One more.....

.....from inside the barn. :)

Just been a little busy....

Have I ever told you how much I like pictures? Don't get me wrong, I love to read, but man, I could just look at a photo book for hours and hours- and come back to it again a couple days later. That's why I have worn out my "From Conception to Birth" book...full of super-cool photographs of all the stages of pregnancy, and have a coffee table book of the BEST of national Geographic photos (thanks, Little sis!)- and why I still have some of my childhood books- because the illustrations are just TOO AWESOME.
Anyway, I have read too many blogs that apologize for being picture-laden. I have NO APOLOGIES. this is what I love- and I will be more likely to read...er...LOOK at your blog if there are pictures. I am more excited about my own blog if I have some decent pictures of my own to post. So, that being said, here is my uber-busy blog for the day:

this week marks the end of my first year of teaching!!!!
whoa!
now, it was a crazy year- marked in the middle by the birth of my little J man, teaching art to around 200 children from grades 1-8, organizing the transportation of projects from the school to my kiln, back to school, then many of them to the art fair.... a little disorganized, but what can you expect from my first year of teaching? All I can say is that I have been asked back to teach next year. yay! what plans I have for next year...mwa haha...I mean..YAY.

The photo season has kicked off to a great start, with baby photos, family pics, engagements, and maternity photos. And I am now taking my camera EVERYWHERE I GO. why? because it has happened too often that I don't have a camera when I really, REALLY need it!
So here are some highlights from this past week:

family

Baby 6-month pictures

Engagement Photos

(ok...so the Dogs aren't getting the engagement pics...they just came along for the ride ;)

I also made it to J hubby's softball game this week.....unfortunately, I was too busy hanging out with J man and my friend's pup (yes, the same one from the engagement photos) to really take notice of the game, but they did win ;)


J man has been hyper-hilarious, too. He turned 5 months on Tuesday, and this is my favorite pic of him that day... I haven't done my "official" 5 month pics of him yet...they will be coming. Soon. Ish.

(yes, he is laughing)

I also began digging my garden. Well, J hubby dug up the sod, tilled the earth, and did all the HARD work, but I designed it, got the paths dug, piled the dirt into the respective spots (one garden comprised of three raised beds). It looks beautiful. In my head, mind you, it is stunning. Right now it's just 3 piles of dirt. But, as dirt goes, I think it's beautiful.
Of course, more pictures will be coming as it progresses.
AS for me, I am BEAT. J man has been sleeping for almost 2 hours now, and I should really let my head sink into my pillow for some crazy-dream time.
Have a fantastic night, everyone!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's House

We had a great time this weekend up at Grandma and Grandpa's house- it was awesome to hang out with them again! There are a lot of pictures in this entry, so I'll let them tell most of the story. Here are the highlights:
Josiah snuggled a lot with Grandma.
Josiah snuggled a lot with his cousins.
Grandpa went sledding with Dustin and Ethan- and even went down the hill by himself a couple times- he said it's the most fun he's had in a LONG time!
The kids all got sticky fingers from the rice krispies' treats.

Fall in Wisconsin

I had to take a picture of the beautiful leaves in my front yard. Soon they will be covered with white and, when they reappear, they will be brown and slowly becoming part of the earth again.
I love fall, but this year it seems to be flying by so quickly that I haven't had my usual childhood flashbacks: until today.
Things I love about fall:
1.That distinctive smell of cool, crisp leaves brings me back to walking on our front sidewalk with a blanket 6 inches deep with leaves and making a trail with my feet.
2.Piles of leaves on people's lawns reminds me of when, after school, my siblings and I would make several piles of leaves (nests) and we would fly from one to the other. Of course, they would need to be rebuilt every so often, but there was such joy in jumping (flying) into the softest pile we could build.
3. Dewy mornings- it's just beautiful to see perfect droplets of water sparkling across my lawn on yellow-golden leaves and grass that is still green :)