Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Michael's Birthday -- Part 1

We all enjoyed Michael's birthday yesterday. We began with granola for breakfast -- made by Rachel as a present.

After lunch we took the kids bowling -- we've never taken them before and they LOVED it!!

It was so much fun watching them try the game:

David was especially fun to watch:


The bowling balls looked decidely like Easter eggs:
The kids had it easy with the bumpers:

Mommy did not fare so well, but Daddy hit a strike the very first time! Must have been birthday "luck":
Icecream was a good way to end the afternoon outing:

Thanks to Mom and Em, Michael and I were able to go out in the evening. We enjoyed a wonderful Faculty Concert, free to the public, at one of the local Universities.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Green Scene -- #9

Green Paint -- I'm ending this series with the photo that I had planned to begin with. Green is a prominent paint color in our house as it is on the walls of the kitchen, dining area, and our bedroom. It is a very soothing green and goes well with just about anything.

This painting hangs in our dining area. For the first 30 years of my life it hung in my Grandmother's dining area. It is one of my uncle's early paintings, and Grandma told me I could have it after her death. It reminds me of many happy meals at Grandma's.

Today is Michael's birthday so we are celebrating with a family day. We may introduce the children to bowling. Everyone is just about over their flu. Poor Em is still off work with hers and I'm coming down with the cold part (so far I have escaped the fever).

Thursday, March 26, 2009

From the Farm

It was my turn to take some Kristin Nicholas pictures yesterday when I went to the farm.

The sheep weren't quite sure about me, but the lambs didn't mind scampering over for a little chat:

They sure were cute!

We had a nice little conversation, with plenty of ma's on their part.

Then I went to see the cows. I just loved this view. It makes me think of my childhood and my earliest years in Vermont -- the blue silos, the musky smell of cows (not too strong) and that earthy smell of spring.

The cows have decided to strike until they get to greener pastures. I guess they're tired of winter silage. The result: I came home with only 1/2 our shares.

Maybe next week will be better.

There were a few cows who thought I didn't belong.

I couldn't tell if these were llamas or alpacas. Maybe Christina will know.

Do you see what this goat is trying to do! I'm glad I caught him in time!

We still have a few invalids. Two of the boys managed to join me for homeschool co-op today. The sun is out and the temperature is warm enough to have the heat off! Spring cleaning is making a bit of progress.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Green Scene -- #8


My Wardrobe -- Green definately appears frequently in my wardrobe (and in my little collection of purses). It's funny, since I never really liked green growing up, or as a teenager. Now green is on the walls of my kitchen, dining room and bedroom, and a prominent feature in my wardrobe (it's become my favorite color).
I do believe the brown grass is beginning to green up. Hooray for spring! I'm on the way to the farm today, to pick up milk.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Celebrating Susan's Birthday

Sunday afternoon we celebrated the birthday of a friend of ours. Christina hosted us in her lovely sunroom.

Here's the birthday girl -- Susan:

Everything said "spring!":

Mom just painted this adorable duck for Christina:

And Christina changed over her mantel for spring:

Mom looked terrific in her purple and green (complete with coordinating bag):

Rachel was the only well-child able to attend:


Christina made the cake from our favorite Hershey's Chocolate Cake recipe, filled it with jam and topped it with whipped cream to which she added cocoa powder. Christina and I ate berries with cream and the chocolate cream was as good as having chocolate cake.

Everyone else had cake and ice-cream:

JK kept our cups filled with tea for the whole afternoon:

And then everyone pulled out their knitting. Here Christina is getting Emily's scarf started:

Rachel enjoyed knitting along with the rest of us:

Christina is knitting with yarn recycled from a Goodwill sweater:
I'm working on Nutkin socks:

And mom took over the cowl Christina started with the Chinese ladies on Saturday:

JK and Susan were the only ones not knitting. However, Susan is eager to learn and so we'll get her started soon!
Rachel is down with the flu now and the boys are still recovering. This flu lasts a long time! Andrew's on his 10th day! He's mainly recovered, and the boys are happy enough, but they're still contagious.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Our Life, Recently

It seems there are a number of things I've been wanting to blog about and haven't yet. Andrew recently completed a little quilt. He sewed the top together on the sewing machine and I helped him to bind it together. He really enjoyed this project and kindly gave the quilt to Rachel for her doll:

Our Knit Night was a success last week with 9 of us in attendance. Three ladies learned to knit and we are looking forward to next month already:

Goodwill had their 50% off sale on Saturday. I was there, bright and early but hardly found a thing at the first store. Later on in the day Christina and I found a great selection of sweaters for crafting and I found one treasure to wear: a vintage Peck & Peck Fifth Avenue orange wool cardigan. I love it!

Here are the sweaters I found to unravel and turn into yarn for knitting!

The selection includes a cashmere and cotton blend, cotton in gray, thin pink wool, chunky pink and white mix, a lovely merino in cream as well as some acrylic in gray from Gap, which I think will still make something nice.

We had a whirlwind visit from Daniel & Crystal and Kyleigh and Micah & Molly (Daniel and Micah are Michael's brothers) on Friday night. It was nice for the cousins to see each other:

Christina and I had a delightful time on Saturday with the Chinese ladies. They were lovely Christian women and we enjoyed getting to know them over brunch before Christina started in on the knitting lesson.

Everyone picked it up quite quickly and most everyone had several rows completed on their cowls before we left.

Just getting started:

The boys are all at various stages of the respitory flu. Rachel may be just getting the flu. We'll see how our week progresses!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

We did it!

Despite our busy day, we managed to sit down for our annual Spring Tea!


We used the traditional spring tablecloth, with the flowers of spring embroidered around the edge:


And we drank from our Easter egg colored cups:

We turned the scones and the frozen berries into strawberry shortcake.

(Except for those who had to finish their lunch for snack)
And I had lots of sweet company:


And one participant who showed up an hour later for some leftovers:



And now I'm off to help Christina teach a group of 15 ladies to knit! I'm sure I'll have some pictures for you next week.