Dog Days of Summer, Part 1

Well, my 2-day Holiday Stampin' Party / Open House is over and it was a huge success.  I had a full house yesterday, up to 15 at a time, at one point, and then smaller groups before and after that, giving everyone plenty of time to see everything and enjoy some stamping fun.  If you came, I thank you and want you to know that I enjoyed it as much as you did.  If you were unable to come, you can still enjoy stamping with me through attending my classes or, if you live too far away to attend, you can enjoy what I share with you through this blog each day.  My goal is to try my very best to share a new post each and every day, so be sure to check back a lot.  I do NOT have a set time when I make my post, but it is almost always in the mornings.

Today's post will be a reflection on summer 2013.  It's been a strange summer, because we've been so busy that it flew by and I almost feel like we didn't have one.  I guess I'd take that over boredom any day.  We took care of the boys a lot during the summer, had fun seeing Olive Jane frequently, enjoyed Toby Joe (as always), planted tons of plants - making a container garden on our back deck, did some antiquing, spent a lot of time with my MIL, went to Utah in July (Convention), went to Oklahoma (for my SIL's funeral) in August, and - whenever possible - I did tons of stamping and projects --- for my classes, for my displays, to share with you, and for my Prairie Treasures booth at the Root Cellar.
Today, I will start a short series --- sharing some of these memories with you.  AND... after my little series of posts on summer reflections, I will share with you how I used these photos as color inspiration for several artistic creations.  Check back each day, so you don't miss a thing!!! 

First up:
AARON IN OUR BACK YARD

The boys both love to dig, especially Aaron.  Their favorite spot had been just at the foot of the steps on the side of the deck we use the most.  That wouldn't do, so I decided we should give them a spot where it would be OK to dig.  Bill had some extra potting soil and sand in the garage, so he dumped it at the back edge of the back yard, under the row of pine trees.  There are lots of pine needles to dig, too.

This year, Aaron has turned this area into his gold mine.  I believe it's a pirate gold mine.  He's spent hours here, just digging and designing it.  He loves to wear his cute little green boots, which is fine with us, as it saves on cleaning up dirty shoes.

This is a railroad.  It goes all along the row of pine trees.  Both boys worked on this and I helped, too.

The hole is getting pretty deep.  It's amazing how well you can dig and rake with just sand toys:)

Here, he's explaining to me all about his plans for the pirate gold mine.

Aaron's other favorite activity outdoors, is playing in the storage shed off the deck.  He's using lots of extra Stampin' Up! boxes to build a fort.  He's gotten about 3 years now out of that little pirate hat.  We got it at the Children's Museum gift shop.  Both boys LOVE gift shops:)

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your dog days of summer and come back soon.  I'm off to make the final prep for my class tonight.  I'd also like to try to find a better place to stash all the goodies I've been collecting that I want to use in projects --- but I don't know where that would be:)  I'll share some of that soon, too.  I've gotten cute little chairs, stools, tables, boxes...  So much fun!!!!!

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.