Insta-Friday {Sept 13th}

This week has seemed long and wearing to me.  Maybe it's because last week was short.  I don't know.  Anywho, sharing me week in my insta-pics

My girlie was invited to be a part of her friends quinceanera celebration.  Isn't she pretty :)?

My big boy attended a baseball showcase camp at my Alma-Mater OSU.  Stillwater is such a lovely place.

We have been draining the pool all week, and today we started taking it down.  It is quite a process, but I am happy to take it down and have the yard for the kids to use the other 9 months out of the year.

I pulled my sewing machine out of my closet to work on a couple of spruces around the house.

When I was pulling fabric from my stash for a project I discovered this.  I am a starter of projects, not always a finisher.  The bloggy world inspires me and motivates me to finish things, and it is a GOOD thing!

This happened.  Water backing up everywhere.  Which meant I couldn't do laundry, or run the dishwasher.  UGH!!  After about 3 hours of plunging, snaking, and liquid plumbering, the clog was gone and no more back-ups.  Thankful for a hubby who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty - saves us a lot of money.

This kid made us immensely proud this week.  He is a National Merit Semi-Finalist!!  He has been blessed by God with incredible smarts, a thirst for knowledge, and an amazing ability to return said knowledge.  God has big plans for him and we are enjoying watching them unfold.

I have to say I'm kinda glad it's Friday.  :)

Follow along on instagram @denisegwood

Hope your week was blessed!!  Thanks for stopping by friends :)

Linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged

Insta-Friday {Aug 23rd}

Happy to have you here!!  
Have I told you how much I like pictures??
I am thankful for my camera on my phone, because unlike my big bulky camera, my phone is always with me to catch the lovely things of daily life.  
Do you instagram??  If you don't, you should :)  Want to follow along??  I am denisegwood

Here is a view of my week in pictures via instagram :)

I have been a crazy person about decluttering and organizing all summer.  And, finally my kids are catching the bug...even my teenage daughter

an idea she found on pinterest...we'll see how long it lasts ;).

I have been whining struggling with the thought of my first-born baby starting his senior year.

This is the picture that I couldn't get out of my head the night before school started.  It was his first day of kindergarten.  He was so excited, so ready.  Just like now - but, I wasn't, just like now.

The first day of school :)  I love these signs that Jen at Tatertots and Jello created - aren't they cute??

One more then and now.  Walking down memory lane is fun, and I am embracing the change.  Going to enjoy every last second!!

While I was cleaning out my craft closet I discovered a tub of crayons and markers and got the itch to color.

Do you ever get the urge to color?  I love the look and smell :) of new crayons!!  I was surprised (well maybe not) at how many of my adult friends said YES they loved to color!!  Fun times!  Maybe I need to have some girlfriends over for a coloring party :).

Lucky for me the boys wanted to join me :)

The completed (almost) projects!!  

Oh, and an update on the closet - I did get it cleaned up and straightened up.  This was a $0 project - meaning I used storage I already had.  I still want to label everything and I have an idea to add another shelf with some scrap wood we have, but that requires hubby help.  Here's an after of the cleaned up closet.  Mission accomplished!!  Let me just tell there was a moment in the process that I thought this wasn't possible...

I hope you had a blessed week and hoping you have a great weekend as well!!

Linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged here

Insta-Friday {Aug 16th}

Sorry for being MIA for the past week or so.  I don't have a glamorous excuse really.  Getting kids ready for back to school, and spending a lot of time doing nothing.  I have to admit I've been in a weird funk for several days.  I'm over summer and ready for school to start so there will be some sort of order in this house - a schedule, a routine, a purpose.  However, I have mixed feelings - cuz truly I enjoy sleeping in as much as my kids do, (and honestly I just got my little boys to understand what it means to sleep in) and because I know as soon as school starts, I will blink and it will be over and I will be faced with graduation and college move in and so on....

But, whether I like it or not, time marches on.  So, I'm getting of the couch and getting things in order and ready to go.  (School starts Tuesday!)  

I'm sharing about three weeks of insta-photos to catch-up :)

All the other kiddos were off doing other activities on this day - and I found myself with some very hard to find one-on-one time with my youngest.  So, we went to his favorite place - the zoo!!

We have a cool new exhibit at our zoo where you can touch stingrays!!  Really awesome - there are also small sharks swimming around in here :).

Giraffes are his favorite animal, and we have missed feeding them every time we have come since they started this.  So, we made certain we got to feed them!!  He was beaming!!  It was truly a GREAT day!!

Our third kiddo off to his first youth activity at church.  Seems strange that I am more ready for him to start middle school than I am for him to start in the youth group.  He's ready, but I'm not quite.

Ya, the other thing I'm sooo not ready for - my girlie got her permit.  Ugh!!

I have been organizing the house all summer.  The other day my oldest said "is my room next?"  When a 17 year old asks you to help him clean and organize his room you say "yes".  So, we did.  Man, he is crafty at hiding junk!!

Then, there was this.  Walking the halls of middle school with this kiddo.  He's just still a little guy - how is this possible??  Dad tried to help him feel better about opening the lock on his locker - you know this is a big deal.  We walked his schedule and assured him that he would get lost, and that it would be ok ;).

I have been cooking a lot this summer!!  Yay me!!  This is one of family favorites, passed on from a friend - Poppy Seed Chicken - easy and super yummy!!

Sibling love y'all, it rarely happens, especially this far into the summer, so I had to snap a pic.

My little man decided he wanted to help me cook.  Yes!!  Love it!!

You can follow along daily on Instagram here.

I will be spending the weekend getting the last few things ready for school and sucking the last few fun, relaxing moments out of summer.

Hope your weekend is blessed!!

Linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged here