The Kitchen

{via}

the fall is always our busiest season.

football and all that it entails when your kid{s} play is not a joke.

most days i want to bury my head in the ground like an ostrich and pretend that everything is just grand.

i saw the above quote and thought to myself, that this far, besides making cookies, i haven't really taught my boys to really BE in the kitchen.

and i really want them to be able to BE in the kitchen.

SO i'm putting it writing it here folks, so that i hold myself somewhat accountable.

once their respective football seasons are over, 

on alternating weeks they're each going to choose and prepare a meal

with my help of course.

that way they become comfortable BE{ing} in the kitchen.

because

EVERYONE BELONGS IN THE KITCHEN

maybe i'll make it a weekly post…

that thought just gave me anxiety, food photogs are my heroes.

my favorite saturday activity is preparing meals along side my husband. 

do you like BEing in the kitchen?

My brother is a HUSBAND!!!

I look at this and I can't help by cry. 

I haven't been able to control myself for days.

I'm not even a crier. 

I'm just so happy.

 These aren't even half of the selfies on my phone…just a few of my favorites.

 My boys adore their new Auntie!

These four have always had my heart. 

There was a time, not too long ago the the five of us lived together.

That was fun. 

The bodily noises were in full effect. DAILY!

I was the only girl. 

I ran a lot back then. Ha!

 I'm glad my Mr. is always by my side. I don't know what I'd do without him.

 I always wanted a sister growing up…God heard my prayers. 

I now have six. 

Is it me or am i shrinking?

Do you ever have so many feelings that you can't put into words, and everything comes out weird and awkward? That's me today. I make jokes when that happens, but in all honesty i am over the moon for my brother. 

Here's where this post will get deep. (You've been warned.) Our parents got divorced when I was 14 and he was 12. It was a hard time. He and I ended up so broken in so many ways. Through an infinite amount of prayer (on all of our parts) God is always faithful and redeems brokenness and I am grateful.

Sam is my brothers perfect match. 

Everyone has asked over the past year if I liked her and my answer was always, "yes, she takes care  of him and deals with him in such a kind and calm fashion. She is everything i could of wished for and more. She was made for him." God is crazy good in that way. He gives us exactly what we need. 

Scottish Wedding Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you - light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it. And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm. And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star. And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it. May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God. And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. 

Amen.

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Cheers to One Hundred Years!!!

Wishin' and Hopin'

Wedding season is in full swing around these parts.

I can't believe that in just 16 days my momma is getting married 

and in 3 short months my brother will be tying the knot too.

(I'm sure I've said this before but I am currently acquiring sister like its my job. 

I can't wait to officially call Sam my sister.)

It feels like it was just yesterday that I wrote this post.

This morning, because the weddings are always on the brain 

I woke up with Wishin' and Hopin' playing on repeat  in my head. And everyone knows that the best way to get a song unstuck is to listen to it and sing it as loudly as possible.

SO for your listening and viewing pleasure…

I present to you my favorite intro to a movie to date.

Wishin' and Hopin'

Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'

Plannin' and dreamin' each night of his charms

That won't get you into his arms

So if you're lookin' to find love you can share

All you gotta do is hold him and kiss him

And love him and show him that you care

Show him that you care just for him

Do the things he likes to do

Wear your hair just for him

'Cause you won't get him

Thinkin' and a-prayin', wishin' and a-hopin'

'Cause wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'

Plannin' and dreamin' his kisses will start

That won't get you into his heart

So if you're thinkin' of how great true love is

All you gotta do is hold him and kiss him

And squeeze him and love him

Yeah, just do it and after you do, you will be his

You gotta show him that you care just for him

Do the things he likes to do

Wear your hair just for him

'Cause you won't get him

Thinkin' and a-prayin', wishin' and a-hopin'

'Cause wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'

Plannin' and dreamin' his kisses will start

That won't get you into his heart

So if you're thinkin' of how great true love is

All you gotta do is hold him and kiss him

And squeeze him and love him

Yeah, just do it and after you do

You will be his, you will be his

You will be his

{lyrics found here}

cousins and the realization of how super short i am.

this photo is so dear to my heart.

but before we get to that i want to say… 

oh hey, thanks for the blessing Pope Francis.

my cousins and i are never in the same room at the same time.

unfortunately, what got us all in the same room was my Grandmothers death. 

as sad as the circumstance were it was really wonderful to spend so much time with these ladies. 

reminiscing on our childhoods. laughing at how big we each thought Grands house and yard were and  realizing how teeny tiny it really is when we went there to gather pictures. 

 (Grand hadn't lived there since 2007 and none of us had been there, our mothers had the maintenance taken care of.) Grand had a way of making everything feel grandiose.

i miss her every second. 

i also realized how short i am standing between my cousins and y'all I'm wearing heals. kristin on the right end is in flats and she was still a good three and a half inches taller. lauren, (on the opposite end) kristin's twin if you couldn't tell is just as tall when she's not in heals. and carla, (standing next to me in the center) pft! i always thought i was taller than her, haha NOT! she's a good two inches taller. 

i've come to the realization that i must just think really big of myself and my presence. 

you could call it a problem with EGO, i guess.

because seriously, i never realized how lacking i was in the height department. 

