A new look...

I'm trying on something new here.  I like change and I don't at the same time.  I rearrange furniture when I'm restless for something new.  I like that kind of change.  I don't really buy new clothes until I need them. I've gone shopping a few times to get some short sleeved t-shirts but haven't found any I like so as a result I just wear tank tops.  Isn't that funny, that I don't have any t-shirts?

Anyway, so there is a new look here and I'm trying to get used to it.  I think it may just grow on me.  Let's add a photo and see how that goes.

Mmmm...what do you think?

Four and a new baby bird...

 

We had Sara's party today with a few of her friends.  Who knew you could do so many things with a noodle?  I sure didn't.  These ideas came from the May issue of Family Fun magazine.  I changed it up a bit because I had younger kids but really, the possibilities are endless!  We tossed bean bags through these holes.  Big kids can toss javelines.

And look who hatched sometime this morning?  In between activities we checked on our newest little baby bird.

More active, outside fun...

Lemonade after all that running around.

Celebrating four.

Taking a break from the chaos that is a birthday party to capture ourselves.

Happy Birthday to our girl.

Because I wanted to see the date...

and the face of this girl to go with it.  She's FOUR today!  What a special girl she is and it is with great anticipation that she has been looking forward to this day.

Grandma and Grandpa are in town to celebrate wtih us.  Grandma's was yesterday so celebrating has been the name of the game.

And helping the kids with their knitting,

And reading bedtime stories,

And daytime stories,

and playing lots and lots of games.

My, this girl is growing up and changing fast.  Look at this face!  My goodness.

All are in bed now after a very busy day.  I know they had fun and I'm glad Sara got her wish; to spend her birthday with Grandma!

Do you see what I see?...

We've been seeing a lot of new things these days.  We found this mama's nest yesterday in our yard.  She's chosen an interesting place to be but very well hidden.  The only reason I found her was because she kept flying out everytime I walked by the side of the house. 

 

I'm not the only one seeing new things around here.  This guy can see a lot more clearly now!  Who knew?  It's funny, you just don't know until you know.  He gets to wear them all day everyday and thankfully he's quite taken to it. 

This girl decided to start a garden along side her mama.  The starts are finally taking off and I'm not sure who gets more excited; the kids or me when we see an itty bitty new little tomato srout.  It's really pretty amazing.

Excited to try this new venture of gardening.  I usually buy two tomato plants at Market and call it good.  But this year I thought I'd give the seedling thing a try.  It's very much a thrill and hoping they will continue to grow and produce once we get them into the ground!

Crazy, crazy, crazy...

Mmmm...my length between posts seem to be getting longer.  There are some months where I only find myself online a few times a week and I'm usually not here in this space.  I've been thinking a lot lately about how my life is very much not like everyone else's in this way.

I don't have a cell phone.

Ack! you say.  Right now, at this point in my life it just wouldn't benefit me.  It'd be one more thing for me to keep track of and honestly I'm not the kind of person who likes to talk on the phone in public anyway.

Not the norm.  I know.

Another thing I don't have?  A laptop.  So if I'm going to be on the computer I'm coming in here to the office and turning this desktop on and really, there are some days when I just don't feel like sitting still for 3-4 minutes while the computer boots up.

Thus the long absence I suppose.

My days of late seem to be crazy stressful.  Some of the kids are in this incredibly challenging place right now which means I'm usually too mad to come here and rave about them.  :)  ha ha.

We do have our good moments of course.  Everyone does.  So on that note a few photos from last month.

Shall we?

{At the maple syrup festival; the other bag was white, I'm not sure why this one is yellow}

{Sometimes we wonder why everyone has their own room when they all like to sleep in our bed}

{I love it when they just fall asleep. It's so sweet.}

{On their own accord, helping me remove wallpaper.}

{7:30am; hunting for worms}

{Sara}

{Ella Jane}

{I will never tire of this girls clothing combinations}

{The tinker toy invention that Matthew rigged up for Ella Jane's tissue.  Now "all she has to do" is pull from up above!}

{Sara digging for worms}

{Sara loves worms (so does Ella Jane) and is so gentle with them}

{Getting ready to play chess with Matthew}

{So much more fun to play Mario style}

{Sara on the trike}

And, in a very tiny nutshell that sums up our time in March.  Did you notice the snow in one shot and shorts in another?  It was very (and wonderfully) warm!  Although winter does have it's perks it reminded me that yes, I am indeed a warm weather gal.  Looking forward to more of it.

So much going on...

I've had so many stories going on in my head that I wanted to post about.  I create the perfect little story in my head...and wash another dish.  Reality.

