BareFoot Days

Lilacs

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:26:00 +0000

I'm Back

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:58:00 +0000

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted! Since I last posted...

...The youth usually put on a Son Rise Service at church. We perform a play and then serve breakfast. This year our play was about some country cousins going to visit their city cousins. The city cousins don't understand the true reason for church and just use it as a social club. The country cousins teach them what church is really for. I was one of the country cousins, Brenda Mae. This was my first major part in a play and I really enjoyed it. Keith was the uppity pastor from the First Church of the Stained Glass =)

Photo by Mom

I don't have a picture of us in our play outfits, but here is one taken in our Easter outfits (I'm not sure why I'm making the weird face). I procrastinated about making my Easter jumper until Saturday. Definitely not happening again....

...I am completely finished with school! I finished almost two weeks ago and I'm still not sure what to do with all my extra time =) I'm hoping to get back into a bakery in the near future. I will also be teaching knitting and crocheting classes at JoAnn's sometime soon.

...Our garden is slowly coming together. I've planted a row of lettuce and two rows of beets so far. I hope to get at least one more row of beets in. I also have the bell peppers and tomatoes sprouting on our porch.

...My latest item up in Etsy.

I have more pictures that still need some final touches. Maybe later in the week I'll get them up =)

Spring Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:32:00 +0000

A couple days ago I went out took some pictures of our budding trees and flowers. Most have grown quite a bit since then, but here they are anyway =)

Forsythia

Raindrop

Lilac Bush

Bird's Nest

Azaleas

Rhubarb

Today my friend came over and we did my senior pictures. Can't wait to see how they turned out!

Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:28:00 +0000

*Note: I started off with the intention of just posting about spring, but then I got into a basketball/football thing. Sorry it's just a conglomeration of things =) *

I'm so excited spring is finally here! Not that we had much of a winter, but it's still here!

{via}

{The forecast for Ft. Wayne from this previous week. You can see the records broken and what the average high is supposed to be for March.}

This past week has been hot! On Wednesday we almost hit 90*. Northeastern Indiana was warmer than any other major city in the country (Phoenix, Miami, Houston, etc.)

A lot of our trees have started budding, including the lilac bushes. I'm really hoping it doesn't freeze or the lilacs won't bloom very well. What's spring without lilacs?!

Our forsythia bush has bloomed. The azalea bush is starting to bloom. I'll post pictures later =)

{via}

On a sadder note, Tim Tebow was traded to the Jets. (No, I do not obsess over him like some other teenage girls =) ) The Jets are number three on my 'NFL Can't Stand List', right behind the Patriots and the Steelers. (You can see why this is so sad now.) Peyton Manning was the one who took Tebow's place on the Broncos, but Manning's from the Colts. Then the Colts get rid of all the rest of my favorite players... *Ugh* I don't know why I'm complaining when I'm a Cheesehead anyway.

Pretty sad when the only drama in my life is football =)

{via}

And back to happy stuff... IU is in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in almost 10 years. I don't really cheer for IU, but it's nice having a team from your home state in there. Last night was the first time this season I've watched basketball and oh how I have missed you basketball! I really don't know why I didn't watch it earlier... I watched Wisconsin lose to Syracuse (which was a really good game by the way). I really like Wisconsin, but I'll take it since the game was so good. Anyway, tonight at 9:45 on CBS be cheering for IU. =)

Miscellany Post

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:51:00 +0000

It is soooo nice out right now. It's sunny and in the mid-70's with a slight breeze. Oh bliss!!!

Tonight

Chance
Tstms
Lo 59 °F

Thursday

Chance
Tstms
Hi 76 °F

Thursday
Night

Chance
Tstms
Lo 58 °F

Friday

Chance
Tstms
Hi 78 °F

Friday
Night

Mostly
Cloudy
Lo 57 °F

Saturday

Chance
Tstms
Hi 76 °F

Saturday
Night

Chance
Tstms
Lo 58 °F

Sunday

Partly
Sunny
Hi 76 °F

Aren't you all jealous? =)

{via}

We opened up some windows today and are letting the house air out. I've been washing our bedding and hanging it out. I love getting into bed after the sheets and blankets have been hung out.

We still haven't ordered our seeds for the garden *ahem*, but I have a list all planned out. It's just a matter of getting it sent in.

I absolutely detest Daylight Savings. Once upon a time Indiana was normal and didn't participate in it, but now, unfortunately, we do. I honestly don't see the point in it. I think of more bad things about it than good...

2012 =)

God Made a Farmer

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:06:00 +0000

I think this about sums it up. I can see my dad doing almost all these things =)

"And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.

God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the township board." So God made a farmer.

"I need somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle a calf, and yet gentle enough to cradle his own grandchild."

"Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait for lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure to come back real soon, and mean it." So God made a farmer.

God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year'. I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from an ash tree, shoe a horse, and can fix a harness with hay wire, feed sacks, and shoe scraps. Who, during planting time and harvest season will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday and then, paining from tractor back, up in another 72 hours." So God made the farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer.

