Super-Green Post

I finally came to terms with the fact that I don't have time to make something new for my swap. So I bit the bullet and mailed it off. {cross fingers that recipient likes it!}


Regardless, I'm happy to have checked off an item on my list.

Last year I finished a flagstone path on one side of my house - which I L-O-V-E. It makes me happy every time I walk on it. Happy because it turned out just how I wanted it to. Happy because the thyme and sedums I planted around it are getting established and spreading. ....so happy that I've started another path.


This one is out of field stones and leads to the shady, narrow "garden" on the other side of the house. I "gleaned" most of the stones from empty lots in my neighborhood.

The shady side. Is it silly that I garden around our meter? I {adore} irish moss - with it's cute, tiny flowers!


In other gardening news: my irises are blooming...


...and it looks like we'll have plenty of strawberries for the kids to browse on! Boo can hardly wait. He's already eating green blueberries - and says they're alicious!

Our Quasi-field Trip

So, we went to the zoo a million years ago (that's in mom years, so maybe 3 weeks ago) and I finally decided to blog about it. {Please bear with my retro-blogging.}

I don't know if the zoo counts as a field trip? We always think it's going to be educational...but then it just ends up being super-fun. I'm sure Cozy and BooBoo learned a few new things about the cuteness of meerkats and otters....that gibbons are better monkey-bar-ers than kids (despite not technically being monkeys).


..and we also may have settled the penguins vs. puffins debate that Boo and I have been having (so reminiscent of the ducks vs. geese debates we had with Sofi so many years ago).


However we didn't find a single bat (our latest subject) and rushed past the predatory birds (our previous subject of study)!



Just goofy kids. They were so insensitive, making fun of those reindeer!



...and James cried about leaving his "horse" until I put the McDonalds soft serve cone in his hand. An ignominious (if slightly predictable) ending to our fun-filled day.

Becky Update

Becky had her mastectomy, and it was less of an ordeal (physically) that we expected. She's kept an amazing positive attitude.


We were hoping that she wouldn't have to have any more surgery - that radiation would be the final, almost preventative measure, but it hasn't turned out that way.


Her PET scan revealed that the cancer has spread her lungs. She'll be having surgery to remove that cancer, followed by chemotherapy.


Please keep praying for her and her family. We love you, Aunt Becky!

Maybe in my house...

...but I'm not sure about mailing it out. I may need to begin again.



We've been having an interesting week. There was the whole beach thing - then I came home and got extremely overwhelmed by...everything. I think I needed to be slowly reintroduced to my life - rather than diving right back in.

...anyhow, I was "angry cleaning", which apparently looks like my regular cleaning, because my husband didn't notice the angry part until I was tearfully spiraling out of control. (It's not smart to watch tv while your wife is "angry cleaning")

So, how to identify "angry cleaning"? Here are some signs for men who don't want to be caught unaware:

1. Muttering. (Not to be confused with "Muddering" - Boo has been calling me his "Mudder" lately.)

2. Lack of eye contact.

3. Folding and putting away more than 3 loads of laundry in a row.

GOOD NEWS: As part of our "we hope to be moving soon" effort, we re-homed our bunny. Her new mommy seemed quite nice and thrilled to have a new rabbit. Now we just need to find a new family to take in and love our bowflex (and pay us for it...that's the rub!)

Pacificly...

Tony has leave to burn, so we took a fairly last-minute trip to Pacific Beach - just barely into "the season". ...so barely that the only cute shop in the tiny town was closed until Saturday. (We left on Thursday. Isn't that the way?)


I think Saturday might be when the real season (not just the one that charges you a higher price for your accommodations) starts.

Despite being in the midst of Spring, we got to spend quite a bit of time on the beach. It turns out that our kids are immune to cold. We weak adults couldn't wade up to our ankles in the surf without shaking and shivering, but the children were fully swimming on our first day there.

Cold. Sandy. Weather worsening. To avoid frost-bitten children, we grounded them from the surf. They had to content themselves with beach combing and another hobby that I call "trying to lose your mother". Cozy slows me down a little, but seriously...!


They combed quite thoroughly. Sofia found a intact starfish and a rock from space.


Odie found a sand dollar and a baby mermaid....wait....that's Cozy.


(You may notice Boo climbing the dunes behind him.)

So, on our first 2 days we got very sandy and ate a lot of ice cream. (That's what vacation is all about, people - dessert.) ...thus the little hibachi for roasting marshmallows.


...and then Windsday struck. It was totally out of control. Gale-force winds and lots of rain. See that angry ocean!


There was much discussion as to what had angered Zeus and Poseidon. The kids eventually came to the conclusion that Zeus had absent-mindedly put his lightening bolt behind his ear and then forgotten it there....and was now blaming an openly indignant (but secretly amused)Poseidon for its absence.

We let the kids play outside until it got so gusty that we were worried about them being carried off into the ocean like errant kites.


Then we watched a whole lot of TV. Mmmm. Vacation. I'm so happy to be home.

Scarier?

Well, my mini-quilt-wall-hanging-thing is evolving...but I'm not sure if anyone but me will like it. It's a little scary making something for someone whose house you have never stepped foot in. I mean, it could be doomed to rot in someone's closet forever...and it isn't especially perfect...but I like it.


Green binding?


In other news: I made a dangerous discovery this week. I stopped by Amy's to redeem my Mother's Day gift certificate for something decadent, and it turns out that this little pit stop only adds about 5 minutes to our going-to-Irish-dance route. That's dangerous info that should have been kept from me.


I got lavender, ginger, Mayan, berry, and peppermint truffles to "feed my hungry soul." For reals. It says so on the box.


...and our junco chicks have feathered up nicely. However, I kind of want them to fledge...so I can mow my yard.

Country Corners

Workin' on a something.