and THESE are the DAYS of our {LIFE}

Last Friday, we went yard-saling. Big surprise, eh? I found a wine rack for $.50, Ryan got a few brand new Gap polo shirts, and JD scored a .22 pistol for $30. Needless to say, we were all pretty happy (Gage was happy with his chocolate milk) ;) After we were sale-d out, we saw a U-Pick sign for cherries. Last year, we {almost} paid $5 per gallon cause JD had a hankerin' for canned cherries. This year, however, must have been a good year for cherries because we picked 82 pounds @ $1/lb! SCORE.

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The next day, my mom and I canned all 82 lbs! We had a:

It's so fun to learn how to do these domestic-type thingys from 'the master' you know? My mom definitely knows her stuff! Plus, she has all these handy tips that only moms know. Like how to NOT crack all the jars when you put them in the water- handy things, like that. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, 82 lbs of cherries is about 48 qts. Just in case you ever need to know ;)

Oh, and before I forget. I scored this at the Goodwill for $1. My daisies are going to look so cute in it:

I also have a bunch of 'projects' that have been piling up and FINALLY got finished. Like this sign in our family room. JD cut and routered the edges. I painted it and applied the...ehem...adhesive letters! Hahahaha. I'm just glad it's finally on the wall!We (as in Ryan, Gage, and I) have also been working on a little alphabet book. It was an idea I got a few years ago from my friend, Kelly, and we're finally giving it a try! Hahaha... I basically filled a scrapbook with different scrap paper and plan to do a letter per day with the kids. We might find letters...or things that start with certain letters...or make them...or take pictures of them...or maybe even find them in nature. We'll see. But while I was putting together the paper part (and the boys were 'supposed' to be sleeping) Ryan snuck downstairs to watch. I was working away and watching the movie 'Fireproof' for the second time. So now Ryan has decided that he wants to be a fireman. Here he is with his new fireman's mask: I'm not sure how the whole idea is going to turn out but so far, it's fun stuff. Here's how the 'A' page turned out:

Ryan cut out all those 'A's from a newspaper and Gage just sat next to him yelling "AAA...AAA..." It was so funny! We got the big stencils from my nephew's preschool teacher. They are so fun! The boys painted it red and then Ryan arranged the 'appleness'.

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Oh, and before I forget. Look what our new puppy did...

And look what the wind did to our glass table top!!!

After a pretty eventful morning, we decided to hit the spray park. And if it's free, it's me!!!

It wasn't until we got there that I realized I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet!

(ahhh...summer feels GOOD, doesn't it? On second thought...maybe summer feels kinda gross actually....lol)

We're back now (and my teeth are brushed!).

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Lately I've been thinking a lot about what our {life} might look like if I stayed at home instead of worked. How it would be different...how it might be the same. I thought about the things we would do...where we would go...and what we'd spend our time doing.

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Then it hit me, as things like this often do.

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How might our {life} be different if everything was smooth sailing all the time?

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If Olivia hadn't died, would I find a noisy house as {peaceful}?

If I hadn't burried a child, would I {rejoice} in what happens after death?

If my brother hadn't gone to war, would I have realized how {safe} we are?

If Ryan wasn't hospitalized, would I be as {comforted} when he crawls in our bed at 5am?

If I hadn't lost a boat, would I have realized how {blessed} we are?

If I didn't work, could I find the {treasure} in an ordinary day like today?

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I challenge myself today. I challenge myself to fertilize my vision ~ to thank the Lord for loving me and to start seeing my {ordinary} life through His eyes. I challenge myself to not only feel blessed but to be a blessing... to others.

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Bless YOU for dropping in!