This past weekend when we made plans to go hiking at the The Channels, Kenan told me 'we won't see any waterfalls' since we usually we plan our hikes around waterfalls. i love big waterfalls, but The Channels look really neat, so i was fine going somewhere without water for once.
After exploring the The Channels and having a great time, we started headed home. We were driving along, following the holston River, when all of a sudden Kenan said, 'Woah..did you see that?' Then he turned the car around and went back looking for a place to park.
We found a place to pull over, crossed the road, and climbed down the embankment to the river below.
The river was beautiful, but hidden almost out of sight when just driving by was a HUGE cascading waterfall!
Pictures never really do justice to show the size of waterfalls, but they were really gorgeous! This is the lower part of the falls with the upper part in the background.
Kenan and the kids are up at the top right standing at the top of the upper falls. It was such an awesome surprise, especially since i didn't think we'd be seein any waterfalls while we were out and these were amazing falls!
After coming home and googling, i found out they are the Logan Creek Falls near Hayter's Gap. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area. i would have loved to explore the river more, but the kids were tired and we were all hungry so we headed home. It was a fun adventurous weekend, a nice change from band competitions. We have one more competition, and then our weekends will be free again. Hoping it stays warm enough for a few more hikes before winter arrives.
Anyone else remember playing with paper dolls as a child? Paper dolls and activity books were always one of my favorite things. Before all this technology took over, we played outside, road our bikes, played with simple toys and used our imaginations. We were not distracted by phones, social media and video games.
When my kids were little, i really tried to keep the toys simple. i loved natural toys, playing outside and anything that encouraged imagination and creative play. As they've got older, they've been sucked into the technology culture just like everyone else. Although neither of my kids have their own phones, they do have tablets and i find myself having to limit their screen time on a regular basis.
When i first saw the Paper Poppets, i was was filled with nostalgia and memories of my childhood. Paper Poppets are paper dolls re-imagined with fun, retro and modern illustrations that inspire imaginative play, personal storytelling and stylishness. The mission behind Paper Poppets is to help girls of all ages build their imagination and self-expression so they can showcase creativity and empower their inner-storyteller. In this day and age it's so nice to find these #timelesstoys that don't require batteries or an internet connection.
My girl and i spent an afternoon 'unplugged'. We had fun reading the story, punching out the paper pieces, coloring the pictures and dressing up the dolls and pets!
The set comes with 3 pages of easy to pop out fashions. There are more pages of outfits in the book, that can be cut out or copied and cut out if you don't want to ruin the book. The outfits are fun and modern. There are even accessories for the pets!
My daughter needed a little help popping out the fashions, she was afraid of ripping the tabs, but for the most part was able to do it herself. She absolutely loved the paper doll set and story. We explored the website and she enjoyed learning about the different characters and their pets. At the end of the day the dolls can be tucked 'into bed' in the pocket at the back of the book. You can store all the pieces in it, to keep them from getting lost or ruined.
Perfect for girls of all ages, the Paper Poppets Story & Activity Set is going to be your new favorite toy. Unleash your inner fashion designer and cut, color and fold these amazing hand-drawn outfits on Maddy and Ava. Don’t forget about dressing up your pets, Otto and Buddy, as well!
2 Dolls (7 3/4″ Tall)
2 Pets
50 pieces of Pre-Cut Fashions
32 Page Illustrated Story/Coloring Book with DIY Activities
Storage pocket in back of book
Box dimensions 10″ x 10″ x 1″
We really loved the Paper Poppets paper doll set. My daughter's only complaint is that the dolls can't share clothes. Each outfit goes to a specific doll, and so you can't mix and match Maddy's clothes with Ava's. She also thought it would be really neat if they made a downloadable blank template for the dolls, so she could design her own clothing for them. We are going to trace the girls shapes onto some blank paper, and try coming up with our own.
