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2014 in photos

January 2, 2015

2014four 2014eleven 2014fifteen 2014five 2014eight 2014fourteen 2014nine 2014one 2014seven 2014seventeen 2014six 2014sixteen 2014ten 2014thirteen 2014three 2014twelve 2014TWO

what a fun way to remember!

i was going through Instagram and Facebook, seeing so many posts on what they learned this year.
and their word for the year.
i felt blank.
i thought… did i learn ANY thing?
my brain was feeling like mush from the holiday crazy schedule.

then i looked through these photos.
i see love.
and being loved.
color.
life.
dreams.
strength.
JOY.
courage.
creativity.
focus.
change.
FUN.

this year i found out how to love my kids deeper than i ever have.
this parenthood stuff is HARD and crazy amazing all at once.
it’s no joke.
and i am so proud to be their mom even when things get hard.
I’m happy to walk through life beside them too.

this year i realized i had dreams in my heart i hadn’t validated.
after a little working through what that means… 2015 is the year to make them happen.
i feel like jesus is saying “enough stalling Meg!”

what i reflect on again and again is that through it all God is so good!!
that doesn’t mean everything is perfect.
it’s not.
life is messy. (sometimes a complete disaster!)
everyone has struggles.
no one is alone in that.
but God’s Grace covers all of it.
He takes our offering of brokenness, weakness and failure and FLIPS it upside down.
He says “i love you. You are mine. You are new.”
we are not our mistakes.
we are not our past.
we are not what people think of us.
we are made new through Him.
God is good. He gives me HOPE. He carries me through.

bring on 2015.
i am ready.

(i think… maybe just a quick nap first)

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Kellyn - just thank you. Thanks for being you!! that is all 😉
have a blessed craft weekend!

Lori - I never get tired of your beautiful photos!

Courtney - Those photos are soo great! It was the motivation I needed! I have to print mine out and take more in 2015! Time just slips by way too fast. Great documentation of your year! Congrats!

annette - great post – i think taking pictures really helps us remember where we have been… wondering where you got your ‘Jesus loves me’ t-shirt?

Sue Linse - Love the pictures Megan! (does anyone call you ‘Megan’ anymore?…or is it just Meg. Anyway – only comment – love any picture of Stanley – SO cute. And Annie is freaking Adorable – should be modeling for GAP or something. Miss you as always 🙂

jennibell - Wow. What a beautiful, reflective post. You are inspirational to so many Meg!!!

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - So many beautiful smiles! And I can’t wait to watch your dreams unfold!

Melissa - Amen! Here’s to 2015

Carol S. - I like your photos and perspective. You’re one of my favorite bloggers…real…colorful…most important, faithful. My blogging schedule has been reduced to one a year, lol. I don’t know how you do it, but sure am glad you do. Jealous of all your adorable pics with hubby. My husband ducks when camera comes out!

Kimberlee Jost - I loved all of the pictures!

amy jupin - i share so many of these same thoughts and emotions, especially in the message i keep hearing from jesus.
“don’t be afraid. stretch, grow, follow your passions!”
i push it down again and again.
what does it possibly mean?
what if i blow it?
we need to follow his lead and fight for our dreams!
they are important. so, so important!
i am with you, friend.
i am for you too.
happy new year meg!

Tammy - Happy New Year! Thanks for always being such an inspiration Meg!

Amy - Cheers to 2015! I’ve loved following along with you here and on Instagram. Thanks for sharing your life with us!

Lisa - Well said! Here’s to 2015!

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wrapping up december

December 30, 2014

well we are at the end of the year already?
it feels super weird to me.
and like everyone else… this past week of celebrating has been a blur.
but for the most part it’s been the good kind of blur.
we decorated gingerbread houses.
i cheated a little and bought them pre-built from the bakery at target.
but what matters is we did it.
and even BEFORE christmas this year?!

the most fun addition this year was the Air Head Extremes rainbow stripe candy!

and the Alpha Bits cereal was a good idea but it turns out there are hardly any N’s or S’s which is annoying.

they have so many jokes and voices and stories together that make each other laugh constantly.
and they were cracking each other up this day.
(of course they fight too but it’s so much more fun to capture them laughing)

we had several family christmases… and i took a few pictures at my parents because my dad got me a wide angle lens!
it’s so fun to play around with!

