four girls, one canoe and a Friday afternoon

Four eleven-year-old mates gathered in the backyard, hungry for a canoe adventure.

I will admit:

I hesitated before giving permission.

I wasn't sure they were old enough...

But OH!  They had fun.

They paddled over the beaver dam and out to "the island."

I had them in my sights, unsure at first, and then happy to sort-of be along (on shore).

They laughed and squealed and worked together.

They saw frogs and crayfish, ducks and a great blue heron.

In the end, they ALL came back.

A little soggier than they went out--they swabbed the poop deck and had great tales to tell.

Thank Goodness for Friday afternoon!

once upon a chuckle

tonight I read a bedtime story to my boy.
we got to the part where the sister is leaving notes complaining about the selection of snack foods in the house.  She complains that she doesn't really care for plain potato chips, and could the new housekeeper please buy the barbecue kind that she prefers.  At this point, I'm really siding with the main character, and feeling slightly annoyed at the sister for being so snooty and persnickety.
We then learn that someone else has been licking the barbecue flavor off the potato chips and putting them back in the bag. 
Now THAT's awesome... and then I just couldn't help myself.
I.LAUGHED.OUT.LOUD.
and I couldn't stop.
Instead of finishing the story, we shared a good, hearty laugh.
Then I tried to remember any naughty food adventures I was a part of as a child, and I just couldn't come up with anything (except what I avoided eating, like breaded fried liver bites) partly because I have inherited my dad's memory genes and partly because we were just too dang poor to have things like potato chips in the house to begin with.  Never mind a housekeeper.
a good story + comic relief = AWESOME.


Now fess up:  are you the one that eats all the chocolate bits out of the trail mix, leaving peanut crumbs and salty raisins for the rest of us?

Served.

Last week I found myself chatting on the phone with my mom a few times.

We talked about the glorious and ridiculous mid-March weather, and she was telling me about her gardening adventures and progress and then, (maybe waiting in vain for me to return the volley with a few gardening tales of my own?) after a pause she asked me if I was feeling depressed.  This happened twice, I think, and on the afternoon of the second phone call, a man and his portable rototiller showed up in my yard.

 If there actually was any gardening-induced depression, it's now gone.

 After watching my seven-year-old wrestle the rototiller through the soil, it might be time to invest in one of my own.

(Thanks, Dad!)

XO

thumbs up

(doesn't this just make you SMILE?)

Relief Society turns 170

 We had a birthday party at Relief Society!

We sat at tables by birth month, and enjoyed a really nice meal, a program and dessert, of course, followed by a loud and rowdy round-robin RS version of speed dating.

these women are INCREDIBLE.

the canoe went out

school ended.

backpacks came off,

life jackets went on,

and the canoe went out.

Spring

this one's for you, Aaron.

dinner on the bench

Someone pinch me.

It's March 20th in Massachusetts and we ate dinner on the bench in the front yard while the sun went down.

78 degrees.

before and AFTER

Girls Don't Fly

 This was the perfect weekend getaway book.

I LOVED it.  I didn't start out loving it, but it just kept getting better.

I can't count the number of times I laughed out loud.  The author's voice perfectly conveyed the feelings and emotions of a High School Senior who wants to fly, but is strapped down by circumstance.

The chapters were on average about two pages long, so I could walk away from the book a hundred times and still finish it in the course of a couple of days.

I REALLY liked Girls Don't Fly.

Did I already say that?

I also really like:

 spending a weekend staying up late

sleeping in

taking pictures

rambling

reading in the sun

hanging out with someone who enjoyed doing the same things (this is her picture of me)

my new mustard flats

being home again.

Happy Monday!

Coming Home

HOME.SWEET.HOME.

It was good to come home to a kitchen full of people who were happy to see me.

(there's NO place like home)

traveling pants

(The Relief Society Sisterhood)

of the traveling pants

my traveling buddy forgot to pack a few essentials (including pants).  It's a good thing I had some magic jeans.  They actually look much better on her; she's agreed to adopt them--they're going to live with her now.

hopping the border

We meandered across the state line to ramble around in upstate New York.

The middle day was the perfect day for antiquing, thrift store shopping and stopping often to snap pictures

R & R (...and R)

 A few weeks ago I made some plans to take the weekend off.

I hopped in the car with a friend and headed west; as far west as you can go without leaving the state.  We did a lot of resting, relaxing and rambling.

Rrrraaawrrrr!

3 good reasons

to look forward to Spring:

*

1. Creative outdoor play

 2. sidewalk chalk! (and shadows!)

 3. those perpetually dirty (but sturdy) knees

accessorizing yet another beautiful smile

KA-POW!

Monday we enjoyed 72 degree weather.

SEVENTY-TWO!

On March 12th.

DEElightful.

Yesterday?

71 degrees.

YES.

I went to bed dreaming of Spring and happy music and gardens in bloom

and JUMPED out of my bed like a ninja

when a gigantic rumble of thunder shook the house at 12:30am.

Before I knew it, I was like Julie Andrews in The Sound of  Music, and I had trembling girls walking with me from window to window to witness the show.

March is CRAZY.  A little up, a little down.

A little like me.

(12:49 am view of the hail on the deck from the family room)

Timber!

 In our neck of the woods, felling a tree is a notch on the man card.

It also means being one step closer to

a 10 year dream.

 we gathered to watch (from a safe distance)

 The tree went down... and then got caught up in another tree.

Mr. Dub thinks it's funny when he calls this scenario the widow-maker.

Me?  Not so much.  But I'm married to just about the most cautious man on the planet, and he also happens to have some decent tree-felling skills... and a few manvotionals about his experience in the woods, a good friend who loves to help, and Big Betty(his trusty chainsaw). Call it the art of manliness.

Or just call him Uncle Buzz.

Two trees for the price of one, and they hit the mark.

Now Dub's got a couple of seasons to prepare the timbers and frame up the blacksmith shop.  He's living his dream.