Day 117

King of the Top Bunk? Don’t let him fool you; he fell in the tub today and his pride was sorely insulted, as his legs looked sweet and dainty with the fur all wetted down. And that’s deodorant to the left of his paw, and, well…he probably needs to use it. So he’s not near as cool as his pose suggests.

Day 116

Today was such a good day. I got to share some of my recent writing with my writer-friend, and then we met up with two more friends at Chapps for DELICIOUS burgers and fries. Outside Chapps, I saw a tree with these gigantic white blossoms on it. Magnolia trees! I have this blossom in the pitcher on my table now, thanks to my friend keeping it fresh-ish for me while I was away from it. Later in the day, she and I sat at the school park in the shade under a pecan tree while the kids ran around for almost two hours. It was heavenly!

Day 115

Once upon a time, I got to babysit this gorgeous angel-baby for a little while. She is SO beautiful, and snuggly, and sweet, and oh-my-goodness I had so much fun taking care of her.

Day 114

So, this project is sort of in a kind-of-not-finished-and-ugly-but-it’ll-do-for-now phase. My spray-painting skills are terrible, apparently, at least on a tray that slopes inward. And I would probably not hand-write the family’s names on the magnetic hooks next time….but behold our FHE board! The tags have the various tasks written on them, like Activity, Lesson, Treat, etc.

Day 113

On this day in 2011, I was having a girls weekend (here we are at Krave in Saint George) with Jenn and Cara and Cara’s twins, Charlotte and June. A year later, I live in TEXAS, Jenn is getting MARRIED, Cara’s family has moved to a FARM, and the twins are (obviously) older. Crazy how much can change in 12 months’ time!

Day 112

Baby A’s feet. I’m obsessed. They’re sooo teensy, and she’s six months old! Her foot is precisely the length of my pointer finger, from bottom knuckle to tip.

Day 111

This is Kelly, one of my dear friends here, her daughter in the middle, and Reed carrying on a sweet conversation while he holds Kelly’s baby’s hand. Kelly and I have cleaned each other’s houses together, cooked dinner together, and we share a love of writing—which we nurture together, too. I feel so blessed by her friendship! She has two other daughters who Savvy plays with.

Day 110

Tall grass, trees. Two things I love.

Day 109

Even the grass grows super-tall here—not just the bluebonnets.

Day 108

Day 107

Day 106

Day 105

Get ready for a bunch of bluebonnet photos, as well as some other gorgeous Texas nature.

Day 104

Phill took this for us. I LOVE it.

Day 103

Easter sweetness.

Day 101

My Sarah, 1/2 the reason Savvy and I got to come to Saint George.

Day 102

I woke up to this one morning. No joke. My children are incredible. Sometimes I look at them and think, “Did that amazing creature really come out of ME?”

Day 100

So appropriate that on Day 100 I’d have a momentous picture to post! Because of our beloved Ciera and Sarah (her picture’ll be tomorrow), we’re in Saint George!!

Day 99

I didn’t realize until I took the photo that the roses are arranged in graduations of the blooming stages. Jones soda bottles make cool vases.

Day 98

They’re so good to humor me.

Day 97

This is our March family picture. A nice lady on the dam took it for us when she noticed that Jaxon was taking our “family” picture for us….

Day 96

When we were walking back from the dam, Jaxon shrieked and ran ahead of us, saying that a spider was following us. We tried to soothe him, saying that a spider wouldn’t follow us, and he calmed down some. Then he shrieked again, pointed down, and we saw this little sucker. Turns out, it was running away from us, but because Jaxon was the head of the pack, he WAS being followed. Poor boy.

Day 95

Day 94

The calm after the storm, so to speak. Today was our first experience with a tornado. Thankfully, the “experience” was mostly in Arlington and Lancaster, not Grand Prairie, and no one was killed or hurt. The sky was this yellowish, dark, pinky-gray color by the end of the day.

