Giving Thanks for...(791-800)

791. Adele's fifth birthday

792. All the other birthdays we celebrated this weekend: my mom's 70th, my dad's 71st, my nephews' 17th and 18th

793. Legos for girls (what took so long??)

794. The miracle that my cake pop creations actually turned out, since I am Martha Stewart's opposite

795. New babies in the family

796. Jack's wonderful patience at not being able to open any presents!

797. Having grandparents close by to read new books with.
798. A gorgeous - and very early - start to spring

799. How much Adele & Jack enjoy playing together now

Giving Thanks for...(791-800)

791. Adele's fifth birthday

792. All the other birthdays we celebrated this weekend: my mom's 70th, my dad's 71st, my nephews' 17th and 18th

793. Legos for girls (what took so long??)

794. The miracle that my cake pop creations actually turned out, since I am Martha Stewart's opposite

795. New babies in the family

796. Jack's wonderful patience at not being able to open any presents!

797. Having grandparents close by to read new books with.
798. A gorgeous - and very early - start to spring

799. How much Adele & Jack enjoy playing together now

Thought for the Day

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment."

(Ellis Peters)

Thought for the Day

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment."

(Ellis Peters)

She must think I'm a really boring dress-er.

Behind the book is a turquoise sweater over a pink sweater dress with a bright blue flower on it. It all matches the Legos marvelously. And the book's pages.

I read somewhere the other day that if you still pick out your kids' clothes after they are 4, you're a candidate for the classification Enabling Parent.

Perhaps she's planning ahead to work at the Dutch Village, since of course we all know that klompen require many pairs of socks.

She must think I'm a really boring dress-er.

Behind the book is a turquoise sweater over a pink sweater dress with a bright blue flower on it. It all matches the Legos marvelously. And the book's pages.

I read somewhere the other day that if you still pick out your kids' clothes after they are 4, you're a candidate for the classification Enabling Parent.

Perhaps she's planning ahead to work at the Dutch Village, since of course we all know that klompen require many pairs of socks.

Where Am I

Where Am I!?

I thought I lived in Michigan, deep in the frozen North. I mean, we're only a few hours from Canada on more than one side. Spring breaks are spent building snowmen, watching hockey, and drinking hot chocolate, right?

Or not...

Jack FINALLY got to wear the "underalls" (isn't that the cutest mis-speak?) he found in the depths of the closet last month:He also got to work on the barn, which was apparently in sore need of repair. Who knew?
We got hours worth of straight-up Vitamin D:

The bikes and tractors and tricycles and T-ball stands and squirt guns were all hauled out after months of dormancy:

The only one who didn't like it was this guy, who still has his winter coat:

And these little dollies budded and bloomed in less than 48 hours:

Do you see this?? Bare legs on March 14!

We topped out at 80 yesterday. The kids slept like rocks last night after so many hours of fun in the sun (in fact, we all have sunburn on our noses to prove it). Meals outside, listening to all the birds singing and noticing every little bud and bloom that's appeared...it's just marvelous.

"This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings
The music of the spheres..."

Where Am I!?

I thought I lived in Michigan, deep in the frozen North. I mean, we're only a few hours from Canada on more than one side. Spring breaks are spent building snowmen, watching hockey, and drinking hot chocolate, right?

Or not...

Jack FINALLY got to wear the "underalls" (isn't that the cutest mis-speak?) he found in the depths of the closet last month:He also got to work on the barn, which was apparently in sore need of repair. Who knew?
We got hours worth of straight-up Vitamin D:

The bikes and tractors and tricycles and T-ball stands and squirt guns were all hauled out after months of dormancy:

The only one who didn't like it was this guy, who still has his winter coat:

And these little dollies budded and bloomed in less than 48 hours:

Do you see this?? Bare legs on March 14!

We topped out at 80 yesterday. The kids slept like rocks last night after so many hours of fun in the sun (in fact, we all have sunburn on our noses to prove it). Meals outside, listening to all the birds singing and noticing every little bud and bloom that's appeared...it's just marvelous.

"This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings
The music of the spheres..."