God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales, yet gentle enough to help a newborn calf begin to suckle, and tend the pink-combed pullets. Someone who will stop his mower in an instant to avoid the nest of meadowlarks."

It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight, and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, brake, disk, plow, plant, strain the milk, replenish the self-feeder, and finish a hard week's work with an eight mile drive to church. Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing. Who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply with smiling eyes when his family says that they are proud of what Dad does. "So God made a farmer."

~Author Unknown

Thanks to Goat Song Farm for sharing.

February's Good Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0000

A few good blog posts I found throughout the month of February =)

Being Single

A Letter to My Children About Marriage~Mrs. Kelly

Wanted: Eligible Young Ladies Only~Miss Bailey

From Someone Who's Been There~Mrs. Ruth

The Manhood Experts~Miss Bailey

Health

How I Stock My Natural Medicine Cabinet~Mrs. Stephanie

In the Kitchen

Strawberry Scones~Miss Johanna

Ponderings

Pick a Little, Talk a Little~Miss Shelby

A Confident Heart~Mrs. Swope

Relationships: The Schoolhouse of Christ-likeness~Mrs. Hunt

Blooming in the Window Box~Mrs. Kendra

Joy in Suffering?~Miss Rose

Friends~Miss Amanda

My Personal Thoughts {Modesty}~Miss Emily

The General Populace and I~Miss Bailey

Words-Our Blades or Our Bandages?~Mr. Caleb

Backseat Driver~Miss Lucia

Devoted to the Lord~Miss Sarah

Just for Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:43:00 +0000

I usually don't like it when people just post from Pinterest, buuuuuuut I decided to post some fun quotes from it anyway =)

(Only by a year or two though =) )

Love this!!!

All images from (obviously) Pinterest.

Cherry Hill Sundries

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:06:00 +0000

I've opened my Etsy shop, Cherry Hill Sundries!!!

Frog Pillowcase

(I have a standard size one and a travel/toddler size one)

Celtic Cable Headband in Gray

Doll's Blue Gingham Half Apron

This is what I have up so far. I've have several more things to list and some more in the works =)

If you could please 'heart' Cherry Hill Sundries on Etsy and like me on Facebook.

B&W Photography Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Entering this picture in Lucia's photography contest.

Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:12:00 +0000

This winter has been crazy for us. Our normal so far has been in the 40's, whereas in a 'normal' winter we'd barely be in the 20's. About two weeks ago we were supposed to have rain overnight. Imagine our surprise when we woke up to 6" of snow!

You can see how much snow we got better in this photo

What has your winter been like?

Still Here

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:06:00 +0000

I'm still here. I have several posts in mind. I have pictures for those posts, but Flickr is being a pain. Hopefully it'll work today. I've also got something else in the works and it should be ready by the end of February!

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:05:00 +0000

The Accidental Bride {Big Sky Romance Series} by Denise Hunter

Two high-school sweethearts, a wedding reenactment, and one absent-minded preacher. Is it a recipe for disaster or a chance for a new beginning? Shay Brandenberger is a survivor. She’s lived through a crazy childhood, a failed marriage, and single parenthood—with her confidence intact. But not for long. Because when Shay participates in her town’s Founder’s Day wedding reenactment, she finds herself face-to-face with the one man who takes her breath away and leaves her weak in the knees: Travis McCoy. Travis is back in town after years away on the rodeo circuit. His one regret in life is breaking Shay’s heart when they were high-school sweethearts. He’s determined to get it right this time. So when their Founder’s Day ‘marriage’ is accidentally made official, Travis seizes the day. Can Shay put aside her pride to let Travis help her, or will their accidental marriage be dissolved before it can begin? {Publisher’s Summary}

My Thoughts:I read An Accidental Bride in a day, something I rarely do. It’s one of those books you have to read just one more page until it turns into reading the whole book because you want to know what happens next.

I really enjoyed the plot line. It was something new and different from other books I’ve read. I live on a farm and it was nice having a setting where I could halfway relate.

This was my first book by Denise Hunter and I was really impressed. I'll definitely be checking into more of her books.

I give this a 5 out of 5.

{via}

Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, and her husband Kevin says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

Thanks to Audra Jennings from B&B Media Group for sending me this book to review.

January's Good Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:16:00 +0000

Instead of posting my 'good finds' once a week, I'll do them monthly. One less thing I have to remember =)

Blog Tips
~Better Blogging Tips from Lucia~Miss Lucia

Health
~Beauty Tips~Mrs. Jasmine

Homemaking

~A Homemaker is Worth How Much?!~Miss Lauren

~What I Would Feed My Family on a Monthly Budget of $250~Mrs. Stephanie
~Frugal Living with Food Sensitivities~Mrs. Kate

In the Kitchen
~Building a Grain-Free Pantry~Mrs. Kate

Ponderings

~The Beauty of New~Mrs. Kelly

~Praying for Strangers: The Resolution~Mrs. River
~Called to Deny~Miss Mikaela

Thread the Needle Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:22:00 +0000

I don't have any pictures this week.

