simple Analogy

That Was A Long Blog Break!

It seems like forever since I've been here.  I've been recovering from vacation.  Speaking of... here are some highlights:

Family reunion.  (Thank God for cousins!)

Extra time spent with Oma and Opa (German for Grandma and Grandpa).

Peach picking and peeling.

A rendezvous with a flat tire and AAA on the highway.  Thank goodness dad was with us!

 

Noah fished in the stream (caught two trout).  I read.

Taught Noah to drive the ATV.  Many hours of riding behind him.

Paddle boat with mom and Noah on the lake.  A wind storm blew us clear to the back of the lake and we were paddling to no avail to get back to civilization.  Finally the wind died down, and we were able to get back to the dock, plus one rainbow trout from Noah.  Tired legs.  Sunburned heads.  I know Meg!  I need a hat!

A morning with the chipmunks.

Cool weather.  Bumpy roads.  Good company.

**I returned home to find our modem was D-E-A-D.  The new one is on the way, and for today I'm mooching my mom's wi-fi.

 

Pulling Teeth With Polaroids

How can you pull teeth with a polaroid?  CAN'T and that's that.  But you can pull teeth with a kleenex.  That is my preferred method (learned from my mom), and my little friend here will tell you it works.  She came over with her parents for dinner the other night with one dangly little tooth, and went home with an offering for the tooth fairy.  There is a tiny tooth in that baggy.  When she was being tucked into bed that night, she told her mom, "Ms. Heather should be a dentist."  Isn't she sweet!  Maybe I missed my calling, although I doubt I'd do very well with a drill.  I'm not so good with power tools.  I'll stick to kleenex and wiggly teeth.

When Bev sent me a picture, I immediately thought of the old polaroids that dentists took when I was a kid.  Did you know that you can turn a digital picture into a polaroid?  There's even a polaroid app for the iphone too.  They even add the classic polaroid frame to the picture and if you want the picture to develop faster you have to shake it.  Guess you can tell what I'll be playing with this weekend...

He Is Risen

Happy Easter!

The Cheshire in Me

  'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Memorized it in 9th grade and it's still there and just as nonsensical as ever. Useless really.  Now if only I could remember the two years of Spanish that seem to have disappeared from the brain cells.  Here are a few things that have made me grin the last few days...

* Unexpectedly finding a little hand in mine and looking down into the sweet face of a real live cherub on Valentine's Day.

* A lovely weekend with my husband.

* That chocolate covered strawberries are so easy to make for dessert when you have impromptu dinner guests.

* A comfy couch, beautiful quilt, and a can't-put-it-down book on a cold day.

* A soup supper out so I did't have to spend 2 hours caramelizing onions that I won't even eat and will stink up my house.  Joel suggested Jason's - everyone got the soup they wanted and we were all happy and warm.

* Taking time to investigate these pods outside my window.  Is this the first year the bush has done this or am I just taking a little more time out to notice? 

And Then She Turned Ballerina

 

 

... or maybe we should say prima donna, because she'd only dance if I sang the music from The Nutcracker.  Ya!

Pettiskirt Venue

Beware!  This post is picture heavy and you'll understand why...

Every girl needs an indoor tire horse swing to go with her pettiskirt!  Yep, that's the one I made her and no, she didn't throw up after all that spinning.  That's just the kind of girl she is.

Sebastian

Oh those lips!  Oh those cheeks!!!  Scrumptious!  My new nephew:  8 pounds 10 ounces  20 1/4 inches.  Healthy and hungry baby, happy mommy, proud daddy, excited sister.  In Magdalena's words, "My boy is here!"  Congratulations Tracy and Juan!  He's beautiful!

So Let the Neighbors Talk

For those of you who are totally wanting to do the chalk drawing thing, but don't have any kids to use as your excuse for drawing on your driveway... take heart.  You are not alone!  Meet Michael Neff and see his amazing shadow chalk drawing gallery.  Beautiful!  Imagine stepping outside one morning only to see that someone has captured the shadows of the night on the sidewalk in front of you.  That would make my day!

I tried it last night.  I wish we had detailed iron scroll work, but the only shadow I could find was the one made by the street light shining through the branches of my pine tree.  I grabbed my chalk and got to it.  Mine isn't nearly as wonderful as Michael Neff's and my camera doesn't take very good pictures in the dark, but it was fun and I felt like I was doing something clandestine.  None of the neighbors called Joel this morning to see if I was "all right", so I don't think I hurt my reputation too badly.

So see, you can let the inner child in you be free to chalk up the driveway - just do it at night.  Of course Mr. Neff's chalking can be attributed to artistic genius.  Somehow I fear it may not be translated the same way for you and I.  Someone might think we are doing graffiti, so be careful!  Just sayin'!

Am I Seeing Things?

 

I had such a fun time making the chalk for the craft along.  The colors I chose were yummy, the actual process was quick and easy, the results perfect.  But did you see the surprise?  I didn't see it until I started photographing - even then I thought I was seeing things.  But it's really truly there, just happened all on it's own with no help from me.  A star!  Look again!  Do you see it, do you see it? 

I first saw it when I was taking pictures of the wet tubes.  I thought when it dried it would be darker than the surrounding chalk like it is here.

But when it dried a phenomenon occurred.  The chalk surrounding it dried darker and the star dried lighter and was indented.  It's own personal imprint. 

Ok, maybe phenomenon is a little too dramatic, but I think it's so cool!  How it happened I do not know, but it was such a nice little surprise.  I guess that one just wanted to be the star of the show.

Photo Giveaway

I had my camera permanently attached to me the whole time we were in the mountains.  I took so many pictures, but of all this one is my favorite!

These thistles are very pretty, but rather a nuisance to the land owners.  Good thing for me that the butterflies love them.  This butterfly flitted around this thistle for about ten minutes, drinking the goodness of it's nectar.  I filled up my card on this one!

I don't have little girls at my house, so I can't build a whole room around the colors and theme of this picture.  Somehow I think my guys would mutiny if I tried to change the decor to lavender, yellow, and sky blue.   I'll just have to settle for inserting it into my living room gallery.

How about you?  Leave a comment for a chance to win "Pretty in Purple".  I'll pick a number on Wednesday morning.