Giving Thanks for...(781-790)

781. Adele finding the first flower blooming, and yelling, "It's spring! It's spring!"

782. The promise of daffodils

783. The smell of this one hyacinth filling the entire dining room and living room

784. Help from family when my back is out. It's a huge blessing to have people close by.

785. Warm spring sunshine and an afternoon outside (65 degrees) on March 11! Crazy.

786. Daddy reading books

787. Fresh air throughout the house

788. How well the kids slept after hours outside

789. A "new" building for our local church to meet in - cheaper rent, and it's so beautiful.

790. That a little girl in our church is out of the hospital - and that she and her family are recovering from several of the viruses going around

Giving Thanks for...(781-790)

781. Adele finding the first flower blooming, and yelling, "It's spring! It's spring!"

782. The promise of daffodils

783. The smell of this one hyacinth filling the entire dining room and living room

784. Help from family when my back is out. It's a huge blessing to have people close by.

785. Warm spring sunshine and an afternoon outside (65 degrees) on March 11! Crazy.

786. Daddy reading books

787. Fresh air throughout the house

788. How well the kids slept after hours outside

789. A "new" building for our local church to meet in - cheaper rent, and it's so beautiful.

790. That a little girl in our church is out of the hospital - and that she and her family are recovering from several of the viruses going around

Giving Thanks for...(771-780)

771. How a bad back forces me to literally slow down and let unimportant things go already.
772. Finding a stack of old bookmarks from when I was young
773. Friends we can call to say "We're coming over" without concern that they're tidying up or changing their clothes for us.
774. Adele's storytelling: bears, wolves, princesses in distress, etc. Some things never change, no matter what generation we're talking about!
775. Smart family members. My brother and my brother-in-law both published books in 2011!
776. Quiet Saturday nights in front of the fireplace, planning my grocery list, menus, to-do list, etc.
777. Our dog. I yell at him a lot because he stinks most of the time and is usually in the way (a 110-lb. impediment to my scurrying), but he's so lovely to our kids and he makes me feel safe when Dan is gone.
778. Finding a old notebook of favorite quotes
779. Tulip buds poking through an inch of snow
780. The chance for Jack to watch a house being built across the street! It's a great distraction for him.

Giving Thanks for...(771-780)

771. How a bad back forces me to literally slow down and let unimportant things go already.
772. Finding a stack of old bookmarks from when I was young
773. Friends we can call to say "We're coming over" without concern that they're tidying up or changing their clothes for us.
774. Adele's storytelling: bears, wolves, princesses in distress, etc. Some things never change, no matter what generation we're talking about!
775. Smart family members. My brother and my brother-in-law both published books in 2011!
776. Quiet Saturday nights in front of the fireplace, planning my grocery list, menus, to-do list, etc.
777. Our dog. I yell at him a lot because he stinks most of the time and is usually in the way (a 110-lb. impediment to my scurrying), but he's so lovely to our kids and he makes me feel safe when Dan is gone.
778. Finding a old notebook of favorite quotes
779. Tulip buds poking through an inch of snow
780. The chance for Jack to watch a house being built across the street! It's a great distraction for him.

Friday Randomness

• Do you remember a few months back when I said I thought people at a work function had a hard time talking to stay-at-home moms? Well, I found these two cool links to share:
  what not to say to a stay-at-home mom, and what not to say to a working mom. Let me know what you think!
• I got a new camera. I'm stoked about it but it's going to take me awhile to figure it all out. Just in time for the kids' birthdays, I hope. Speaking of, I feel a bit bad because the one thing that Adele keeps saying she would like for her birthday is NOT the thing we got her. Hmm.
  
• Do any of you Groupon? I'm a Groupon junkie. I'm kind of over Zulily, since the shipping usually ends up being pretty significant if you're just grabbing 1 or 2 cheap things.
  
• This post is a new favorite of mine. We have a Nook, which is great for trying new books, but there's nothing like a "book-book."
• Do any of you ever have the weird feeling that you're spending much of life waiting to arrive, but you haven't a clue where that might be? I used to really struggle with that - I felt like I was being discontent. This post said it all really well.
• I saw two robins yesterday! Welcome, spring.
  

Friday Randomness

• Do you remember a few months back when I said I thought people at a work function had a hard time talking to stay-at-home moms? Well, I found these two cool links to share:
  what not to say to a stay-at-home mom, and what not to say to a working mom. Let me know what you think!
• I got a new camera. I'm stoked about it but it's going to take me awhile to figure it all out. Just in time for the kids' birthdays, I hope. Speaking of, I feel a bit bad because the one thing that Adele keeps saying she would like for her birthday is NOT the thing we got her. Hmm.
  
• Do any of you Groupon? I'm a Groupon junkie. I'm kind of over Zulily, since the shipping usually ends up being pretty significant if you're just grabbing 1 or 2 cheap things.
  
• This post is a new favorite of mine. We have a Nook, which is great for trying new books, but there's nothing like a "book-book."
• Do any of you ever have the weird feeling that you're spending much of life waiting to arrive, but you haven't a clue where that might be? I used to really struggle with that - I felt like I was being discontent. This post said it all really well.
• I saw two robins yesterday! Welcome, spring.