easter weekend

how was your easter weekend? did it fly by as quickly as ours seemed to?

we worked hard on saturday to get some projects done upstairs (and made the usual menards trip) and then spent the evening at brad and lorna beth's for a small group easter dinner. our small group has been such a blessing to us and we have loved studying the old testament with the other couples!

on sunday, we were ambitious and made it to the 8am worship service. we got to see my family there for a bit, then we headed over to ben's parents' house for lunch and easter egg hunt goodness. it was a smaller group for easter this year with our friend crystal and her kids who are like family to us!

it was sweet to chat with crystal and get baby advice from her, specifically about hospital stuff——she's been through the process four times and has lots of experience. :)

as i sit here writing and uploading these pictures i am so thankful for family, friends, and most of all, a risen Savior. our friend brad reminded us that our faith hinges upon the fact that the tomb was empty. the Lord is risen. risen indeed!

a day in the sun

now that the wedding is over, things are settling down a bit. this week i had a chance to tackle some things around the house that i had been putting off.

the early spring has made everything so green, but i knew the lawn wasn't going to mow itself. it felt good to get out yesterday and get it done. and since i was in work clothes, i figured i might as well do some weeding, and wash the siding, and clean off the patio set, and chat with the neighbors. a few times. it was a wonderful april day out in the fresh air!

it is truly delightful to see new green plants pushing their way up. i love how the hosta comes up in little curls.

this last picture excites me very much. last summer, ben's cousin crissy gave me a cutting from her mom's peonies, and they are coming up! i hope they will produce flowers like these in a year or two! wouldn't that be wonderful. :)

 

enjoy your easter weekend. the Lord is risen!

my monday morning consists of . . .

 

proofreading at the kitchen table surrounded by beautiful flowers left over from my sister's wedding (while hvac guys install a bath fan upstairs). ahhh, i could get used to this——the flower part, that is!

the wedding was beautiful and God-honoring. thank you to all who came!

no time

for a long post. we are still squeezing in reno work upstairs, my sister's wedding is this saturday, and i am officially 24 weeks pregnant and not getting any smaller! here are some scenes from our lives during these past weeks:

we're replacing all the doors upstairs (there are seven), so ben and i scoped out bmo for a deal. the tagline is "the handyman's candy store" and it is so true. that place is addicting. we found one door for the linen closet——solid maple for 75 beans. not bad.

ben convinced me to splurge on the dollar bottle of sprecker bbq sauce at menards. we have fancy taste.

my love for menards grew (is that possible?) when they replaced our two broken stanley tape measures for FREE. free people. i was pretty excited.

so excited that i got into a floor sample bathtub.

 loony tunes t-shirt and all. like i said, we're fancy.

i hosted another shower and lunch for my sister and made these simple cheesecake bars. recipe here.

and i got crafty to make some candy-filled favors for the guests. instructions here.

you probably won't hear from me until after the wedding. au revoir!

when life hands you paint chips . . .

make art.

or at least that is what someone with borderline hoarding tendencies would say. and that person would be me.

i made this from paint samples, because apparently i can't bear to throw them away. kind of the same reasons for this project. hmmm.

but making this diy paint chip art was a motivating factor for finishing the art wall in our living room because it filled an odd gap in my design. i finished the art wall last year, i think? i can't remember. i had the frames assembled on the floor upstairs for a months before i finally went for it and put some nails in the wall.

this art wall was super fun to assemble, in part because it is a collection of found items with a few fun pieces i've purchased over the years. and most of the frames i already owned, i think. here are some close-ups from left to right, and then i'll tell you stories/sources for each piece.

ok. sources.

1. from the cover of a catalog. // 2. a freebie that came with a print ordered from blancucha on etsy. // 3. lemon yellow citrus birds print from sugarloop on etsy. // 4. love candy print in bubblegum from madebygirl. // 5. a pair of toy spy sunglasses (ben's!) mounted on premier prints chipper slub yellow fabric. // 6. a ribbon from the handle of an anne taylor loft bag. // 7. translucent blue birds print from sugarloop on etsy. // 8. diy paint chip art by me. // 9. a freebie notecard that came with prints ordered from sugarloop on etsy. i wrote in "for freedom Christ has set us free!" which is part of galatians 5:1, a favorite verse.

i guess the point of this story is that frame-able stuff is all around. only three of the nine things on that wall are actual art prints i bought. the rest were freebies that came with those prints or found items. so think outside the box and get creative with all the wonderful bits and bobs around the house!

***i must give credit to emily henderson for her ideas and motivational power. do you watch secrets from a stylist on hgtv? i catch episodes online from time to time, and seeing the composition of art in this episode definitely motivated me to stop procrastinating and just put these pictures up in a freeform, sprawling way. love that show!