Day 93

Day 92

Spring arrived early here; this peace rose (I think that’s the variety) is from my backyard.

Day 91

(Looking back)

Day 90

This is the dam that we run/walk on! To the right, bluebonnets. To the left, the lake. Behind us, trees and more greenery. The sun sets in the front. (That’s a view that makes me willing to run a lot longer)

Day 89

The longer we live here, the more grateful I feel. We’re being blessed beyond belief with wonderful friends to add to our already-wide circle, and the scenery here is just breathtaking! This is Joe Pool Lake, and one of my favorite things to do is to run on the dam from which I took this photo. I also like taking the kids here when Phill has drill and we need something to do, or coming here as a family for FHE.

Day 88

Savvy with one of the RVSX people. They were having a tea party.

Day 87

Cutie-patootie.

Day 86

Reed loves when I take photos of him. At least he seems to. He immediately does the most endearing, loving, personality-filled things. (Like picking up his little sister, who equally loves the photo-op.)

Day 85

Yeah, another car picture (I’m grasping at straws to catch up; please excuse…). Cool guy.

Day 84

One thing our backyard has a LOT of is grass—and weeds. It turns out, I’m quite allergic to grass, most kinds, and some weeds. My allergies have been AWFUL around now, but I’m grateful to be surrounded by gorgeous foliage and greenery!

Day 83

I got side bangs! Even though my expression seems not-too-thrilled, I love them. I’m still figuring out how to style them.

Day 82

My gorgeous cousin, Rivka, visited with her family for a couple days this month. We LOVED having them; they brought a wonderful spirit with them to our home.

Day 81

Another SOOC shot—I’m getting lazy as I try to catch up on over a month of neglect! This is probably best-served unedited, because the colors/tones are true. I like the red of the trees with the gray of the sky.

Day 80

Helping Phill with the Jetta. (Which is in need of quite a lot of help. The Jetta….not Phill.)

Day 79

Possibly my favorite picture of all time.

Day 78

My mom’s birthday is today! I’m not sure how old she is. I always ask, and she always tells me, and then I always forget.
A few things about my mom:
Her feet are insanely ticklish. Like if you were to even BREATHE on the bottom of her foot, she would jump a mile.
She loves foot rubs. (A hilarious contradiction to the previous item.)
She likes to think like a child—that is to say, she likes to see through the eyes of kids.
She’s playful.
She’s clever.
She’s intelligent.
If you do something embarrassing and she notices you’re embarrassed, she’ll kindly pretend she didn’t see it happen.
She loves to read.
She seeks to understand how our minds work. (People in general.)
She loves cats.
She likes to make up rhyming songs.
She loves children’s literature.
She went to Harvard.
She used to “handle” my morning moods by playing Jon Philip Sousa at top volume. (And a juice box.)
She taught me to read before my kindergarten teacher ever did.
She used to go with my oldest brother to rearrange the letters on people’s nameplates on post. (We were Rabbit Toga.)
She taught three of my seminary years.
She homeschooled me for a few years.
She explained to me the meaning of “magnum opus” by telling me that her children are her magnum opus.

Day 77

Obviously, this is PRE-haircut, and therefore, out of order. But I think it’s sweet.

Day 76

Sometimes I let the kids man the camera.

Day 75

In my house and around the house, I have my favorite sights. The table at 10:00a.m., for example (buttery morning light, the artline above it, roses in a pitcher), or my bookshelves upstairs, or my bus painting over my little dresser that’s piled with books. My bed (when it’s made), my stack of books on my nightstand, the tall window above the stairs. Anyway, you get the idea—and this picture is another favorite site of mine. Three layers: the metal gazebo out back, the palm tree, and the moody sky.

Day 74

My cute babies post-haircuts. (Savvy had my robe wrapped around her.)

Day 73

In my efforts to eat more mindfully, I’ve found that it’s easier when I remember something simple and somewhat stupid—nutritious food is prettier. Weird, but remembering that little fact makes me more eager to eat well.