Top 'o the marnin to yeh!

May your day be filled with rainbows, pots of golds, four leaf clovers and lots of kisses

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

The House: Part III

I was waiting for a more spring-alicious day, but I had time and was actually thinking about it.  There's some (a lot) of yard work to be done out back.  Maybe we'll just call these the "befores."

The outside front:

The side backyard:

The outside back:

The playground:

A Beautiful Day

After reading my cousins facebook post about all the fun and wonderful things she was anxious to be doing outside, Sophie and I were inspired to get out and ride bikes. 

She did really well on her bike.  We've never had a great place to teach our kids to ride bikes, so we've been really slow about it.  However, this house has a fairly flat and wide driveway. Perfect for 4 year olds learning to ride their bikes. 

I even got my bike out and rode around the circle a few times!

(Sorry-no pictures.  Imagination will have to suffice for that.)

Chloe was confined to the stroller.  Look at those yummy cheeks!

Sunshine

makes all the difference.  It even makes folding laundry seem more appealing. 

See? It was my brilliant 4-yr-old who placed all the baskets in front of the sunniest window in the house.  I guess she knew that would be about the only thing that could entice mom to fold all that laundry. ;)

Flowers in the Window

Driving home tonight I was listening to a favorite song thinking how fun it would be to learn to play it really well on the guitar.  And then how fun it would be in the next life to have an endless supply of time to learn to play the guitar really well and who I would want to teach me.  And then learn all the other things I want to learn.  Then I had a sad thought.  What if I couldn't learn?  What if I weren't able to progress?  It made me cry.  I realized how much I love to learn and how much I yearn to end up where I can continue to progress and grow and enjoy what I do (and will do).  It was a very humbling little moment.



You can find this beautiful photograph here



Happy Birthday Lyndsi!

My baby turned NINE!  She wanted a birthday party this year and planned the whole thing herself.  Mom got to play assistant and that was fun. She and I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon pouring through Family Fun magazines for games, cutting out felt and paper, and designing the perfect party invitations. 

The actual birthday morning-dad made pancakes!

On the big day we made cupcake necklace charms with permanent markers and shrinky dink paper.  The girls loved watching the magic that is shrinky dinks.  (So fun to introduce a favorite childhood craft to a new generation.)  We played "oink, piggy, oink" and musical dress-ups. That was a hoot.  My friend gave us the idea. We filled a black garbage bag with all sorts of dress-up items.  When the music stopped, the person holding the bag had to put on the first thing they pulled out.  Hilarious.  The girls loved it.  (I can see lots of potential for teenage and even adult fun with this one.)  Afterwards we did a photoshoot of each girl.  Next were presents.  Nine year old girls are fun.  Every single one of the ten gifts piled in the living room and a handwritten (and nearly all homemade) card.  How cute!  Instead of the traditional cake and ice cream, Lyndsi requested an ice cream bar.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Nine-year-olds can pack away the sugar.  Let me tell you...I'm glad I didn't put out all the treats!  It was an awesome party for an incredibly wonderful girl who constantly amazes me with her intelligence and insights, delights me with her giggles and is a complete joy to have in my little family.  Happy birthday Lou!!

Johnny Depp

I think my husband is a Johnny Depp wanna-be.  First there was the "Cpt. Jack Sparrow" look.

Jack:

Jeff:

 
Now there is the "Frank-the-math-teacher-from-Madison-Wisconsin"
Frank:

Jeff:

But really-this is his most rumored look-alike:
                                                    
Hey-at least everybody loves him too. :)