september is over???

one of my top favorite summer/fall experiences is finding a sunflower field.
and some years i never do.
in case you don’t know… sunflowers are a crop that farmers plant like they would with wheat or corn or soybeans.
they are BEAUTIFUL but serve a purpose with their seeds.
“the seeds are used to make cooking oil, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressings, snack food, hair oil, swine and poultry feed, fireplace logs and low-grade furnace fuel.” – i googled that.
they are always in different fields each year – which is why they can be hard to find.
i have yet to see sunflowers in the same field two summers in a row… but i don’t have the knowledge to explain exactly why that is.
it has to do with dirt and stuff.  (that’s a farmer-y word – “stuff”)
we get lots of questions when people come to kansas about sunflowers so i am just passing on my helpful info.
ha ha ha

talby was my willing model.

seriously though????
this was with my phone and the sun had just set.
i wish we’d taken it with the big camera 10 minutes earlier.

waffle is such a lover.

this super cute puffy vest is at Sam’s club!  whaaaat?!
GO GET ONE!!!
and take a selfie for your friends in the feminine products & bread aisle like me!

donuts are my weakness…. they are just too pretty!!!

sean is about halfway through his football season.
i am actually starting to catch on to what is going on out there!

scotty stopped by one of talby’s volleyball games.
i was trying not to hug him TOO much.
but i can’t help myself.

the second time i went out to photograph the sunflower field i had a wonderful experience.
i was alone and walked out into the field about 50 feet maybe.
i was clicking away with my camera and i noticed a monarch fluttering around me.
then i stopped looking through my screen and looked at the field and there were butterflies EVERYWHERE!
it was so quiet.  the only sound was the leaves flapping, bees buzzing and butterflies wings flapping.
it felt like a dream.

garden spiders are so gross and so cool.
everyone says they are harmless but they still creep me out so much.
this one was all the way at the back of the yard by the chicken coop so i felt okay about it.
it was as big as my palm.
{{{{shudder}}}}

these yellow flowers are weeds/wildflowers that are 7 feet tall in the back yard.
and that sun really did look like that.
i had to edit it my photo a lot to get that to show up but that is pretty much exactly what my eyes saw!
waffle was not in the mood for selfies.
hugs for scott after he stopped by the house for a haircut.  🙂

talby got to go to her first homecoming dance.
it’s been a long time since i have dressed shopped with a teen.
the thing i forgot is that the stores are full of other teens shopping as well.
and it’s loud.
and they slam their dressing room doors over and over.
and play music on their phones.
oy veh!
but it was fun to spend time with talby and find a pretty dress!

sean is in red… third one in that is bent down on the ground.
i don’t know his position.
i just know his number.
i focus on that.
“where’s #53?”  that is pretty much ALL i think about during his games.
it’s working for me.

waffle always prances around so happily after a haircut.

this pumpkin???
crazy town.
i bought it at sams when i bought that buffalo check vest.  🙂

i had a birthday last week.
my parents were visiting to help me celebrate.
i got my hair colored that day too!
i haven’t colored my hair for three years and made the decision to do it for some self care.
i remembered how much i like getting something new – a cut or a color – so i booked it.
i almost cancelled 20 different times.
money… time… upkeep… fear… energy….  but in the end i went!
woo-hoo!
it doesn’t look too different but it’s a little darker… with some red in there.
but it is shiny and fresh and healthy now and that feels great!
yay for self care!!!

my friend shelley sent me a box of rainbow frosted sugar cookies!
what in the world???
it was the sweetest gift!
literally.
i shared a few but i made sure i got the most!

i also got the most amazing vintage green polka dot quilt/blanket in the mail from a friend.
it was such a wild birthday surprise!
i couldn’t love it more!

and there was cake and candles and singing happy birthday of course.

forty one.
here’s hoping forty one is a year of learning and graciously accepting growth and change.
and lots of fun.
and losing 20 pounds and becoming a marathon runner/mountain climber/disco queen.
HA HA HA!
just kidding!

mostly.
😉