~snow in March~

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Ah, the changeable weather of March.

This is what we woke up, nothing too terrible, but school was already cancelled and for hours and hours we felt rather let down. . . . .in fact, the roads were perfectly fine when I ventured out with Sarah for her dentist appointment at 11.

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Next door to the orthodontist is a small floral shop so the two of us ducked inside to look around before heading home.  It was warm and cozy and we met a cat named Penny.   Sarah said, “Penny is a great name for a cat.”

No one appreciates flowers like a Northerner at this time of year.  They are a feast to the eyes. . . . .

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We came home with this arrangement. . .and a soy candle.

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back at home. . . . .

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David and I played Monopoly with Seth and Sarah.  It was laborious.  And not fun.  By the time I had a total of 2 properties, everyone else had like 7.  I kept landing on non property spaces.  Seth played like he lives life, with no regard for keeping things orderly and neat, flipping around on the floor, spilling his iced tea, and so on.  He also got tired of the game even though he was doing very well.  We eventually congratulated ourselves for quitting at the half way point.  (we made it that far)  But isn’t the penguin token so cute?  I thought of you, Dad.

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“Why aren’t these kids in school?”

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“I can’t relax in these conditions.”

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The Christmas Cactus surprised me with one more blossom!  (in a cobalt fiestaware planter)

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Rich got home from Dallas just in time for the big snow-day.  Everyone was glad to have him back. . . .including Parker the dog.

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Eventually the snow picked up.

Rich went out with the children to buy a mattress for Joanna’s visit (tomorrow) and I had a nice hour or so to watch the snow fall and read my book (Don Quixote) which has been a highly amusing literary surprise.

“Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published.”  ~wikipedia

I picked up a copy at the thrift store for like 5 cents.

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When they arrived home with the mattress, I had just put chicken enchiladas in the oven.  Everyone was so hungry.  Enchiladas were never anticipated quite like this.  We looked into the oven every 30 seconds to see if they were done.  Meanwhile, Rich told me all about his wonderful deals at the mattress store.  The man in charge gave them his full attention because, as he said, “You will probably be my only customers today.”  Rich told me his story as the children all hovered around, listening and watching for Mama’s reaction, after all they were so proud of their Dad and knew I would be, too.

Alas, just as Rich finished up his report and concluded by saying, “Wasn’t that a good deal, Shan?”,  Seth “ate his chair”, in the words of our 15 year old son.  He had been rocking back and forth on his stool, leaning on it instead of sitting on it, and it slipped out from under him and landed on him with a loud crash.  We all looked down at Seth on the floor as he started saying, like he was trying to convince himself or maybe pray for a miracle, “I’m okay, I’m okay!  I’m okay!”  Rich helped him to his feet and dusted him off.  It was dear little his nose, the part right between his eyes.  It swelled up slightly and bled a little but was not broken.  “Wow, he totally ate that chair,” said Dave,  “Is the chicken done yet?”  Seth went to look at himself in the bathroom mirror.  A picture would be nice right about now but I wasn’t in the position to be photographer at that point, I was too busy congratulating my husband for buying 2 mattresses, 2 pillows, 2 sets of sheets, a mattress protector, arranging free delivery and old mattress pick-up, all for the PRICE OF JUST ONE MATTRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!  “Wasn’t that a good deal, Shan?”  “Wait, I’ll tell you just as soon as I feel Seth’s nose to see if it’s broken………….”

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I’ll just post this photo again.  Boy was dinner good.  They all dug in and enjoyed as they ate in front of the TV and got up for seconds and thirds.  Yes, TV is totally okay during meals on snow days.

The rest of the day passed lazily.  PTL

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The snow continued to come down heavily and we woke up this morning to yet another snowday.  Rich plowed the driveways and headed to work after telling me, “No, I cannot take them with with me,” and the children went right outside before 8,  after breakfast to make hyenas.  (I don’t know but they took the bag of carrots, I saw Parker running around with one in his mouth)

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I filled up the bird feeders and admired little cat tracks.

I’m blogging in front of the window with my slippered feet up on the sill.  When I look outside I have to squint a little, the snow is so white and bright it puts our ideas of “white” to shame.

a little husband and wife story

On Friday night I started falling asleep before our tv program was over so I gave up and went to bed.  A few hours later I woke up to complete stillness in the room and thought, “Wow, Rich never came to bed, he must have fallen asleep on the couch!”  Nothing gets by me even in the middle of the night……I don’t even need lights to get to the bathroom at night.  Thus I got up and blindly walked around the bed to the bathroom and then when I was done, to save myself some steps, I started crawling over Rich’s side of the bed to get back to my side.  To my shock and horror, I landed right on top of my husband who was flat on his back, peacefully asleep.  He woke up startled, grunted, and reached out his hands to grab my arms and help me over which I thought was strange but I quickly backed up while apologizing and went back the way I came, which was around the bed and not over the bed.  I crawled under the covers meekly on my side and held my breath.  Thankfully he fell right back to sleep and so did I.  By the next morning I was laughing and laughing.  I had never jumped on top of my husband while he was sleeping before.  Although I secretly knew he wasn’t really trying to be chivalrous and gentlemanly about helping me get over him, it made for a good story.  I also wanted to see if he would react to my altering reality slightly.  After hearing me tell the tale to the children multiple times that morning he finally spoke up and teased,   “You can go right ahead and keep telling yourself that I was trying to help you but I was really trying to protect myself, I was in a very vulnerable position.”

And that’s the truth.

 

chocolate and sapphire

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Rich and I met for breakfast this morning and then he went to work.  Since I was out and about I decided to drive myself to a nearby consignment shop and …….