my mom made a big dinner for us all!

cousins in their new socks!

and then my kiddos in new jammies on christmas morning.
sleepy faces ready for breakfast and gifts.

we pulled off surprising talby with this piano!!
craig and the boys went and loaded it up… hid it behind a bunch of other things in the garage till christmas eve.
then pushed inside after talby went to bed.
i did no work other than find it… i am so grateful for strong men.
i googled around and found out it’s over 100 years old!
it sounds great to us and talby remembers so much from her lessons in the past – i was shocked!

craig found a ping pong table to go over the pool table. 🙂
and now there is a ping pong championship on the line!

every family does christmas in their own way… your gifts, traditions or ideas may be different from ours and that is O K!
we do one gift of something they want (like a kindle or new phone or speakers or a piano)
and then “stockings”
and somewhere along the way… the actual stockings became gift bags.

lauren

annie

scott

talby

sean

and i got some beautiful gifts too from lots of lovely people in my life.
🙂
i felt quite spoiled.

this year my kids hit a new phase in their sibling life.
they EACH picked meaningful things for each other.
ALL of them.
i was so proud to watch them open gifts from each other… and see their faces when the brother or sister liked it.
that’s the good stuff.

and you guys!!!
my mailbox has been BURSTING with christmas cards from YOU!
i read every one of them and announced the state (or country) when we opened them.
annie was my helper.
it was really sweet and i appreciate all of them.

reading all your notes made me remember why i love blogging.
and refreshed to keep going.
t h a n k y o u.

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Rachel - I have the Nikon version of that lens and love it. It is making shooting our renovation so much easier! Glad you are having so much fun with it.

Juli - Meg, where did you find the afghan laying across your chair/couch? The colors are fabulous. Please don’t tell me it is vintage. The vintage ones I find are never that pretty! Thank you!

Kristine - I sent a card but no note! Yikes. I’m qtsmom on Instagram! It was the rejoice card with two teenage boys- The Clines!
Duh! I was just so giddy about sending a card to my fave blogger!
On another note, the look on your face looking at Annie and Olaf…so hilarious!
Thanks for sharing your family Christmas traditions!
Happy New Year!

Tabitha - Fantastic gifts! Can you tell me where you got Talby’s “Love” shirt? It’s awesome!

jennibell - You are such a FUN mom — yea! You truly inspire me to be “better” (more available, more fun) and your blog helps with the ideas because they just don’t come to me easily/naturally.
Happy 2015 Meg!

Andrea @ This Pug Life - Fly Away Home was one of my favorite movies – brings back memories!

Kelsey - Another request for the horse (unicorn?) hat source! I love it and Googled to no avail last night.

Amy - It looks like a great Christmas! Gingerbread houses are such a fun tradition. 🙂 Blessings to you and your sweet family in the New Year!

Library Momma - Meg! Lovely ideas. When did you start doing gifts this way? This is very enticing to me as we are trying to teach our young children life is family, experiences, traditions, not “stuff.” Santa is till alive and well in our house so this is slightly a delicate balance.

Amber - It looks like you had a lovely Christmas! I’m curious how you handle gifts between siblings. I’m preggo with my fourth and I’m just not sure how to handle it. My kids are too young to have the kind of money to purchase gifts on their own. It’s a struggle I have right now to keep a handle on how much we spend and yet teach them to enjoy giving as much (or more) than getting. I. Not really sure they can make each other something yet either. Or maybe a scribbled picture is enough? I’d love your two cents. Happy New Year!

Janine - Gorgeous piano. PLEASE do not paint it! I know you love painting everything but give restoring the wood a try. A simple first step is to clean it with Murphy’s oil soap and then make your own mixture of equal parts lemon juice and olive oil and polish it up. You will be amazed at how gorgeous the wood looks after that. And if it still looks worn out after that, then resort to paint *shudder*!!

Katherine - I, too, want to know where to find a hat like Annie’s!

Gevay - Happy New Year!

Dawn - Funny how stocking gifts can get away from you. Stocking shopping is the most fun. It looks like you had a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year!

