A Return to the Farm

Posted on November 15, 2016November 15, 2016 by Amy

You might remember that I used to blog at least a few times a year about a place called The Farm. I even have a topic category devoted to it. The Farm is my in-laws’ property where our family often spends vacation time. My husband hunts and fishes there. We used to have the big Labor Day party there. My husband and I spent much of our first year of dating there (it happened to be halfway between the place where I did my internship and where he did his transitional residency). We got married there.

We love The Farm.

For the past year and a half or so, The Farm has been under serious construction, so the kids and I have not been able to visit. It’s been strange to be away for so long.

But finally, it’s done enough that we were able to go with my husband for his annual deer hunting trip. We loved being there again and did our best to make the most of it.

Two weeks, we were there. My kids played with cousins, met some new friends, went on treasure hunts, fished, and had fun with grandparents. Here are a few photos to document our return to the place we love:

The girls got to experience trick-or-treating with their cousins in Iowa the way my husband has always said is the “right” way. The kids there have to tell a joke in order to get their candy. It’s quite odd, but the kids loved it. Even my shy girls (Miss and Sis) had no trouble telling their jokes, and it was so fun to watch them ham it up a bit even.

^With all of the cousins except one on my husband’s side of the family^

Two weeks is a long time, and we couldn’t skip school altogether, so I brought some of our work, which we did in the mornings. Then the girls spent the afternoons playing outside, fishing with their dad, and going on nature treasure hunts.

^That is a bucket of dead leaves in water, which she said she was “bringing back to life”^

We took a field trip to the big city to meet some other homeschooling friends (it’s nice to be practically the only kids in the park on a Friday afternoon).

I have been friends with this lovely lady since I was pregnant with Miss and she was pregnant with her oldest, but we’ve never met in person before. It was so delightful to see her face and give her a hug. We had so much to talk about and the afternoon just flew by.

Our second weekend we had more cousin time (they came down to The Farm this time) including some big treasure hunts.

^Bubba got pretty tired out after his first time in the woods^

My husband got two deer, one with a bow and one with a rifle.

^The deer he shot with his bow^

And there was so much more. It was a wonderful two-week getaway to a special place.

I forgot a little how much more involved it is to travel with an infant, and we’re still trying to get back to normal now that we’re home, but it was all worth it to see the joy on my girls’ faces when they spent time with their cousins or fished with their dad all day.

We’re already looking forward to our next trip at Christmas time.

Completely Unplanned Thoughts About Running and Spirituality and Writing

Posted on April 16, 2015April 16, 2015 by Amy

I haven’t really been much in the mood for blogging lately. I don’t know why. My head seems full of lots of ideas of things to write about, but then I come to type them out, and I’ve got nothing. Or I just choose to do other things instead of even sitting down here with my fingers on the keys.

So, I’m sorry I’ve been absent a bit lately. I decided this morning that I just had to sit down and start writing something, and I’m not entirely sure what this post is even going to be about at this stage of the process. But you have to start somewhere, and frankly, I miss blogging when I don’t do it enough, so typing, typing. . .

We had a wonderful week at my parents’ house. I haven’t mentioned it here, but my husband and I have signed up to run a half marathon at the end of May, which means I’ve been spending a lot of time on my treadmill lately. It’s a little strange, because for my past marathons (the last one was in 2008), I did all of my training outside. We lived in North Carolina and had mild winters and a few nice trails to run on near our home. And we didn’t have any kids, so it was easy.

I obviously can’t just pop out and run in the great outdoors whenever I feel like it anymore, so the treadmill during nap time it is. I’ve found an appreciation for the treadmill. I don’t hate it (anymore). I’ve found that I enjoy praying the rosary while running, or listening to audio recordings from Lighthouse Catholic Media. These things help me to not focus on the drudgery of being on the treadmill or the tiredness of my body. And of course they’re good for my soul too, so that’s a bonus 🙂

But really there’s nothing like going for a run in the great out of doors.

I got to take my first long outdoor run while visiting my Mom and Dad last week, and it was so lovely. The Rosary (counted on my fingers) and an audio CD still accompanied me, but this time they were enhanced by the backdrop of God’s creation.

I got chased a bit by some enormous dogs, and met a friendly donkey and a few horses.

And I found myself even appreciating the hilliness of the road. It is utterly flat here, and I tend to only run flat on the treadmill (because the treadmill doesn’t have downhill!). But this run was wonderfully hilly. I never used to be grateful for the hills when I ran in North Carolina. I mean, who likes running uphill? But my husband mentioned how much he enjoyed running the hills in Kentucky, because without the uphills, there are no downhills. And I realized he’s right.

