The one where my sweet niece shows a spunkier side

My super sweet  soft-spoken niece, Chloe, has started a blog! I am so looking forward to more glimpses of her exciting life on the ranch and somewhat shocked by her unexpected sass as she recently publicly mocked me for my long blog absence! (Though now that I think of it, that girl could talk some serious Farkle trash;)  And so, after nearly an 11 month blog absence, at the urging of my lovely niece, I am ignoring the loud persistent call of Pinterest and taking a break from Instagram in an attempt to "bring it." Love ya girl!

I forget how to do this. Seriously.
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I may have to regress to my lazy facebook ways and simply post way too many pictures.....

 Look at this Katie Daisy journal I found while making a little stop in the adorable town of Galena, IL on our way home from our recent trip to Michigan!! I can't get enough of this happy artist:)

 Coming home from our trip to a broken fridge/freezer full of rotting food gave me a good excuse to pull out my pretty new thrift store rubber gloves. They were much needed....uuugh!

The day after finding the fridge of rotting food, the girls found this disgusting rodent on the deck. It was much too new to get there himself and the cats were nowhere to be found.....it was almost more disturbing to me than the fridge! What was it (too big to be a mouse) and where had it come from? Was there a nest literally overflowing with baby rats in the eaves of our home and were they on the verge of falling from their nest onto my head or down my shirt? Heebeejeebees were all around.

 On a more happy note, we were also welcomed home by a garden brimming with colorful veggies, trees laden with mini plums, and almost all my beloved zinnias....singing their bright infectious song.

 Steve's hops now have cones!!!

 Oh yeah! Found these letters at an adorable shop in Holland, Michigan.

Just the inspiration I needed to dig out my stash of vintage sheets and other pretty fabrics and start creating.

And finally, Addie was baptized! Something she had wanted to do for awhile and had included on our chalkboard  summer to-do list! I got emotional and wanted to break out in song......just like the zinnias. OH HAPPY DAY!!!