5'3'' is small.  

wishing you all a blessed weekend!

xxO

kelly

P H O T O B U S T

do you ever just want to scream 

"just look at the damn camera" 

when your in the middle of a family picture shoot?

i do.
i know. language. but seriously. every. TIME?

these were all pretty much a bust. every photog who takes our family photos wants my men to smile. i want to yell at them

"my guys do not smile with their teeth. they have amazing lips. 

all three of them, their lips are big. 

 them smiling with their teeth is not natural. 
please quit asking them to smile with their teeth." 

my beautiful cousin, had to sneak in a few pictures.  she just loves my boys.

OPEN YOUR EYES!

i like this one, but its a tiny bit grainy. :(

can we just talk about my height for one second. 

I HAVE WEDGES ON!

i must be shrinking 

because there is no way my boys are getting so tall.

*insert uncontrollable crying here*

i hope your family photos turned out better than these. ;)

S A T U R D A Y {{PART 2}}

after we got home from the hunt and got everything cleaned up we jumped back into the car and head up the hill to the neighboring mountain town.

the temperature was much cooler than it is at home and my husband need starbucks to warm up.

he's addicited. it's bad.

while he ran in the boys and i made this

 for your viewing pleasure.

i've never claimed to be a singer…however i do dream about having a wonderful voice and singing on a stage in front of millions of people. dreams are fun.

we stopped to visit a friend of ours who lost her husband at the beginning of summer. 

when we left my boys were shocked at by her optimism. i guess they expected her to be mopey and depressed. but she isn't. she is so happy that her husband isn't suffering anymore and that he is in heaven now celebrating with Christ. it was a great opportunity for us to point out to the boys that having Christ in our lives turns grey skies blue. even in the worst possible situations.

our next stop was a little piece of land that we own in this little mountain town.

 

it's out past the city and the boys had the opportunity to practice shooting the rifle.

my little one won a deer hunt. talk about excitement in this house.  

we dream about building a little home nestled in front of that little mountain.

S A T U R D A Y {{ part 1 }}

sometimes days are full and long.

sometimes those days are over the top wonderful.

S A T U R D A Y

was one of those over the top wonderful days.

we started off the day bright and early with a drive to a neighboring town for a jr. pheasant hunt.

i normally don't go along on these types of adventures, but someone needs to take photographs and be a keeper of these memories. 

lucky for me another mom ended up in our group went along for the ride. she was so nice and to my surprise she's a hunter. and she just may have convinced me to get my hunting license. of course my husband jumped at the chance of me being slightly interested to get me into the hunter safety class. 

i may have convinced my niece and nephew to go through the course with me. 

i'm a big baby and don't like to do things alone. ha!

this girl is German Shorthaired Pointer and man can she can work. 

she looked like she was having a blast finding the birds.

this lady is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon she was just beautiful. 

three things that really stand out to me from the hunt are:

1. the community of hunters are not what i expected. they are truly so kind and friendly. 

2. my boys can shoot. like whoa, can they shoot. 

3. watching the dogs sweep, point, and flush out the birds was so impressive. i would go as far as saying it was just beautiful to watch. 

this was only a third of what saturday held. 

i'll be back tomorrow with part 2.

how was your saturday?

wild and free

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, 

and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Galatians 5:1

it is easy for me to suffer from bondage, life is so busy. i often find myself trying to take shortcuts as far as my spiritual life goes. as much as i wish sometimes that i were the boss, i am not. the only place that i will find true rest is in Christ.

i am dependent on HIM. 

i love the feeling i get inside when i am actively pursuing Him. nothing can replace it. so why even when life gets crazy do i slowdown my pursuit? it makes no sense.

i want to feel free, daily. 

these photos were taken in july when we were in virgina prancing around an inlet on the chesapeake bay. my boys were so in love with the forests and the bay. they truly were wild and free, soaking up the beauty that the lord created all around them. they were light, free from worldly distractions. this day will go down in our family history as one of the best ever. 

my prayer for us all today, is that we pursue him, grabbing hold of the freedom and rest that Christ provides. feeling light like child full of His grace free from the bondage of sin.

happy wednesday

Be Wild And Free!

engagements. plural. as in two.

over the summer both my brother and my mother got engaged.

not to each other. lets make that clear.

because someone made a joke out of it recently.
that's just GROSS!

number 1.
my brother

it went like this, one starry july night my brother took his girl to the lookout, and as they laid in the bed of the truck looking out into the starry night he said, 

so do you want to do this? be my wife?

she said yes.

S will bring my sister count to 4.
i like that. a lot.

the happy couple last christmas.

number 2. 

my mom.

M had a fabulous plan as to how he was going to propose.

we're talking a hot air balloon over beautiful napa. 

however the weather did not cooperate and all gallons were grounded. 

but a stifled plan our not he still go the job done. in napa out over one of the best views in the county.

obviously she said yes. just look at that smile.

her face looks like it might explode of delight.

we couldn't be thrilled.

my moms previous relationship was fifteen years of abuse.

