Happy weekend! These past couple of weeks have been full of good things. Here’s what’s going on these days:

Celebrating: my sister’s college graduation! The whole family made the trip down to Nashville for the weekend for the ceremony. We also got to see her senior art show, go to the zoo, and eat at some tasty local restaurants. It was a full but fun time!

Surviving: the first stay at a hotel with two children. I was a little apprehensive about how it was going to go but they were both troopers. We kept so busy during the days that when nighttime came around they were both more than ready to go to bed.

Spending: lots of time outside. The weather has been ideal around here the past week or so and we’ve been soaking it up.

Cutting: fresh flowers from our yard. We’ve got several purple things in bloom right now. So pretty! (Don’t be impressed. I didn’t plant any of it.)

Planning: meals to use up the veggies from our first CSA box of the season. This week we got a salad mix, sweet potatoes, asparagus, strawberries, dried beans, and cornmeal. I’m excited to put it all to good use and try a few new recipes!

Have a fabulous week!

Another week has flown by. Here’s what’s happening these days.

cuddling: a puny baby. Poppy had her 4 month shots this week and has been a bit feverish and tired. I gotta admit though, I’m enjoying the extra long naps.

wearing: a new Apple Watch. I’m officially the owner of more technology than is reasonable. But first impressions are that it’s pretty fun and helpful! I plan on sharing a more thorough review after I’ve spent some time living with it.

eating: Craisins. I let Charlie nibble on a few of these when I was throwing them on top of a salad and he’s been hooked ever since. I like them on crackers with cream cheese. He likes them in a pile on his plate. I can’t decide if this is a good snacking option or not. On the one hand it’s a serving of fruit with vitamins and fiber and antioxidents. On the other hand it has just as much sugar as a serving of cookies. Why are snacks so hard?!!

watching: what we say. Charlie has entered a phase of picking up on all our grumpier phrases and words. This past week we’ve heard him say things like, “Darn it!” and “Gosh!” and “Never, never, never!” Thankfully our language doesn’t get much more colorful than that around here, but having a three year old pick up on all your word choices certainly makes you think a little harder about them.

making: a backyard garden space for Charlie. We took a bare spot in the lawn and made a little brick border and added a couple of old paving stones to give it some boundaries. We plan on planting sunflowers around the edges and maybe adding a couple of other small flowers. Otherwise this will be a place for Charlie to dig to his heart’s content. I’m excited to see what we can grow there this summer.

That’s all for today. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend filled with friends, flowers, and fluffy bunnies.

P.S. Here are some posts from the archives that you may have missed:

1. Making Messes – thoughts on creativity and perfection
2. Playing with Color – some color scheme inspiration for your next project
3. Rainbow Birthday Party – easy and simple ideas for a 1st birthday

This week has flown by! I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t had to write this post I would have forgotten all of it.

Here’s what’s happening these days…

watching: Charlie and Poppy interact more and more. Charlie, while always kind to his little sister, has always been pretty cautious and hands-off with her. I feel like this week he has finally started to feel a little more comfortable with her, as evidenced by these pictures of the two of them next to each other. Those have been really hard to get up until this week.

making: my favorite spread yet in my Project Life album. Be looking for a post about that in the coming weeks!

cheering: for the racers in the soap box derby. Last weekend our town had it’s first coaster car race on main street and we walked down to see the action. It was a lovely spring day and a fun little outing. Charlie was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t ride in the cars though…

growing: grass in a tiny pot. We got one of those grass growing kits at Target last week and have been watching the little shoots of grass pop up all week. I’m impressed at how fast it’s grown!

loving: how alert and interactive our little girl is getting. Smiles are coming all the time these days, and she’s always trying to add to the conversation with her coos and gurgles and grunts. She can get pretty noisy!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

P.S. Here are some posts from the archives that you may have missed:
1. Parmesan Tilapia – one of our favorite quick and easy weeknight dinners
2. The one where I finally finish up our gallery wall
3. Some good reasons to consider cloth diapering

Hello, friends. Here’s what’s happening these days…

answering: why? All. Day. Long. It is Charlie’s favorite question. He likes it so much he doesn’t even care what the answer is. Because he’s just going to ask it again. A sample conversation:

Me: Charlie, it’s time to put away your toys.
Him: Why?
Me: Because it’s almost bedtime.
Him: Why?
Me: Because it’s getting dark outside.
Him: Why?
Me: Because the sun goes down at night.
Him: Why?
Me: Because God made it that way.
Him: Why?
Me: God is supposed to be the answer to everything! Can’t you just be satisfied?!

trying: a new routine. We’ve been working on bringing a bit more structure to our days. I started implementing new after-breakfast and after-lunch routines this week and so far it’s been going well. It get us out of our pajamas, give us time for school and play, and builds in a little time for cleaning up the house as well. Somedays that’s all that gets done, but at least it’s something.

learning: more letters. Our new routine has given us a regular school time and Charlie’s been doing so well on learning his letters. Someday soon I plan to do a post sharing all the activities we’ve been doing.

reading: “The Journey” by Mary Oliver. My husband shared it in his newsletter this past week and it left me nodding and murmuring things like, “isn’t that the truth.”

The Journey

by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

leaving: you with these pictures my husband took, because you can’t have a blog post with out pictures, and I didn’t really take many good ones this week. I feel like they capture life around here so well.

Enjoy your weekend!

High five for… late Saturday night! Some weeks I just can’t get in a moment to write my Friday posts. This week has been full, but good. Here’s what’s been going on these days:

loving: the warm spring days. They’ve come with a lot of rain as well, but the warm sunshine in-between storms has been worth it. And it’s given us a few good puddles to splash in.

watching: lots of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. When I first heard about this show I was confused. A funny cop show? But it is indeed funny, and about cops. Watching it gives me similar enjoyable feelings as I got from watching The Office back in the day. So if that’s not a recommendation, I don’t know what is.

planting: some flowers in the front flower bed. We got a couple of hyacinths from a friend at church, some violets from my Aunt Barbara’s funeral, and then I tried transplanting a few irises from the side of the house. I’m interested to see if any of these things live.

celebrating: Easter! We kept it pretty low key this year, but still managed to include some fun egg dying, some easter egg hunts, and the worst deviled eggs ever.

planning: some new pieces to go on our walls. Hopefully these projects will get done soon and I’ll be able to share them on the blog.

getting: out of the house! This week has included trips outside the house to go to church, the playground, a friend’s house, the grocery store, and the mall. Not to mention a few walks! That’s some major activity for this family of homebodies. What’s even more impressive is that at least a few of those outings involved me going out with both children at once! Without my husband to help me! It has given me the sliver of confidence I needed to attempt that more often. Maybe one day we’ll go to the library, or Target, or (super excited about this one!) Hobby Lobby!

I hope your spring has sprung and you are soaking it in! Enjoy!