Tree buds

What a nice morning for a walk.  Today, my father, who is a retired teacher, came over to spend the morning with us.  A special treat.  We went for a walk around the neighborhood, and when I saw these little buds unfolding on the tree branches, I ran back inside to grab the camera.

Happy Spring everyone.

Hail

It hailed today.  Pretty large hail, too.  When Mother Nature reveals her strength like this, I usually find myself thinking about how muted she can be most of the time. 

When the hail first started to come down, we stood inside our garage and watched the pellets pound into the water filling the alleyway behind our house. I love moments like these. Hail is beautiful and bizarre.  It looked like little crystals in the grass.  I don't know, I hear most people complain when the weather is bad or goes wonky.  I kind of like it.  

Walk with the Sunflowers

Spring is coming, and that means lots of time outdoors.  One of the very best memories of my childhood was being with nature, in every season, but especially spring and fall.  Here are some pictures, fall of 2010, from a walk among the sunflowers that grow near our house.  I have fond memories of living close to nature as a child, and hope that we will someday be able to provide a similar environment for Nate.  We are lucky that our neighborhood borders a few tree lines and open fields, where Nate and I can take long walks.

When we decided to buy our house, there were several factors that lead us to that which will be our home for the next few years:  safe, quiet neighborhood in an area we know well, energy efficient appliances that will reduce our impact, the right size (for now), and many other factors. The house had already been designed, so we didn't select a plot or style, and for whatever reason, the original owners' financing fell through, so we were able to procure the home and be eligible for the first-time homeowners tax credit. We had actually planned on moving into a pre-existing home of Andy's grandmother's condo prior to finding this home, but due to some  changes in the selling process, God lead us to this home instead. I do trust that we are exactly where we are meant to be.  Nonetheless, we heavily weighed the pros and cons of living in a brand-new home- lots of trees and green space is really important to me as it is to Andy. And, I  have struggled with seeing once open fields consumed by new housing. Though growth is inevitable, and after months of searching and not finding the right place besides the condo, we decided to take the plunge- because it's a cozy, clean space, and we don't have to worry about fixtures breaking or things falling apart.  Our backyard now is tiny, and doesn't have much shade, so these are two huge drawbacks to the space.   I find myself dreaming of a huge yard where I can garden (flowers and vegetables), with lots of trees and a deck where I can dry herbs and enjoy coffee in the morning.  But, those things are not at the scale I wish them to be in our current reality, so I try to focus on the things that we love about our home rather than dwell on what I wish were different.  I just keep dreaming.


The walk that evening truly was beautiful, and we are so blessed that we can walk still simply down the street and see gorgeous mature trees, sunsets, and catch soothing soft gusts of wind. 

Paper Stars and other fun stuff

Came across this tutorial to make paper stars. Beautiful, aren't they? And simple, too. Probably why they're so beautiful to me.  I thought they would look neat above Nate's 'bed' (although we co-sleep every night, I want him to know he has his own little space he can go to whenever he feels the need.)

We have been having a great time being crafty lately.  I don't want to overload or overstimulate him with activities, so we have been keeping it to one or two a day.  I like to leave the rest of the day open, so we can spend time outside, or cooking, or having him help clean, read, etc.  

One might think that since we are down to one car these days that we'd get stir crazy or go bored. Quite the opposite.  It has been liberating to not have to utilize a vehicle every day. There really is no need for us.  There is plenty to do around the house.  And we are saving lots of money by not using two cars plus it is so much better for the environment (and that is a huge plus).