(she has big plans to help women who are in the same type of relationship. i can't wait to help her) 

as her child i felt so helpless in the situation.

M has helped her to get back to her old self. my mom.

she has the most beautiful smile i have ever seen. i'm glad to see it again.

M = peace.

i love it.

adding M and his family

will bring my brother count to 5 

(how awesome would it have been to have five brothers when i was in high school)

and my sister count to 5.

WHAT!

the more the merrier i always say!

this is M and my mom this past may.

these were definitely two of my favorite things that happened this summer.

what was yours? 

its finished.

first of all it's been a month since i last blogged.

how did that happen?

now that life is going to get back to normal.

a.k.a. tha boys are back in school,

maybe i'll find the time to play in my little "cyber space"

i've missed it.

+++

enough of that, lets back to the real reason for this quick post.

guess what peeps...

my heirloom settee is finished!!!

i just got it back this morning.

here's a looksie.

to see the before photo and to read the history of my "heirloom settee" go here.

now i just need to find some throw pillows.

happy monday ya'll.

boys.

mine are silly.

here's a quick peak into our daily shenanigans.

little brothers alway have to get the last laugh.

big brothers shadow box while waiting for little brothers to shop.

they also sing really REALLY loudly.

and when my brother comes over... things get taken to a whole new level of silly. would anyone like to learn to crypt walk?  we're gangster.  it's how we celebrate.  my brother proposed to his girlfriend on sunday night.  maybe this is his happy dance.  she said YES!  side note... last night my first born had a girl over for the very first time. he played his guitar for her. it was sweet. she was cute as a button and polite as can be. i feel too young for this.  pray for me?! happy tuesday!

a family heirloom

you guys i am so excited to write this post...

as you all know we just moved to a "new to us" home. some of the criteria from said home was that it have both a formal living / dining room and a family. that way the "men" (hubz and my boys) and the "lady" (me) could each have a room to do with what they wished. i will let you in on a little secret though, i have full control of the "man" room. ha!

my plan for the "lady" room was always a fusion of this and this.

about a month ago, i got an email from my dad explaining that his cousin has this old victorian settee that is a family heirloom and that it has been in the family since the late 1800's if none of his siblings are interested in it would you i?

Um hello!
of course i would be.

here's vicci in all of her glory. isn't she beautiful.

here's her history below. martha would be my great great great aunt. 

the best part of the whole thing is how excited my husband is to get to work on her. we are definitely doing this.

in the email from my dads cousin, she recalled the first time that she saw the piece in my great grandmothers attic it had black upholstery. so really i am just returning vicci to her glory days. i cant wait to show you all the final product. 

if this settee was your what would you do? i always love other people ideas and perspective. 

xxO

you can see all of my room inspiration here.

 follow me on pinterest here.

Q U A K E S F O R E V E R

or was that texas forever...

saturday marked the end of an era for the boy who made me a mama. he played his very last youth football game. for 1/3 of the year the last five years we have been part of team. i say we because it has truly been a whole family effort. our team mates have become family.

we lost the playoff game by TWO points. TWO. and to add insult to injury. we lost the playoff game last year to the same team by only ONE point. ONE. the boys took it really hard. i mean, look at those faces. the other team that is going to the championship finished their game before we finished ours and the whole team including the parents came over and cheered us on. boys were giving our boys pointers. they really wanted to see us in the championship. it was really sweet and heartbreaking all at once.

the below photo is of the originals. these five along with the two coaches have been together for the entire 5 years. many have come and gone. but these guys right here are true Quakes.

i'm weeping as i write this. if you know me, you know that i hate change. but alas change is good. it's the natural progression of life i guess. i can't wait for what the next chapter of my boy's life will bring. i see friday night lights in our future. i honestly love being a football mom. football moms are tough and sweet and amazing and gaga for their boys. being the mom of boys really brings me so much joy.

this year my boy tried something new on the field.
K I C K I N G.

he loves it. we always tell the boys to DREAM BIG. maybe there will be a scholarship in our future.
BELIEVING IS SEEING
am i right!

i call this smile the knucklehead smile. he smiles this smile when he's being a knucklehead.  i love it because he's always done it. one of my favorite photos of him was taken on his third birthday. we got him an over sized tonka fire truck complete with lights and sirens and a mechanical ladder. it was 3 feet long. he stood on it and smiled this smile. i die. every time i look at it. this smile melt me to the core.

 take 'em down son. boo-yah!!!

when asked why he was crying he said "because i wont be able to play football with my friend anymore." break my heart. our Quake boys will be attending four different high schools. :(

i could go on and on and on about this boy playing football, but there are too many memories to count. so until his next season i'll leave you with a cheer...

i said a boom chikca boom.

                      a boom chikca boom. 

                              i said a boom chicka rocka, chicka rock, chicka BOOM!

WOOT-WOOT                    

for the record. my husband thinks i'm awesome {especially when i'm being insane} cow bell and all. ha!