Meredith - Hi Meg! Happy New Year’s Eve! Could you please tell me where you found Talby’s ‘be awesome today’ sign? Thanks!

Lori - I’m happy you got so many cards and had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year to you!

Amy - It looks like your family knows you well! Where did you find Annie’s horse hat? My daughter bought her own horse this year and would flip for that hat!

Tiffany - Loving the Ping Pong Tabletop, such a good idea for indoor fun that helps you get off your bum.

mary - bravo on how you do your presents!
i think that is how it should be done, my mom tried that way
years ago and some very spoiled siblings had an all out fit
and yes after they were in their 20’s.
happy new year to you and your whole family meg!

jamie - LOVE THIS! i need to add so many things to my amazon wish list! and can we talk about the {annie} soundtrack? i love it!

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fondue party

December 29, 2014

every year craig’s side of our family has a fondue night at christmas.
like… craig’s WHOLE life.
kind of a fun traditional that i am glad they still keep up.
several people on IG asked for more information so they could do this with their family.
i will try my best to help you out.
it’s not really MY thing so i may miss some details.
we usually host which means i make sure my house is clean and there is space for every one.
then the other family members bring the food and set it up.

there is usually one pot of oil and one pot of broth to cook meat.
we have steak & chicken cut into small pieces & shrimp every year.
occasionally there have been chicken nuggets or meatballs too.
then bbq sauce, ketchup, cocktail sauce, A1 and…. i can’t recall what other sauces.
i think you could have any sauce you wanted.

there is always a cheese fondue.
this recipe would work fine or something like it.
we dip bread and veggies into the cheese.
someone cuts the bread into cubes with an electric knife.
this is the place i have a hard time staying away from.
melty cheese and bread.
YUM.

someone makes a caramel dip and a chocolate dip for fruit, marshmallows and angel food cake.
(this is the kids favorite area)

and then everyone brings their christmas snacks from home too like muddy buddies and sugar cookies.
this year i didn’t bake ONE single thing so i purchased cream puffs and eclairs from the freezer aisle.
it counts for something. 🙂

We have all kinds of ways to make this work.
we have an Oster Fondue Pot that gets used every year…varies what is in it though depending on the needs.

the oil is always in a wok like this: Aroma Electric Wok

this year my sister in law put the chocolate and caramel in her new Crock-Pot Hook Up Connectable System.
i totally want to get that system!
amazon seems to be out of reasonably priced crock pot hook ups to link to but i found them here at walmart.

the cheese dip was in a ceramic dish on a Hot Plate.
it works!

we have LOTS of Fondue Forks to keep track of which food is yours.
although some people still like to steal your meat if you don’t get to it quick enough.

You want to make sure that cords are out of reach from children to avoid burns… obviously.
we have even taped down cords in the past before we had an island with electrical outlets.
safety first for all of your guests.

do you have more questions?
do you have suggestions for us – something that your family does differently?
what kind of food do you see missing?
let’s hear it!

AND lastly…. check out this peanut butterscotch fondue!!!
we are making this one next year.
🙂

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Sue Linse - We also do Fondue every Christmas day. Have tried to do it at the table, but too many people so I want to try the island idea. For meat sauces, we also have honey mustard, horseradish sauce and teriyaki. For the chocolate fondue, we include maraschino cherries, pound cake and clementine oranges. Fun tradition.

Amanda - Small Home Big Start - So much fun!! We do cheese fondue every couple of years for my brother and sister’s birthdays in December. My fav things to dip in it are bread (obviously), sliced apples and blanched broccoli. The leftover cheese is great cooled in the fridge and then grated over steamed broccoli and cauliflower as a gratin. This is the recipe we use: http://smallhomebigstart.com/2012/02/cheese-fondue.html

Kimberlee Jost - I love this so much. It makes me want all of my cousins to live near me so that I could gather them up for a party like this. Hmmm…maybe I’m going to have to adopt some people. I think I know who and it involves Circles. 🙂

Rebekah - Meg, you needs tripod so that you can take pictures and actually be in the picture and not just show your face at a weird angle!!

Jennifer Andersen - A chocolate fountain would totally fit in there. Love the whole idea. Well done.