Overall, this is a really a neat set and would make a fantastic gift for any young girl. We enjoyed our time unplugged, as we dressed up each doll for the costume ball. My daughter is getting to that age where she doesn't want to hang with her mom, so it was fun to play with these together and be reminded of a simpler time where kids could just be kids.
The Paper Poppets are available here. The story and activity set is $19.99 .
The Great Channels are a virtually unknown slot canyon on the southern slop of Clinch mountain. They are impressive formations of 400-million-year-old sandstone, that create a maze of stone.
While slot canyons are somewhat common in the southwest USA, they’re pretty rare on the east coast. There is nothing else like the Channels anywhere in Virginia. The labyrinth of crevices, passageways, and twists and turns means it’s potentially easy to get lost so pay attention to where you came in.
We had a great time exploring the labyrinth of sandstone.
Geologists believe that the Channels were formed while the high-elevation sandstone cap was under the influence of permafrost and ice wedging during the last ice age. These forces shattered and enlarged the joints in the sandstone caprock creating the tunnels and maze we see today.
Looking up from the inside the channels. A lot of my pictures didn't come out, because there isn't a lot of light inside the maze. The sunlight sort of peeks through in spots like this.
There are lot of tight spaces to squeeze through. A few areas that were a bit claustrophobic, and we made our way through the maze.
After spending some time wandering around the slot canyon, we followed a trail that took us to the top of the Channels. Here we were able to peer down into the them. This made me a little nervous as we had to jump over some pretty steep spaces to move around this area.
It was a nice place to rest and enjoy the views, which were truly breath taking.
This is the view from Middle knob. The elevations on the Channels State Forest range from 1,800 feet to more than 4,208 feet. The sandstone maze at the heart of Channels State Forest sits hidden at the top of Middle Knob – elevation 4208’.
The actual trail to the Channels is about 3 miles, from the parking lot. It's well marked and reasonably mild although there is a gradual 1000 ft incline.
We really enjoyed the hike (it had been way too long since our last one). The weather was gorgeous for October, and we found it well worth the 2 hour drive to get there.
A couple weeks ago we had our first frost. It was only a light frost, but i pretty much gave up on the garden and really didn't expect to be posting anymore harvest pictures. My focus has been on moving my craft area downstairs, setting up a studio and playing in the glass shop again. So my garden is a neglected mess of weeds and morning glories right now.
Went out this morning to clean it up a bit and was surprised to see that it's still producing.
i planted a bunch of lettuce and kale under row covers back in July. The majority of it never germinated, or was munched (especially the kale) before it had a chance to grow. The few that made it, did really well. SO we are starting the fall with fresh lettuce....but just a little. i do have more planted in a different area, that does seem to be germinating better.
i have fall peas blooming and producing. i planted green, yellow and purple again. So far only the yellow have started to produce. They really seem to be enjoying the cool mornings.
My rattlesnake preacher beans are fantastic. These area pole bean and they produce like crazy. i also have bush beans planted, they are producing but not as abundantly. We could get a frost any day now that will wipe them all out. i'm feeling pretty grateful to still be getting so much summer goodness in mid october.
Morning glories are beautiful, but also extremely invasive. i spend all summer ripping them out of the garden, but they just keep coming. By the fall, when the garden is nearly done and i let the morning glories take it over. These are my bean poles. The morning glories have completely covered them, and the tomatoes. They pulled down what was left of my bamboo fence, and knocked over several of the tomato supports.
It's a beautiful sort of destruction that eases us into the winter. Just as everything begins to really die back, it's all covered in flowers.
Halloween is quickly approaching! i hadn't even begun to think about a costume, when i received an invite to the Practical Magic Halloween from a friend on facebook. Here is the description of the event.
"Ladies, this Halloween, let's show our little town our true spirit! It isn't hard to do and it won't take a lot of money. Think about this, a black dress or black top and skirt, witch's hat, and striped socks....there you go! Show up to Dogtown and not only do we win the prize but how amazing will it be to have a whole room of Witches! i happen to know that there is another group that thinks they might win the group prize...but who can compete with this!"
