Moving Day

No, we aren't leaving the Cooper House. But I did hop over to a new blog that hopefully is easier on the eyes. Come on over!

www.cooperhousekate.blogspot.com

Giving Thanks...(811-830)

My blog is all messed up lately, so I have to catch here while I can actually post!

811. Rain this past weekend
812. Our wisteria in full bloom, with the smell wafting in the back door
813. Hearing wind, rain, and thunder during the night, while we're safe and tucked in our beds
814. A dozer right outside the window for Jack to watch all day!
815. Reading Narnia books aloud
816. Finding live plants growing on our compost pile
817. Pictures of Adele and Dan working in the garden taken by our neighbor, a photographer
818. Re-reading A.W. Tozer and finding all the gems again
819. Short business trip for Dan this week instead of a long one
820. Developing friendships with my parents
821. My book club group - all lovely ladies who enjoy lively discussion!
822. When you get to see or hear about a growth moment in a friend's life
823. Being able to get back into exercising after my back issues
824. The promise of sprouts in the garden
825. Fresh asparagus and morel mushrooms from my in-laws, all saute-ed together into yumminess
826. All the dark, dark dirt in the fields around us, freshly plowed and ready for planting
827. A party at a friend's house tonight, and her daughter as a babysitter, while Dan is away
828. When a conversation really clicks with Adele - I can see her understanding what's important and what's the right thing to do
829. IKEA! Yea for cheap stuff. :)
830. The peace of minimizing and downsizing

Giving Thanks for...(801-810)

801. Spring Break - this is the first year it has affected our family, really. Fun so far! No early morning runs....
802. The green hue in the woods across the street
803. A healthy recovery for my aunt, who has had a bad run of it lately
804. A car repair bill that came in LESS than we anticipated
805. Free boxes of kids' books
806. When dinners cover more than one night so that your menu lasts a week and a half!
807. This song for Easter (thanks, Kara, for the introduction!)
808. Relearning old lessons, and God's patience in teaching them
809. A marriage that holds great friendship with it
810. The first 4 rows of greens up in garden

Giving Thanks for...(791-800)

791. Adele's fifth birthday

792. All the other birthdays we celebrated this weekend: my mom's 70th, my dad's 71st, my nephews' 17th and 18th

793. Legos for girls (what took so long??)

794. The miracle that my cake pop creations actually turned out, since I am Martha Stewart's opposite

795. New babies in the family

796. Jack's wonderful patience at not being able to open any presents!

797. Having grandparents close by to read new books with.
798. A gorgeous - and very early - start to spring

799. How much Adele & Jack enjoy playing together now

Thought for the Day

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment."

(Ellis Peters)

She must think I'm a really boring dress-er.

Behind the book is a turquoise sweater over a pink sweater dress with a bright blue flower on it. It all matches the Legos marvelously. And the book's pages.

I read somewhere the other day that if you still pick out your kids' clothes after they are 4, you're a candidate for the classification Enabling Parent.

Perhaps she's planning ahead to work at the Dutch Village, since of course we all know that klompen require many pairs of socks.

Where Am I!?

I thought I lived in Michigan, deep in the frozen North. I mean, we're only a few hours from Canada on more than one side. Spring breaks are spent building snowmen, watching hockey, and drinking hot chocolate, right?

Or not...

Jack FINALLY got to wear the "underalls" (isn't that the cutest mis-speak?) he found in the depths of the closet last month:He also got to work on the barn, which was apparently in sore need of repair. Who knew?
We got hours worth of straight-up Vitamin D:

The bikes and tractors and tricycles and T-ball stands and squirt guns were all hauled out after months of dormancy:

The only one who didn't like it was this guy, who still has his winter coat:

And these little dollies budded and bloomed in less than 48 hours:

Do you see this?? Bare legs on March 14!

We topped out at 80 yesterday. The kids slept like rocks last night after so many hours of fun in the sun (in fact, we all have sunburn on our noses to prove it). Meals outside, listening to all the birds singing and noticing every little bud and bloom that's appeared...it's just marvelous.

"This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings
The music of the spheres..."

Where Am I

Giving Thanks for...(781-790)

781. Adele finding the first flower blooming, and yelling, "It's spring! It's spring!"

782. The promise of daffodils

783. The smell of this one hyacinth filling the entire dining room and living room

784. Help from family when my back is out. It's a huge blessing to have people close by.

785. Warm spring sunshine and an afternoon outside (65 degrees) on March 11! Crazy.

786. Daddy reading books

787. Fresh air throughout the house

788. How well the kids slept after hours outside

789. A "new" building for our local church to meet in - cheaper rent, and it's so beautiful.

790. That a little girl in our church is out of the hospital - and that she and her family are recovering from several of the viruses going around

Giving Thanks for...(771-780)

771. How a bad back forces me to literally slow down and let unimportant things go already.
772. Finding a stack of old bookmarks from when I was young
773. Friends we can call to say "We're coming over" without concern that they're tidying up or changing their clothes for us.
774. Adele's storytelling: bears, wolves, princesses in distress, etc. Some things never change, no matter what generation we're talking about!
775. Smart family members. My brother and my brother-in-law both published books in 2011!
776. Quiet Saturday nights in front of the fireplace, planning my grocery list, menus, to-do list, etc.
777. Our dog. I yell at him a lot because he stinks most of the time and is usually in the way (a 110-lb. impediment to my scurrying), but he's so lovely to our kids and he makes me feel safe when Dan is gone.
778. Finding a old notebook of favorite quotes
779. Tulip buds poking through an inch of snow
780. The chance for Jack to watch a house being built across the street! It's a great distraction for him.