a day for weather...

This morning we woke up to this...




Then, this afternoon, we enjoyed blue skies, warm breezes, and, planted some flowers (sorry, no pictures -- we were too busy having fun!)


But, tonight...




we had our first spring thunderstorm. Here it is approaching from the west.




This is the view looking east, as the thunderstorm descends upon the conservation area.




We were even treated to some hail by this thunderstorm!

the rules keep changing...

I must have missed the meeting. I'm glad I read the bulletin board this morning. As of yesterday, apparently, the rules were changed -- again!



If only life was this simple!

what to do on a rainy Thursday...

Since I became a stay at home mom, Thursday has been the day designated as my "day off". Ironically, it seems to be the day of the week I get the most done. Today, however, I do not see that happening. So here I am:





...looking down the hallway, with the light on (this light is an entire story in itself). It is misty and and chilly outside. It is still early enough in the day to find something enjoyable to do, and, I am looking for the sunshine. I didn't find it yet, but this gave me a chuckle:




Hope it gives you a chuckle too! :-)



...and this too!




Note: these do not appear in the first picture. They are freshly "caught"!

spring is slowly awakening...

How lovely to watch springtime as she slowly awakens in the warm sun.



These daffodils are the first to bloom in our garden this year. Perhaps we should include some earlier bloomers during this planting season so that our next spring season begins a bit sooner!

elusive...

The beauty of a sunrise never ceases to amaze me. To possess its wonderment in my hands is but a dream. I hold my breath at the moment it appears, and, then, the shutter clicks and it is gone. Once again, my eyes have seen what the camera cannot. I can only hope that it will return so I may try to forever embrace its beauty again.

Catch of the day...

We have 2 cats in our family. For most of the day they sleep. They do, however, have a part of the day when they are active. Recently, during that part of the day they "hunt", or, I guess they think they are hunting. Their current "prey" comes from Sofia's collection of small dolls. Whatever they find and capture they leave at the bottom of the stairwell -- I assume for me to see. To date they have only captured one doll per day -- but today must be a good day as you can see -- their are 4 dolls for me to add to the pile I have set aside. Maybe, eventually, they will capture all of the little dolls roaming in the wilds of the basement so I can put them all away neatly. Note: Sadly, sometimes the dolls are wet from being drowned in the water bowl before they are delivered to me. However, today is a good day in this area also; none of the specimens seen in the picture have suffered this misfortune.

Monday sunrise...

a beautiful beginning to a new week -- hopefully filled with good things...

ahhh...finally, springtime!

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. And...

...yes, it's snowing!

I'm shrinking, again...

Poor little Sofia -- she had a blister on her toe last week from her shoes, so I took her to get a new pair. The new shoes are on the left side of the picture -- they are Skechers size 3. The shoes on the right side of the picture belong to me. I am in disbelief that her "little" feet are this big at age 8. She had the teeniest feet when she was born -- oh well, guess she's not taking after mommy in this department. Maybe she'll share some of her shoes with me before she outgrows my size!

the party's over...

Ahhhh.... finally a chance to take a breath! I feel as if I have been running in circles for weeks. Here's some pictures from the weekend.



It's all about the "pink"!



Here's the cake -- decorated by the birthday girl herself!



Make a wish...



...wish granted! A pogo stick was on the list of "most wanted" birthday gifts.



The cake was well received by the guests!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our wedding anniversary. It's been 17 years since the big event. That's a long time... Many important things have happened since that day.

All seriousness aside, I thought it would be nice to share my Tilly bears with you! Aren't they the best? My Mom gave them to me as a bridal shower gift. They only used to come out of storage once a year for our wedding anniversary. However, since we moved they have taken a liking to my sewing room, and I like looking at them in there. Today I moved them to the stairwell, so they can be part of the birthday festivities -- can you see them smiling?

just checking in...

I am still in the whirlwind of activities for Sofia's birthday. Yesterday was her birthday party at school -- so, what took us almost a week of planning was over in 20 minutes -- but well worth the effort for the kids in her class. The birthday girl was not too happy about the weather that showed up for her special day, or, about her hair-do -- this explains the lack of the birthday girl picture. Side note: The trauma was done with by the time she reached the bus stop and out of camera range.

