenty of reasons to tote our cameras around and snap shots. 

We hit the little farmer's market within walking distance from my place earlier on Saturday.  It was a quick trip given the dreary weather and cool temperatures.  We also had homemade ice cream to make back at home so that gave us plenty of reason to get back quickly for lunch.  We shopped a little that afternoon and then made our way over to Katy's parents' house to see her younger sister before she headed off to her last Prom.  The combination of realizing that Sally was only 5 years old when we first met her and thinking of our last Prom being 13 years ago aged us a bit.  We enjoyed reminiscing about what it was like to get all dolled up in a fancy dress for Prom back in our high school days.  I'm sure we overwhelmed Sally with our 3 cameras all going off like crazy.  Sally's dress was stunning and she looked so beautiful!

After we finished playing paparazzi, we headed to Carytown for dinner.  A stormy evening made it more difficult to choose a place to eat dinner so we ended up diving into a diner to get in out of the rain.  It definitely was not my first choice (especially after the wonderful restaurant Sarah treated me to in Philly when I visited her a few months back), but it turned out to be fine (with the exception of the rain that started to splatter down on us while waiting for our food).

Sarah and I headed to Charlottesville early Sunday morning to join David, Katy & gang for church.  We then headed to their house for lunch and were joined by Becca and her newest addition, Molly Elizabeth.  Seeing as Becca had only had Molly a week before, she wasn't exactly up for our full girls weekend so it was nice to still get to spend some time all together on Sunday afternoon. 

Ainsley was quite taken with Becca's littlest

Favorite Summertime Treat

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YUM!

Thank you to Sarah for such a wonderful birthday gift.  My family thanks you, too! This ice cream maker will be well used and most enjoyed throughout the summer.   Actually, for those of you who know me well and my love for frozen cream, I will most likely enjoy this treat year round!

I look forward to experimenting with making different flavors.  So far I've made the simple vanilla & fresh strawberry ice creams.  Both were so delicous that it's hard to pick a favorite, but I may have to choose the vanilla just because the strawberry made such a mess (no ice cream should be visible when looking at the maker!).

Mother's Day

I spent a very nice Mother's Day Sunday last weekend with my wonderful Mom.  How grateful I am for my Mom...her place in my life, the example she's given of a faithful walk with the Lord, the selfless love she's demonstrated to me and our family consistently over the years, walking with me through many challenging seasons, her friendship, and for all the time I've been blessed to spend with her.   

I was also thankful to visit with both of my grandmother's last weekend.  They, too, have both had special roles in my life and I was glad to celebrate them as well. 

Grammy (Mom's mother) has loved us well with her gentle spirit, positive outlook, and welcoming arms and was always available to watch my sister and me for my Mom while we were growing up.  She was the type of grandmother who would just sit and hold us for hours.  No matter how many children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren (!) there are to vie for her attention (and there's A LOT of us), she always has enough love and hugs to go around!  The most meaningful thing we can give to her now is our time so a visit to her last weekend made her very happy. 

Mawmaw (Dad's mother) has the gift of expressing love and care through her generosity and hospitality. Whether it is making sure I always have a satin pillow case on which to lay my head, rubbing her special moisturizing cream on my face before bed, or filling my tummy with delicious foods, she has taken care of me in such unique ways over the years.  I'm hoping some of her hospitable ways, cooking skills, and sewing abilities have rubbed off on me.  Although I am fairly strict about sticking to a gluten-free diet, I couldn't help but make an exception on Mother's Day for Mawmaw's strawberry shortcake with homemade pound cake!

I am incredibly thankful for my mother and grandmothers...

Pickin' Strawberries

Last Saturday was a beautiful spring day and seemed perfect for some strawberry picking.  We took the short ride across the river on the ferry to visit College Run Farms in Surry.  Fun family times, 5 gallons of fresh strawberries, camera in hand, and some delicious homemade strawberry ice cream to top it all off...what a great day!
  

 

 

 

Daisy and her ducks

We came home Mother's Day evening to find 18+ ducklings running around in my parents' backyard. Over the past few years, 3 white ducks (a.k.a. Daphne, Daisy, and duck #3) who were initially raised by a neighbor have taken a liking to the Newton yard. 

Back when we had our dog, Isaac, it was not ususual to find the ducks inside his dog pen eating his food or taking a bath in his water. As much as it was frustrating to deal with their mess, they also provided lots of entertainment. Despite my Dad's numerous attempts (involving a hose) to keep them away, they always return. 

Dad recently discovered that Daisy was sitting on eggs in our wooded area but she kept them covered so well with down that we had no idea that there were so many. How they all fit under Daisy is amazing! As soon as Dad realized that they had hatched, he went to work on fencing them in to hopefully protect them from all the animals/snakes/etc. that would love to have them for dinner. None of them have made it in past years so we're really hoping for a different outcome this go round. They are so adorable and fluffy.

If you look carefully (and through the blur), you can see the ducklings tucked under Daisy's wing.

At first, Daisy was not so sure about us being close, but as soon as we put out some water, she got up the nerve to leave the nest and all her ducklings to take a drink.

Leaving the nest so we could count them!