A park and a fountain.

A picture heavy documentation of Wednesday's adventures. 

First up:  A park.

Fisher and his Ruby.  Those sweet kids sure do love each other.

And generally play very well together.

Johnny Bug. (My nephew)

He won the "most photogenic" award for the day.  Which is pretty amazing considering his age.  He sure is cute.

Miss Ruby!

One of my favorites of little J.

Then we moved over to the fountain.  It's this great splash fountain right by the playground.  It's really this giant rotating sculpture that just happens to spray water.  Which is fantastic for all the little ones (and big ones) in the summer time.  Some of you will have seen pictures from this fountain before as it's a summer favorite.

It was Johnny's first time here.

And he loved it!  What's not to love?

Well there IS the face planting in the water.

Miss Pipey in the breeze.

We should totally try and get a picture of all the kids together...

Well at least they are all in it together.

Miss Rachael (a.k.a. Ruby's mom) was even celebrating a birthday!

All in all it was crazy big fun.

And so pretty!

We capped the evening off with Miss Pipey  (finally - after many attempts) learning how to catch chickens.  Boy is she proud in this picture!

Piper and Leedy

We had so much fun and hope to make it a weekly event!  AND I'm linking this up over at Happily Home Sewn and their Peek of the Week!  Go check it out!





Love,
JKFP

Distractions

Life has been pretty crazy since I was here last.  Has it really been THREE WEEKS?  Yes it has.  But here's a little taste of the crazy. 

James came home.  What?  Yes.  For 4 days.  He was actually just getting over the jet lag when he was getting back on the plane for Frankfurt.

(whispering secrets at the airport and waiting for Daddy)

This was a quick, unexpected trip to attend the funeral of an old friend.  It was a sad trip.  But, we were able to reconnect with people we hadn't seen in years and remember the good times. 

(James and Moss)

Some friends even drove over from Gunnison to see James while he was here and we had lots of fun with them.  We had cookouts...

(here's Fisher showing Nikos and Kik just how Angry Birds is done)

Porch swinging with friends...

(three pretty sleepy kids)

Even a day in Manitou at the arcade.

(I don't have to tell you guys that this one is my favorite right?  I mean, a dragon!)

(I don't think I've ever photographed this much potential for trouble.)

(okay, when she comes to take our picture, lets make the exact same face.)

It was nice to have him home, even under unpleasant circumstances.  We (sort of) celebrated an early Father's Day.  Then poor Daddy had to get back on that awful flight to Frankfurt.  (It really is terribly long - even for a grown up)  He arrived safely (if 4 hours late) then went to work.  And now he has a really bad cold.  Airplanes are good for that.



Then WE ended up here.

I can't be sure (because I can't take a picture of myself while sick and let's face it, I wouldn't even if I could) but I think I looked pretty much like this a short 24 hours later. 

And Fisher never got it!  WooHoo.  The universe smiled upon us.  And that sweet boy took SUCH good care of us sick girlies.  He fetched bottles and blankets and diapers and water.  He was amazing.  I can't thank him enough for rallying to take care of us.

 
In other distracting news...

 

...my daughter is practically grown.  She insists on wearing dresses and braiding her hair (or pigtails) and wearing "the perfect shoes".  I mean, look at her!  AND (pretend I'm whispering a secret to you) she's wearing big girl panties!!  She's very proud. And so are we.

Hopefully, I'm back on track now.  Though James will be home sometime in the next month and we'll be thrown out of whack again for a bit.  But it'll be worth it to have him with us!

Hugs,

JKFP

**p.s. I'm putting the finishing touches on a craft blog.  So you guys won't have to see crafty stuff unless you want to!  (I'm looking at you Genrich)  I'll have the info on here once it's ready. 

Basket Case.

I discovered pretty early on that the best way to not get so depressed about James being so far away was to keep busy.  I have completed close to a million sewing projects since he's been overseas.  Well, maybe not that many.  Lets go with a bunch.  So here's a little project for you.

In Germany we were strolling around Marburg and I came across this little kitchen shop.  In the window (like I'm going to take my children in a cramped kitchen store!!) I saw these great fabric bowl type basket things that were apparently used for rolls.  After the sharp intake of breath,  (cause seriously, those were cute) I started to figure out in my head how to recreate it at home.  I can sew after all.

My first attempt was a little...large.  That's a dozen muffins in there. I figure it'll be okay at family gatherings to hold rolls, hamburger buns, chips, etc.

Like large.

This is a much better size.  Again with a dozen muffins.

Then I went a little crazy.

The smaller two are a different design and WAY easier to make.  The bottom here is rectangular instead of round. 

The possibilities are endless really with what to do with them.  Flowers?  I'd even put a jar in the taller (of the small ones) and put cut flowers in it.

But here's what I do with them.  Cotton balls and q-tips.  A nice way to brighten up a bathroom!

So there you go.  My fabric basket making craziness.

**Bonus**

Here's a bonus for you.  I'm in love with this fabric.  Can you tell?  Anyway, I have an e reader.  A Nook to be specific.  My nightstand is basically shelf that is pretty far away from my bed.  It's fine for a clock but a little tricky to reach to put away glasses and the nook when I'm finished reading at night.  Solution:  A nook and glasses pouch that hangs on the side of the bed. 

I've been thinking for a while about having a separate craft blog. What do you guys think? Would you follow that one? Should I just keep posting crafts on here every once in a while?

Craftastically yours,

Kristin

Tribal Children

Something happens around here when the weather starts warming up.  My kids get all tribal on me. 

They do love their mud.  It very common to find them like this after they've been outside for 5 minutes.  Only now a days it's so warm they are naked.

Look at that face!!

I mean...I've really gotta get some grass back there!  (And I am working on this. No, for real this time. I hope to have some progress pictures to post soon - but these are good "before" shots.)

There we are all nice and clean and waiting for Mr. Pizza Man.

But you know what?  They did it again the next day and the day after that and on and on and on.

They. Love. Mud.  They'll probably be really sad when I get the yard done.  I sure do hope they get over that.

Tribally yours,

F and P

For the love of hammock!

Guess who got a hammock chair for the summer?  And probably spring, fall, and winter too.

We are a little in love with this here chair. (Nope, I didn't tell him to do that.)

And...can you tell Mama finally learned how to crop photos?  Yes, you heard that right.  I haven't cropped or edited in any way ANY picture I have ever posted on this blog.  Or The Fisher Show email newsletter before that.  I'm learning!  Woohoo!  I've made HUGE technological leaps in the past two weeks.  Just ask Carly.  She doesn't even recognize me anymore.

Couldn't you just climb in there??
Happy June 1st.

Love,
JKFP