First Harvest

 

More leafy green things... this time for eating... quite good. 

In the Clover

 

Clover patches are everywhere around here right now.  Our backyard looks like a map of little white islands in a green sea. I've noticed some grassy areas around town that are completely white with flowers.   

 

It's so pretty, I wish they'd never mow.  Clover is a flower so perfectly suited to little creatures - honeybees, girls who like to gather bouquets for Mommy, and boys toting plastic hammers who need to stop and smell the (roses) in between searching for Stormtroopers. Lovely little flowers. 

 

Little Bits

I'm totally winging this one.  Don is busy at his laptop trying to finish at big work project so I've brought my laptop over to keep him company.  I have successfully vanquished my inbox and have hit my usual 11 pm second-wind so thought I'd take a minute for a little virtual mind dump.  Don't really have a theme or a plan here. Want to come along?

Just ordered more of these glasses. 4 ounce size. Bought the first set about a year ago; they make such fabulous glasses for the kids.  I'm springing for more so I don't have to wash them by hand so often - they tend to get used at much faster rate than other categories of dishes and I run out before it's time to run a whole dishwasher load. Thinking of getting the same in bigger sizes when our grown-up glasses need replacing.

Reading this book... and finding it annoying.  I ordered it up after seeing a short article about the author in Martha.  Her bare-bones closet and simple house looked so appealing.  But she's serious about the title... this is not just a decluttering book, it's a book about how to get through the day without generating so much as a gum wrapper.  Great and all, but so far from achievable (for us) that it's been hard for me to take her seriously.

Just finished re-reading this book, which was just as enjoyable, if not more so, the second time around.  Seriously good writing, laugh-out-loud lines, awesome advice and perspective on the whole Mommy game.

Can I come up with a link that doesn't involve Amazon??  Hmm.  Okay, how about this one that I came across on good ol' facebook. Really summed up a lot of what Don and I have been talking about as we have renewed our church attendance and gone at our Bibles with a fair amount of enthusiasm.

I just love this quilt, and really want to make one.  Goodness knows, I have enough fabric.  I'm holding this idea up as an example of how to correct the problem I always have when I try to do scrap quilts - they look SO much better when there is a hefty amount of white in there to spread out the busyness.  Maybe I'll get to it when I finish the other quilt I'm working on... I'm almost done!  Will share pictures this week, I hope.  Also made a brainstorming-type list the other day of all the half-done projects currently on hand... many are close to completion.... hoping to move many of those into the "complete" column before too many more months go by and make way for some fresh inspiration.

Other things I did today:
-registered Amy for kindergarten (!);
-cleaned the oven (after our first attempt baking/grilling ribs resulted in hot pork juice all over my oven door and bare legs... the ribs were pretty good, though possibly not worth doing again);
-started sorting through files - found, and proceeded to misplace again, a paper I'd been looking for;
-swatted about a bazillion teeny-tiny biting gnats while spending time outside with the kids;
-scheduled both an oil change and a vet appointment for tomorrow, and was reminded of Amy's dentist appointment on Wednesday.

And on that busy note, better get to bed.  Thanks for following along with all my random bits of thoughts. Always helps clear my mind just to get it all out there. Have a good one, folks!
 

Peacocks and Azaleas

                            

 

None of the above pictures do justice to the beauty of the animals, the place, or the day. 

Does Obsessive Compulsive Have a Hyphen?

 

Just checking in quickly between bath and bedtime on a lovely, springy Saturday.  

I think I've mentioned it before and I really don't mean to brag (too much) but Amy learned how to read just before starting preschool, and in the months since has become pretty proficient.  She relies heavily on the recognition of whole words, and can stumble sometimes on simple words if they are not familiar.  But her love of this book, and the pleasure she takes in reading it to herself, in bed with a flashlight, has improved her  fluency and confidence tremendously.  

Today I recalled an old toy of mine that was tucked away in a drawer, awaiting The Right Time to be tossed in the rotation, so while the boys napped Amy and I got out my Magnetic Poetry set and sorted through the words.  Then my inner grammar nerd came out of hiding and I started explaining about nouns and verbs and grouping the words appropriately.  I even recited the prepositions in alphabetical order (thank you, Mrs. Groves in 7th grade).  I've still got it.  

 

Keeping with my OCD theme of the day, this morning I spent working on this: 

 

The picture of which didn't turn out terribly clear, but the drawing accomplishes its goal - to keep track of all the seeds and bulbs I've planted in between the "landscaping" in our front garden area.  Our house came with a fairly large mulched area and several varieties of nondescript shrubbery.  The kids love planting seeds, and I love the lack of pressure involved with a patch of full-sun and the joy of simply sticking in groups of seeds/plants wherever there is room.  I'm looking forward to seeing it all start growing, and I'll share more particulars then.  

Oh, one more thing.  I am totally late to the party here, I'm sure (I am with most things), but in case you haven't come across them, take a minute for these two music videos by The Piano Guys.  Cello Wars is the kids' favorite, and this one is my favorite.  These are our go-to music/entertainment before and after dinner these days; all of us can't get enough.  I absolutely love watching people who are good at what they do, and these guys have it down.  And a cello!  Classical music on the popular scene!  Makes me terribly happy. 

Okay, the kids are loose; bathtime is over.  Off I go, have a lovely weekend! 

Easter Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a quick glimpse at the things we did, the (animal) friends we made, and the family we celebrated with this weekend. All of it was delightful!