Hi all, we are putting up the Live Lightly Tour RV up for sale, please email me at dancemntn@yahoo.com if interested or if you would like more info. You can see some pics here. And find more details about bus on Live Lightly Tour Q&A page.

Parks and I headed to the Big Orange Pumpkin Patch in Prosper, TX today (along with everyone else in the Metroplex!)

Anyway, we did get to squeeze on the hayride, which of course was his favorite part of the whole day. He tried to feed the goats, but with all of the attention, I don’t think these guys were the least big hungry.  Fun stuff, and perfect weather for it all!

You can check out the pics here.

Enjoy the Fall…………………….

, originally uploaded by dancemntn.

While Jeff was on his first motorcycle adventure last month, Parks and I headed out to the Plano Balloon Festival. Was warm, but otherwise great weather to see the balloons go up!

You can check out the photos here.

Happy Birthday Gram!!! I hope you have a wonderful day and all of your birthday wishes come true! We love you very much!

Oh, you don’t even have a bucket my size? Hmmm, at least part of me will fit…….

Gotta love our girl Marley!

 Sometimes you just have to work with what you have, and be a little creative………..

So, we didn’t make it to the mountains for this inaugural fest this summer, but maybe there’s next year? Thanks Tim and Laurie for posting this! http://www.theblackthornproject.com/2009/07/23/all-that-i-know/ You can learn more about Tim and Laurie from their website and my blog post here: http://searchingtheway.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/house-concerts-rock/

All that I know
Is love has come around
Like the grass under the golden sun
pushes through the ground
All I know is love has come around

All that I know
Is peace has come around
Like the rain beneath the silver moon
glistens to the ground
all I know is peace has come around

I will kiss the days behind me now
and thank you for the beauty that I never saw
I will say goodbye to what is gone
Welcome what I know has been here all along
Been here all along

I finally see tonight
The bluing of the sky
I run into the arms that have been open all the time
Open all the time

–
By Timothy Floyd Thornton and Laura Elizabeth Thornton
Bricklayer Music Publishing(ASCAP)/Music Guru Publishing(ASCAP)
© Bricklayer Music Publishing 2006. All rights reserved. Please email us for a license to re-record or include this song in media.

Welcome Margot to my family, my little brother’s new Weimaraner puppy. She’s beautiful and fun, and quite a handful…I got to see her last month when we went to visit my brother in Nashville. It was a great trip, too short, but I finally got to see his new house and meet our new family member!

By the way it is Justin’s birthday today, Happy Birthday Bro! I love you and am so proud of who you are! May your soul continue to shine in everything you do!

Here is a fun video of Parks and Justin having a jam session:

I also got to pay a quick visit to Madison Creek Farms right outside of Nashville and snag a fresh  blueberry pie. Worth a visit for fresh produce and flowers. Peggy also schedules some great events there during the year, check out their website for the schedule: http://www.madisoncreekfarms.com/

To see pics from Nashville trip, click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23622566@N03/sets/72157621452155255/

Stay cool……………

I had a toasty Saturday cruising the town, I headed up toMcKinney for their weekly farmer’s market at Chestnut Square.

I didn’t spend all my money at the market, just picked up a  bunch of lavender (which I’m attempting to dry and it’s shedding all over our dining table, but gosh it smells good) and some yummy mango drinkable yogurt from Lucky Layla Farms.

Here are some more pics from the day…

Chestnut Square………

Downtown McKinney…

 I also  stopped by Jacob’s Reward Farm to pay Cindy a visit and got to say hi to her new alpaca boys. They are less then a year old and just so darn cute, still a little skiddish, but will soon warm up to their new home and barnmates. You can check out some funny videos and her updates on the farm on her blog, http://www.jacobsreward.blogspot.com/. She’s even started recording a podcast, so check that out too. She’s a wealth of knowledge and it’s been fun to pick her brain on some things. I hope to visit her world again soon and give Jeff the official tour.

  The new boys on the block…..

