quick-like before april is gone

My goal was to write eight blogs this month -- I know, lofty considering my track record so far this year and obviously not gonna happen, people.

But, I'm telling myself, you can turn four into five if you just go for it right now and write something.  Don't put off writing for one more day just do it.

So, what's going on round here...?

Well, you may have heard a rumor about how my flip phone got killed.  It was a significant day because for every bad thing I've said about smartphones and every time I've announced how cool my flip phone made me, the day I actually joined the twenty first century was bound to be a significant day.  Actually it was the next day when I sauntered into the Verizon store and demanded my very own iPhone (or something along those lines).  And I am not proud to say that I was 100% addicted the moment my new golden device touched my palm.  I don't think I have touched my real camera once since then, and I don't even know what my kids look like in 3D anymore because I only see them on a screen.  It's so dang pretty and I'm pretty much in love.

Now I'm instagrammin' (probably a little too much -- what are the rules??) as you may have seen over there on the right somewhere.  I've also got a new little gig working with Sally Lloyd-Jones (yeppers, the author!) doing all sorts of new fancy things like tweeting which I am most certainly still trying to get a handle on.

So yeah, I'm basically a whole new person  since I last wrote.

I haven't really the time before April ends to export and upload photos and all that business, but you can follow me on instagram to see what we've been up to.

And I can leave you with this -- a link to Sally's site -- because if you don't own the Jesus Storybook Bible and Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing, well you really should.  And I'm not just saying that because we're besties.

G'night + happy May!

easter {2015}

Yes, yes.  I know Easter was three weeks ago.  And yes, I'm going there anyway.  The good news is: I'll spare you any long drawn out stories and stick to photos and captions.
The day before Easter, we had a fun little family day with us five plus Bailey.  We walked up the road to Shawn Jr.'s sugar shack.

 Fresh warm maple syrup + waffles + ice cream = yes please.

 Watching Shawn add wood to the fire // Owen having a close call with his melted vanilla...

 Walking home...

 We did some egg coloring because we love fun like that...

We tried a new method of shaving off bits of broken crayons and then swirling the shavings with freshly boiled hot eggs in bowls, which turned out pretty sweet...

 And we went the traditional dunking route as well.

 The boys snug in their bed on the night before Easter...

 Easter morning with my baby girl and her new "bubba"...

 Driving out to Pop Pop's...

 The boys in their Easter "suits"...

 And Maisy Lou, she wore a mismatched outfit she's worn a dozen times before... I think I packed something nice-ish but babies are messy and I just never did put it on her...

 We colored eggs again, this time with the New York crew.

 We saved our orchard egg hunt for the next day when it was a little warmer.

 The kid lineup...

We stopped halfway home to stretch legs and grab coffee and make good on our promise of a "peep and donut picnic" (Owen does not like peeps; he reached in to grab one and it stuck to his finger and startled the crap out of him.)  Maisy had some little baby snacks.

And that was that.  Exciting, huh?  Do you love when I end my posts with "and that was that?"  No big life lesson learned, no sentimental wrap-up.  Just: that was life how we lived it that one day and now it's another day.  The end.

happy weekend!

"better late than never"

That's the old adage we're forced to adopt around here with regard to spring, I guess.  But now, at last, it's here; we've just enjoyed our first two warm days since October, and we're all twitterpated.  I was saying to Bob how much I love summer and he said, "But not as much as you love me and Wooden and Maisy and Dad!"  I quickly agreed aloud but inside I was taken aback; what if I had to choose between my family and the promise of summer?  Faced with endless winter, I might just have to find a new family... but shhh don't tell them that.  Since this is entirely hypothetical I can confidently say: of course I love my family more than summer.

Afraid to show insufficient appreciation, we spent the entire first warm day outside soaking it up -- we were out by 8:30 and didn't spend more than an hour indoors before dinner.  We took two walks to the mailbox, ate two sets of ice cream cones (morning and afternoon, because we're just so happy it's ice cream season), found a wooly wooly bear, had our second (and much more enjoyable) picnic lunch of the year, blew bubbles, rode bikes, fixed up the tree fort in the woods, drew with sidewalk chalk, visited the neighbors, flew our kite.  Maisy Lou likes to ride in the stroller, but she really loves to crawl around in the mud and grass, checking out leaves and searching for dirty snow piles to eat.  She was chasing Bob all around the yard trying to get his baby doll as he was trying to keep it away from her.  We're going to have one dirty baby around here until this girl learns how to walk!

Photos from our first warm day, a good day...

Happy spring!