hurrayic

Enjoying: 24 today

Good morning, Monday!

After another busy week with errands and school and cleaning and dinner with friends who will be moving soon and missing the neighborhood tag sale (got the dates mixed up!) and no piano recital after all since a stomach bug claimed a victim this past weekend (during the dinner with friends no less!) and enjoying a simple mother's day where I did not have to cook or clean (!!!!) and informing my parents that they may have to reschedule their plane tickets (bad stomach bug! go away!)and...

Right now, I'm enjoying a conversation that went something like this:

 

    One of my sons was looking at 'old' photos and commenting along the way...

    "Boy, you guys look a LOT different."

    "What do you mean?"

    "You know."

    I feigned ignorance at this point.  I knew to what he was alluding.

    "What do you mean?" I repeated.

    "You and Dad looked so much YOUNGER."

    I nodded. "Why thank you very much, son."

After 24 years of marriage and 4 children, I like to think of our gray hairs as gaining wisdom, wrinkles as expressing ourselves in unique ways and our added weight as extra 'insulation' to keep us warm and cozy...

 

Happy Anniversary, Honey! 

 

 

{this moment}**

my girl

 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~ Soule Mama

{this moment}** a single photo with a few accompanying words ~ hurrayic

 

Enjoy the time you have!

Enjoying

Happy final Monday of April!

I'm enjoying:

a new bowl of mangoes

a free bouquet of flowers

rain rain and more rain

the Tenant of Wildfell Hall

hamburgers with feta and sauteed onions

extra sleep

a husband home from a trip

saving grace by Christ alone

Hope your week is a sweet one...

Enjoying

Good Morning, Monday!

I'm enjoying...

Throwing together a new salad and tweaking a new chicken dish for our tournament judges (I substituted sundried tomatoes for the grape ones and parsley for the basil and was heavy-handed with the spices and lemon!)...

Watching my boys relax by playing games...

Thankful for more sleep these past few days...

Looking forward to making time to look at all the new homeschooling books for next year...

Waiting for more books to arrive in the mail...

Participating in a hoedown (okay, I watched my kids & husband participate in a hoedown since my feet were hurting after 4 days of standing on them all day long)

Eating some of this Greek Orzo Salad again and wanting to make more of it this week...

Thankful for a fun tournament this past week (and glad that it's over)...my daughter placed 7th, my son was both a semifinalist and a 3rd place finalist...which means...

Anticipating (with mixed emotions) our next stop...a National Tournament!

 

What have you been enjoying?

Enjoying

Hello, Monday!
A busy few weeks these past weeks.
This week will be no different.

I'm enjoying...

Loving how the Cranberry Orange bread loaves makes the house smell sweet and fruity.  Recipe from good old Betty...

Gazing at a new bunch of lilacs and wishing they'd last longer...

Thankful for some quick lunches (a before and after shot)...

Grateful to my two younger boys for sweeping and applying a little elbow grease to our long-neglected back deck...

Watching my youngest prep his pinewood derby car and realizing too late that only a little dab of gorilla glue will do...(notice how it foamed up...we had to scrape off the excess with an x-acto blade after it dried and repaint the whole thing...I think it's saved in time for the coming event)...

Appreciating the old adage, "necessity is the mother of invention" with a quick lunch of leftovers and some curried chickpeas and tomatoes.  Notice the vegan plate** (kale chips, kale & quinoa salad, broccoletti and chickpea dish)...I'm getting my kids (and husband) ready for a month of vegan eating...Actually, it won't be that difficult since we eat a lot of meatless things anyway.  I guess the hard part is the month without cheese and dairy and eggs and ... but then, Heather did say, I could change up her course to fit our family... we'll see...

** what you don't see is that we also had some mozzarella balls (a.k.a. monsteralla as my youngest refers to them) and some leftover chicken for Sunday lunch

What are you enjoying this week?

Enjoying

Good morning, Monday!

Another new week given.  How will we use it?

I'm enjoying...

