boo

hey- are you reading this? well...it's halloweeeeeeen and i just felt compelled to tell you
about my love for candy.

i love candy. i do. (not as much as potato chips, but almost).  if you're hangin with me and get hungry, just dig in my purse.... haha


is there anything more beautiful than the notion of putting something simple like a hat on- or ratting up your hair and then going to strangers houses where they dole you out a big handful of candy?

are there any rules about when one must stop trick or treating?

 no??? WOOO HOOO


oh MAN, it's 8:30 already?~~ if i intend to make my way around the neighborhood i've got to get going!

i can't even tell you how much i wish i had even ONE photo on my youngest on the halloween when he dressed up as  "captain underpants" . it was about 28 degrees- he was around 16 and all he wore were tighty whities and a cape. not. even. kidding. 
* my boy had a hard time giving up the years of trick or treating too. : )
                                              
                                                         happy halloween
                                                             xo,  beth

can you be 50 (something) and still have silly girl fun? well  i can...and so can my family and it's the best.

 with your besties, you can let your hair down, (or just throw it up in a clip for that matter and don't even TRY to pretend like you give a hoot). makeup? not so much on these weekends. well, i do try the first day- but then all bets are off.

we have wholesome fun- and we make up the rules as we go- some highlights of last weekend were:

 carrying on the tradition of going thrift shopping and spending $5 max to get something
for a gift exchange later in the day and it's hilarious... i practically leaped across the living room to steal the plaid throw that i wished had been MY prize.....haha

i did not however do any leaping to try to steal this exercise collection. my buns of steel
are more like carmel rolls and i just don't think there's any going back! some people love carmel rolls~

i had the brilliant idea to teach anyone who wanted to, how to knit...and then promptly begged my sister to bring all the supplies and do the teaching. (she's a much better teacher than i am).

we came away from the weekend with one new committed knitter in the bunch. cousin nancy did gave it her best shot- but after completing one chain of stitches, she retired and is looking for a new craft. the headband she made will no doubt be a hot commodity at Christmas though.

                                                
 we hit up the local casino- but no one walked away with any winnings.  girls smoked candy cigarettes to try and be cool- hey don't judge---didn't you ever love a good candy cig???

                                                yoga moves were demonstrated
                                    (i fear the repercussions if i post those photos)

                                                       kumbaya was sung....

                                 my sis (the lexulus queen) labored long and hard and
               presented us each with a bed prize that was personalized with each
                                       of our names and interests on them.

     suz served us lots of fabulous food and these cinnamon rolls were a personal favorite~

i am not used to staying up till 1 or 2 a.m. two nights in a row though and by the time i drove in the garage sunday afternoon i felt like a cranky toddler who had missed her nap.  : |

            a couple nights of quality sleep later though and i can say- it was so worth it.

                        

                                                          makin memories,
                                                 the good old fashioned way.

                                    disclaimer: *no bras were frozen in the freezer
                                                       *no ouija boards were dug out
                                                       *no boys were prank called
                                                       *no food was thrown

                 
                                           just a bunch of girls, talking smart and
                                                                reconnecting-
                                                   thanks ladies for all the fun!
                                               


                                                                 xo, beth

kindness matters

last week at work, a client showed up with this bouquet in hand...for ME. can you even stand it? for no reason-other than she is a nice person and she wanted to brighten my day.

                             random acts of kindness like this mean a lot.
                                                            

                             * thank you colleen for making my day as sunny
                                               as these beauty- ful
                                                     yellow flowers!


                                                                  xo, beth

 

add another 8 sets of legs and this could

be a picture of my cousins and i.

 

this weekend a bunch of us girls

will gather to giggle and

have an old fashioned

sleepover.

 

i

can't

wait...

 

 

~family is

life's richest blessing

 

 

xo, beth

let's talk about love...

one of my passions is photography, so when these two lovebirds asked if i would take their engagement photos i was thrilled. i've known allison since she was 4 and she and my youngest were best friends. one day they'd play (and boss each other around) at our house...then the next day they'd be down at hers-doing the same thing. she lived across the street and our families are great friends.

watching her become the wonderful young woman she is has been a real joy and when she started dating this cool young man a little over a year ago, i had a really good feeling that he was "the one". turns out he IS~ he asked her to marry him, and she said yes!

