Sunshine

:: a 75-degree jeans-and-t-shirt day

:: every single window open as far as it will go

:: new lip gloss

:: an empty laundry basket and clean sheets on the bed

:: Janie's scratchy throat that makes her sound like an 80-year-old-smoker-lady

:: a $1 magnifying glass from Target providing hours of entertainment

:: long nature walk, looking at every flower, leaf and rock up close (see above)

:: throwing rocks in the pond

:: forgetting to be prissy and getting dirt under our fingernails and grass stains on our jeans

:: Knuffle Bunny and Amanda Pig

:: wearing flip-flops with cute springy nail polish on my toes

Read more...

Making rough places smooth

Here's the verse I'm trying to memorize this month...

Isaiah 42:16

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Read more...

The world is her oyster

Throughout my Janie-filled day, I observed several future occupational choices for her:

City Engineer - After seeing an example in one of her magazine, she proceeded to build a very intricate race track out of blocks, including bridges, tunnels and "really bumpy parts"

Track Star - During our afternoon walk, she took off at a speed I could not believe. She was halfway down the block before I was out of the starting gate!

U.N. Negotiator - Judging by the way she talked me into buying her a bag of Cheetos, she just might be able to negotiate world peace.

Teacher - I peeked in her room during her quiet time just in time to see her sitting on her bed, surrounded by every stuffed animal she could find, reading a stack of library books aloud.

Architect - A Duplo castle (built with blocks in rainbow order, of course) provided about 45 minutes of fun for her little prince and princess figurines.

Hair Stylist - Janie's new favorite thing: brushing my hair. No complaints from me - I love it!

I have no idea what she will choose to do when she's all grown up - but it's sure going to be fun watching her figure it out!

Read more...

A Jolly Holiday

My baby is 4.

(Insert sobs and sniffles and sighs here.)

(Seriously. How has it been four years already?)

So today we celebrated our big grown-up girl with a supercalifragilistic Mary Poppins party.


Mary Poppins herself made a surprise visit.



Here she is with her good friend, Bert.



Fortunately, Janie was there too and had a great time eating cake, opening gifts, playing with the Grandmas and the Grandpas and Aunt Susan, and just generally being the star of the show.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

Read more...

There's a party in my tummy

I recently discovered the recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

These are two of my most favorite foods - but I'm not sure how they would taste together.

Awesome? Or awesomely bad?

Read more...

Honey Bee

In Phase-Two-O-Halloween-Fun, my little Honey Bee & I joined Rob at church for the faux-halloween festivities.

There was lots of candy, fun prizes, crafts, popcorn (score!) and the highlight of the day.... pony rides!! I wish I knew how to include a video - Janie was loving it!

Here are my two most favorite people - Honey Bee Jane & Train Conductor Rob.

Read more...

Halloween Princess

This morning was Phase-One-O-Halloween-Fun & we hit a cute little downtown area to trick-or-treat at all of the stores.

Halloween Princess was ready to go in her fabulously fancy skirt & t-shirt from Grandma. She practiced saying 'trick-or-treat' all the way there. (And I practiced reminding her to say thank you.)

As we walked down the street, she kept saying "When do I get to say it again? I want to say trick-or-treat again!" Seriously, she doesn't even like most of the candy - she just want to say the magic words & get something fun to put in her bucket. Although at the end of the morning, she discovered that she loves lollipops - especially the ones that turn her tongue blue!

I appreciated the stores that gave away crayons & bubbles & playdough & books. (Really - there was a store giving away used children's books - brilliant!) My favorites were the stores that used the event as a marketing opportunity for all the moms & gave away samples of fun shampoos and skin care products. Woohoo!

Now we're taking a break to come down from the lollipop-induced-sugar-high before we get dressed up in costume #2 & head out to the big faux-halloween event at church.

Seems like the perfect time for mom to raid the pink candy bucket!!

Read more...