rushley & crew

Since the 5 on Friday gals are taking a break for the summer, these two farming ladies are implementing the exact same link-up with a different name. I'm all over that! Especially because I completely love their button . . . I mean look at that! ^^ Today's 5 are all about crafting, because that's pretty much all I've been doing this week. I'm supposed to be doing things like going through everything I've ever owned and getting rid of what I never use, but instead I've been checking some things off my to-craft list. The list just gets longer and longer every day, and I've had supplies for some of these things for quite a while, so it was time. Organizing and condensing can wait, right? :) one.  A few weeks ago, I bought bottle #3 for a quarter at a garage sale. It looked kind of creepy and Halloween-y to me, so I thought I'd add it to my Halloween decorations to be a witch's potion bottle or something. Then a few weeks later, my mom boug...

So apparently the 5 on Friday linkup goes on vacation during the summer, perhaps because every day is kind of like a Friday in the summer. But I still like having the prompt of writing about any five things that are on my mind, so I will continue to use it as my Friday theme :) one.  Yesterday I babysat my 20-month-old niece for a few hours. That girl is such a cutie. She came with me to the grocery store, I took her to the water park, bathed her, and fed her lunch. We walked to the water park, and on the way there, she was walking really fast on her little tiny legs; on the way back, I had to carry her most of the way, and when she did walk, it was super slow. Guess I wore her out with all my fun-ness ;) *favorite aunt award!* My favorite part was going in the wave pool with her . . . every time a wave crashed into us, she would burst into laughter! I sure love that girl :) not a picture from today, but it is a picture of cute haddie bug in her swimsuit :) two. From that e...

When I sat down to write this blogpost, all I could think about were all the things I need to be working on right now, but that didn't sound like a fun post. So instead, here are 5 things I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks and months of summer :) one. Going to the movies tonight! It's the last night that my brother's family will be in town, so we're all going to see a free showing of How to Train Your Dragon 2. I'm mostly just excited to spend some time with the family . . . they've been here for two weeks, but I've really only been able to see them on weekends because I've been spending all day during the week working on sewing projects for my sewing classes! So anyway, I'm excited to actually see them all a little bit more before they leave! two. End of term! Last day of classes is Monday and then I'll take my finals on Wednesday, and then I'll be FREE for the rest of the summer! :) three.  Anniversary celebr...

In my last 5 on Friday , I had pictures of all the fun family that was coming into town! For today, I have some of the funny things that have happened with the kids this week :) one.  The very first night, 11-month-old Joseph and 19-month-old Hadley were getting acquainted. Joseph crawled right up to Haddie and grabbed her face and started kissing her! He continued to do so over and over until she pushed him away and started screaming. The whole interaction was adorable and hilarious, but sadly, no camera to capture it. :/ two . Six-year-old Naomi was in Russ's way, and she demanded a password. Russ: What's the password? Naomi: Your last name! R: Okay, Holmes. N: That's not your last name! *5 minutes later* N (to me): What's your last name? A: Holmes. N: What?! No it's not! A: Yes it is. What do you think my last name should be? N: Petersen! And then I had to explain that when I got married I took Russ's last name :) Not sure whether she quite...

Guys. I'm so tired. Over the past three days, I've spent 26 hours in the sewing lab, and today I'll spend about 10 more. Too many projects to complete in the next barely-more-than-two weeks! So today's five will be quick. My brother's family comes into town today and they'll be here for the next couple of weeks! So I'm suuuuper excited to see . . .  one.  My brother and sister-in-law! :) Happy birthday to Tyler TODAY! :) two. Cute Noah who turns eight this week! three.  Sweet Naomi.  four. Mischievous Abram. five.  This adorable hunk of love, Joseph. Happy Friday!

one.  Is it just me or is everyone  pregnant/just had a baby? I currently have three sisters(/in-laws) who are pregnant (one who just announced this week). That's half of them! (Well, half of the marrieds.) Crazy, fun, and exciting :) I even live by two of these sisters, so that means I'll actually get to be around more nieces/nephews! I currently have eleven nieces/nephews and live by only one of them. So two more is exciting! :) All of our nieces/nephews when we got married. There are now two more, plus the three on the way! two.  Speaking of nieces and nephews, my brother's family is coming for a visit in like a WEEK! And bringing these four to see me! Well, not just to see me, I suppose, but I'm excited, nonetheless :) I love when family comes to visit!   three.  I'm currently in the middle of taking three of my last five classes, and something happened for the first time at the testing center yesterday. It felt pretty good :) four...

one . New blog design! A while back, I noticed how the really cute blogs didn't use regular old templates--they were custom designed. I knew that I was more drawn to blogs that had good design, so I figured my blog was easily dismissible because it was just a boring old template from blogger. I started looking for blog design websites, and I found a lot of great options, but the lowest price I found was $40--not bad, but more than I wanted to spend at the time. Then, I found  A Ziggy Designs , and her price was a mere $15! That was a price I could definitely afford! So we started the process of me communicating what I wanted and her doing so well in delivering. She was great to work with me as I changed my mind and got really detailed about what I wanted. And now, I'm so excited to finally have something a little more personalized and exciting :) But I'm still working on the info under about and love story , so be patient with me while that space stays blank for a few da...

Russ and I spent last weekend in Seattle visiting his brother's family. We quite enjoyed ourselves, and so I've decided to make today's five all about what you should do if you find yourself in Seattle. one.  Go to the Japanese Garden . It is beyond gorgeous, and it may cause you to want to move to Japan. Or to create your own little (or big . . . ) Japanese garden in your backyard. two . Eat tasty food. We enjoyed a Greek place and a delicious teriyaki place , as well as home-cooked steak, pulled pork sandwiches, and pizza. Food is really one of my very favorite things in life, so it's always a highlight of any trip. And because I like it so much, I rarely take a picture of it. I'm always too busy eating it :) So one of the only "food" items I managed to snap a picture of was our root beer. There is a tiny little place filled with a bajillion different flavors of root beer! We got five different flavors . . . and to be honest, I didn't re...