Sunday Snapshots: Twenty!

Just because I am already the mom of two who have passed the thirty mark, it is no less amazing to me that my Kati has now passed the twenty mark!

Yesterday, we gathered with friends and family to celebrate this milestone birthday. (As always, I don't have photos of everyone. I am uncomfortable photographing my guests. Family, on the other hand, is fair game. They expect it. ~smile~)

The birthday girl chose to decorate with an autumn theme. She bought a bunch of pumpkins when they were marked down to fifty cents after October 31. We picked up the rectangular plates in Tuesday Morning (loved them!) and Ron found the golden yellow napkins at Target's Dollar Spot, also on clearance at thirty cents a package! (He bought five packs. The man knows my napkin obsession...and he is frugal. It was a win-win.)

We had a finger food buffet, which was fun. Kati made her own birthday cake. I was willing to make her a cake, but this pumpkin cake is a specialty of hers (and sooooo very good!), so we decided that it would be safer for her to do the baking. Bekah and I made and decorated the leaf-shaped shortbread cookies.

Using our borrowed tradition, we went around the room and each told something we liked about Kati. What a joy to hear what everyone said! Gifts were so thoughtful...and so "Kati." A chocolate Scrabble game for our game-playing-chocolate-loving girl, a lovely mat hand woven by Maddie, a pretty pink travel bag, gift cards to her favorite places. And then the cards...hand made by her dear niece and nephews, with their own personalities shining through! Perfect.

Here, Ben explains his card to Aunt Kati.

The littlest niece was a bit shy (extra guests on this special Sunday afternoon), but everyone else sang Happy Birthday, dear Kati! Well, maybe the littlest nephew wasn't singing either, but I'm sure he was singing inside.

(Or was he thinking about those candles?)

Happy Birthday, Kati!  

As you leave behind your teenage years, we can truly say that they were a delight. 

We look forward to seeing what the next decade has in store for you as you walk in His grace.

A Personal Photo Challenge {Layering Textures}

The key word in the title is "challenge."  

And Donna's challenge this month is "Layering Textures." 

My first challenge was to find out what in the world a texture is! So I read the helpful articles that Donna linked, as well as her own suggestions on layering textures. Ooooohhh...so that's what a texture is. 

The second challenge was to learn something totally new (I have never added a texture to a photo!) and take the plunge!  Here goes...

I began with this cropped photo of one of my favorite subjects: Coffee. Coffee that tastes even better when served in a Friendly Village cup and saucer. 

Because I am familiar with PicMonky, I decided to use the textures that they offered. The first one I tried is "Smudge" (the fifth choice in the possible "smudges"). 

Then I got (a little) more adventurous and applied another "smudge" (this one the fourth choice) and faded it to 40%. I liked how this texture sort of framed the cup of coffee.

The last texture I tried was PicMonkey's "Paint" (the second of the "paint" choices). This time I was really brave and erased the texture over the coffee and the cup, leaving it in place over the remaining parts of the photo. I liked that effect.  

Then with a final burst of creative inspiration, I decided to add some text.

Just sayin'.

Thank you, Donna, for challenging me to learn something new!  

Front Porch Makeover

When we painted the front porch and the picket fences earlier this fall, I was inspired to spruce up the porch a little bit. I decided that a pair of black porch rockers would be just the thing(s) to replace the tired, aging, carpenter-bee-plagued bench that had been there for over twenty years, and the black Windsor chair that had been there since ~this~ day.

My vision was something like this...

~ source ~

My bench is old. Not "old" as in "antique." "Old" as in Ron made it in the 80's after I saw a similar one in a Country Living Magazine. It had an inside home for a couple of years until we bought a piano and the best place for the piano was the wall where the bench was sitting. The bench was moved to the front porch where it has been ever since. 

"Old" wasn't the problem. I love old things that have character and charm. But worn out and holey (from the bees chewing their tunnels...does anybody know what I'm talking about?) and dull...those were the problems.  

