#LomaRocks

Have y'all heard about the rock painting craze that has swept the nation?  It is so fun! 

The idea is to paint rocks, hide the rocks (in plain site) in public places and spread love, positivity and hope to strangers via the rock art.  Rock groups are forming all over the country and posting their hides and finds on Facebook.  Our tiny rural town didn't have such a group so I started one!

Check it out here.

We have a blast gathering rocks while on hikes/walks and then painting them together.  

 

We have even had rock painting parties at the store.  It is so fun to hide a rock and then see it pop up on my Facebook feed as having been found and enjoyed by a total stranger.  I love that you can touch the heart of someone you don't know and bring a bit of joy to their day.  It's a great feeling! 

Here are some of our rocks:

 

We took a road trip to Wyoming and hid these from here  all the way to there!

These were spread from Loma to Lake Powell, Utah.

We hid these in our neighboring town of Fruita, CO.

Dropped these right here in Loma!

Let us know if you would like to paint with us.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

A Lifetime of Memories in Black & White

As many of you may know my paternal grandmother, Elsie, died earlier this year.  

She was one of my very favorite people and I miss her dearly.  

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to go through 5 totes of photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, post cards and other memorabilia of the life that she and my grandfather, Louis, shared together.  I unfortunately woke up with a yucky stomach bug on day 2 of 2 of this photo scanning, newspaper article reading, and memory sorting adventure so I was only able to make it through 2 of the 5 totes but I learned a great deal in those 2 days and 2 boxes.  

Some of my favorite findings were the photos that my grandfather had sent home to my grandmother and Aunt Arliss while he was stationed away from home during WWII. 

I realized after seeing these photos and the notes he had hand written on the back that I had never thought of my grandfather as anything other than just that, a Grandfather.  I had never looked at him and seen the young father and husband he had once been.  It was great to find these items that allowed me to meet the man all over again in a whole new way.  

I also enjoyed the small newspaper clippings that my grandmother had saved that showcased small town life in Northern Minnesota.  This is small town news at its best!  Pre-Facebook era updates. 

There were so many items in those 2 boxes and I don't know all of the faces in every photo but the ones I recognized are ones that I love.  I hope that some day my children and grandchildren will look through my photos with as much love and awe as I looked through these.   

Here are a few of the memories that I was able to capture. 

I am so fortunate to have had such amazing grandparents and am blessed to have been able to look through their Lifetime of Memories in Black & White. 

Getting ready for Back-to-School

Well my friends, it is almost that time of year again.  Are you ready for the BACK TO SCHOOL season? We here at the Byerly home are in full-on prep mode.  

New Clothes ✓ School supplies ✓ Registration ✓ School pictures ✓  

Locker Decorating ✓ 

Mom needs a drink ✓✓

We have a few small things left to do but are well on our way!  

Having 4 girls that are so spread apart in age makes for an interesting back to school experience.  Caity is going into 10th grade but attends online high school from home.  Her back to school to-do list consists of online course approval, text book purchases and making sure there are enough sweat pants and snacks to last through the week.  

Emma is now in 8th grade and has the largest back to school to-do list.  

-Buy new clothes

-Buy new school supplies

-Buy/create locker decor

-Register at the school: pay fees, pick up PE clothing, have school ID picture taken, have school pictures taken, find locker, try locker combo 372 times until it actually opens said locker and then proceed to stick more decor into a 3 square foot space than anyone could possibly imagine would fit!

-Complain about not having enough school supplies. 

-Complain about not having enough new clothes. 

-Complain about not having the latest and greatest locker decor- apparently she needs a new chandelier. ;-)

The list goes on...

Her before and almost finished with decorating locker pics and some of her hand painted decor. (Made- of course- with Chalky & CO products!)

Paige is starting kindergarten this year. Yay! or I am going to cry! It varies minute to minute.         Her back to school to-do list was pretty simple. 

-Buy clothes

-Buy backpack

-Write $20 check to teacher to cover all supplies (My favorite part!!)

I also painted a Chalky & CO kit for her to hold in her first day of school pictures.  

I am pretty excited about that part!

I am glad that everyone is excited and in prep mode.  I am even more excited that there won't constantly be 4 Little Byerlys in the house 24 hours each day.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my girls.  I live for my girls.  My girls are however driving me crazy. Haha.  Momma needs some quite time!  

I did take an hour to gather the girls and take a few pictures in front of the corn field to commemorate the fall season here in Colorful Colorado.  It is impossible to get everyone to look at the camera and smile and that same time and not have a silly expression on their face or have a piece of hair in their eyes... etc.  We got a handful of shots that turned out pretty cute though. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking in on my #4littlebyerlys.  

Have a great day and best of luck with all of your back to school experiences!