lovely elements...

big old trees.

antique doors & door knobs.

fences.

and all things covered 

in white chippy paint.

a dream come true.

Sydnee is in love with animals. Always has been... she has a special connection with them. Her favorites are dogs, horses and dolphins. She really wishes you could have a dolphin as a pet (I'm really glad you can't!)We have definitely had our fair share of pets.. you'd think we lived on a farm! But I really would love to live on a mini-farm where we could have a red barn of course and space enough for a horse or two for Sydnee to love, ride and take care of. That would be heaven on earth for her, but since we don't have that, we settled for the next best thing.. riding lessons, and it's a dream come true for her!!! These pictures are from her very first lesson about a month ago. She goes once a week for an hour, but she wishes she could go every.single.day! She's totally in her element when she's working with the horse and riding it. It's fun to watch!

tomatoes. tomatoes. tomatoes...

Last Friday was one of the grittiest days ever! 


My friend who knows how to can all sorts of stuff offered to teach me how to can tomatoes! I've been wanting to learn how to can yummy things forever, so I was soooooo excited! 


Friday is early out day for the kids at school, so we planned that after we picked them up we'd get started. I hauled boxes of tomatoes and jars over to her house.. literally invaded every square inch of her kitchen and a tomato cannin' we were! I ended up with 35 bottles of canned tomatoes!!! I can't wait to make yummy meals with them throughout the winter! 

We also planned on baking some pumpkin bread in between doing the tomatoes and we both ended up with two glorious loaves of pumpkin goodness!~ The kids  played & played... while we worked the hours away in the kitchen... we ordered pizza for dinner and called it a day, a most grittiest day!

(candid spice talkin' picture by Sydnee)

Marcus has gourmet sandwich making abilities...

 ...and everybody loves 'em!!!

I really think he might own a restaurant some day with all his own creations and signature dishes... he loves to cook and he loves to be creative with whatever he's making.. it's seriously an art to him! 

He takes his time and stacks it like a masterpiece and then devours it as if it's his last meal...

recent makings & thrifty finds

Yesterday turned out to be quite the crafty Monday...

...and last week's thrift store trip delivered much goodness!!!

{Click on one of the links to see lots more photos & details posted on "all things gritty!"}

Vintage Flower Shirt

One of the projects we did at *Spark* was a vintage flower makeover on a plain shirt. We brought a plain shirt and learned how to make fabric flowers with vintage fabrics & ribbons and then added them to our plain shirts! It was so much fun, I had been wanting to learn to make these types of flowers for a long time and now I wish I had brought more than one shirt like Lara and Laurel.. guess I'll just have to make a trip to the fabric store and start decorating all my plain shirts, skirts, head bands & more!!!

I wore it to church on Sunday and Syd took some pictures when we got home. If anyone is interested in learning how to make them I'd be glad to show you. Let's get together and flower-fy stuff!

All I knew was... I HAD TO GO---

...and I'm so glad I did!

How to compile all the *sparkling goodness* I don't know... it was a fairytale in a way-- from the place, the sounds, the smells, the eye candy, the creative sparks flying, the inspiration, the food & goodies bar, the classes & supplies, the friendships old & new... it was such an unforgettable experience and one that I loved and will miss & cherish forever... Best birthday present I could have ever received, thanks sweetie!!!

Prepare for the longest post of pictures than ever before... There's no way I could possibly post just a few!

~Love these photos of Lara & her Mom~

What an amazing weekend... we learned glorious new things and connected with so many inspiring souls, it couldn't have been any better and *gritty* of course!  

Dear Lizzie stayed open late just for all the SPARK GIRLS so I took Kim to experience the yummy Dizzy Lizzie drinks & magical atmosphere!!!