Summer time!

Whew…it’s been a full summer and I’ve neglected getting any posting done here. I FINALLY got some pics edited to post and will try to give a little rundown of the summer.

I posted a while ago about Isaiah being in my cousin’s wedding. Here are a couple of picutres of that. The first is Isaiah with Chris and Heather and the second is with my youngest brother Aaron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This spring Dad planted some new fruit trees with his little helper Isaiah

 

Then Mom, Dad and I tackled a bit flower bed that has never been completed. It involved moving out huge rocks, weeding, leveling, putting down the weed guard, adding mulch and moving the HUGE rocks back. Oh…and of course planting the plants. It wasn’t quite finished in this picture since we ran out of weed guard and mulch. We also added some more plants.

 

We also planted a few strawberry plants

 

 

On one of our trips to Indy we got together with some old playdate friends. When the moms met (3 of us) we had these kiddos:

And now between the 3 of us:

 

Then we went camping. The boys loved to go out on the pier and go fishing. They also got to go out and fish with Grandpa in his boat. Oh, and while at camp some of the older guys were doing haircuts so Daniel and Isaiah got their “camp haircuts”. (Joshua was sleeping).

 

The boys and I spent about 12 days in KY at the beginning of July. Here they are playing in the water to stay cool.

One day we went to Chaney’s Dairy Farm. We got to go on a little tractor ride down to the barn and meet Miss Glimmer (dairy cow) and each of the boys got a chance to milk her. They also meet Bambi who was a calf that was only a couple weeks old at the time. Then we went back to enjoy some ice cream cones.

Mimi bought the boys a Lego Sticker book. They enjoyed the stickers.

 

After returning from KY, one of my sisters-in-law, mom, and I had a shower for my other sister-in-law who is having twins (due in early Sept.) I made 2 diaper cakes and we made some cute little pea pod cupcakes (her nursery theme is Two Peas in a Pod).

 

We had been home about a week, when Dave’s grandma passed away so went returned to KY for a week to spend time with family. 

Other news:

*Daniel lost his 3rd tooth yesterday and the silly tooth fairy only gave him one quarter this time instead of two….MAN, she is forgetful!!!

*Yesterday was also a big day because we made the decision to homeschool Daniel this year. We have been considering it for quite some time, but finally made the big decision yesterday. I am excited, but also a bit overwhelmed. Daniel is also pretty excited, but is also sad that he won’t get to see his friends at school. We got our books ordered and now will just wait until they arrive. In the meantime I will try to gather a few other supplies we may need. I also plan to get Isaiah some books to use to work on alphabet and numbers and such. Please keep us in your prayers as we embark on this journey.

 

A little bit of bragging….

about me this time. I’ve not said much about this but, I just have to share now. NOT PREGNANT…DON’T GO THERE! Anyway. Back in November I joined Weight Watchers. And…I have lost 21 pounds!!! YIPPEEEE! I still have quite a bit more to lose, but I’m so proud of myself for sticking with it. It is small losses each week, but that’s how it snuck on too!

I have also been making some rings. I have so much fun playing with them and being creative in a new way. I’ve sold quite a few as well. Right now I am working on making some in school colors. I would like to find some shops where I can sell them. We’ll see…

Okay, thanks for letting brag on me for a bit.

individual updates

Dave has had the top sales in the store and has been salesman of the week for the last 2 weeks! Way to go!

Daniel is doing well in school. He really seems to enjoy it and has learned a lot already. Mom is still learning to deal with not knowing what he does all day long..hmmm.

Isaiah is so fun to watch with Joshua (and Brianna too). He is definitely more of a peacemaker (not always, but more so than Daniel). It is so fun to hear him explaining things to them or helping them understand why they should/shouldn’t do something. One of those times when I like to hear him repeating what I’ve said.

Joshua is talking quite a bit and is very animated about it all.

Oh and me…working less YAY! Making some wire jewelry…rings at this point, but plans for more once I get some more wire.

Fruit bouquet

I am in charge of the food for our Mothers’ and Others’ brunch. I am doing my best to keep costs as low as possible and yet still have a nice selection of food.

I’m not exactly sure what made me think of it, but I remembered seeing edible fruit bouquets. I thought this would be a great way to dress up the food table and save money. It would provide a beautiful centerpiece (or two) and also be edible. So, I did some searching online to look for tutorials and to get some ideas. I lots of good resources, but mostly just looked at the pictures on sites that sell these bouquets.

So, yesterday afternoon I went out and got the fruit I needed. I bought a pinapple, honeydew melon and strawberries. I had a cantaloupe and grapes already on hand. Oh…also a head of lettuce. The lettuce is used as the base and then the fruit is put on skewers and poked into the lettuce.

I was very happy with how this turned out…especially for a first try. There is room for improvement, but I knew this was for practice. There are sooooo many ways to make these. They could be made as individual mugs, dip some of the fruit in chocolate, cut other shapes or just whatever your heart desires.

This isn’t the greatest picture, but it was late when I finished and didn’t feel like dragging my light box upstairs.

Jewelry added

FINALLY!! I kept saying that I was going to update my website…been saying it for quite some time. Well, it is finally done! Now if I can just stay on top of it so it won’t take me so long the next time. I guess I should say that all the jewelry portions of the site are completed, I haven’t had time to “mess” with the rest yet. It feels so good to finally get that done. Let me know what you think.

Heart’s Desire By Jess

Crafting

Well, I said I was going to join the world of blogging, but haven’t really done that yet….

There always seems to be so much going on and I just don’t get around to getting over here. One of my favorited forums www.allcrafters.com/forums is back online and the ladies there are doing a great job keeping me inspired with lots of new ideas to try.

Let’s see…what have I done in the last while? Most recently I made some jewelry for a wedding. 4 bridesmaids necklaces and earrings and the bride’s necklace and earrings. I will be making another necklace for a bride who will be getting married in June.

I made sevearl new necklaces at the beginning of the year. Some are listed on my website www.HeartsDesireByJess.com I have more to add and am hoping to get that updated soon.

Another new project that I am hoping to try…resin. Amanda, from AllCrafters has been making some resin items and my mom and I are both wanting to give that a try. So hopefully I will have some pics of that to post soon. (Can’t post any pics of anything today since I’m at my parents’ house using their computer)