Amanda - Our family loves fondue too. It’s the time and conversations that you have that make it such a nice option to a regular meal. We like to end our meal with a round tube of refrigerated biscuits. Take one biscuit and place an unwrapped Hershey kiss and wrap/roll the uncooked biscuit dough around it. Then cook it in the oil fondue (no fork required just drop carefully to not get burned by oil). When done, it is like a doughnut with melted chocolate in the middle. Roll it in powdered sugar or regular sugar. Yummy!

lisa - What a FUN tradition!! All of those choices sound super yummy. My one thing is how do you make sure that the meat is cooked through!!? & that no one eats undercooked chicken? My under-cooked & raw-chicken-sitting-out-at-room-temp-too-long anxiety wants to know!! {sigh – lol!!}

Tiffany - Traditions, big and small, are such a sweet way to bring family together. Thanks for sharing this one.

Michelle - i have zero experience with fondue so please forgive my ignorance. Does having to cook the meat cause a big hold up in the movement of the supper line? Also is the meat seasoned with any salt or other seasoning before it’s cooked? this seems like a really fun idea, just trying to wrap my head around the full concept. Thanks!

vanessa schroeder - My family used to do this but sitting around the table. If your piece of food you dipped into the pot fell off the stick we had to give the family member on our right a kiss on the cheek! Sometimes we got Grandma & Grandpa to approve hugs as the cousins got older!

Kelly - We got SMART this year after learning from a chaotic celebration last year and since a bunch of family lives in town we split up the “kid present night” from the “grown up present night”. We got a baby-sitter and my mom treated us to million dollar spaghetti, a terrific salad, rolls, etc. and caramel fondue for dessert. We used to do that a lot as teenagers in our house but hadn’t had the fondue in ages. I thought the cream puffs in your photo were one of our favorite dippers at first – the toasted coconut covered marshmallows! Super yummy! I know it is over the top but I also like brownies dipped in fondue. Angel food cake is probably my favorite though so yay for that! Fun tradition! Kelly

Emily - Thank you so much for sharing this family tradition. I’m always looking for fun things to do with extended family when they come to my house to visit. What a great memory to create. I will be looking up those woks and crock pots. Thank you for all the info!

chrissi - we were just talking about having a fondue party. your party looks like so much fun. reminds me of growing up with lots of cousins and kitchen chaos. the best kind of memories.

Julie - Yum – my first and only cheese fondue was tried in Switzerland many years ago. Such a fun way to eat. I have to ask though, what is a muddy buddie?

Janel - I love love to do Fondue… Another fun alternative
is using a Raclette Pan. You can even find Raclette cheese for this very purpose. You basically grill thinly sliced potatoes on top and underneath the grill you melt your cheese in single serving pans. When the potatoes are cooked and cheese melted, you plate your potatoes and pour melted cheese over top and eat. Repeat repeat repeat…

I have done thinly cut meats and veggies to change
It up. What I haven’t done yet is fruit..I think that would be fun!

I purchased my Raclette pan on amazon
And googled my way thru for the best outcome.

Have fun!

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our gigantic list of favorite movies

November 30, 2014

our family is kind of crazy for movies.
we always have been.
i have loved to watch movies since i saw my very first one…. ET.
i have told craig “movies are my love language”
i love escaping into a movie.
one of my favorite places is a dark theater… two hours with nothing to do but be entertained.
i have even started going to movies by myself because i just want to see one and i have the time.
my plane ride to and from africa had personal tv screens in the seat backs with 100s of new movies to choose from and i thought it was absolutely fabulous! 10 hours with nothing to do but watch movies. i was SO HAPPY.

every year in my kids stockings i add new dvds.
we have a pretty big collection of dvds.
i asked them which were the ones they liked the most out of our choices.
the list was long.

so… maybe this will help you with stocking stuffers?
or an idea for a movie night?

i didn’t add any big Disney movie because we all know about those.
Frozen, Tangled, Toy Story… yada, yada, yada – they are all awesome and everyone knows that.
these are other movies, some new and some old and we let our kids watch these.
maybe you wouldn’t… but you get that choice of course. 🙂

I’m pretty sure that at least 90% of these movies are under $10 too.

