every day I write the book

It is definitely spring when Authors' Tea starts at our school, and having three children means a whole lot of nights listening to stories written by all the classmates.  Ruby and John had theirs this week and Ella's is on May 6. Ruby's story was about a fairy named Ding and her adventures with a dragon. John's story was Minecraft based, but he promises that next year his story will be completely "out of game."

#doubleexposurelove

sunday coffee

sometimes the best toys are not toys

A friend needed a place to keep her piano for a few years. I think this is the perfect spot. Not everyone has a piano in the kitchen, but for me the kitchen is really the "family room" and heart of the house. As of today, my heart is beating a bit louder.

springing

This appeared in two days.

green days

This was my one time out of the house today when I wasn't attached to a dog leash.  A few months ago I bought the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I read it, but then I didn't have time to actually complete the process. Today I dove in. Little John's room now smells like mint, and all of his clothes are organized.  We purged relentlessly, and he loved it. He feels like his room is much more grown up, and he even found the cord to his keyboard. Ella gave him a lot of books that he wants to read, and we moved his furniture. He can still see mountains from his bed.

We rented our house out for the University's graduation on May 15, so I have until then to get the house more organized and pared down.

planting flowers

I planted some bleeding hearts today in the front border under our bedroom window. These in the picture are from our old house, but I hadn't gotten around to planting any here yet. Someone told me that Lake Smith had a huge border of bleeding hearts out front when this was her house. We still have her lilacs, peonies, and poppies, and the grape hyacinths are blooming in the grass. When we moved in the yard had been scraped and seeded with grass, but in the spring the flowers appeared and we could see the shapes of the old borders.

The top picture is Lake, her father, and her daughter Norma. They are standing in the front yard here, and our lane would be along the far fence line. That driveway in the picture used to go along the side of the house with the addition. Norma died in 2007 at the age of 81.

a new twist

weekending

The kids had a good time in Richmond, but by afternoon Ruby said, " Get me out of the city." She did like Perly's french toast topped with roasted apples.