God's Wonderful Surprise

The resurrection story from one of our favorites, The Jesus Storybook Bible.
(You can skip the first 45 sec intro.)

Life : 1000 Gifts

My heart swells with joy as spring comes rushing in. Green and new and lovely. A page turns in the gratitude journal, and the list continues...

0230
Spring green.

0231
Birds happy song at dawn.

0232
Cheerful daffodils.


0233
Tiny buds full of life.


0234
Dirty little ones coming in after a full day of neighborhood play.

0235
Hamburgers on the grill.

0236
Dinner on the patio.

0237
Reconnecting with an old friend.

0238
Spring cleaning.

0239
Hand-me-downs.

0240
Painting on the patio.

0241
The fun photos I find on my camera. Taken by my girl...
of friends and fairy houses...


0242
My ballerina trying on her recital costume.

0243
Catch in the front yard with Dad.

0244
Warm, sunny days.

0245
That He came
that we may have life
and have it abundantly.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Back from Florida

The kids and I just returned from visiting my parents in Florida. It was so nice to leave these grimy piles of snow and enjoy more spring-like weather for a few days.


We made a trip down to Sea World (thankfully not the day of the horrible tragedy). The kids had a ball... though they were disappointed about not seeing Shamu.

My fun mom and Hannah on the kid coaster...
Grandpa's pretty fun, too...

We met up with my sister and her family in St. Augustine.

Explored an old, Spanish fort...

And we got to spend good time with dear friends.

Angie's daughter and Amie's daughter with Hannah...
Angie, Amie and me... friends since 7th grade...

The Pink Party

About a month ago, Hannah decided to host a little Valentine party for a few friends. She made the invitations, mailed them, planned the menu, made a grocery list, and decided on crafts to make. Really wanting to do it all on her own, she actually asked me if she should pay me $2 for helping (I sometimes pay her for her help when we host big parties). I assured it her it was my joy and pleasure to assist. Grin.

The busy hostess at work...


Making sure everything is just so...


Three little friends arrived at 1:00 all in pink. They decorated inexpensive picture frames with conversation hearts. I took a picture of the four of them to fill it. Then, the girls wrapped headbands with pink and brown, grosgrain ribbon - very cute. They decorated cookies while snacking on fruit dipped in Hannah's Bright Pink Fruit Dip and sipping pink lemonade.


Very pink and sweet and lovely. I'm so proud of my darling, little hostess.

Bright Pink Fruit Dip
from Pretend Soup (our favorite kids' cookbook)
We dipped apple slices, strawberries, and fresh pineapple.

10 oz package sweetened raspberries, defrosted (Hannah used unsweetened and we added sugar)
1/2 cup (4 oz) softened cream cheese
1 cup yogurt (we used vanilla)
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Place raspberries and cream cheese in a blender. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Add yogurt and lemon juice and whisk "until it is all one color." Pour into serving bowls.

Good, Green Reads

Get Clean with Shaklee Basic H2 - A Review : Small Notebook

I have been using this stuff for years and love it. I'm so glad to have a review to pass along. Passionate Homemaking also has a list of easy-to-make, safe, household cleaners. Really all you need is baking soda, vinegar and Basic H2 for the whole house. Also, microfiber cloths are my new favorite housecleaning tool. I bought a 8 pack of them at Target (automotive section) a year or so ago and they are still in great shape. The kids and I use them for everything... general cleaning, dusting, windows, mirrors. I even attach them to my swiffer-sweeper (reusable swiffer cloths!).

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How to Create a Paperless Kitchen : Simple Mom

This is something I have been thinking about/working on for the past year or so. We have switched to using cloth napkins most of the time, but it's hard to hand a cloth napkin to a kid with a blueberry smoothie. And I try to use rags, not paper towels. I struggle with going completely paperless mostly because I just don't have enough cloth. We're getting there... soon.

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Michael Pollan on the Oprah Show: "Food 101" : Kelly the Kitchen Kop

I just found this blog, and loved her recap of Michael Pollan's visit to the Oprah Show. I didn't see the show, but loved reading her notes. Michael Pollan appears in Food, Inc., a documentary on the food industry. We netflixed it a month ago... an eye-opening movie. The journey from "farm" to table is not pretty.

I have always tried to provide simple, organic, local, whole foods for our family when possible, but this movie challenged me to do more. Now I am looking into CSAs and local grass-fed beef/milk suppliers. The other day, Hannah says to me as I poured her a glass of grass-fed milk (that I picked up at Whole Foods), "Mom, why does it say grass-fed on the carton? What else would a cow want to eat?" Exactly.

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The Oil-Cleansing Method : Simple Mom

About 4 months ago, I was running out of my (very expensive) skin care supplies and didn't want to order more. I wasn't all that pleased with what I had been using, and really wasn't sure what was in it. After reading about this "oil-cleansing method" a handful of times, I decided to give it a try. I have DRY skin, so I use Simple Mom's recipe for drier skin and then use coconut oil as a extra moisturizer. LOVE it. I'm never going back. And it's basically free!

Also, the new blog Simple Organic has a *great post* on healthy skin care.

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Lastly, I am thankful for this thoughtful post...

Can Natural Living Become an Idol? : Passionate Homemaking

Buried

There is not one battery, shovel, or gallon of milk anywhere near here. D.C.'s record snowfall has all of us feeling a little like we live in Buffalo (an ill-equipped version of Buffalo).


For us it has been school as usual, and sledding for PE. I keep telling the kids they will thank me when they still have a Spring Break to enjoy.

Because Spring. Will. Come.

Just trying to remember that as I sit here now waiting for the next 10-20" inches to fall.


I love this.... Hannah wanted to make sure Molly's scrapbook included the big snow, so we had a little photo shoot...