Cheaper by the Dozen Jumanji Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

The Parent Trap The Sandlot Shrek

Father of the Bride Night at the Museum Napoleon Dynamite

Evan Almighty Nim’s Island The Little Rascals

Holes Facing the Giants Herbie Fully Loaded

Annie National Treasure The Emperor’s New Groove

Here Comes the Boom The Blind Side Back to the Future

School Of Rock Earth to Echo Journey to the Center of the Earth

Chestnut: Hero of Central Park The Princess Bride The LEGO Movie

Matilda The Goonies Jurassic Park

The Karate Kid Eight Below Around the World in 80 Days

The Pink Panther Ramona and Beezus The Chronicles of Narnia

The Avengers The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Spider-Man

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone Enchanted

my kids are older… these movies are mostly for that next stage after animated movies.
probably the most bad language is in the Goonies… 80’s movies are dumb like that.
but it’s the goonies!!
i had to put it on the list.
what is your favorite family movie?
what did we forget?
is there a movie i need to know about?

let’s hear it.

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Maya hoffmann - i LOVE emperores new grove

Jenny Mullins - I love this list! I feel like my family 11 year old boy and 9 year old girl would enjoy movie nights at your house! We love fairy tales. So here are two movies we recommend Ever After – A Cinderella Story with Drew Barrymore and Mirror Mirror with Julia Roberts.
I also love Little Women with Winona Ryder or any version of this story at Christmas time.
So really I have 3 recommendations.
Thank you for this list, there are few we haven’t seen and I know we will enjoy soon!

Jenn - The Great Outdoors! My whole family loves that movie 🙂

Rachel B. - Apollo 13—my 7 year old and 4 year old love it!

Stephanie - Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. Disney made it and it is based on a true story about a “diving girl” (diving horses off of a pier in Atlantic City) in the 1940’s. Fabulous family movie. Buy it! Watch it! You’ll love it!

Michelle Whitlow - So many of those are our favorites, too! Goonies, ET, Back to the Future, Matilda…etc. In fact, we went to see the Goonies house in August when we were in OR 🙂 I’m getting my son The Last Starfighter & my oldest daughter Quarterback Princess (I probably haven’t seen that one since the 80s!). We’re big movie fans in our house, too! And Guardians of the Galaxy will be making it’s way to our home this month as well!

Sarah - Life has been dreary lately with some teenager drama going on.
I love looking at your blog, with ALL the fabulous color combinations! It helps to brighten my days.
Anyway I just had to tell you how excited I am to start a new quilting project with rainbow colors! When I cut the fabric strips and made a nice pile, it reminded me of your rainbow of colors on your blog.
Thanks.

Brook - My oldest daughter and nieces love The Labyrinth with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.

Tanya - ET was my first movie too 😀 I wanted yarn bows in my hair like Gertie. 😉
We L.O.V.E Annie at this house and I just introduced the kiddos to the original Parent Trap this weekend. My mom intro’d us to all of the musicals really young and I plan to do the same thing.
Can’t go wrong with Goonies!!

Tina J - Great List!! Daddy Daycare, Dr. Doolittle, Adventures in Babysitting, the American Girl Movies!

Erin - Thank you for this post. I’m bookmarking it. My kids are 13, 11, 8, and 4. We are always looking for movie ideas (especially for the older 3). I had forgotten about a lot of these!

Jenn - My 13 year old daughter and I just watched Walter Mitty and LOVED it!

Have you seen “The Mighty Macs”? One of my favorites.

s - I love RV.

jaimie - home alone

Debi Meyers - AND … “Little Women” with Winona Ryder, Claire Danes… the Christmas opening is my favorite 🙂

Karen in NYC - Hi Meg, it’s Karen in NYC.

That’s so funny about Walter Mitty. I saw it in the theaters last year with 16-year-old Ross, and we loved it but felt like we were the only people in the world who saw it.

Your list is great. You and your family would also love these:

Must-See Adventure:
Star Wars (The original from 1977)
Raiders of the Lost Ark

1960s and 1970s Fun:
Freaky Friday — the 1970s version starring Jodie Foster
The Parent Trap – the 1960s version starring Hayley Mills

80s Fun:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which includes the swearing that so many 80’s movies have)
Big

Hilarious:
Airplane!