For starters, my neighbor is currently lugging sleds and the snowblower out of the garage.  It must now be spring.  Perhaps I should do the same.  Except I don't have a snowblower.  Nor do I want one.  At least not right now.  Perhaps I'll change my mind in 10 more years.

But anyway.

We saw The Lorax today.  I have to say for a kid's movie I really liked it.  Sometimes these kids movies can be a little questionable.  The Lorax though.  Really, where can you go wrong?  Great message, fun soundtrack.  I found myself wanting my kids to just "get it."  You know, the message of conserve, be nice to the environment, think twice about what you spend your money on etc. I'm not sure they walked away with that but little by little perhaps it'll sink in.

This daylight savings thing has got me all messed up.  The hours seem to fly by and when it's "mealtime" I"m not really feeling it.  Hoping that irons itself out in another week.

For the last few weeks my kids have been in maddening stages.  Or phases.  Or something.  But it's been madness around here.  And I'm not sure how to get around it.  Or maybe I don't.  But getting through it is sigh....difficult.

And then they say things like this...

"Mom, when it's my golden birthday you can come over to my house and spend the night and we can have dinner and then watch a movie with popcorn!"

My response?  "Yay! I would love that"

It was a moment in which I found myself wanting to laugh and cry at the same time.  Because although I'm flattered that their 6 and 8 yr. old little selves want to hang out with me when they are 25 and 26 (golden b-days) I'm pretty sure that will not be the reality.

We discovered a new form of entertainment.  Matthew has been interested in the paper for a few years now.  Always the comics.  Everyday and weekends both.  But just recently he discovered the little puzzles.  Ours has what's called a word jumble, a crossword, and a sudoku.  I always laughed at the people who did those.  Although I didn't know any personally.  And then Matthew became interested in them.  And asked me to help him.

He and I have always played games well together.  We're game people.  And we like to win.  A sad but true fact; Jim and I don't play Monopoly together because we can't agree on the rules and it gets too competitive.  Probably because of me though.  He's pretty gracious when it comes to games.  I can be a little intense.  He usually beats me at games and I really hate to lose.

So much so that I had to do my newspaper jumble on my own piece of paper because I was unscrambling the words before my 8yr. old had a chance and thus spoiling his opportunity at winning himself.  Oops.  So now I can copy down the little puzzle in my own little space and still have the satisfaction of solving the daily puzzle.

Ella Jane is a little whiz at the crossword.  Seriously, who knew this about her?  Crosswords trip me up.  Last week, one of the clues was 'journalist'.  You know what she came up with?  'writer'. And she was right!  She's got an amazing talent for writing and creates beautiful stories.  Now she's using her word knowledge in the crosswords.  And so our little family can sometimes be found all grabbing for the same section in the mornings.  It cracks me up.

Well, I suppose I must get back to tearing off wallpaper.  Our laundry/mudroom is getting a little facelift!

We welcome spring...

Well, here we are into March.  I think it's safe to say that winter is on its way out.  We didn't get one chance to ice skate.  We took a few day trips this winter and whenever we'd pass a frozen pond, I'd point it out to Matthew and he'd say (while pressing his face to the window) "oh ice, I want to skate on you!!"  We were both really bummed that we missed that chance this year.  Perhaps winter will be kinder to us next year and give us lots snow and ice!

In the meantime we have been indulging ourselves of a different activity of sorts.  Eating.Lots.Of.Cookies.

They only come once a year and it's the only time HFCS passes the threshold of this house.  Can you see my top shelf?  The kids love them and so do I.  Perhaps a little too much.  I was a bit of a crazy lady for two weeks while I ate and ate and ate these cookies!

Because really.  Who can only have one or two girl scout cookies?

At least the girls made me shoe soup one day.  Perhaps that was a bit healthier?

Does this not crack you up?  Besides the obvious it's funny to me because these are her favorite pair of tights.  She wears them day and night, they are very ragedy and even a bit on the small side.  She wanted the feet cut off so that she could wear them as socks and then the others as leggings.  If you were to come over to our house you'd probably find her wearing one of three things here.  The tutu, the leggings/tights, or the pink ballet slippers.  All favorites.

And what about this magifier huh?  It's from Target a few years back and we are still having the best time with it.  We still laugh so hard and make goofy faces in it.

I thought it was finally time to grab a picture of it.

Chances are...

your kids are nearing or have just celebrated their 100th day of school.  Ella Jane had her celebration last week and could hardly contain her excitement for it.  Her whole school day was going to be dedicated to the number 100.

She usually likes me to take several photos of her in different smiles and poses.  I opted to share these two.

When she got home I had a few goodies waiting for her. 

Guess how many?  :)

Thrilled to have a reason for 100 pieces of chocolate candy in the middle of the afternoon.