Life at a "Swell's" pace

The Beauty of Pinks and Reds

Pinks and Reds seem to call at me all the time. I see a pretty flower here or a red car there and I am instantly drawn to it like a magnet. When I had my child, which is a boy of course, I was told that I would hate the color pink and be drawn to the colors and hues of blue. I wasn't at all. I wanted more and more reds in my house paired with some blues here and there, but overall the reds and pinks over-ran the blues eventually. My son's favorite color is even red......go figure! :)

Boden Clothing

Seasonal Canna.

Red rose bud.

The difference in the left and right brain.

Surfer in the Pacific Ocean.

Skylar as Darth Maul.

Evening Sky in the Pacific Northwest.

Skylar with very PINK hair.

Colored Pencils.

Hawthorne Trees in Bloom around the end of May.

Cherry slush in a cup made from plant-based materials.

Cranberry Juice.

Macy's Star.

Tiny, lone tulip.

Ruby red rubbers.

Maple Leaves along a red sidewalk.

Strawberry Margarita.

Strawberry Lemonade paired with Strawberry Shortcake from Burgerville USA.

Burt's Bees Tomato Complexion Soap. Unfortunately, it's been discontinued. :(

Skylar playing his wooden pipe from Newport, Oregon.

Rose bloom.

An Arkansas Razorback Hog Nose made from Play-doh!

Cherry Limeade from Sonic.

VAPUR® Water Bladder.

Christmas Catus in bloom.

One little tulip trying to survive through the frost last winter.

My moma's sugar cookies that were in the shape of Arkansas Razorbacks. They didn't survive the plane ride back to Oregon from Arkansas.

75+ year old rose bush in my garden.

Flowering Clematis along a fence line.

Natural Value eco-friendly plastic wrap.

Bright, blood red seed beads.

Bright, blood red seed beads made into a charming and colorful necklace from BeeSpa.

Pink drinks.

All-fruit diet of watermelon and bananas for breakfast.

The 75+ year old rose bush.

The famous McDonald's Smile.

A 1985 style gumball machine. It takes real pennies still!

A S'more Day

One of the things about summer that I enjoy the most is sitting outside in the cool evenings and just being. Looking at the stars or taking in a sight of bats flying around, there are quite a few around (we live near a farm field), or just sitting near our fire pit and having some S'mores. (Even if it's during the day!)

The S'mores are always a big thing in our home and we love to just sit and enjoy them together as a family. There are times that we have company and it seems they don't grasp the S'more love quite like we do. Ha!

The simple and delicious combination of chocolate, graham crackers and a marshmallow will never fade.

A quick Father's Day REcap

Father's Day was indeed back on June 17th and regardless of the time frame I do think I should brag on my precious Skylar and he thoughtful nature. He got up early on that Sunday morning and went and picked some California Poppies and some Wild Daisies for his daddy and even made him a homemade card. He set it up just as Jeff would come down the stairs and see it. It was adorable!

We sat and had a movie night on Sunday and Skylar enjoyed the time with Daddy all day.

The night of the 4th was a BOOM!

We spent most of our DAY and our night blowing up fireworks and watching other people blow up fireworks. It was a all around fun day. Here's a few of the things we did that night......

The little neighbor girl came over, before we left to to see the Star Spangled Celebration Fireworks, to watch some of the fireworks at our house. She and Skylar play together from time to time because they are the same age.

The Chinese Lantern was sort of a disappointment. It lit and sprayed sparks, but the lantern got hung on itself and wouldn't open. :( It was a pretty lantern too, but clearly a bummer.