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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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June 26, 2011

Blogger Block Party Recap and Highlights!

We’re wrapping up the Blogger Block Party!

WHEW!!
Forgive us if we are a little out of breath.

We have been running up and down the block all week long stopping off at all of these amazing parties!

Can you believe how many links there were?
At last count we had 1138 and the party is still going on through Sunday so, if you want to have your SUMMER related post as part of the Summer Blogger Block Party there is still time!
Before we get to some of the highlights of the party (we thought it was tough to pick features from Inspiration Friday!) we just want to say a huge THANK YOU!

Blog Party Button (3)

To say that we are stunned and amazed at how many of you joined the Summer Blogger Block Party would be an understatement. I don’t think any of us could have predicted just how incredible and just how FUN this would end up being and we appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to link up. We like to think that maybe we even helped provide some extra motivation for folks to try a new activity with their kids, get creative with drop cloths, spruce up their decks or patios or porches, test a new recipe, try their hand at gardening, create a fun summer tablescape,  wear something fun for summer, add some vintage summer charm, venture out for some summer “sale”-ing, or carve out a special summer space for rest and relaxation.
Would you all have done that anyway? Probably! I mean, you are Bloggers, right?!
But this sure did give us a nudge in the right direction and we can’t imagine a better way to kick off our Summer then to get to see all of these incredible ideas and inspiration all in one place!
So now, if you don’t mind indulging us a bit more, we would like to share with you some of our favorite picks from the parties we hosted here at the Fence!

We have recently “met” this lovely new friend here in blogland and we just had to share this fantastic idea she linked up to Vanessa’s Summer Activities for Kids Party.

Paula’s blog Ivy and Elephants is full of beautiful ideas and inspirations and she just happens to be warm and friendly too…a winning combination! She and her son Sebastian spent an afternoon carefully selecting, cleaning and polishing some silver items (trays, creamers, teapots, etc.) found at thrift stores.
 
She then had him fill them with gravel, soil and succulents. We hear he ended up giving this one to his grandmother. And seriously, could this kid possibly be any more adorable??!! We don’t think so!

Next up is another lovely new friend Misty of Misty’s Mornings who shared with us this fantastic idea for fighting off those mysterious cases of “I’m Bored” Disease that tend to creep up in the summertime.

She sets up Quiet Stations for everything from building Legos in the playroom to writing letters to family members at the kitchen table. When the timer goes off, the kids head on over to the next station.
So Misty…do you think it would work to set up about 20 of these around the house?
We are thinking that could buy us some serious time to get things done!
Maybe there could even be a “Mommy takes a nap and no one interrupts her” station.

This next idea is not only a creative Summer Activity for your own kids, it is an incredible way to teach them how to extend grace and love (and their toys!) to other kids.

Becky from Organizing Made Fun hosts “Backyard Thursday” every week, every summer and provides a place for kids in the Los Angeles area who may not have the luxury of a backyard to play in, to come and experience the thrill of running through a lawn, digging in a sandbox, or even hang out in the “Girls Only” playhouse!

She has hit up garage sales and received many donated toys, helmets, skates and other play equipment which she then cleans up, organizes and stores neatly in easy to identify bins. As much of an impact as it has on the children who get to come and play at “Backyard Thursday“, it has also made a huge impact on Becky’s own children. They have learned how to show God’s love to others by doing something as simple as sharing their backyard. And just reading this post impacted us too! Thanks so much Becky!

Up next we have a few links from Heather’s Fresh from the Garden post that stood out!

Kelly from Till Death Do Us Part shared her beautiful raised beds she had built all on her own!

If you saw my garden post you know I’m a fan of raised beds!

Diann from the Thrifty Groove shared with us the incredible herbs her husband and she grow for their very own herb business!

Farmers market 2011 020

Yes, I’ll take all of these please! 🙂

We also has some fabulous Fresh from the Garden Recipes shared with us

Our friend Angela from Unexpected Elegance (we will be telling you all about her fabulous Etsy shop on Monday) did a great post on Canning 101!

Melissa from Shabby Love was kind enough to give us her recipe for…wait for it…Mojito Cupcakes!

Yeah we know…we want one too!

There were SO MANY other fabulous posts…it’s truly impossible to narrow them down to to a few so we thought it would be fun to also share three of the top summer related “clicked through” links (excluding the fabulous posts from our co-hostesses) from the Blogger Block Party.   It’s always fun to see what catches YOUR eye. These are in no particular order. 