For the rest of the week I am busy preparing the house for some Saturday afternoon festivities. I will grab some pictures then.

Oh, and the picture of the bird in this post? I am dealing with a bird that wants to live in the air vent from our powder room. Ugh...this bird apparently had itself caught in their somehow yesterday -- so I had to listen to it whistling and scratching for a few hours which drove me nuts. We called 2 people about getting it out, and, someone finally did show up after I left for the school party. The bird was gone upon his inspection -- which I was thankful for. Then...this morning after the troops were out the door -- yup, you guessed it -- back again. I put the fan on that is connected to the air vent and it flew out. When I turned the fan off, it was back again. Fan on, bird gone. Fan off, bird returns. Fun... right?

today...

We are busy doing this!


here is the artist at work...



all finished!



They are ready for tomorrow's birthday celebration in school!

yesterday...

I didn't post, because we were busy doing this!



and this!



and this!

green week --- day five

A little bit of serenity, before my crazy pre-birthday weekend with the almost 8 year old! See you Monday...

bedhead...

Yesterday was pajama, slippers, and, bed hair day at Sofia' s school. The bed hair inspired this hair creation for the day...

Why the q~tips and littlest pet shop cuties, I do not know -- but that is what she wanted and off to school she went.

This is what she drew at school:

Bed hair "a la" Sofia!

Apparently she enjoyed her bed hair -- because at the end of the school day when she got off the bus, the bed hair was still in place with all q~tips and littlest pet shop cuties accounted for!

green week --- day four

If I had an office job I would have called in sick today. After helping the troops get out the door this morning, I sat on the couch and channel surfed while feeling sorry for myself. That lasted until my coffee kicked in -- and I felt guilty about the hour I had "wasted" -- so I vacuumed (sp?) downstairs. That little bit of exercise got my blood moving, but I still did not feel well. So, upstairs I went to throw a load of laundry in and to work on "the best birthday outfit ever". Sewing kept me happy for a couple of hours -- and in the company of my seam ripper for almost a quarter of that time. The green inspired me during lunch -- so this is my green picture for today. Yup, that was lunch and the end of my "sick day". The troops are almost all home safely... Time to work on dinner. Note to self: Learn how to relax when not feeling well...

green week -- day three

Here is my green post for this morning. I am tired, and being lazy -- so this is a picture from Monday's snow day. Cute rosy cheeks to brighten up the day!

green week -- day two -- a pile of stuff...

There is a school opening delay this morning. While they are waiting, Nicholas and Sofia decided to put together a pile of things for today's green picture. Even though the activity was keeping them happy and quiet, I put an end to it pretty quickly -- the disorganized pile on top of the art table is making me dizzy... It has been since disassembled and everything in it returned to its proper place. Ahhh, now I can breathe again. Is it just me, or does anyone else have this problem? For example: there could be 100 or 1,000 things sitting in front of me -- and as long as they are neatly organized I am fine. As soon as they are out of place, my blood pressure rises and I must immediately organize them again. What is that called? Anyone know?

fearless...

Well, maybe it's not the right kind of snow to build a snowman -- but...it's excellent to practice your flying skills!

The streets were plowed early this morning...they will need another pass later today. Sofia is anxious to go outside and play, but, decided to wait until the snow stops blowing around.

green week -- day one

For the next five days, I am participating in green week, hosted by Emily -- over here. Yes, those are dictionaries stacked on top of a wooden carton -- appropriately pretending to be a side table for the reading chair in our front room. By the way -- my little sister, if you are reading this, then would you be able to give me back that red one if you're not using it for those scrabble games you told me about :-)

wishing winter would go away...

Winter wishes I just took a peek out the front door and now I know why snow is predicted for us!



The goal for last week was to have all the snowman decorations put away by the end of the week. But...I got wrapped up in the "most awesome ever" birthday outfit and forgot. I just now took this decoration in (after snapping a picture of it), but, me thinks it is probably too late. Those weathermen are predicting 8-14 inches of the white stuff for alot of us. We'll see if they've earned their pay by tomorrow.



In the meantime, springtime is fighting it's way here. I didn't notice the tulips popping up until this morning when there was a dusting of snow on the ground.

Hey, big sis, if you are reading this -- I think we're gonna need to borrow the snowblower! :-)