I don’t love running uphill. Often I walk up the hills, to be honest. But really, the uphill is so worth it to have the downhill. Running downhill is so fabulous. It feels like you’re flying! The ups and downs are way better than always staying flat.

I think this is kind of the way I feel about life in general and spirituality too. I wrote this post a few months back about feeling frustrated by a spell of spiritual blahs. I think those times of dryness are like the uphills. I don’t like them. I tend to trudge through them without much excitement.

But when I get to the other side, when, through my effort and persistence I get myself to the end of the hard part, the reward is so awesome and so worth it and so much more appreciated.

The ups and downs have to happen.

I think it would become painful to always be running downhill. And I’m not sure if it is possible to maintain a constant state of being spiritually “on fire,” either. The fabulous cannot be kept up indefinitely.

But I would rather have the uphills and downhills than run flat all the time. I’d rather have some spiritual lows and wonderful highs than be in the middle and humdrum all the time.

Maybe blogging is like that too. Maybe I’ve been in a bit of a low, working my way uphill, only to come back with a renewed love and appreciation for blogging. Maybe.

Easter-y, Mommy-ish Randomness

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Amy

We are visiting my parents this week, and I don’t want to interrupt our family time to do a long, or even thoughtful post (you’re welcome?). But I do have a few cute Easter pics and some good ones of my girls having fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, so I’m going to get rambly and probably a bit photo crazy for a minute.

If you’re not my mom or my mother-in-law or my Auntie, you may want to just stop here. I won’t mind.

Here goes –

Last week, I had lots of fun Holy Week activities planned. Then Miss got strep throat and we ended up skipping a few of them, like the search for 30 pieces of “silver” (or quarters) on Wednesday and Holy Thursday Mass as a family (Miss was still contagious). Most of the things we did do I didn’t get photos of, like our “Last Supper” dinner (which Miss didn’t feel well enough to eat anyway) or the foot washing on Thursday night after my husband and I got home from Mass.

We did get to the Good Friday service at our church, and the girls did surprisingly well for it being such a long and late event.

Holy Saturday started with an RCIA retreat for me from 9:00 until about 1:00. Then I came home, boiled eggs for dying, put out Easter decorations with the two older girls, gave the dogs baths, and packed our stuff. After Sis got up from her nap, we dyed eggs and my husband and I got ready for the Easter Vigil Mass.

She said the made ^^ that egg for Jesus.

The Vigil was beautiful, but I didn’t get a single photo from it this year. It was nice to experience it with a little less nervousness and adrenaline than I had last year. I realized that I hadn’t remembered much of the service from last year because of being so excited and anxious about being baptized and confirmed and receiving Communion for the first time (plus being interviewed in front of everyone). It was less exciting and emotional this time, but I probably was able to appreciate it more in some ways.

Sunday morning, we had our Easter egg hunt, I made resurrection rolls, we threw our things and our dogs and our kids in the car and hit the road for the drive to my parents’.

I was determined to be on the road by 8:00 so we could get here by dinner time and have my family’s traditional Easter and Christmas breakfast of creamed eggs for dinner. We got going at about 8:20, and we made it.

My kids have been enjoying Grandma and Grandpa and the lovely weather and flowers and greenness here since.

We have many lovely bouquets for Grandma of dandelions, or “Lellow Light-ups” as Sis calls them.

Someone, who gave up coloring for Lent, is very happy to be able to do one of her favorite activities again.

As a new Catholic, it amazes me how much Lent creates so much more appreciation of the Easter season and the celebration of spring, and life, and the Resurrection.

It’s Wednesday, but it’s still Easter. What joy. Happy Easter!

Embrace the Ordinary – One Half Hour

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Amy

“…there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.” St. Josemaria Escriva, Passionately Loving the World

One half hour in our yard last night.

After our parish’s fish fry. Before bedtime.

It kind of didn’t feel very ordinary, since one week before, our temperatures were still below freezing, and it was dark at this time of the evening. But playing in the yard with the girls really is quite an ordinary thing, of course.

And last night it was ordinary, and funny, and beautiful, and holy.

She brought me three rocks and some sticks. Then she drew me a picture.

The big girls couldn’t resist the last bit of snow,

But they were pretty quick to move on to other things. I think they’re more than ready to be done with winter too.

