Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

Apple Picking

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On Monday, we went on a big field trip.  The kids and I went to Ellijay, Georgia (about 1 1/2 hours away) and made a day of apple picking with our sweet neighbors.  It was a complete blast!

Reagan was so young last year that she didn’t really get to enjoy the experience.  It was fun watching her tug on apples this year and shrill with delight when she got one.  Once she had her apple, she wanted to sit and eat it.  She loves her stroller “ride”.  Which I didn’t mind so much since I was watching the boys climb UP  trees for the apples.

Although there were lots of apples within arms reach on the ground, they preferred climbing the trees to get the best apples.  Boys are a blast!

There is so much innocent and pure joy in moments like these, as you watch your kids have sheer delight in discovering and experiencing life.

Reagan was not so happy at being taken from her beloved “ride” for a group picture.  I love how all the kids have expressions like “come on Reagan”.  J is watching my sweet neighbor trying to make Rea laugh.  Her girls are watching Rea too, and Caleb is giving me the stare down.  Life with kids is all captured in this one picture!  🙂

 

We totally got our money’s worth of an apple picking experience.  I think each child ate at least two apples while we were picking and then our two bags were full.  In addition, somehow I find some “stray” apples hidden behind Rea in the stroller?  She must have been saving them for later.

On top of LOTS of apples, this week we have been enjoying apple cider donuts and fried apple pies we picked up at the orchard’s store.

We’ve had so much fun learning about apples this week.  We’ve talked about the different kinds, names, terms like “orchard”, the parts of an apple, and so much more.  You can see a few of the activities we have done this week on The First Grade Parade’s site.  Here is her applesauce recipe that we started this morning.

The boys LOVED making this applesauce as you can see in these pictures.

The house is currently smelling amazing as our applesauce is in its last stage of brewing!  Can’t wait to try it this afternoon!

Are you enjoying the fun that comes with Fall??  Pumpkin foods?  Camp fires?  Boots!?  I just got the most beautiful boots last week and am wearing them like crazy!  Fall is a wonderful time!  What is your favorite part of it?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Dancing Zebras and Dreams

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Congratulations to Tiffany, Nina, and Angela for each winning one of the three hair clips from last week’s giveaway!  Thank you so much for entering this giveaway and I hope you LOVE your clips!!

If you are sad to have missed out on this giveaway, please check out my store, Dancing Zebras.  There are more cute hair clips over there that you could get, and I am trying to upload even more soon!

Here are a few of my latest items…

Green Flower Bobby Pins

Creme Lace Hair Clip

Button Earrings

Retro Black and White Hair Clip

Red Flower Earrings

Dancing Zebras has been such a fun little hobby for me.  I love creating things and watching others enjoy them as well.  About three years ago my sister, Olivia, and I dreamed this idea up of doing a business together.  I remember sitting on the beach and staring out at the ocean as we brainstormed names for our company.  There were LOTS of things thrown out and good laughs till we came up with Dancing Zebras.

This endeavor has been so fun.  As stay at home moms, we loved the idea to be able to be home with our kids and still be able to craft (a passion of ours) while getting a little money in the process. We’ve had a few craft shows and private orders that don’t show up on our etsy store, and all of this just fuels us and keeps as dreaming.  Someday, I would LOVE to have a boutique little store.  In my city, Roswell, Georgia, there is a little street called Canton Street.  It has all kinds of cute stores and restaurants.  This part of town is called Historic Roswell.  I think my house is actually considered to be part of this area as well.  It’s all old buildings with exposed brick walls and little sidewalks.  Anyway, I dream of having a cute little shop out in a place like that.  Someday, right!?

It’s really hard to get enough inventory for a craft show with three little kids, let alone the risk in having a real store.  I think there is value in knowing my limitations to my dreams.  I dreamed of being a mom and I am, so I choose to enjoy and soak in this season of my life.  One day I will have all the time in the world to craft and try to start a store and I will miss this season.  It’s a constant conscious process to be fully present in the present.

In about thirteen days, Olivia and I will be back on another beach together.  I’m excited to catch up and brainstorm in an environment that does our souls good!

What are your dreams!?!

Broken Voices and Idea Farm

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Most of you probably know that My husband and I run a non-profit called Broken Voices.  We have been apart of it for about four years now.  I havent talked much about it on here, but it is something I truly believe in.  I would love for you all to read a short excerpt from an email my husband wrote to our followers this week…

“Broken Voices is a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, GA. We exist to inspire college-aged people to dream big and act now. What does that mean? Quite simply, we believe that everyone has a God-given passion: a strength inside of you that would make a significant difference in the world if it was lived out. Specifically, we use films and live events that work to inspire people to uncover those passions and begin taking action on them.
If you’d like to learn more please check out our new website.
Or feel free to check out one of the stories we’ve caught on camera that help spread hope and inspiration on a daily basis.
Finally, we have an event coming up that we are pretty excited about called IDEAfarm. It’s just like what it sounds, imagine a cornfield—not just any cornfield, but the best one ever. Instead of rows of corn stalks, we have a group of college-aged folks that have a ton of great ideas that they are ready to harvest. We spend four days together working through strengths, weaknesses, and practical steps of action to begin seeing these ideas through to reality. It’s a pretty intimate gathering down at Jackson Lake, GA, but we do have a few open spots. Do you or someone you know need to join us? Oh, and did I mention that it’s paid for by our generous supporters? Click here to check out the details.
We are looking forward to a really exciting couple of months and I’m glad you are in the journey with us.

Sincerely,
Matt Deuel
Executive Director”

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!!  Like Matt asked, do you know of anyone who should be at Idea Farm in a few weeks??  We would love to hear from them!  Have them contact us soon!

The Roswell Mill

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I love that this is in our backyard! (Not literally of course…but it’s less than a mile away!!)  We can walk there!  Ha not that we do.  If it wasn’t for the HUGE hill that led down from the street to the bridge (and the 90 degree weather) we probably would.  Maybe next time!

I don’t think we have gone since Reagan was asleep in the Baby Bjorn on me.  She was hilarious to watch take it all in for the “first time”.

Hiking down to the river to throw rocks is one of my boys favorite things to do.  We really should do it more!  Caleb had been asking for three days to go, so on Sunday afternoon we went!  We packed a little dinner picnic and had the best time.  There is something so appealing about pulling away from “noise” (and phones) and getting in nature.  It’s simplifying and really makes you feel alive.

I just love that these gorgeous woods and running water is literally in the heart of Roswell.  Once you are back in there, you totally forget that there are streets and restaurants so close by!

My boys were on cloud nine!  Caleb packed his own little pouch with a map and telescope to bring on this “adventure”.  He was ready!

I think J would live in the woods if he could.  He could throw rocks into that river for hours and not get tired of it.

Reagan was taking it all in, but she has her own little spirit and jumped in quickly.  This girl might just be the most adventurous of all my kids.

She learned how to say “rock” on this outing.  She really is picking up new words everyday now and reusing them all on her own.  It’s mind boggling how fast she is learning!  I feel incredibly blessed to be home and get to witness and take in this amazing season in our lives.

This time is going by too quickly.  I read this phrase a while back “let them be little” and I couldn’t agree with it more.  They are only little once.  So allow the sweat, dirt, and messes…even if it means more laundry.  There are memories, discoveries and adventures to be made!

I think she had a great time at the Roswell Mill.  🙂 What do you think?!

We had a great weekend!  I hope you did too!!!