Top Musicals:
West Side Story
Sound of Music
Fiddler on the Roof

Comedies in Black and White:
Bringing Up Baby
Some Like it Hot

The Two Best Christmas Movies in Black and White:
Miracle on 34th Street (the old one starring Natalie Wood as a child)
It’s a Wonderful Life

I have a separate list of great movies to watch with teenagers, that I guess everybody but Annie is ready for.

Sarah - Thank you for this – perfect timing! The Chronicles of Narnia link takes me to the Goonies movie, but I could be doing something wrong. 🙂

Debi Meyers - oh!

“Cool Runnings” about the Jamaican Bobsled team 🙂

Debi Meyers - great list, Meg… Secondhand Lions! Holes! Here Comes the Boom!

If you are a family that enjoys slower, noble, great tenderness against harsh realities: “The Book Thief”, and “The Straight Story” (know your kid. My son at 7 loved it. contemplative)

Musicals:
Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver Twist, Sound of Music, Cinderella (so fun…with Brandy & Whitney Houston)

Boys Adventure:
Mark Twain’s “Roughing It” with James Garner

Christmas:
“A Dog Named Christmas” Hallmark movie
“The Homecoming” (pilot for The Waltons series)

Slightly ‘scary’ movies:
so for older kids, but again, excellent themes.
“Lady In The Water”, “Signs”, and “The Village” (<— this has a bloody scene, but is one of our favorite love stories of all time, and AMAZING SOUNDTRACK).
all 3 have creatures lurking in the dark… jumpy, tense… 🙂

heidi e. - What a great list! And I love the idea of a dvd in their stocking! We just watched Cool Runnings, and it was hilarious! Now we run around asking each other ‘Sanka, ya dead?’… hahahaha

Stephanie - Oh! I LOVED Second Hand Lions. And laughed SO hard at Over the Hedge. Thank you for recommending Earth to Echo. Maybe we will do that for our next family night. I feel like we are running out of acceptable movies. One I loved when I was a teenager was The Journey of Natti Gann. I haven’t seen it since the early 90s, but I love a good adventure.

Rachel - Nacho Libre!!!!!!! 🙂 Mary Poppins!!!!
Great movies listed!

FLWendy - Funny how your list is full of what we have in our DVD library. What about adding some Studio Ghibli films? We have Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. All great films. My children loved them when they were young and still love them today (late teens, early 20’s).

Brittany - Great list!! Our kids love the Nanny McPhee movies!

Jenn - Father of the Bride 2 and Sister Act 2!!!! Apparently, we love sequels!

Jill - We are huge fans of Christmas movies…. so many! But one that few people seem to know about is “Prancer”. A beautiful movie! You should watch it!

Cathy Shealy - We like Robots (also with Robin Williams) RV, again with RW, You’ve Got Mail, Holiday, Christmas with the Kranks (we actually wore one of these out a few years back). Ratatouille

Heather S. - Our girls are 10 and 12 and we are all gaga here over the National Treasure movies (and desperately hoping they’d get done with number three soon). And yes – totally agree on the bad language with Goonies. We watched it with our girls a year or two ago and just thought, “seriously, what is up with all the bad words?” Such a classic, though!

Stacey - All of those and Secondhand Lions!

Peg Graham - Prancer, Fly Away Home, Little Women, While you were Sleeping…

Amy - It’s super old but my kids think The Court Jester with Danny Kaye is the funniest thing ever. Its free on Amazon Prime. They also love Surf’s Up.

Colleen - Hook is a great film (with thoughts of Robin Williams,) Akeelah and the Bee and Flyaway Home (for Annie)

Southern Gal - You’ve got a great list! We would add Secondhand Lions! Superhero movies especially Thor and Captain America; animated, The Croods, Over the Hedge; Christmas movies Elf and Home Alone.

Libby Herwig - Elf!!!!!!! The first Harry Potter also. We like the rest but they get quite dark.

Angela - These are great! Some are new to us. I would add Mrs. Doubtfire and Star Wars- the original trilogy.

Amy - We love Second Hand Lions and we recently watched Million Dollar Arm and it was great! Thanks for the list!

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family photos!