I could have watched them playing all day.

Miss found a ball in the yard that lit up when she threw it. She called it her “Sensor Ball” and insisted that when she threw it, it always sensed and then led her to find things in the yard that were “odd.” Like sticks. And acorns. And rocks. Odd.

She was so excited about it.

It was the same thing over and over.

The wind up and throw.

The chase.

And the excited announcement of what the “Sensor Ball” led her to.

In this case, “A bee wing!” AKA a small leaf.

It was the most lovely, magical, ordinary evening. The kind of evening where you can really sense the presence of God if you’re open to it. I did my very best to embrace it thoroughly.

We’re about halfway through Lent, so I still have a few more weeks of hosting this link up for Gina. I’d love to hear what ordinary situations you have been embracing this week. Add your post or Instagram link below!

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Cupcake Anxiety, a Singing Nun, and a Deer Head Dance (7QT)

Posted on October 24, 2014October 24, 2014 by Amy

Doing what I usually do on Fridays:

I’m in charge of making the sweet treat for Miss’s Halloween party at school next week. Right now I am both loving and hating Pinterest. I think I’m using a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes and adding chocolate chips. The frosting will be pumpkin cream cheese and I’ll put orange sprinkles on top. I’m hoping they’ll look something like this:

Of course, they’re not really going to end up looking anything like that. And I have spent waaaayyy too much time thinking about this. But the kids will have cupcakes.

The last time I tried to make something from scratch for a school party was when Miss was still in preschool outside the home, and I tried to make paleo brownies for her to take for her birthday. I baked them after putting the girls to bed, and thank goodness I tasted one before taking them to her school. They were disgusting. Truly. I threw them away and made an emergency late-night trip to the grocery store to get some pre-made cupcakes from the bakery.

This time I’ll bake the cupcakes early enough in the day that I can test one and have some time to consider decent replacement options if these are awful.

Baking isn’t one of my talents, so I must always prepare for the worst.

On Wednesday I got pulled over. I was going 69 MPH in a 55 MPH zone. the officer took my license, went back to his car, and came back a few minutes later saying, “You have a great record, so I’m giving you a warning.”

I barely managed to keep my jaw from dropping.

I don’t know whose driving record he was looking at, but if it was “great,” it wasn’t mine. Or maybe he could only see the past year or two. It has been over two years since my last ticket. . .

I’m kind of a lead foot.

Our house has walls. And rooms.

See that big window right in the front? That’s where my school room is going to be.

Can you picture it? Little desks and tons of books and art projects everywhere and storage, storage, storage. I can’t wait.

When I was a tween (though no one used that word then), I loved Madonna. My Mom wouldn’t buy me the tape of her music (I think she called M a “tart”), but I recorded the songs off the radio and sang and danced to them with abandon. Borderline, Material Girl, Crazy for You, Like a Virgin. . .

Okay, I still dance and sing to them with abandon.

Yesterday I came across a video. Some people might find it weird, but I just think it’s awesome. It’s a nun. Singing “Like a Virgin.” (I think it’s the nun who won some singing show in Italy).

Her performance is incredible, and it gives the song a whole new meaning. Don’t just listen. Watch her sing it.

It gave me chills. As someone who spent nearly a decade as an atheist, this video really struck a chord with me. I’ll never hear that song the same way again. And that’s not a bad thing.

Today was lovely. Days like this are why fall is my favorite season.

They were trying to catch leaves in their hats as they fell from the trees. They weren’t too successful, but it sure was fun to watch them try.

Each time she fell she’d look up and me and say, deadpan, “A little help here.”

Hunting season is upon us. After watching my husband practice shooting his bow, Miss asked to get hers out too (my Dad gave it to her).

She practiced for at least 30 minutes, and went from needing lots of assistance and correction to being able to nock, draw, aim, and shoot the arrow herself, often placing it in the target.

Lass took a short turn with the bow when Miss was done. Both the girls said they wanted to go out and hunt with my husband, to which he replied that they could (hunt = watch deer). This quickly resulted a dance and song that went something like this, “We’re gonna put a deer head on the waaaall,” over and over and over.

I hope you had a lovely Friday too.

Catch the rest of the Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

One Hot Mess – It’s a Jungle Out There

Posted on June 21, 2014June 21, 2014 by Amy

Admit it. Sometimes you just like to see other people’s messy. Or to drop your own out there and just laugh at it as others gasp and try not to stare. . .