Ron conceded that the broken black Windsor should go, but he suggested that he could fix up the old settle bench. I was skeptical. 

But...a little sanding, a little filling of holes, and four coats of polyurethane (take that, bees!)...and I am loving the bench once more! 

The Windsor chair did go...and I'm not ruling out the possibility of one of those black porch rockers...

Next week, I'll be sharing another house-y update that I am SUPER excited about! This one also falls under the category of "everything old is new again"!

CeLeBRaTe!! {The Handy Dandy Index}

The links to all of the posts in my 31-day series are now right here! Happy browsing!

Day 1 ~ The Focus
Day 2 ~ Ebenezer
Day 3 ~ It's What's In the Heart
Day 4 ~ Invest
Day 5 ~ Inspiration
Day 6 ~ "Thus Far the Lord Has Helped Us"
Day 7 ~ Charting Growth
Day 8 ~ Birthdays, Birthdays!
Day 9 ~ A Real Life Story of a Birthday Celebration
Day 10 ~ Five!...and a Borrowed Birthday Tradition
Day 11 ~ Celebrate Autumn!
Day 12 ~ Celebrate Winter, Spring, and Summer
Day 13 ~ "Tune My Heart"
Day 14 ~ Party Buntings and a Giveaway
Day 15 ~ Celebrate? Really?
Day 16 ~ Honeymoon Basket
Day 17 ~ Place Cards
Day 18 ~ Giveaway Winner and a Bunting Tutorial
Day 19 ~ Celebrating a Milestone: Learning to Read
Day 20 ~ "Streams of Mercy"
Day 21 ~ The Pie Party
Day 22 ~ Party Planning Inspiration
Day 23 ~ Celebrating a New Year
Day 24 ~ Something Old, Something New
Day 25 ~ Celebrating Marriage
Day 26 ~ Party Games for Young and Old
Day 27 ~ "How Great a Debtor"
Day 28 ~ Celebrating With Family Recipes
Day 29 ~ Simplify
Day 30 ~ Turning the Calendar...
Day 31 ~ Final Thoughts

Have you seen any of these 31-day series?

Sunday Snapshots: An Autumn Walk

Yesterday was one of those delightful November-y days...crisp, chilly air, but radiant sunshine, and our fall foliage is at its peak. Just right for an autumn walk through the woods. So after a lunch of Cream Cheese Chicken Soup, sweet potato biscuits made by 7-year-old Owen (love that!), and hot apple crisp for dessert, we pulled on sweaters and sweatshirts and off we went. 

Alaine (3) won the fall fashion award. :)

The adults mostly walked (on the path).

The children also walked the path,

and on fallen logs.

And they ran,

and trudged through (dry) ditches.

1...2...3!

We all stopped to take a peek at the newly restored tractor that had been Ron's dad's.

 Ben (5), who had been riding in the wagon, decided to give his brothers a ride.

He did not want help. The determined boy was almost horizontal as he tugged!

One more stop...to pick up some hand-me-down guttering.

Papa put all the kids to work carrying the longest piece (it was l-o-n-g, but not heavy), 

and we joked that they looked like the Whos carrying their Christmas tree.

Back at home, it was time for some outdoor play...

or back inside for a cup of tea.

After 31 Days...

I offer my heartfelt thanks to each of you who CeLeBRaTed with me during the month of October! Whether you left kind words in my blog comments, or offered encouragement on my personal Facebook page, or popped in each day (or even now and then) to read, you spurred me on to the completion of a labor of love. Thanks for hanging with me! 

Photo taken by Bekah on our nature walk this week

And now it is November, another of my favorite months of the year. I have plans to lay low here on the blog for a few days. I'll be taking time for Mama Coffee with a dear friend, giving my house some much needed attention (Have you any idea how things go downhill when a procrastinator/homeschooling mama makes a month long commitment?), and celebrating a milestone birthday (Someone leaves the teen years behind this weekend!). 

I'll be back next week with an index and a few house-y things that have been happening this fall!


(Comments are closed.  Hugs to you on this first November weekend...)