" Ladies who will be taking little ones out for trick or treating, wouldn't it be a sight if we all dressed up to do this too? At least we can throw our hats on and nod to each other as we pass in the street!"
So just like that, i knew exactly what i'd be dressing up as this year. A witch! Every year my kids come up with costume ideas and i spend so much time working on them, that i don't always have the time to finish mine.
This is the first time ever i have my costume done before the kids! Wohoo! Okay, it's not really done. i'm going to hit the goodwill this weekend to find a better witch dress and some accessories, but i'm feeling mighty witchy. ;) i've been wanting a nice witch hat for ages (i mean, who doesn't?!) Everytime we go to a Harry Potter party, HP festival etc i wish i had a Professor Mcgonagall costume, but couldn't find a good witch hat. Most of the witch hats i've seen in the stores are pretty lame.
So you have no idea how excited i was to find this one by Sdsaena. This hat is amazing! It's very stiff and sturdy. It's huge! The outer fabric has a lacy look, i believe there is a layer of felt in the center to stabilize it and then it's lined in a satin type fabric. The spider on the side is made from pipe cleaner, but looks neat on the hat. The flower on the front of the bow has just a hint of sparkly green going through it. It doesn't have the full round brim like a traditional witch hat, but it's such a cool design!
"We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful?"- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
My girl loves the hat so much she tried to claim it, even though she wasn't even planning to be a witch this year. It even has a decorative spider climbing up the side.
What could be better than one amazing witch hat? Three amazing witch hats!! This hat is sold as a set of three. So my girl will be getting her hat. This set is perfect for group costumes, witch gatherings or Harry Potter parties! i'm super excited to be able to share one with a friend that wanted to attend the Practical Magic event but didn't have a hat. You can check it out here http://www.sdsaena.com/Sdsaena-Women-s-Luxury-17-5-High-Halloween-Witch-Hat-Adult-Set-of-3-p333505.html It's available in black, purple and orange. It's also available in Amazon, and i have several 10% off coupons to share, so drop me an email if interested!
Now that my costume is (mostly) done, i can start working on the kids costumes as soon as they decide what they are going to be!
i received this product in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.
Now that garden season is wrapping up, i've started playing in the glass shop again. Last year i made a ton of hearts, and goddess pendants and then took the summer off to focus on the garden. i wasn't that excited about getting back into the glass shop, because i get bored really easy and didn't really know what to make. i played around with a few ideas, but wasn't feeling that inspired. Several friends kept posting a video on my fb wall showing glass sea turtles, so i decided to give them a try.
These are the first 3 i made! i think you can see the progress just in these three! The first one is on the left. The second one in has the dichro shell which was difficult to work with, but i figured out how to make the head less stretched. By the third one, i really felt like i had my design down.
The first couple i made were pretty big for pendants, so i focused on trying to make them a bit smaller. i decided this was a really good size.
Kenan gave me some dichro patterned chips to use and i love the way they look. i ended up keeping this one for myself. :)
i'm really excited about how these are turning out and i'm looking forward to play with some different colors and shell patterns. i signed up to have a table at the Fall festival at our local school again this year, and need to stockpile pendants for that. i'll eventually be posting them for sale on my fb page.
We are all about healthy snacks! i keep fresh fruit in the house at all times. With our busy scheduale sometimes we want a quick healthy snack to take with us and it's impracticable to carry around fresh fruit in our pocket/purse. Sunrype Fruit to Go is perfect for those occasions! They are 100% fruit strips that contain a combination of fruit puree, lemon juice concentrate, citrus pectin, citric acid and natural flavor. All the sugar in these comes naturally from the fruit and juices.
i LOVE that they contain so much fruit and are gluten-free, peanut-free and vegan. So many schools are peanut free these days, that it's really nice to find healthy snacks that are peanut free and won't get soft and squishy if left in a backpack for days.