November 28, 2014

this.
Blue Lily sent us our photos.
and i absolutely LOVE them…. every single one.
wendy you are SO TALENTED!!!!!

TYL_1749 TYL_1776

TYL_1796 ls2 st2 acm2 TYL_2064 mmom&boys TYL_2114 TYL_2025 asm TYL_2159 TYL_2145 TYL_2168 TYL_1997 TYL_2204 TYL_1817 TYL_1889 scott&talby-2
seanH TYL_2225 TYL_2283 TYL_1827 TYL_1916
squeeze

and now i need to order some!!

Blue Lily has made their 2015 schedule.
its WORLDWIDE.
i think you should get on their schedule!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
family photos are such a gift… you never know when life is going to change.
they freeze time.
we will have that night – that hour – forever.
and it was a really good one. 🙂

thanks again WENDY!!!

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Jeanie - Meg, you have a beautiful family! And I have to tell you – when I first looked at the pictures – I thought “where’s Meg?” You looked like one of the kids! How do you keep yourself so young – with so many kids, so many activities, schedules etc? I need your secret!

ellen patton - there’s a lot of love in these photos!

tracy fisher - love. just, love.

Debbie - I never get tired of looking at Bluelilly photos. I agree, all are very nice. You’ll be so glad you have these.

misty - wow! gorgeous! the 4th one down needs to be on a HUGE canvas! You have a such a pretty fam!! Love love!

danielle - These are gorgeous! You guys look great!

jen - Such great pictures! Thanks for sharing them.

Mindy - Beautiful photos done in perfect light. What a lovely family you have and great memories captured.

Kristin - Gorgeous pictures, with so much love shining out of them!

jaimie - beautiful! i love the poses, lighting and the outfit choices…you can tell from the pix what a lovely, tight-knit family you are! happy holidays!

iralee poore - these are simply amazing!!!! i love love love the lighting!!!

bethr - oh Meg, it was so fun to see all these beautiful photos of your family! The outfits, the light, the smiles and connection you 7 seem to share- all so touching!

Amy - LOVE!! You guys are gorgeous!!

Lori - Great pictures 🙂

Diana Yarborough - Beautiful family pictures! We need to do them like this one day!

On a totally different subject, is there a sewing machine you recommend? I really want to get one, but am obviously a beginner.

Leslie Humphrey - Absolutely beautiful – your family and the pictures. The love just oozes from each shot – thanks for sharing!

Stephanie - I have tears in my eyes for some reason. Good pictures do that. Your family is so beautiful and reminds me of my own in so many ways (we have seven kids). I love love love when big families are all captured in one shot–looking happy and in glowing light. You have quite a job picking one picture out!

martha - okay…so I’m just commenting to wish you luck picking your favorite picture! usually there is never a shot where everyone looks good and all of these do! ps. we don’t get a glimpse at your eldest daughter very often- she is just lovely! thank you for sharing your family with us!

Flower Patch Farmgirl - Stunning!!!
The one of the girls together…or you and the boys. Agh! Such pretty people. And the stripes were the right choice.

Kristin S - What perfect light. How did you capture so many great shots at that perfect light?

I love that last one.

Jenn - What stunning photos of your beautiful family! Just lovely! These are indeed true treasures that you will cherish and look back on for years to come. Many happy blessings to you and your family this holiday season. I am a thankful reader whose life is enriched by the inspiration you share. Thank you!

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pretty messes and painted pumpkins

October 28, 2014

i was sitting down to write and looked over to this scene.
some would say “what a mess” and… it IS.
but look how pretty?!!
i couldn’t help but smile.
i sewed curtains for talby’s room last night with the turquoise fabric on the table (hobby lobby) so that is still out with the sewing machine.
new pillows coming to the shop… annie’s next project to go to class…. more zinnias from the craft house…newly painted mirror propped on the wall awaiting placement… and of course a bongo drum???

when messes are colorful it is easier to not worry too much about them.

we painted pumpkins on sunday night.
craig was sitting right beside us watching the Royals and we listened.
wood floors ROCK.
there was no worry about the paint at all!

it’s just craft paint.
i am sure they wouldn’t last if it was rainy but our porch is covered and there is no rain in the forecast.