The Shabby Chick My Summer Porch
On Sutton Place My New Front Door

No Place Like Home The Place Where I’m Most Happy
We hope you have enjoyed our highlights! If you are like us you could spend all summer visiting these fabulous links! Therefore, starting Monday we will be providing a permanent link to the Blogger Block Party in our sidebar so you can drop by and visit all of these great bloggers anytime you like! During the summer we will also be occasionally featuring a post from the Summer Block Party, so make sure you’re a friend of At The Picket Fence cause you never know when you might see YOUR post featured on here!
Monday we will be announcing the giveaway winners of the fabulous gifts provided by these fabulous sponsors
Be sure to come back Monday to see if you won one of these great prizes!  And remember there’s still time to join in on the fun through Sunday!  You can visit Fresh from the Garden and link up your projects still!
Thank you for partying with us all week At The Picket Fence!
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18 Comments Filed Under: Blogger Block Party

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Comments

  1. Lakeshore Cottage Living says

    June 25, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    LOVE the quiet stations idea…gonna steal that idea and put it to gooooooood use!

    Reply
  2. ℳartina @ Northern Nesting says

    June 25, 2011 at 6:09 PM

    This was such a FUN party girls, thanks so much for putting it together and hosting it!! Martina

    Reply
  3. Tracy@GeneralSplendour says

    June 25, 2011 at 6:20 PM

    Congratulations! Your block party was certainly a rousing success. I can imagine your head is spinning! I think I clicked on a few more then fifty and I was overwhelmed as you get deeper into each blog it is a few hours later! 🙂 Thank you for this opportunity – it was a lot of fun. When is the NEXT one? Hee hee!

    Reply
  4. Debbie says

    June 25, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    I don’t know how in the world you were able to pick a few to highlight. I’ve never seen such a response to a blog idea.

    Reply
  5. Pam - diy Design Fanatic says

    June 25, 2011 at 7:01 PM

    This past week was a lot of fun! There are so many it will take me a long tome to get through them all!

    Reply
  6. Sherry says

    June 25, 2011 at 7:28 PM

    Lots of inspiration here at this party. Thanks for putting it together. Great themes and very talented people!
    Sherry

    Reply
  7. Diann @ The Thrifty Groove says

    June 25, 2011 at 7:32 PM

    Thank you so much for the feature! I joined 4 out of the 6 parties and it was a blast! I will be going back to this party and checking out eveyones posts throughout the next couple months. So many amazing links! And you ladies did a fabulous job putting it all together!

    Reply
  8. Pattie says

    June 25, 2011 at 7:35 PM

    All of you where great thank you so much for putting all of this together for all of us to have fun and get to know each other… And thank you for highlighting my back yard… Talk about feeling like a Million Bucks… have a great rest of the weekend.

    ~~Pattie~~
    The Shabby Chick

    Reply
  9. Misty says

    June 25, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    Thank you so much for hosting this great party and for featuring my entry on Quiet Stations. I just did a happy dance! 🙂

    Reply
  10. Grammy Goodwill says

    June 25, 2011 at 8:22 PM

    This was a great idea and just the impetus I needed to finally get my blog going. Thanks.

    Reply
  11. Honey at 2805 says

    June 25, 2011 at 9:49 PM

    Your Block Blog Party is a huge success! Congrats! I have found so much inspiration & am sure to be referring back to it in weeks to come. Thanks girls!

    Reply
  12. ⚜ ↁℯℬℬᴵℰ⚜ says

    June 25, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    It was great fun to be a part of this partay!~ Thanks for the opportunity.

    Reply
  13. Angela says

    June 25, 2011 at 11:16 PM

    Thanks for the party! It was fun to participate and thanks for featuring my canning post!
    ~Angela

    Reply
  14. Andrea@ourbluefrontdoor says

    June 26, 2011 at 1:54 AM

    Thank you for hosting this awesome week long party! I had the best time looking at so much talent and wonderful posts! Such inspiration out there and the perfect way to share it.

    Have a great weekend!

    Reply
  15. Seaside Style says

    June 26, 2011 at 6:19 PM

    This was such a wonderful idea. Thank you to all you ladies for doing this. It was fun !

    Reply
  16. beachcomber says

    June 26, 2011 at 11:30 PM

    those cupcakes look amazing!!!
    cheryl x

    Reply
  17. simpledaisy says

    June 27, 2011 at 2:52 AM

    So much wonderful inspiration!!!!

    Reply
  18. Melissa says

    June 27, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    Thank you so much for putting together the blog party! It was so much fun and inspired me to get projects done that have been on my to-do list for awhile! 🙂 Thank you also for highlighting my Mojito cupcakes! I’m so excited!!!!

