farmhouse friday { 4 }

I saw this little gem while travelling for work this past week. 

What a sweetie pie.  <3

desert racing

a couple weeks ago we took the littles and went camping and dirt bike racing in the desert across the state. 
First Ty went out and did a couple laps on the Poker Run.  And then there was some practice time on a little kids track in the middle of the camping area.



It was pretty nerve-wracking when swarms of teenagers would come through like locusts and take laps on the track, passing my guy on all sides.  Mark would get a little distracted really wanting to pass them.  And then they would stop to be cool and talk on the edge of the track… so Mark would stop in the middle of the track next to them and sit and listen and stare at them.  I finally had to tell him to stop because he was going to get run over.
After the practice and some pointers from dad it was time to go line up for the race.


Some pre race adjustments… and off they go!…

Away from the mother hens… far, far away…

They went around a bend and down a hill and we could not see them again for a very long time.  We would move around the track to different spots and wait until he came past, then move on to another bend in the track.
The first time we spotted him coming back around, he was trying to pass another little guy…

There are checkpoints where they have to get their cards punched to make sure there is no course cutting.  It was hard for the little ones to remember to stop, despite the men in orange frantically waving them down.


Mark did alright!  He should have; we explained it plenty of times and had him watch the older kids.
And then this sobering view…

How scary is that?!  My little man speeding off into the desert all by his lonesome!  He said he was not scared at all.  And there are plenty of “spotters” out on the track, riding and watching for little ones that need help.  The course is marked by the red ribbons you could see in the photo of Mark leaving the start.
There was much waiting.  Much visiting.  Much holding of small, tired people…


I was the photographer so Ty was the small people holder.  That is our friends’ baby.  Such a trooper he was.  Hanging out for so long while we all waited and watched for Mark.
If we didn’t see him for a while we would get nervous (obviously) but he would always show up.


Before we knew it, it was over!

My man got 23rd out of 47 little riders.  Top half.  Not bad for a first timer. 
Super proud of his first race t-shirt…

I think crossing the finish line and being handed that t-shirt was the highlight of his life!
The camping situation… also very exciting, in a much less appealing way…

That was one of the better moments our tent had.  As in before it completely flattened to about 3 feet tall.  It was physically unable to withstand the severe winds.  It seemed a cold sleepless night with our tent whipping our faces was all we had to look forward to so we headed to my parents’ place that night and brought our friends with us.  We had a nice time relaxing the following day with all the comforts of home.
A few landscape shots heading from the desert (on the Columbia River) to my parents’ place (in the mountains)…



When we got home, Ty gave Mark one of his old trophies, of which Mark is very proud. 

His first dirt bike race, complete with a (hubby’s brilliant idea) hand-me-down-trophy.  What a fun milestone.  I think he will remember this one forever.

farmhouse friday { 3 }

 

another farmhouse overtaken by suburbia…

There’s even a porch swing.  It’s calling for some sweet iced tea.

fashion finds

hello world. 

I’ve had a crazy couple week helping a friend plan a big event and also planning my own little event that I hosted at my church!  But I picked the quickest blog post I could whip out, downed some tea and here I am. 

Multiple friends and I have talked lately about wanting tops that we can just wear, without having to layer tanks under, or cardigans over.  Tops you just throw on with a necklace and you’re good to go.  Well, I finally found some the past couple weeks.  Here they are:

1. Old Navy Crew Neck Pocket Tee (nice and flowy and looks good tucked in front with belt or left out.  I got shown color and also white)

2. Old Navy Tab-Sleeve Crew Neck Sweater (fits nicer in real life than in picture)

3. GAP Rugby Stripe Roll Sleeve Tee (cute and flowy untucked, too with scalloped side hems, I got black and still want white. more colors available in stores than online)

4. Target Merona Boatneck Colorblock Top (has a cute zipper at neck in the back) makes me feel trendy; colorblocking?  that is what fashion bloggers talk about!  I’m underqualified, for sure. 

 

Two of these I found through bloggers so I thought I’d pass along the finds to you.

 

Oh, I forgot one.  I bought these dreadful things, too…

Don’t worry yourself – I did fix my hair before I went on my hot date.  My hot date where my husband couldn’t stop looking at my new neon pants.  And I don’t think it was in a good way.  I think he was confused by them; I asked if he like them but the best answer I could get out of him was “I don’t know… they’re…” then I would try to help him brainstorm adjectives, none of which were what he was thinking, then the conversation became too awkward and we had to move on to other subjects. 

They’re the 1969 Always Skinny from GAP (couldn’t find them online).  They remind me of the vintage orange FiestaWare that is actually radioactive.  True story.  They really looked a little neon/a little muted in the store… then I was driving to my friend’s house and looked down and thought to myself “yikes- these things look preeettttty neon… it must be the lighting…” then I got to my friend’s house and she promptly proclaimed, “WHOA!  Those are NEON!  You’re braver than me.”  Um, said friend is adorable and, oh, about, almost ten years younger than me.  Hmmmm.  I’ve been a little scared of them since that day.

ANYWHOO—that is quite enough talk about my awkward fashion-ness.  Have you had any great fashion finds lately!?

friday farmhouse { 2 }

So thanks to a Bestie I remarkably remembered to post this today.   I knew I'd be bad at this regular posting thing!

But never fear, here in the nick of time, another farm house for your viewing pleasure...

Oh, what a coat of paint could do!