Thing’s I’m loving:

Mary Jane’s Farm magazine: http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/magazine.html

Crissa’s Closet , a women’s consignment shop run by Hope’s Door, Plano women’s shelter. Designer clothing at less then $10, and your cash goes to a good cause, who can beat that? Much of my excess clothing that was weeded out last year has made a home there too.

Currently reading: Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest’s Most Controversial Season, next up are Truck and Population: 485 by Michael Perry,  just finished Farewell My Subaru by Doug Fine,http://www.dougfine.com/ ,  (a must read!)

Take it easy, stay cool, I think we’ll be hitting the 100 degree mark here next week, thank God for air conditioning………….

Lookout, originally uploaded by dancemntn.

Alright, I’m back to the blogging world. Today’s goal is to get some photos from the past few weeks uploaded, so I thought I’d start with our recent trip to Arkansas. We headed up to Hot Springs last week to stay for a few days and explore one of our favorite states.  Our stay at the Lake Hamilton Resort was, well, interesing. You would definitely want to hang out there if your decor preference leans towards mauve and lots of it! It was a little outdated, BUT  it perfectly fit what we needed for a few days. It was clean,  very roomy, allowed pets and offered free breakfast every morning, so no complaints here! 

We started the trip off with a visit to the Mid-America Science Museum . I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, we all had fun with the hands on projects. Parks and Jeff could have stayed for hours just trying out the earthquake engineering (Lego and Lincoln Log play for big kids!) Then there was the sand pendelum, that was my obsession, it was just so meditative…….. sand………moving………sand……Anyway, we headed up to Petit Jean State Park the next day to do a 2 1/4 mile hike down to Cedar Falls. The falls were roaring!  It had been years since Jeff and I had enjoyed the beauty of that place. Parks had a great time on his “adventure” and Jeff even braved the slick rock to take him behind the waterfall. I decided I would just be the dog sitter at that point, and let the explorers do their thing. It was a great workout and just felt so good to get OUT! We also drooled in the museum of automobiles there on Petit Jean mountain. Great collection which included  Bill Clinton’s Mustang,  one of JFK’s family cars and some of our favorite classic rides.  We rounded out the trip with a tourist stop at the Hot Springs Duck Tours. Jeff and I had never ridden the ducks, so we thought why not!? Parks had a good time when the duck hit the water and it was a needed break from a very hot and humid day on the town. Next day’s travel was to West Monroe, LA for a quick visit and to drop off Parks for a week visit with the grandfolks-then back to TX for work for Mom and Dad-ugggh……… Vacations go so darn fast!

Check out the flickr photos from Petit Jean State Park  here, Hot Springs here, and our short visit back to West Monroe here.  Also, I uploaded some fun birthday party pics of Parks from last month at the Frisco Horse Park. Goats and horses aplenty! Check out the party pics here.

More blogs to come soon- maybe even a book post, we have been making more time to read lately……………

I started really getting into photography after my son was born. It’s become a fun hobby and I would like to improve and learn some new skills over the summer. I’m always on the lookout for seminars or workshops for amateur photographers, so let me know if you ever hear of one!  Right now, I just enjoy getting out and shooting and seeing what I come up with. My best buddy Leigh Ann turned me on to a really cool website full of giveaways and photo tips: http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/ She has some other categories as well, like cooking and homeschooling, but since I do neither of those I just focus on her photo stuff. Ree’s funny and laid back and non-intimidating-my fav things in a woman!  I’m very lucky that my dude Parks loves getting his picture taken, so he’s a very willing subject. Here are some photos of my little wildflower being silly in the wild bluebonnets.

By the way Happy Mother’s Day to you mom’s out there! I count everyone who’s ever held something under their wing, even you doggie moms!

Here are some  blogs I try to keep up with of other moms I truly love! (I’m sure I’m forgetting some, please forgive me!)

The Cascio Whirlwind

Stop and Smell the Davis’

four to six-(Jason and Sarah’s blog)

Mama Nygren’s Blog

Joyful caffeination

Walk Slowly,Live Wildly