Pendant in Gray with diamonds

And this is what I've been up to lately....LOTS of beading. I just can't seem to get enough! Here is my first peyote pendant. I really love it...sort of want to keep it for myself. I think it would look really cute with a black tee.

And here you can find it in my Etsy shop right here

Hello again...my poor 'ole blog!

I guess I've been a bit (a lot) neglectful. What can I say...stuff happens! This is a crazy and strange, but fun year for our family. Two freshman girls...one a college freshman, and one a high school freshman. You would think having three in the household on a daily basis rather than four would be pretty much the same...but it's really quite different. Definitely an adjustment. Here are my two beautiful girls from a few months ago. I miss having four in the house!

Merry Christmas!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

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!

It's beginning to look a lot like POPCORN! :)

Jello glazed popcorn is one of my dad's FAVORITE things. In fact, that's what he asked for for Christmas. So yesterday the girls and I got to work. We made 26 batches. We made every flavor we could think of...cranberry, berry blue, tropical fusion, blackberry fusion...the list goes on. We even made cinnamon (using unflavored gelatin and cinnamon oil), which is my personal favorite! We had such a fun time listening to Christmas music, being silly, and working together.

Here's the recipe:

Glazed Popcorn

8 c. popped popcorn (we used 11 c. since the popcorn was especially fluffy)
1/4 c. butter (margarine)
3 T. light corn syrup
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. (small) Jello gelatin, any flavor

Place popcorn in a large bowl. Heat butter and syrup in small saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and gelatin; bring to a boil over med. heat. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 5 min. Pour syrup immediately over popcorn, tossing to coat well.

Spread popcorn on foil lined cookie sheet, spreading evenly. Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 10 min. Cool. Remove from pan and break into small pieces.

Tree Hunt 2008

I have to admit...this time of year, I'm really missing Wyoming. I miss the SNOW! Had we been there longer, I might have grown to dislike snow, but I hadn't reached that point yet. On the flip side, when June rolls around and I'm floating in the pool (vs. turning my seat heaters on and scraping snow), I will not be missing Wyoming. You get a little, you leave a little.

One thing I truly love about my family is that, no matter where we are, we find a way to keep our family traditions...such as the annual TREE HUNT. Granted, going to a tree farm in 67 degree weather (with ferocious wind) was slightly different than the quiet forest, traipsing through snow up to our knees and the gentle falling snow. (See Tree Hunt 2007) But still...it was fun.

So here we are...looking for the "perfect" tree.



Is this one it?


Well....maybe not.

But I think Paityn spotted one...


Here it is

and, upon the wisdom I gained from my grandpa, we "put rocks in our pockets" to keep from blowing away. :)

Here's the SAWMASTER, hard at work, cutting down THE TREE.


and taking it to the shaking machine




AND...they wrap it up and tie it onto your car...now THAT'S service you don't get in ANY forest! :)

Paityn...meet Tony

Paityn has been wanting a horse for awhile now. She's spent months trying to work up enough nerve to ask her PaPa to get one. Finally, a few weeks ago, she found the courage and asked me for his cell phone number. It caught him a little off guard...out of nowhere Paityn calling to ask for a horse. Right now, the problem is my parents aren't home enough to give a horse enough attention, and we're too far away to give it the needed attention ourselves. I know he would like to make it happen though.

For now, she got the next best thing. He arranged with my aunt for Paityn to ride her horse on Saturday. I'd say she had a good Thanksgiving. :)


Brushing Tony

Getting ready to ride

Tony the horse

This is the BIG TIME

Paityn, Tony, PaPa, Dusty

saying goodbye

It's that time of year again....

Time to do those family Christmas photos. It's always a good excuse to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and today was a beautiful day. We took a thermos of coffee and made an afternoon of it.

I'll share some from today, but I'll hold off on sharing the Christmas card photo...I'll share that later.

Some fall COLOR

The Famous Meersburger

If you've never had a Meersburger (yes...that's meant to be one word), you're missing out. North of Lawton, OK, nestled in the Wichita Mountains, is a place called Meers. I guess it's a town...I'm not sure. There's really nothing there except Meersburgers. As you can see, the place looks like a shack. The tables sit at a slant, and there's writing all over the walls. It makes you wonder how it could possibly pass any kind of building inspection. Yet, it's been featured on The Food Network, and it was voted one of the top 3 burgers in America in 2007 by Bon Appetit magazine.

We ordered two 1-lb burgers. They come with mustard as "mayo is for sissies" and "ketchup is for yankees". As you can see, the meat was hanging off the 7-inch bun, and it was covered with cheese, jalepenos, pickles, lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes. The girls each finished their 1/2 lb., and Chris and I both finished ours.



If you're ever even CLOSE to Meers, you have to go! But don't go on a Tues....the owner will be spending time with his cows.

crunchy and a little FALLISH

AND she does a little flower arranging

You know my 10-yr-old...the one who sews purses, designs her own doll clothes, etc...yeah...that's the one. I brought home some fall silk flowers and a pretty vase yesterday, and when I'd finished putting away my groceries, I turned around to find that this is what she'd done.