and the winner is.....

Holly!!!!!! Thanks for playing! :) I'll be sending your ebay gift certificate right over. :) CONGRATULATIONS!!! (and sorry I'm running behind)

What's in store for your SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER???

Summer is here, and I'm SO glad! I love summer!!!! Life without an alarm clock (on occasion anyway), days spent in the pool, dinner from the grill....

What's in store for OUR summer? Well...we should be (hopefully) moving to our new house next week. Cassidy's taking driver's ed next week (HELP ME!!!), and between the two girls, we've got 2 church camps, 1 mission trip, 3 basketball camps, 1 tennis camp, and 5 tennis tournaments. And for the family...10 days of wheat harvest and a few days at a family reunion in the mountains. So....looks like it's going to be busy. Anyone like to paint? My new house needs some wall paper peeled and a lot of new paint.

Now here's the fun part. Post here and tell me what you like most about summer, or any special plans you have...1 entry for every comment. Mention Pickles and Co. in a tweet or blog, get 5 entries each. Visit my Pickles and Co. store on Etsy or Pickles and Co. on eBay and tell me what you like...get another entry. On Monday, June 1, I will randomly choose a winner. The winner will receive a $10 eBay gift certificate, and who couldn't use THAT! :)

Look familiar???

I was at my grandparents home/farm this past weekend helping clean it out and get it ready for an estate sale, a task I'm beginning to believe is never ending. My grandparents house was always a treasure trove. They both loved to collect things, and they had a BIG house full of lots and lots of STUFF! Going through their things was bittersweet. There are lots of memories...lots of treasures. And as an adult, it was kind of exciting to get to peek at some of the things that were so intriguing to me as a kid.

Digging through the old photos was a true adventure. Being a photo lover, it was especially exciting for me to see some very OLD photos, some photos I'd never seen before, and some that I'd forgotten about. And SOME I'd really prefer TO forget about! lol

My greatest treasures were those that other members of my family were throwing in the trash. This photo was one of them. I can't help but wonder who took this photo...was it my granddad? And when was it? And where, exactly? This one was definitely a "pull it out of the trash and add it to my stash" photo. :)

and the winner is.......

Amy of PriddyCreations! Thanks for playing everyone, and for your sweet comments. I will post to Amy's blog and let her know she won. :)

It's a GIVEAWAY!

Here's the deal...it's simple. Take a look at my current listing and/or my ME PAGE and post here to tell me which of my sets is your favorite. Or you can tell me about a special place or event where your child wore a Pickles and Co. set. Or, if you don't want to post about either of those things, tell me what you had for breakfast! lol I don't care.

On Tuesday, May 5, I will randomly select a winner from all the posts. You get one entry for every time you post, so post away! :) The winner will receive the Pickles and Co. pincushion you see pictured, which was made using one of my favorite Alexander Henry prints.

On newstands now....

I'm honored and excited that the sweet little lady wearing my Mary Poppins set was featured in the current issue of Disney's D23 magazine. And isn't Miss Sydney the cutest little thing?

and just to catch up....

Last month, over Spring Break, we took a road trip down to the Texas coast. We were ready for some sun, some sand, and some SEAFOOD! :)

Don't let the pictures fool you...that water was CHILLY! We had a great time though, and it wasn't too bad, once you got used to it!

Here are a few shots from our trip.

Life has a way...

of sometimes taking the wind out of our sails. I seem to have disappeared from blogland for the past few months. I've been wanting to start blogging again, but it just didn't seem right to fast forward to this point without sharing what's been happening over the last few months. So finally, I'm ready to pay tribute to my grandmother, who we lost in January.

We're all going to miss Grandma. I still hear her voice in my head fairly often. So many things remind me of her, and I think that's a blessing. It means that she left enough reminders of herself, she touched my life enough, and that she made a big enough impact that she will stay with me always. My girls were blessed that she was a big part of their lives as well. Not many kids get to experience that with great-grandparents, but mine have. And OH how she loved the great-grands.

We love you Grandma, and we miss you.

Paityn and Tony (the horse) meet again

and the hope of getting a horse of her own only grows stronger

She already has the name picked out.

It would be SO much more fun...if only the weather would cooperate!