Lions and Tigers and Bears (oh my!)

We really wanted to take Abby to the zoo before it got too hot (and before the baby comes!), and we finally got the chance last Saturday.  It was so much fun!  It's a great little zoo, and had pretty much every animal you'd want to see.  Abby just loved it - her favorite was definitely the aquarium. Garrett also got some great shots with the camera - here are just a few of the things we saw. Hopefully we can go back again someday!

Quite the yawn!!

Memorial Day

We had a fun Memorial Day!  Garrett spent the morning playing volleyball at Church, while I hit up a fabric store sale for some much-needed quilting supplies.  I really did need them.

We spent the afternoon BBQ'ing with friends.  Abby didn't eat much dinner but she sure did love the ice cream sandwiches.

I really do miss our Memorial Day traditions from growing up, though, and I look forward to establishing similar ones with my own kids someday.

Memorial Day 1995

What do you do....

...when strawberries are in season?

You have a strawberry fest!

Fruit pizza...

Strawberry bruschetta (my personal favorite)....

Strawberry cake...

And, of course, no strawberry party would be complete without chocolate covered strawberries!

We also had lemonade with frozen strawberries, and vanilla ice cream with strawberries on top. YUM!

Thanks to everyone for the delicious treats!

Guess Who, Part 2

That's right, chickens (and a rooster). They come into our yard pretty much every day now, just waddling around and making a mess. Our neighbor across the street owns them.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to them being around when Garrett's home - free chicken dinner, anyone? Garrett's been practicing his shot lately (he hit a squirrel just a few days ago), so it shouldn't be much longer.

We're surprised that the neighborhood cats haven't gotten to them, actually. In fact, while I was taking this picture, I saw a cat come strolling up the road and psyched myself up for a great fight - I had my camera ready! Nothing happened, though... that darn cat just walked on by and didn't even give those chickens a second glance.


(Don't worry - we're not really going to shoot them. Really, who wants to clean a chicken? Not I.)

Guess Who

We came home from Church last Sunday to find this in our front walkway.  I knew immediately what had happened, because I saw it happen to the neighbors just the day before.  I'm just thankful we hadn't planted our flowers yet for the spring.

If anyone can guess what caused this, I'll give you some homemade cookies.  If we already told you how this happened... well I think it's obvious that you're disqualified (this means you, Bobby).

You have 24 hours. (And if anyone can guess where THAT line is from... I'm impressed.)

Just a thought

I'm currently reading "A Little House Sampler" by Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose.  In it, Laura writes stories about her life at Rocky Ridge Farm (which was after she was married to Almanzo, and they moved to the Ozarks).  Her daughter Rose writes of her adventures as a young woman - she became a famous, world traveling writer.  Anyway, I came across these four small paragraphs today that really made me think (written by Laura):

"Why should we need extra time in which to enjoy ourselves?  If we expect to enjoy our life we will have to learn to be joyful in all of it, not just at stated intervals, when we can get time, or when we have nothing else to do.

"It may well be that it is not our work that is so hard for us as the dread of it and our often expressed hatred of it.  Perhaps it is our spirit and attitude toward life and its conditions that are giving us trouble, instead of a shortage of time.  Surely the days and nights are as long as they ever were.

"A feeling of pleasure in a task seems to shorten it wonderfully and it makes a great difference with the day's work if we get enjoyment from it instead of looking for all our pleasures altogether apart from it, as seems to be the habit of mind we are more and more growing into....

"...Not that I object to joy riding!  The more the merrier, but I'm hoping for a change of mind that will carry the joy into the work as well as the play."

Baby Doll Birthday Party

In February, Abby went to a friend's "baby doll birthday party". All the girls brought their strollers and baby dolls and we took a walk around their neighborhood. Abby loved it!