a little boy's birthday

Last weekend, we celebrated Little Cowboy's birthday "up north". The boat wasn't in the water just yet ... but the kids went tubing anyway :) They paddled themselves out into the lake ... and then pulled themselves back with the rope. The entire process was high excitement for these three!
Little Dude wanted to get in on the action too. "Buckle coat," he told me ... he didn't know it was called a life jacket ... but he knew that it was a coat with buckles. "Buckle coat. Put on." "Oh, you want me to put the buckle coat on you?" I asked. "Jah," he answered. I must admit that I find almost every word he utters to be adorable -- but alas, I am his mother :) Then, once we got the buckle coat fastened on Little Dude ... he said, "Go in lake." "You want to go in the lake?" I asked in disbelief. "Jah."

So ... we went down to the lake :) Look at his delight! I just love his little clasped hands ...

still clasping ... and taking it all in :)
Then Daddy asked Little Clasper if he wanted to go on the raft too ... "jah" he did. He was okay and calm for a few seconds ... and then he wasn't. If you click on this image and enlarge it ... you will see that he's crying to get off this contraption and back to the bliss of being on the dock ...
Here's the cake picture -- without the cake :) He was uncertain about being sung to and kept looking down and fiddling with his fingers. He was not uncertain about the cake though. After devouring his piece, he requested "more that". (I'm temporarily adding a birthday song video to the end of this post ...)
The kids were playing with some random balloons because ... kids like balloons???
Little Honey ended his birthday rocking and cuddling with Mommy :)

a little pick-up

Little Sweetie on the eve of his second birthday ... playing with one of Grandpa's trucks.

Gotta tinker with it a little ...
and check everything out ...
the underside too, of course.
Give the hood a little tap and it's ready to ride ...
close your eyes before you crash ...
or get dumped off!
And finally, amuse the audience {Mommy and Grandma} a bit :)

a little springtime

I generally think of oak leaves -- not that I think of them all that often -- as being large ... larger than my palm. But of course they start out really small ...
dainty even ...
And here is a cardinal's nest we've been monitoring. It's really nicely done :) Isn't it fascinating that birds just know -- have the God-given instinct -- that they are supposed to build nests and sit on their eggs???
And this little guy is happy that it's spring again! He's got a new helmet and is all set to trike and scooter ...
and play with trucks :) I'm so thankful to have another little guy to enjoy all of our old trucks!

a little resurrection day

Happy Resurrection Day! It was a sunny spring day ...
just perfect for frolicking with cousins ...
and taking pictures of squirmy kids :)
Later, we enjoyed a scrumptious lupper at the L.E. Inn with my mother & father-in-law. Little Dude only ate fruit. He laughed with delight every time I added more honeydew to his plate :)
The "bandana" is a napkin functioning as his bib -- not a fashion thing :)
The small glass goblet was a hit with Little Dude!
These two hemmed and hawed over the dessert possibilities for a good fifteen minutes ...
while this one sampled a few things and decided that a plate of candy beat all of the fancy concoctions!And the entertainment??? A playpen of bunnies!

a little St. John

I just want to take a few sentences to RAVE about an author I've recently discovered. Some of you have already heard this from me -- but this is for the rest of you so that no one misses out :)

Lots of books are good ... and lots of books are entertaining ... but only a few books seem to stick with us for very long. Know what I mean??? On Wednesday night, I was at the church library talking with a few ladies ... and raving about Star of Light, Treasures of the Snow, and The Runaway ... and a gal who was nearby said she loved Treasures of the Snow too. Her third grade teacher had read it to her class. She fondly recalled this about twenty-five years later. See what I'm saying???