SunRype is excited to be collaborating with Disney for their release of the new movie Coco! Disney shares their passion for health and wellness. Together, they hope to help deliver fun, educational and nutritional information around the power of healthy eating to individuals and families across North America. Disney’s commitment to health and wellness dates back to 2006, when the company became the first major media company to establish a Nutrition Guideline Policy to associate its brands with a more nutritious portfolio of foods and beverages. The company has since marked every year of its Healthy Living Commitment with significant milestones, such as becoming the first major media company to launch food advertising standards for children, launching new content and experiences that inspire healthier lifestyles.
Disney Pixar's Coco arrives in theaters just a few days before Thanksgiving on November 22, 2017. These animated characters are sure to provide fun entertainment for your entire family. SunRype USA is excited to be a part of Celebrating the release of Disney●Pixar's Coco in Theatres November 22, 2017!
From October 2nd-20th they will be collecting entries for 1 lucky person to win a Trip for 4 consisting of travel and accommodations for 3 Days & 2 Nights in Hollywood, plus 4 passes for the opportunity to see the Los Angeles Premiere Screening of the Disney●Pixar's Coco film in early November plus some yummy SunRype snacks of course. After that we will be giving away some great weekly SunRype & Disney●Pixar's Coco prize packages up for grabs from October 23rd to November 24th, 2017.
Enter here for a chance to win a Trip for 4 to the Movie Premiere (October 2-20, 2017). Enter here for a chance to win a weekly prize pack (October 23 - November 24, 2017). Good luck! We are looking forward to seeing the movie in theaters soon!
You can find SunRype at select grocery stores. Where to Buy
*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. The sweepstakes begins on October 2nd, 2017 at 8:00am PT and ends on October 20, 2017, at midnight PT for the Premiere Trip Sweepstakes & October 23rd through to November 24th, 2017 for the weekly prize packages. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. or D.C. who are 18 years of age or older. The sweeps can be entered ONCE PER DAY. Find a full list of the prizes available to be won, how to enter, odds of winning and drawing dates along with the full rules and regulations at www.facebook.com/SunRypeUSA. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Sun-Rype Products Ltd
*i received a complimentary product in exchange, for my honest and unbiased review. All opinions are 100% my own.
This year, like every year we rescue the monarch caterpillars off the milkweed that grows on the edge of the road before the county movers come through and mow it all down. We were able to save and release 17 healthy monarchs this year.
However, not all of our caterpillars survived. In nature only 1 out of every 10 eggs survived to maturity. There are many diseases and parasites that can kill them. Our very first chrysalis this year began turning weird colors, so i knew it was dead. i was worried at first that it may have had a virus and all of the caterpillars i had would have been exposed to it, but then i saw the hole in the side and the weird little larva on the bottom of the container and i knew it had just been infected by a Tachnid fly.
Thankfully, the other caterpillars we fine and went on to become butterflies.
i like to move the chrysalis out of the container so they don't get damaged by the remaining caterpillars, or from opening and closing the lid to refill the milkweed.
The last batch of monarchs i collected, looked a little odd. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the black and white lines did not have clear borders. The black looked like it had bled a bit into the white, or like the lines were made with water colors. They just looked a little off, so i isolated them from the rest. They continued eating like normal, and then transformed into their chrysalis. So i was feeling optimistic, that maybe they were all fine.
Several days after the last of the caterpillars transformed, i saw this weird spotting. This is a sick chrysalis. It eventually turned splotchy dark and the chrysalis died. All the caterpillars with the weird stripping died in the chrysalis except one, with emerged deformed and was unable to fly.
i'm not sure what disease they had, but i suspect it may have been OE. It seems that at the end of the season, there are far more diseases than at the beginning of the season.
It always sucks to lose a few, but it's all part of the natural cycle. All of the diseased/infected caterpillars we raised had been exposed to the disease in nature and would have died anyhow. Keeping the unusual looking caterpillars isolated is important to keep viruses from spreading to healthy caterpillars, and sterilizing the containers at the end of the season is also important.