Gazing at some simple store-bought flowers and thankful that something so simple can bring much joy...

Using my cuppow for iced coffee...

Attempting to feed some ducks who were not overly interested in eating...

Sauteeing baby kale with olive oil and garlic and watching that huge bunch wilt into a small pile!  Recipe from the back of the package (found HUGE bag of baby kale at Costco...love it)...

Being surprised by a kite and making note to myself to take our kite next time...

Baking 2 gallons of granola...getting ready for the next tournament...anyone want to come & judge?

Discovering a new shirt pattern and hoping to try it out soon along with a myriad of other sewing projects...

Thankful that some ribbon from my stash easily dressed up a few Easter treats...

Thankful too, for our Risen Christ!  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. ~ Matthew 28:6

Enjoying

Happy April! 
Where in the world did March go?  I feel like I was just getting started with the month and whoosh!  It's a new month.  A new wonderful month with greenery and blue skies (mainly) and robins and ducks and rabbits appearing in our yard for short visits. 

I'm enjoying...

Loving the white snapdragons in red take-out containers that made for some pretty and inexpensive table decor...

Enjoying the fleeting white blossoms of our pear tree...

Surprised at how the petals from said tree remind me of a fresh snowfall...

Glad that the yucky stomach bug (which I came down with too) has left our family...

Thankful for finally being able to sit for a few moments to look at my new magazine (which I've had for 2 weeks now and hardly cracked the cover)...

Excited about gearing up for Heather's 30-Day Vegan Workshop (no, I'm not a vegan, but I thought it would be good incentive for better eating since right now I'm in a rut)  If you're interested there's still time to join in...

 

Enjoying a Week Off

Good Morning, Monday!
I'm enjoying...

Loving the oil pastel creations by my youngest (totally his idea)...

Grateful for the small progress (finally) on that water damaged wall.  Just need to paint and reaattach the mantle... my kids are calling this the 'monster wall with broken teeth'.  Do you see it?...

Listening to my daughter practice her speech (complete with photographic boards)...

Finding it amazing that spring is arriving all around us and how unprepared I am for its arrival...

Spotting all kinds of Lego creations scattered about the house...

Observing 3 birds sitting on the tippy top of a tree...

Saying farewell to one of the birds and thinking how wonderful its dark shape is against the blue sky...

Being thankful for thumbtacks that can hold a curtain in place until it can get fixed...

Enjoying that my youngest still likes to make birthday cards...

Licking clean the last-minute homemade slushies (frozen fruit, honey & milk) since there was no ice cream to be found in the house...

Readying for a new & very busy week...

 

What are you enjoying this week?

Speaking of this week and the title for this post (a week off) ...several of you asked what I will be doing to feed 200 people 3 meals for 3 days.  I'm organizing/making/buying the food for serving community judges for an upcoming speech and debate tournament.  And...since it involves so much time, I decided (with reluctance) to take a few days off from this blog.

See you NEXT Monday!

 

 

Enjoying

 


Good morning, Monday!

I've been enjoying the little hints of springtime...

the beginnings of asparagus season
a visit at the feeder from Mr Woodpecker
the fuzzy buds and wrinkles on the pear tree
the soft golden light lasting just awhile longer each evening
summer pesto from the freezer for dinner
daffodils blooming in our front yard

 

Have you noticed too?

Enjoying

Happy Monday! 
We've been blessed with another week.

I've been enjoying...

Eating cake with lots of icing...

Sharing in the celebration with friends for their daughter's hour long piano recital...

Loving the bright colors of her roses...

Eating (again) at the simple but tasty spread...that was good hot homemade salsa...

Sneaking a peek at my boys playing outside with paper airplanes...

Squeezing in some car knitting...

Making another bowl of chopped kale salad for the umpteenth time...

Choosing more fabric from the stash for another sewing project...

Hoping to get taxes sent off this week...

Thankful for God's protection from storms last week...

Being reminded how brief our lives are, and how we are called to glorify the Lord all our days...