Bringing Summer In

We are quickly approaching the middle of summer already! Where oh where does the time go? The kids and I have been enjoying many hours of outdoor play (when it isn't too hot). One of our favorite things to do is to check on the summer flower garden which is in full bloom right now! It is so nice to cut fresh flowers to bring inside and display around the house.


Zinnias of many colors

almost all of our dwarf sunflowers have bloomed and the bees are loving them!

the wildflower mix (I wish I knew the name of everything, but there are 5 different types of flowers)



We have always loved to collect bits of nature to display inside our home. This is our nature shelf that is hung in our school room (not my choice in paint color!). On it you will find various nests, empty egg shells, nuts of all kinds, geodes and other stones, seashells, feathers from many many birds, butterfly wings, dried blossoms and a bleached turtle shell to name a few. I try to keep it fairly tidy and will replace things as needed, but for the most part, this is how it looks.

Parker wanted me to take the picture above. The vase is a mason jar that he glued tissue paper to. It was a project he did all by himself and he was very proud of it. He likes to cut his own fresh flowers for it. In front is "his" nest...a nest he found and wanted to keep.

This is the view from my kitchen window, above the sink. It also changes with the seasons. Can you see the sunflower garden in the pot in the lower right corner? Those are Parker's sunflowers and the other morning, two goldfinches were eating from the blossoms! How can you not enjoy doing dishes when you have that to entertain you?!







In addition to our nature shelf, we also have a seasonal shelf. I used to keep it on top of one of the toy shelves in the playroom, but Chloe decided it made a great play area for her as well. So I relocated it to the mantle in the livingroom.

I really like it in there as we spend a good portion of our day while inside on that side of the house. It contains both handmade and nature made items and lots of little bud vases for our flowers.

And right now, this is what our centerpiece looks like. The two sunflower candles I purchased years ago at Stone Mountain. I think Blake was 2? I just burned them for the first time last summer! I love them so much and I didn't want to burn them at all, but I think I can make them last by replacing the center with beeswax. That is Parker's vase in the middle...I just moved it there so we could enjoy his flowers more now that we aren't in the school room much this time of year ;-)

We have been having a wonderful summer so far with lots more activities to look forward to. And I know before long, summer will be saying goodbye and we will be welcoming in a new season.