Right? Yeah, me too. So that’s why I love Blythe’s One Hot Mess link up. Lots of train wrecks every week. I can’t look away.

This is the first week I’ve had photos and a post ready to link up (where was this link up over the winter when I was posting every other day about the flu or puking or pink eye??? Hmmm?). Today I’m excited to share about. . .

Wait for it. . .

My weeds.

The same thing happens every year. I start out gung-ho, determined that this will be the year that I will keep the weeds under control. I pull some every day. Things aren’t looking too bad. Then we go away for a couple of weeks in the early summer and come back to this:

And so I go straight back to furiously pulling weeds. And pulling. And pulling. And getting my kids to do their share of the work.

And it seems like we’re making some progress, until I get to this:

I just. . . I don’t even know what to do with that hot mess of vegetation. Where do I even start? Some of those are plants that are actually supposed to be there. Just maybe not quite so. . . abundantly. i’m not sure if I need to sort through and find only the weeds, or thin out the intentional plants, or just yank it all up and start over.

I end up just standing and staring at it, pulling a few obvious weeds, and then throwing up my hands and going to play on the slide with my kids.

Except:

The weeds have taken over back there too.

I know. Weeds have nothing on Blythe’s Hot Mess post about paying to camp on someone’s gravel driveway. But it’s what I’ve got.

Check out more messy posts HERE.

Five Favorites – Little Moments

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Amy

My five favorite little moments of this week.

1. Watching the girls play in this tall grass:

I took the next picture thinking I was going to capture a total “Little House on the Prairie” moment as they were running, slightly downhill, through the grass. Laura and Mary for sure:

2. Our “Secret, Special Snack” up on the platform of the swing set. They thought this was pretty awesome, and kept talking about all the animals that wouldn’t be able to “get us” or take our snack because we were up so high. My arm wasn’t long enough to get a selfie of all four of us:

3. My eldest in a nice display of sisterly love and helpfulness.

4. The other night after I put the girls to bed, I saw several deer right near the house drinking from the pond.

I could hear that Miss was still awake, so I ran downstairs to get her so she could see them. The first thing she said, when I told her there were deer right by the house and I wanted her to see them was, “I can’t believe I’m up so late!!!!” She giggled like she was getting away with something and ran back up the stairs with me. She said the same thing over and over. “I can’t believe I’m up so late!”

Clearly it was much more exciting to be up out of bed five minutes after I had tucked her in than to see four deer up close.

5. The fishing tournament weigh-in.

My husband and our brother-in-law won the tournament.

The girls kept grabbing his plaque and telling their cousins, “My Dad won this.” The pride in their voices was priceless.

Happy Father’s Day to my BFF.

For more favorites check out Five Favorites at Moxie Wife.

A Vacation that Actually Feels Like. . . A Vacation?

Posted on June 11, 2014June 14, 2014 by Amy

Going on vacation with small children has never felt like a vacation. Staying in places that aren’t baby/toddler-proofed, dealing with disrupted sleep schedules, and not being in my own space has always thrown my (mostly) finely-tuned routine for a loop and led me to feel like I’m doing more work than usual, rather than “vacationing.”

That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed our travels. I’ve just had to adjust my expectations so that I plan for fun on vacation and lots of learning and great times with my kids and family, but not rest or relaxation or leisure.

So imagine my surprise at finding out that, while traveling for two out of the past three weeks, it has actually, kind of, at times. . . felt like a vacation! Two weeks ago we were at my parents. This week we’re at the Farm visiting with my in-laws. Now that my girls are getting bigger, I’m actually feeling a bit leisurely.

Everything is simpler here.

I’m not as caught up in cleaning and school prep and food prep and all the other random daily-grind things that come up when we’re home, so I get to play more with my girls.

Exploring and made-up games are the big hits, as always, but somehow when we’re here it’s just a bit more special.

And now that Sis is getting bigger, it’s a little less stressful to travel with her. I’m no longer worried about her falling down the stairs where we don’t have a baby gate or choking on something small since not every toy has been completely sifted through with all choking hazards removed. I don’t have to constantly hover over her every second (I’m making myself sound totally neurotic, aren’t I?).

I still get a little bit nervous with her around the water, but she’s done a pretty good job so far following our water rules. All the girls are enjoying the water and the fishing.

They’ve been catching lots of fish. Even Sis caught a few crappies, but she preferred fishing for minnows.

Slippery little suckers.