    Melissa

    Reply

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We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most we’ve had in a LONG time) and now we are back to pouring rain. This has officially confirmed what I’ve know to be true for awhile now.

I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of rain lately (which is saying something when you live in Oregon) and I’ll admit that it’s affecting my moods a bit. I feel like I’m dragging and struggling to find the energy to get stuff done. So don’t mind me if I’m over here looking at photos of my garden in the summertime and finding that it keeps me hopeful about those days to come. They will come, right?! 🤪. 

What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
We’re going to be giving our laundry room a make We’re going to be giving our laundry room a makeover soon. It’s LONG overdue! In fact, the folks from the counter company were just here taking measurements. While we have made some simple, inexpensive updates over the years, it still has many of the original elements from when the house was built in 1992.

Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

I’ll admit, there are times where I see other people doing massive overhauls of their entire home in a matter of months and I feel a prick of envy. But, we decided that if our choice was between waiting a bit longer to enjoy a renovated bathroom or going on adventures as a family, we would choose adventures every time. And we don’t regret that decision for a single second. It’s not that we haven’t tackled home projects (we’ve done a lot!). It’s just that it’s been a slow and steady process. 

Most recently, we let our son pick where we would travel for spring break since this is his senior year of high school and we are trying to make up for lost time. With so much of life ‘paused’ for two years, we have appreciated these moments more than ever. And, since he’ll be heading to college in the fall, we are very aware of how important it is to spend this time together while we still have a modicum of control over everyone’s schedules.

We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
Happy Saturday!! After endless days of rain (and h Happy Saturday!! After endless days of rain (and hail and snow) we are finally getting some sunshine and warmer temperatures. I’ll be honest, it’s really affected my spirits having one gloomy day after the next. So this is a much needed reprieve. Our cherry trees are showing off outside my kitchen window and we plan to get outside and make the most of these days while we have them.

What’s the weather like where you are?
“The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and “The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don’t worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry…HE’S RISEN!” (Charles R. Swindoll).

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried; yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. (Isaiah 53)
I try to always remember to put a water bottle in I try to always remember to put a water bottle in my car before I go to pick up my daughter from school. She didn't ask me to do this, but a few months ago I began to notice that she was often thirsty when she would get in the car. Her water bottle filled up at the beginning of the day was empty by the time school got out and she would ask if she could have some water from my hydroflask. So I make sure to have one waiting for her. It's just a simple thing, really. But, I want her to know that I'm paying attention, that I see her.

Isn't it amazing how small gestures can make us feel less invisible? Knowing that someone is thinking of us and takes the time to meet a need that we might not have even realized we had? These little acts can have big impacts. What is something that someone has done for you recently that made you feel valued and seen?

What have you done for someone else to remind them that you are paying attention to their needs?

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
― Charles Dickens
“The next day the large crowd that had come to t “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ – John 12:9-19
#palmsunday
When the Lord blesses you with a glimpse of the pa When the Lord blesses you with a glimpse of the payoff of your investment in your children, it is truly one of the greatest gifts. We had that experience twice this week with our 18 year old son and were overwhelmed by this opportunity we had to watch as he handled two very different situations (one personal and one professional) with grace, maturity, integrity and courage. Those of you mamas of little ones, don't ever minimize the job you are doing in raising this next generation. 

Every story read at bedtime
Every correction made to strengthen character
Every outdoor exploration
Every nose wiped
Every bandaid applied
Every time you say no when the world says yes
Every night of helping with homework
Every difficult conversation
Every prayer uttered

The final pieces of the puzzle of his childhood are falling into place and the picture revealed is one that is more wonderful than we could have imagined. And we know that it is only by God's grace on us as we sought His wisdom and guidance that we have come to this point. We have been FAR from perfect parents, but one of my most sincere prayers for the past 18 years was that the Lord would stand in the gaps that were surely to be revealed by our imperfections. And He has answered those prayers again and again. He's taken my humble petitions and most sincere intentions and knocked our socks off with the young man we are so privileged to call our son. And we can’t wait to watch as his future unfolds!
Happy Saturday!! I haven’t posted all week (exce Happy Saturday!! I haven’t posted all week (except for in stories) because I was soaking up the sunshine and time with my family in San Antonio for spring break. One of our favorite activities was a bike tour of the missions and I found myself obsessed with all of the beautiful architecture, especially the doors. What is it about doors that is so fascinating? Is it knowing that these were so lovingly hand carved? Is it thinking about how many people have crossed through them? Whatever it is, I couldn’t get enough of them and had to stop and admire each one. 

I hope you are having a wonderful kickoff to spring too dear friends! 🌸
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