                                                                     **********

                      
                                                               ***********

i know, i know, you'd like to see what the fiance' looks like too right? patience people...     : )

                                     **************************

if you're as old as i am, are you channeling ali mcgraw in
                    LOVE STORY? i am

                                                   ******************

these two are fun and playful and their love for each was so apparent as we ran from place to place finding good light and cool backgrounds...chris thanks for being such a trooper- we knew you really wanted to be home watching the vikings game- but it was worth it wasn't it?   (wasn't it???)

- so excited about all the fun that's to come as you make plans to marry and spend your lives together! thank you for letting me capture this special time in your lives~

                               xo, beth

mama's happy

whoooooooo doesn't love a good field trip? throw on your boots, get in your sleek mini-van (your girlfriends), coffee in hand- program your gps, and head west! it's a guaranteed recipe for bliss.

* add a slightly overcast day- a light mist, gorgeous fall leaves and fence lined country roads and you'll never, ever want to head home.

sat. one of my "bests" and i headed to independance mn. (don't you love that name- if i lived there i'd pull out ALL the stops come the 4th of july). there is an old creamery there and it houses an occasional sale called  mama's happy. pretty much everything about it makes me happy. many different girls come together to create a sale once a month that is making mama's happy all over this big old state. this month they added a whole bunch of features outside, including a circus tent filled with additional vendors and food booths.

 there was music being piped in amongst the trees and maggie and i had a delightful cup of soup on a wicker couch in what is going to be a chicken coop. (i know- a chicken coop- it just gets better, amanda is going to be selling fresh eggs come spring).

                                                                 *******

                         ever the dog lover, maggie and oliver quickly bonded

 of course the selection of goods for sale did not dissapoint either and lookie what this mama brought home in the back of the van (thank God for maggie's van girls) for the cabin. it may take the place of a dresser in my girls room.

3 is my favorite number~ cause i have 3 kids. i love the color of this baby, the stripes and the big ol #3 on the front left me unable to resist! the quilt on the top here is tattered and torn and the most delicious colors of worn red and greys ($3 garage sale on the way)...i used it the very next day for an engagement photo shoot...(look for pics of that coming soon). if you look closely you'll also see a wooden sled on the end that i'll  prop outside the cabin.

*guess who had hand stamped bracelets for sale here too? me!!! and they sold really well- so i made more money than i spent-always a plus.*

on the way home we stopped in excelsior to grab another coffee. i am blessed enough to work on this very main street. it's a feast for the eyes on any given day.....yep i know,

                   life is good!!!
           i am blessed and i don't
                   take it for granted. i don't
               want to come off braggy here friends-
                i want all this and more for you too...
               if you aren't feeling like your cup is
          half full right now- get out this weekend. find
           even an hour or two to fill your cup- live
               intentionally. as if it were the last
                 weekend of your life! carpe' diem the
                   heck out of your weekend~  : )

                                                          xo, beth

the girls who matter the most to me...

 

 

                                                        ********************

i think you know who you are....i am blessed by my friends. in the last couple days i've
talked to 4 or 5 of you and to the ones reading this that i haven't been in touch with lately? it isn't because i haven't wanted to. this saying above means so much to me. i absolutely love old friends-

the kind you just know are there for you. "girlfriends got your back". even if we haven't had the pleasure of being together-or even chatting for a bit- nothings changed and nothing ever will. now that's a true blue friend.

                                                          love you girls!

                                                                 xo, me

p.s. who's watching this season of  parenthood? are you with me? is it not just the best show e.v.e.r?

                                                  

time flies...

 

and in the blink of an eye- a whole year has flown past and

today is the one year anniversary of my brown sparrow studio blog.

 

i've been thinking a bit lately of ideas on what i should do or say
to

mark this anniversary of me putting my thoughts and photographs

out there for anyone and everyone to see.

 

well, tonight i was out to dinner with some friends and

my anniversary post just showed up right in front of me!

 

we met in minnetonka-yes as in minnetonka minnesota right?

well we don't have a lot of movie stars around here-

(although i did see don shelby in excelsior a couple

of years ago-does that impress anyone? didn't think so)

 

you have to drive a long ways to get to hollywood so

there's not a lot of red carpet type people hangin

around restaurants here....

 

as our hostess led us to our table, at the table right next to

where we were to be seated, i noticed a good looking man that

looked a lot like james denton who was on desperate housewives.

as we sat down i whispered to luci,

"the guy at the table there looks exactly like the guy

from desperate housewives....about 2 seconds later

mary, on the other side of me- taps me and says

"don't look now, but james denton is at the table next to us!"

