busy weekend

Time to plant our garden!

Phil has worked so hard to get everything ready.

We spent most of this past weekend working outside - glorious! I never knew how much I would enjoy being out in the fields with the animals. They're good company. There's something so comforting about it.

bursts of color

I'm completely, completely overwhelmed everyday by what I see outside my window.  Living in an old house means having a garden with old plants and a mature landscape. One of my friends hit it right on the head when she said, "It's like having a newborn baby...something new every day."  That's exactly how I feel!

 

a day off

                

The Wind

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I saw you toss the kites on high

And blow the birds about the sky;

And all around I heard you pass,

Like ladies' skirts across the grass--

O wind, a-blowing all day long,

O wind, that sings so loud a song!

 

My kids had a day off from school today for teacher in-service. One thing I love about my kids is they never say the words, "I'm bored." They love to read, do puzzles, play imaginary games together, or play outside. I love this about them. This doesn't mean that we don't have the occasional squabbles, but for the most part, they're best buds.

Today and yesterday they did lots of kite flying.

My husband was off today, too, so we burned our pile of yard trimmings. 

I thought this was so funny...when I looked outside the window this morning, all of our cows were huddled up against the burn pile and they spent their entire day there.

 

the long and the short of it

I have scoured the countryside looking for affordable little girls' shorts that have an inseam longer than 2 inches. I've been to several stores around town...Target, Kohl's, Old Navy, Fred Meyer, Walmart, Sears, then online at L.L. Bean, Land's End and countless others. I found lots of cute Bermuda-type shorts, but I refuse to pay $30 a pair.

Something happened when my girls turned 6...they moved up to a new clothing department and I've been so disappointed with our options. Little girls in sizes 4-6x are still little girls, but their clothing options suggest otherwise. I thought shopping for school clothes in the fall was a headache, but shopping for summer clothes has been a nightmare.

So I thought I'd share with all of you what I found today...these shorts in several colors online at The Children's Place for only $12. There's free shipping, and if you use this code E4H2012 you'll get 15% off your order, making them only $10.20 per pair. The code, which I found here, expires at the end of the month.

pretty little package

 

I received the sweetest package in the mail today! It was from my high school youth pastor's wife whom I haven't seen in years. Scary thought...I graduated from high school 20 years ago this May. 

She's known me since Jr. High. I have to laugh when I think about how very awkward those years were for me. But she still loves me and she sent me the best package ever. 

Everything she placed in this box is me-to-a-tee...

cupcake liners

cookie cutters

 vintage aprons with

sunshine yellow ric rac

polka dots

red and white gingham

tiffany blue and red

applique

birds

embroidery

pom pom fringe

 every.single.thing...me-to-a-tee

 

 

a sunny saturday

 Weekends are so much fun when it's sunny. I woke up so sore on Sunday morning, then realized it was from all of the weeding I did on Saturday. Ouch!

A favorite memory of the day is this one...

 

After doing the breakfast dishes (at 11:00 a.m.), I looked outside the window and saw my kids sitting on a blanket on the front lawn. I love the scattered flip flops and the baseball bat. 

I love walking around outside to see what's in bloom around here. I think this is one of the best things about springtime in a new house. You don't know what you have until it blooms in the spring. Or maybe that's just me, because I'm such a gardening novice. I learned this lesson the hard way. When we lived in Spokane, I did heavy-duty weeding every spring. Last year, with our move, I just kind of let the garden go, because I was so busy packing. Little did I know, all of the "weeds" I had pulled every spring were perennials. Oops! I told myself to pull mostly dandelions this year until I know for sure what are weeds and what are plants around here.

And then I got to scrub clean with my new Mrs. Meyer's soap! I love it when she offers free shipping. It gives me a chance to try her new scents. They never seem to sell those in grocery stores.