As for me, when not exploring with the girls I’ve been reading and writing and taking naps every day and playing cards with my husband and my in-laws. We played Euchre a few nights ago, which is one of my favorites.

Last night they even convinced me to play Texas Hold ‘Em. I’ve never been a fan of playing poker, so I was reluctant. But I didn’t want to be a party pooper, so I agreed. I loved it! I even ended up the big winner of the evening after an intense hand with a huge winnings pot where the two others betting with me both had full-house hands, but I won with four of a kind!

Ah, vacation.

So, don’t despair moms of little ones. Someday you will again be able to relax a bit on vacation. And it might be sooner than you think.

I love it here.

Now it’s time for my nap.

New-and-Improved Summer Fun – A Family Tradition

Posted on June 5, 2014June 6, 2014 by Amy

I’ve been working on our Summer Fun List again for this year (see last year’s list here). My kids loved doing it last year and they enjoyed the Fall and Winter List too, so we’re going for it again. I guess we’re making it a tradition.

I have the list pretty much done, but I haven’t yet put it on our big poster for checking off each thing. Through discussing it with them, I’ve discovered that doesn’t seem to matter much to my kids that most of what’s on the list is the exact same as what we did last year. Things like Go to the Iowa State Fair, Go to the Zoo, Ride a Horse, and Go to the Beach are the same and probably always will be.

We got rid of some things that didn’t work last year. Get Ice Cream from an Ice Cream Truck never worked because I never saw a truck on our street all summer. Not gonna try to do that again. I got rid of the bubble activities from the list, because the “special” bubble solutions and contraptions we made were pretty underwhelming. My kids blow very nice, perfectly fine bubbles all summer long with the cheap concoctions and bubble wands we can get from the store, thank you very much.

I got rid of the glitter firework art that I had on there last year. After having lots of Thanksgiving and Christmas and Valentine’s Day projects planned for winter, I determined it’s not awesome to put holiday-specific crafts on the list. Sometimes other holiday plans get in the way or things just don’t work out as planned and you end up making snowflake Christmas ornaments in February as “winter art.” Ahem.

I’m trying to plan ahead, and realizing that we may not be able to make it to a fireworks display for the 4th of July this year, so that’s out, but I did add in Play with Sparklers. I also remember last summer how disappointed Miss was that we didn’t really complete the item “Sleep in a Tent,” since the girls decided to come in and get in their beds at around 10pm. So this year the list just says, “Camp.” No sleeping or overnight shenanigans required. They “went to bed” and spent several hours in a tent with their Dad when we visited my parents last week. I’m calling it “Done,” though Miss wants to try again to stay out all night.

I just love having and doing the list, though a few months ago, I briefly questioned my use of The List for our must-do seasonal activities. I read a post called “I’m Done Making My Kid’s Childhood Magical.” It’s a great piece, though a little heavy-handed on the “when we were kids” references. I agree with a lot of what the author wrote and with her opinion that parents nowadays can sometimes go overboard trying to make every moment magical for their kids. I’m all about just letting my kids play without needing to make a big experience out of everything.

The author of the post really poo-pooed all the Pinterest-y lists of summer things, and winter things, and birthday themes, and crafts that start with Q, and so on. And since my word for the year is “Open,” I usually try to think about it, at least briefly, when I come across ideas that might seem to contradict something I’m doing or the way I’m thinking about something (my list in this case).

So I thought about it. For about five minutes. I reflected on our list and whether I was going overboard. I asked myself if I was micromanaging all of my kids’ activities or hijacking their free time with my own agenda. I thought about whether I was just stressing myself out trying to do all of these activities because of perceived pressure to do all things Pinterest.

I decided nope. I’m not. My kids spend the vast majority of their play time doing their own thing. Even when we do an activity from our list, sometimes the outcome isn’t what I planned, because they do it their own way, and that’s okay too. And I don’t’ feel any pressure at all to do certain activities with my kids. I actually like doing crafts with them and going on outings that we might not do if I didn’t have that list staring me in the face saying, “DO IT!”

See, I’m sort of a homebody. If left to my own devices, I often tend toward thinking, “That might be fun, but I’m so comfy here at home, and this is so nice and easy, and I’d just like to stay right here.” And so I sometimes avoid outings or adventures, even though when I get off my butt and go do them, I love them and so do my kids. The actual activity or outing is never as stressful or difficult as I sometimes make it out to be in my head while contemplating it.