 

"i said how do you know it's really him?" and she said "cause the

waitress told me"!!!

 

well, without knowing it- i had picked the primo spot

for star gazing and i could look right at him throughout our meal.

even though i was never a big fan of the show- i have watched

it enough to feel a bit giddy that i was actually eating

chips and fresh guacamole while watching him

interact with his wife and two kids...

JUST LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!!

so, i guess it's true- stars go out to eat

just like normal people...and they put on dorky

reading glasses to see the menu (his wife's probably) and

they have to pay the bill and deal with a bunch of

people staring at them while they eat...

*********

 

the picture below may not really look like it's him...

but TRUST ME, it was. we were trying to act all

innocent and like we were just taking pictures

of each other you know...so he was in the booth

in the back, in the corner in the dark...

thank God for photoshop. : )

******************

so~ i know that was really random- but it's not every day
we see movie stars around these parts- & i'll admit, i was a bit
"star struck". : )
********

SO...ONE YEAR LATER~
236 posts and over 8000 hits/reads
i am thankful for you.
like i've told you before, i enjoy writing and showing you
pictures of what the larsons are up to- simple as it may be.
 without you i would have
surely grown bored by now and run
off to join the circus.

i wasn't even good at the balance beam in phy-ed
i'd probably really bomb on the trapeze, so
thanks for keeping me grounded.

    one year down and counting....

xo, beth

 

 

 

 

do you like to dress up?

my friend used to have this little dog....

he was such a good dog, went everywhere with her,

and was her first "baby".

when she came to visit, so did the little fella and

on this particular day we played dress up

with him.

it was sweet and funny and i LOVE this

picture!

 

 

silly= fun= good times my friends

 

 

this old cinco de mayo sombrero of mine comes in handy when

my grandson and i are being goofy

 

 

hi duke! (he got treats after the photo shoot, for being such

a good dog too).

 

i'm not a huge fan of dressing up like some people, but i LOVE when other

people do.

 

are you planning a halloween party?

what are you going to be?

are you one of those moms who stays up late

dreaming up costumes and sewing till the

wee hours?

not me...i always encouraged the hobo~and would drag out an old pair of bib overalls,

 or a ghost~and i'd whip out an old sheet. i did make a simple brown fur shirt once that

has been used by both my boys (repeatedly) and my grandson too.

hahaha 
 it can be a bear, a wolf, a hairy man (none of the men here need help with that look) ... aagh the possibilities are endless

and it's in the basement if you want to use it.

 

b.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's october!

wanna see my pumpkin?

(if a boy ever asks you that- just say no)
 

 it's a beauty~ it is so heavy i could hardly carry it to my jeep. the nice young man "manning" the stand and i visited. he wondered why i was taking  so many pictures so i had to tell him i had a blog so he wouldn't think i was too creepy.

his grandpa grows all the pumpkins and it seems to be a banner year. he told me the bees do all the work- that without them pollinating the blossoms-there would be no pumpkins.

i did some simple math and figured this out~ based on the fact that my pumpkin weighed a big-ol-30 lbs and cost me a whopping $13...that young man should soon be a gagillionaire. there were about five hundred thousand more of those orange beauties laying out there in the field, ripe for the picking.

this one called to me---" you whoooooooooo,  pick me, pick me"

 

 

well, without a cart or a carry out boy i lugged this one to my car and now look

at how happily it resides on the front porch

 

 

it's sitting on the rim from an old tire- it made a great stand.

luckily we have grapes growing on our deck so i snipped some

to wind around it too.

 

on pinterest i found these other cute ideas to do

with pumpkins

 

 

**********

 

 

***********

 

 

now if you're feeling pumpkined out look at this

cute idea to do with little ones~

 

 

these bones are so easy to make. you just push a

mini marshmallow on both ends of a pretzel and dip in

almond bark. i wish i had a bowl of them sitting right

here in front of me. wouldn't they make a perfect

bedsnack? i love me some almond bark-i had such a sweet tooth

(and a potato chip tooth if there is such a thing) as a kid that

i remember using my $1 allowance to buy a package of

almond bark, melting it flat and keeping it in a container

under my bed. more than once.  i am a freak.

 

HEY! that can be my halloween costume.

a freak.

it'll come naturally.   < : )

 

xo, beth

oh i have a big   "p.s."    here:
if you are the elf who left 2 more gorgeous pumpkins on
my porch- thank you!
what a fabulous surprise!!!