Don't YOU?

Doesn't everybody keep their toothbrushes next to their laptop?

C'mon - tell me what items you keep (or find) in strange places?

The eyes say it all

"I'm helpin' you momma. ...Can't you tell?"

As number 7, she doesn't realize how great she has it. 

My first was diligently trained not to get into things I wasn't willing to put away 30 times a day. 
That's the mother I was 10 years ago.  I'm pretty sure it was the mother that child needed. 

Does this child need something different?  I don't know.  I do know that she gets an older mother,
a seasoned mother, a more relaxed mother... and definitely a distracted mother :-) 

There are things that this season of mothering brings that surprise even me - I surprise me. 
I look backward into the yesterdays of my mothering and I am amazed at the metamorphosis
that has taken place.
I don't know if I'm doing it better now.  Probably just different.
But I'm having fun.  And I like it :-)

Camping, Cold, and Coaxing Fish

Goodbye April

Goodbye April

Goodbye another year older

Goodbye Aloria's baby-hood

Goodbye last bit of winter's snow

Goodbye sledding and goodbye snowshoes.

Goodbye neighbor-cousins

Goodbye short days

Goodbye soups and stews

Goodbye mulled cider scented candles

Goodbye heavy jackets and goodbye drying rack in the living room.

Goodbye crackling fire in the fireplace

Goodbye wood chips on my floor

Goodbye snuggling deep under blankets

Goodbye warm leggings under skirts

Goodbye winter stillness and goodbye cold.

Hello May.

Sunday Drive

We rode not in a horse-drawn buggy; but armed with a mocha and some field glasses,
the Bugletts and I decided to drive the back roads home from town this afternoon.

"Exploring our own territory" as Zack aptly put it, I had been wanting to see what lay
behind one humble street sign and dense forest line.  I often peer down that road on my
way zipping past on the highway.  It looks long.  And hilly.  And full of possibilities.

 This past week I was homesick for all my girls - my girlfriends  in every nook and cranny
of the earth.  Every nook but here.  My nearest buddy lives 2 1/2 hours away in another
state.  She is my spend-all-day-together friend.  I need friends that will let me crash in on
them like that - with a zillion children in tow, hungry for fellowship, hungry for food.
Sweet is the friend that welcomes and shares a full day with me and my Bugs.

But I miss my "can-I-just-pick-up-corndogs-for-16-and-and-come-now?" girls.  They are
a luxury I miss and want to say, need.
Girls, I miss you.  Thanks for flexibility.  It's a sacred word :-)

Today was the day to escape the cabin before fever set in, and find out where that country
road led. 
I was tempted to stop at every home with a friendly yard bearing toys, to see if
the inhabitants wanted new friends. Ha!
I restrained myself, and was contented to sigh over all the amazing topography and old barns.
We LIVE in this place I have been known to repeat in awe, to myself or no one in particular.

The Aspen, and Birch are just starting to leaf out, and gardeners are working the soil.  It looks as if
spring is actually going to stay for a while.

In front of one home we drove past, a couple was building a raised bed. 
It was not your average raised bed mind you.  There was a reason it was in front of
their house - each of several beds already built (I estimate) was 16 feet long and 6 feet across.
The garden bed walls were made up of logs - and I do mean logs!  The project was so impressive
(and beautiful) that I had to slow down and cran my neck around to really ogle. 

I made up for the intrusiveness by issuing a friendly wave :-)

I was refreshed and inspired, and now I can't wait to jump into a new week (and maybe a garden!).

That drive restored my vision, but what followed revived my spirit.

On the way home, my car drove into a neighbors driveway.  A neighbor I drive past every
time I go to town.  One who has reached out to me whenever I extended my howdy,
but one whom I've never gotten to know really because of two busy lives with two very
busy families.
This woman, has 10 children - five still in the nest.  She is of the Race that Know Joseph
(If you know what I mean) and today she was home. 

One impromptu meeting, 9 children playing Marco-Polo in the field, and two of us on
the playhouse porch swing.  It was balm.  And it was one more example of the Lord's
favor on me - no one important.  No one special.  Just one He loves.

He provides OH so much beauty!

And He provides me girlfriends wherever I go.