Oh, I still haven't said who the author is :) Her name is Patricia St. John. She was a missionary -- and an author too, of course -- and she died in 1992. Some of her books have since been revised -- and I don't know if they are as good as the originals. The three books I read were all older copies. The plot and character development is excellent ... my mother started one of the books and she didn't even realize it was a book for children. {I think the age on the back says 10-12} Read them by yourself ... or out loud to your kids ... or both :) I won't tell you what makes them so wonderful ... you'll have to read them yourself to find out ;)

a little field trip

We were blessed with another winter (spring???) up-north getaway. The main goal was supposed to be a field trip to see some maple sap-tapping in action ... but we managed to cram in some fun and rest as well :)

Perhaps Skip-Bo is more fun in a bathrobe???This kiddo wants to play Clue too ... Little Honey is so happy ... I love my brother :) Some homemade bread that was promptly devoured ...
Little Blondie loves playing with this mini cast-iron stove ... and pots and pans ... Apparently the kids are ready for summer ... or at the very least ... spring! Halo made batch of sun-tea ...The kids wanted to eat supper out on the porch ... it's enclosed, but not heated. Halo had to try out this shade chair ... Foof is geared up with a life jacket and pool noodle ... don't ask me why ... actually, I think all of the kids -- even Baby -- donned life jackets for a bit. And pinwheels ... those are a fair weather thing too, yes??? As for the sugaring ... sap-tapping ... whatever you call it ... We learned that in order for the sap to run ... it has to freeze at night and then be above freezing the following day. The freezing causes the sap to travel down into the roots ... and then the warmer temps allow the sap to flow back into the tree ... and be tapped out into a bag. When it finally stops freezing at night ... the sap ~ which is like the blood of the tree ~ moves to the branches and enables the buds to form. They can collect sap for two to three weeks.
A few of their trees ... they tapped 300 this year ... How much sap is needed to make syrup depends on the sugar content of the given sap ... Sap tasting ... tastes like lightly sweetened water ... The Owner ... has been helping make maple syrup since he was two ... since he could carry a pail. He's writing down all of our names so he won't forget them ... Syrup is being made in here ... the Mrs. Owner said this evaporator machine ~ it's much bigger than what you see here ~ costs as much as a new car ... not sure what kind of car though ;)

a little snow treat

It's officially spring ... but today was definitely winter-like ... and tomorrow the forecast is currently predicting "30 and snow". I'm sooo longing for a warm and sunny day ... a short sleeves and flip flops day -- I'd consider hibernating until such a day if only it were an option ;) The upside, I guess, is that it's March and not November ... so flip flops won't be too far off :)

Nonetheless, in honor of the snow that is soon to be falling in my yard -- and probably yours too -- I thought I'd share a snowy recipe with you. It's a little bit funny because I got it the idea from a friend who grew up eating this in the South :) She calls it "snow cream" ... but it reminds me of a slushie ... more drink-like than ice-cream-like. You could eat from a bowl ... we drank it from glasses ... either way works :)

Mix together quickly ... one time I used a blender for a couple seconds and another time I just stirred with a spoon ...

4 cups of freshly fallen snow
1 cup of milk (I would recommend 2%)
7 tablespoons of sugar (1/2 c. minus 1 T. ... or you could use the entire 1/2 c.)
a splash of vanilla (about a teaspoon)

Enjoy immediately!

a little office chair

This is in honor of -- "use it up. wear it out. make it do. or do without." -- one of the few things I can still recall from a church we previously attended.

A few weeks ago, Husband mentioned that he needed a new office chair because the armrests were starting to break down -- entropy in action. There was a large divit -- about the size of a man's thumb -- on one armrest. Both sides were splitting some ... and little pieces of black plastic were rubbing off daily. I told Husband that I'd fix it and he laughed -- almost scoffed actually. How was I planning to remedy it??? And when would I even make time to do it??? His response, however, made me want to repair it all the more ...

Anyway, last Wednesday afternoon, Husband happened to be out and about ... and Foofie and I ended up working on his chair. It was a rather spontaneous undertaking -- and just because it seemed like fun at the time. I was curious to see if we could salvage it to Husband's liking. What did we use??? One of my favorite things -- good, old-fashioned, multi-purpose duct tape! We even used piece after little piece and attempted to build out the spot where the divit was. Foofie really enjoyed helping with this project! You know how she loves tape :)

As it turned out, that same evening, when we were driving home from Awana -- and Husband didn't yet know about his duct-taped chair -- Husband told me he had looked at some office chairs while we were at church. "Oh, what timing!" I responded ... "Well, first you need to look at your chair at home again. Foof and I fixed it up today." Unfortunately, I didn't take a before photo ... I never guessed I'd be blogging about this :)
Granted, it's not the most handsome chair -- but Husband was satisfied, if not impressed :) Plus, it has character now ;)