The county movers came through and mowed down the milkweed on the edge of the road, so our monarch season is officially over. i still see a few pass through, and look forward to their return next year!
When the kids were younger we spent almost every weekend hiking or going to science museums. Family time has always been very important to me, so i loved to spend a day unplugging from technology and enjoying the world around us.
Over the summer, we really enjoyed kayaking every chance we had. With school starting back so early (second week of August) and Kenan traveling about every other weekend, our kayaking adventures were cut short this year.
With Sequoia in Marching band, our weekends now consist of Football games on Friday Nights (Just there for the band) and band competitions on Saturdays. Although i miss our hikes and day trips to museums i do enjoy watching my boy perform.
The band always does a fantastic job and are really enjoyable to watch. Last year they played a Queen set, this year the music is from Fiddler on the Roof. They talked about doing Harry Potter music, but a few of the kids didn't want to for religious reasons. LAME.
My son has been participating in the marching band for 3 years, playing the Trombone. It's neat to see him progress each year and have an activity he really loves. They often call it the band family, and it really does seem to be.
We recognize many of the kids from our old Library playgroup, karate and Floyd Jams. It's neat to see the kids of community grow with the band. My son is the second tallest Trombone player. He may actually be the second tallest in the whole band.
We are super proud of him and his commitment to the band. My daughter has just started band at the elementary school and is hoping to be part of the marching band when she goes to the high school as well. It does take a lot of practice and commitment, but i know they have a lot of fun as well.
So my weekends are now about driving back and forth to band band competitions, and picking up late at night from football games. There just hasn't been much time for anything else. As the kids get older, i expect this will only get worse.
The competitions are in different areas of Virginia, so we do get to enjoy a few day trips with different views. Sometimes we look for places to hike/explore while we are there. i'm still hoping we get to kayak once or twice before the winter hit. The weather is already changing, and we've had a light frost in the mornings. With garden season wrapping up, craft season is beginning for me and we still have a few more band activities on the weekends. Competitions are coming to an end, but there are still football games and a couple of parades. i've really slacked on my blog the past few months, but we live a rather boring life. Not much going on, just working hard and living life. No complaints.
Last week i received one of the JadeCrate Subscription Boxes! It actually arrived just in time for my Birthday! i've never purchased a subscription box before, and was eagar to see inside!.
i mean, who doesn't love a suprise?!
Each surprise subscription box is designed to feed your bohemian spirit. JadeCrate's boho subscription box is carefully curated to ensure your satisfaction. They offer two sizes, the Jadecrate subscription box is $49.99 and the smaller Pico boho is $25.
Your monthly subscription box contains a mix of global, fair trade, USA made fashion accessories, home goods, natural skin care, organic snacks, and more. Not sure about the subscription? They also offer a try it before you subscribe box. My box was full of fun items.
A few of the items i received. My tween daughter of course tried to claim everything. :)
My box included a lovely fair trade scarf, a sample of organic tea a bag of organic popcorn, a decorative glass votive holder, a boho themed ring and earrings and a bottle of their natural signature lotion. i really loved that they included a card with information about the featured artist and product that they made. The tea an popcorn samples were fun, and the signature all-natural lotion is very nice.
My daughter claimed the fair-trade scarf (although i plan to borrow it ;) ), she also loved the ring. My favorite item is the Elephant earrings and the votive holder.
You can check out Jade Crate for more info about the different boxes and subscription options. While you are there, enter to win a Pico box in their monthly sweepstakes!
Also check out their Kickstarter page for some special deals for pledging. For a pledge of $40 or more, you'll receive an introductory box with no strings attached! A nice way to try out the box before committing.
i've always been a bit curious about subscription boxes, but i definitely see the appeal! It was really fun to receive a surprise in the mail! i liked all the items that came in the box, and really think this would make a fun gift to send to anyone who loves the boho lifestyle!
*i received this Jadecrate box at no cost, in exchange for my review. My opinions are my own.
#sponsored