I'm still knitting away on the headband. I have about 5 inches to go before I can sew it together. I've worked some on Andrew's socks. I'll do a repeat on the headband and then do a repeat on his socks. It's different switching from size 6 needles to size1. The size1 needles seem so tiny and fragile!

What are you working on?

Sr. High Retreat

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Last weekend (not this previous weekend, the one before) our Sr. High from church went to a Quaker camp near Syracuse. We went up Friday night (during a really bad snow storm) and stayed until Sunday afternoon.

We stayed in a farm house that had been redone to fit a whole slew of campers. The girls had the basement and the guys had the upstairs.

{via}

We made these. It was a lot of fun seeing all the combinations we came up with.

Michelle picking out her crayons...

...and then she fell asleep =)

Olivia

This is mine. It looks much better in person =)

All of our beautiful artwork

Cora

BBI joke

Michelle being used as a fabric holder

Chris and Keith playing cards

Dutch Blitz

Hot Chocolate

Making sausage calzones

Washing dishes...I'm not really sure what Chris's deal was

Playing Knockout

The unique wallpaper in the dining room

Outside

Sunday night we went to Winter Jam.

This was our view (the back of the stage).

I drove one vehicle and then another guy from youth followed me into Ft. Wayne. We decided to stop at Subway on the way in and it took us half an hour to get 8 sandwiches! Granted there was only one person working, but still. We got to the Coliseum around 4:30 and the doors opened at 5. We tried going up to the nose-bleed section, but it was packed. So, we got to sit at the back of the stage. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

This was the first time we've gone to a concert without our youth pastor or another adult. It kind of weird not having someone there making the decision =)

iHeartFaces: Oh So Silly!

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:44:00 +0000

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge-www.iheartfaces.com

Happy 16th Birthday, Keith!

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:13:00 +0000

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2004

2002

2006

2009

Keith also went in and got his permit today! =)

Thread the Needle Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:16:00 +0000

Where I share my current projects, whether it be sewing, tatting, crocheting, knitting, etc

My ever growing stash of washcloths/dishcloths

A pair of Valentine's Day themed pillows. I originally was going to use plain old ribbon on them, but didn't like how it turned out. I found some lace in my sewing basket and love how it turned out!

Celtic Cable Headband-This headband has given me more fits than anything I've worked with before. I've had to rip it back several times now.

What are you working on?

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:23:00 +0000

Today is my youngest brother, Andrew's, 10th birthday.

2008

2010

2011

I remember getting to stay several nights with my grandparents when Andrew was born and then missing school to go see him in the hospital =)

Out of the four of us he's the most energetic and the daredevil. He loves getting dirty, but hates taking showers. At the moment he's obsessed with Angry Birds (we're still trying to figure out why).

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Christmas//Take Four

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:55:00 +0000

Take One//Take Two//Take Three

Yes, I'm still posting about Christmas, but it's the last one. I promise =)

This year we decided to open gifts one at a time. Hopefully we've started a new tradition.

We put the rest of Isaiah's presents in his tote so it looked like he only got one present.

Keith kept checking the same arrowhead book out at the library, so Mom got him one of his own.

Keith acting as if the tea kettle whistle was him screaming. Don't ask =)

I have no idea what that is.

Dad got a Cookie Monster shirt and pj pants

Keith's glass for making arrowheads

Love this shirt!

I got a crochet hook set with hooks from a steel 14 up through a K!

Sound of Music <3

How was your Christmas?

(Sorry about the weird lighting/grainy pictures. I'm not really sure what happened...)

Thread the Needle Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Where I share my current projects, whether it be sewing, tatting, crocheting, knitting, etc

I tweaked my washcloth pattern and have finally made a set of washcloths. I thought the colours were perfect for Valentine's Day.

Other than the washcloths, I haven't worked on much else. Hopefully we'll be going to Jo-Ann's tomorrow and I hope to get fabric for some pillowcases. We're expecting some snow tonight, so we'll see how bad it gets =)

What are you working on?

Christmas//Take Three

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:16:00 +0000

See Take One//Take Two

One of our Christmas gifts that I'm sure will be put to good use

Mistletoe

Christmas morning after church

The cats left the gifts alone until Christmas morning when Squizzy decided to get into our cousin's gift bag

The annual grandchildren (plus my uncle in the first picture) picture at Grandma's

The Three Stooges

Playing Apple to Apples

I'm that cool =)

Thread the Needle Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:29:00 +0000

Where I share my current projects, whether it be sewing, tatting, crocheting, knitting, etc.

One of my 2012 goals is to open an Etsy shop.

Currently I'm working on some washcloths and dishcloths. I hope to include some pot scrubbers and maybe some face scrubbers too. I'm still working out the kinks in my scarf and headband patterns =)

Poor Andrew is still waiting on his Christmas socks. I have one sock done, but still working on the other...

What are you working on?

A Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Esther) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:16:00 +0000