talby REALLY wanted to make the melted crayon pumpkin we’ve seen around.
i will be honest… i tried to talk her out of it.
i am glad she was persistent.
it is AWESOME!

annie had to make one too…. because little sisters always want to do whatever their big sisters do. 🙂
we took the labels off the crayons using an exact0 knife.
then hot glued them into place.
we used a hair dryer on high and the whole thing was done in less than five minutes.

then monday night they each carved a pumpkin too.
i don’t care too much for this process so i let them do most of it on their own.
annie needed my help on the face and said “yeah mom… you’re an expert. you’ve been doing this on your own for like FIVE years now!”
HA!
five years? what a funny girl.

this has nothing to do with pumpkins… but when i look at this picture i think “you need to make this house more “YOU” Meg… cause this porch is NOT”

but then i get tired and think “CUTE PUMPKINS!”

do you have halloween costumes all done?

annie is the only one i feel like i need to worry about anymore.
the others are in charge of their own costumes.
they are old enough.
and they change their minds too much.
so i ordered something off amazon for annie… and it’s checked off the list.

🙂

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Laura - Thank you for inspiring me to add more color in my life! 🙂

Heather - WHERE did you get those napkins?!? I love them. I kind of want to marry them.

Angela - I love the fabric for the curtains, so pretty! I don’t miss buying or dealing with costumes now that mine don’t trick or treat anymore, I am a bad mom. 😉 lol

Julie - The pumpkins look awesome, but I think the pick of the photos is the zinnias and fabric. Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.

Aimee - I love your colorful pumpkins. When you painted pumpkins a couple years ago I loved it so much that my boys and I did it too. They had fun. We have costumes done. My youngest is going to be a slice of pepperoni pizza (from Target), my oldest is going to be a cheeseburger (from Amazon) and the dog is going to be a hot dog for the third year in a row. This is the first time the boys are doing a theme and it’s going to be awesome.

Su - love the polka dot pumpkin 🙂
and I HATE carving pumpkins. . that is a mess that is not pretty. I cannot touch that slime that comes out of a pumpkin. For many years, my dad came over and carved pumpkins with the kids which I was thankful.

Michelle - those are some of the happiest pumpkins I’ve ever seen! I’ll have to remember for next year 🙂

Angela - I love color just as much as the next person, but I have to say the white pumpkin that someone doodled all over is my favorite!

Traci - Ahhhhhh, so much fun!!

Kelsey - I love that in the second-to-last photo there is a knife sticking out of the pumpkin’s eye! Haha!

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watershot

September 5, 2014

this is a Watershot Phone case for using your phone camera UNDER WATER.
we have the basic model.
you open the case (shown above) and set your phone inside, close it up and it seals it in tight-tight-tight.
i was nervous but it worked perfectly. 🙂

there are different models depending on what kind of smart phone you have.

we wished we would have gotten it at the beginning of summer because this thing is SO MUCH FUN!!

the last time i went underwater…. may have been years ago.
but this camera made me want to play with my kids.
it was fun to get silly with them again.

and now we are figuring out how soon we can go swimming again!

the Watershot is AWESOME!

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julie - meg, you look awesome underwater!!

Laura h - Crazy fun!! I could never open my eyes under water!!! Jealous of people that can do that! What great family bonding!

Mindy - How fun are these pictures?! Oh I wish we would have had one of these when our daughter was small. Technology is amazing…

Kristi Rediske - Great pictures-i just can’t believe how great everyone of you look under the water! I am checking into this case! I want one! Oh-what phone do you have-it works good.

Stephanie - These shots are SO cool! I’m gonna have to look into that before our (possible) trip to Hawaii! Love it!!

Kathryn - MY question is what was your husband about to grab that you had to hold his hand with that apparent deadgrip?! 😉

Jenny B. - That looks like so much fun! My MOST favorite picture is the one of Talby’s smile with her braces. SUCH a great shot!

Hanny Norton-van der Valk - Love the photo’s, but what is your husband doing with his glasses on under water?????

Charlton - That looks like so much fun! I bookmarked the website to show my husband later. I think we might need to invest in something like that for next summer. I’m always so afraid to take pictures of my girls at the pool for fear of dropping my phone! This would be perfect!

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