So having our fun list is actually good for me. It actually doesn’t stress me out at all. Even when I think that we might not get all the things done (I was pretty unsure about whether we’d make it on that skiing trip on the winter list!), it isn’t a source of worry or distress. I did 50 out of 51 things on last summer’s list with a four, two, and one-year old and it was great. There’s nothing on the list that I am forcing myself to do when I really don’t want to (except maybe the glitter craft projects). My kids love it and seeing how excited they get about making the list, doing the activities on it, and checking off the items as we complete them, is totally worth it. So it’s on.

Anyway, back to our list. We already started to complete several of this year’s items while visiting my parents. I mentioned the “camping” above, and you can guess from the photos that we already rode horses, went to the beach, swam in a lake, and built a sand castle. We also went to a park (at the beach), planted our garden, and played barefoot in puddles (a new item this year inspired by the ridiculous amount of water in our front yard this week).

But the best activity we have completed? By far it was the one thing that we did not manage to do at all last year.

The girls absolutely loved catching fireflies. We went out at dusk and waited for what seemed like a really long time. But once those little guys were finally lighting it up, the girls started squealing and screaming and running and laughing like it was the best thing ever. We caught plenty of the glowing bugs. Miss even caught a few by herself. The girls were simultaneously terrified and ecstatic when the bugs got caught in their hair or when one danced on Miss’s nose for several seconds. Though we’ve barely begun, I know this will be one of the best memories of the season.

Summer is so short for us and so glorious. We have to wring every last bit of goodness out of it before the looong cold months arrive again. I’m so excited to do the list again.

In case you’re curious, here’s what’s on the list this year.

Copied from last summer’s list:

Catch lightning bugs – DONE
Camp – DONE
Go fishing
Ride a horse – DONE
Go to the Iowa State Fair
Make Ice Cream
Make popsicles
Hunt for bugs
Go to the beach – DONE
Pick wildflowers
Roast marshmallows and eat s’mores
Raise caterpillars into butterflies
Go to the zoo
Go on a treasure hunt
Swim in a lake or pond – DONE
Go to a splash pad
Run through a sprinkler
Visit a butterfly garden
Put our sprinkler under the trampoline
Play hopscotch
Play with water balloons
Catch tadpoles
Go to the Dirty Weird Zoo
Have a picnic lunch in the yard
Go for a bike ride
Read books outside
Have an outdoor scavenger hunt
Go for a boat ride
Go to the farmer’s market
Go to the park – DONE
Go to an outdoor concert
Visit a farm
Have a cookout and movie night with friends
Plant a garden – DONE
Make lemonade
Pick berries
Go to some yard sales
Complete the Summer Reading Program
Make a fairy house
Have a dance party in the yard
Make an art project with outdoor found treasures

New this year:

Go to a walk-up ice cream stand (the alternative to the truck)
Play with sparklers (an alternative to watching fireworks)
Play with moon sand
Paint with ice paint
Make a worm habitat
Make sun catchers
Make tin-can lanterns
Play barefoot in puddles – DONE
Paint with flower-dyed paint

What will you be up to this summer?

7 Quick Takes, Damma and Tuppa Version

Posted on April 11, 2014April 11, 2014 by Amy

We are visiting my parents this week. Otherwise known as “Damma and Tuppa” by Sis.

^^Every day, “Where my Tuppa?,” she says.

Here’s what we’re up to:

1. My Mom recently hosted a big Lego event at her library. As a result, she has a gazillion Legos these days. I have a love-hate relationship with Legos. I love them because I think they must be a great toy for imagination and stuff. I hate them because, well, they’re Legos.

My girls have had a blast with my Mom’s Legos. Which is great, because I won’t need to get any since they can play with them here. Or maybe it’s not great, because now they know they like them, and they’ll ask for them at all the birthdays.

2. My Mom is teaching Miss to sew. This brings back many memories:

Makes me think of my Grandma teaching me stuff. And when my Mom taught me to sew. Oh the nostalgia.

3. Happiness is playing outside without heavy coats. Or snow pants. Or mittens (otherwise known as my nemesis).

Put on jacket. Slip on shoes. Go outside. Freeeeedom!!!

And my kids like it too.

4. Sis is obsessed with flying things. Birds, planes, “coppers” (helicopters).

Which is quite fun, since my parents live near an Army base where they have lots of “coppers.” “Where copper gooo?” and “Copper slow dooown!” were her favorite phrases yesterday.

5. My girls went to story time at my Mom’s library where she gave them these ~~obnoxiously loud~~ lovely flute things.