winner announced

thank you all for commenting and sharing. it was so fun to sit and read all the things you like about where you live. thank you.

so--- the comment winner, randomly selected, is...

"One of my favorites is my print of "Her Room" by Andrew Wyeth that my dad framed for me. I had always loved that picture, and for many years I searched for a print. One day my parents noticed it in the museum store and bought it, my dad made the frame for it. I only wish they had seen me open it for Christmas. I was so surprised and emotional about it!"

i will get these to you as soon as i can, hilary. congratulations!

thanks again, all of you. i will be back here soon. i have a larger giveaway coming up in conjunction with some other lovely blogs. continue to shop with that discount code until tomorrow.

a happy happy thursday to you, friends.

a little giveaway

the sewing machine has been buzzing over here. lots and lots of sewing.



so i want to give something to you, kind readers. here's what's up for grabs:



a little packaged deal. a squirrel:



and a pair of 16" napkins



how do you get your name into this virtual hat? leave a comment. tell me something you love about your house. or an item in your home that you love. whichever.

post your comment anywhere between now and thursday at 8 a.m. i'll announce the winner sometime that afternoon.

if you'd like double points (name in hat twice), then share a link to my shop (phoebeflock) or to this giveaway. tell me you did so in the comments and i'll give you double points.

oh! and as an additional thank you to you, here is a code for 10% off in the shop from now until friday (June 20th). code: PHOEBELOVE

i hope you win.

a trip.

just returned from visiting these fantastic folks:



what a joy it is to be together.



God has made some really cool stuff. family is right up there in the top 50 best things. i'm pretty sure.

along with all of of those beautiful growing and flying things.









being states away from this family has been hard. really hard. there were definitely tears as we drove away. but, i will say, i think we've established a bit of a rhythm. we've figured out how to live on top of each other for a couple of weeks each year and then not at all for the other 50. we're still tight. pick up where we left off. and enjoy the moments we have.





we had a blast. didn't do a whole lot. made meals together. cleaned up together. sat outside together.





the "together" part was the best. i'm so thankful for these sisters of mine. they are both such good company.





a wonderful trip.



hope your summer is off to a refreshing start. i'll be back here soon with a giveaway. i hope you win.

playing with kids

i've been trying to follow through on that last post. i'd give myself a B on the follow through. not too bad. not stellar. but the effort is there. i hope the habit will follow. 

we made play dough:

and then the other day we did something that i thought was a fun exercise. so i'm sharing. 

zeke went down for a morning nap. we each picked something that we wanted us all to do together. it had to be something feasible, at home, etc. we all had to be able to do it. we all had to do the other people's activities willingly and, hopefully, with joy. 

we picked legos out of a bowl to see whose activity would be first. i set a 15 minute timer on my phone. and we commenced. 

my lego was pulled first. so we did what i had wanted to do--- legos. 

(please forgive the photos of this post. i didn't bring the camera-- just the phone.)

kate was up next. coloring. (no surprise there- this girl is crazy for coloring)

samuel brought up the rear with painting. 

we really had such a nice time. i enjoyed hanging with those two. and i think it was good for all of us to prefer someone else for 30 minutes in participating in an activity that we didn't choose. 

i liked it. i hope we do it again soon. give it a try at your house, if you want. 

happy week-start.