…..scored a (retired) Chocolate Fiesta disc pitcher for only 6 dollars!

Then I went next door to another consignment shop and ………

……scored four (retired and somewhat rare) Sapphire tumblers!

The tumblers were sold as a set along with a blue teapot that was not made by HLC.  The price ticket said “Teapot and four mugs, 22.00”

Fiesta “in the wild” (term for when you find it second-hand) is always exciting (In my experience it happens only once in a blue moon) and I cannot believe I found Chocolate and Sapphire in two different stores within 15 minutes of each other at rock bottom prices.

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“Be faithful to your own taste
because nothing you really like
is ever out of style.”  ~Billy Baldwin, interior designer 1903-1983

 

one dollar photo shoot

“I live to enjoy life by the littlest things, feeling the grass between my toes, breathing fresh air, watching the wind sway the trees, enjoying the company of loved ones, a deep conversation, getting lost in a good book, going for a walk in nature, watching my kids grow up. Just the feeling itself of being alive, the absolute amazing fact that we are here right now, breathing, thinking, doing.”   ~Marigold Wellington

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On Wednesday the temperature reached 63!  I was too hot at times!  And the very next day the temperature dropped 30 degrees and by that afternoon it was snowing enough that all after school activities were cancelled.  I looked out the window from the couch, where I was cozy with a soft blanket, and saw the big wet flakes falling straight out of the sky.  It was so pretty.  I remembered how I would have Grace dress up so I could take her photos out in the snow.  Sarah was downstairs playing video games.  I sighed.  I didn’t feel like bothering to ask her.  I was too tired.  I knew it would take some convincing on my part to do a photoshoot with Sarah.  Therefore I watched the rest of my movie.

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Well, lo and behold about an hour later I had to shut in the chickens because there were no mature children home to send instead.  As I pulled on boots and took my coat from the closet, Sarah came upstairs.  “Where are you going?”  “I have to go shut in the chickens.”

“CAN I GO WITH YOU?”

“Sure!”

And so it happened!

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After the hens were properly shut in she asked,

“Do you want to see Ethan’s secret hiding place?”

“Sure!”

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It wasn’t very far away but traveling there was was rather difficult.  I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get past some of the branches.  I had to remove briars from the both of us at times, too.  We were crawling through the bushes and trees to get to Ethan’s secret hiding place.

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It was a big tall white birch tree.  Caleb discovered it once a long time ago when Sammy the cat led him to it by meowing.  And then he in turn showed Seth and Sarah.  It’s all a secret.  They knew what it was by Ethan’s name scratched into the bark.  It said, “Ethan loves……”  and I’m not going to tell you the name because it’s a secret, too.  By the time w got home I had forgotten it was a secret hiding spot so I told Ethan about it and he laughed and Sarah said, “Did Sammy show you the spot, too, E?”  And he said, “I think a cat did lead me to it actually.”

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FOLKLORE:  the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth.

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Isn’t it amazing that in just one afternoon enough tiny snowflakes can fall to cover the ground and the trees?  A million little things………all together can add up to something significant.

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the mom

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Sarah Joy age 7 years and 9 months.  On a small walk with mom to the chicken coop.

Thanks for letting me take your pictures, Sarah!  I love you!

PS, I had to pay her a dollar.

cinnamon rolls

Ethan learned from my mistake and decided if he was going to make cinnamon rolls then he better triple the recipe.

He and Jacob are done with their wrestling season and are home this week on break from college.  One of the things Ethan enjoys doing when he’s home is baking and cooking in the kitchen.  As soon as he got up yesterday morning he started looking through our Top Secret Recipes cookbook by Todd Wilbur and thought he would make either donuts or cinnamon rolls.  I have to admit I was relieved that he decided on the latter, as the deep fat fryer is a big pain to clean up afterwards and even though Ethan does use the kitchen, he rarely cleans it up afterward.

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We had a house-full; Ethan, Jacob, Michael, David, Caleb, Weston (my nephew), Seth, Sarah, and myself.  Somehow the cat was able to get a nap in now and then although with any alarming sound he would bolt his neck upright and look around the room with big eyes.

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Cinnamon rolls take hours to make.  While the dough was rising the first time Ethan went down the road to get his girlfriend Tessa.

Then it was time to form the rolls.

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I had to leave as the cinnamon rolls went through their second rise.

It was a day I had been waiting for:

At my last cleaning my dentist sent me to an orthodontist because of over crowding and the Doctor agreed that I was a good candidate for invisalign.   I had braces as a teenager but through the years my teeth had shifted and I’m thrilled to get them straightened again.

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I came home to a counter full of freshly baked cinnamon rolls.  And boy were they delicious. . . . .

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The weather was so nice that I immediately went for a walk on the road so as to burn more calories for more cinnamon rolls.  These two passed me on the street; Jacob and his best friend and our perennial weekend houseguest Michael.

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Two more pictures from the day; Dave on the laptop.

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And Sarah Joy telling me that “Michael only won once.”

‘Twas a lovely day.

a muffin morning

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“I’ll measure the flour, you can dump it in,”

“You’re good at measuring.”

“And you’re good at dumping.”

“3 Tablespoons of sugar.”

“You don’t have to mix so strenuously.”

“1 Tablespoon of baking powder.”

“Baking powder?”

“And 1 teaspoon of salt.”

“Did you already put the salt in?  I wanted to use my little teaspoon.”

“Okay, now we have to put the wet ingredients in this bowl.”

“You can crack the egg, just let me pour the milk in first.”

“A whole cup of milk.”

“I need to melt half a stick of butter.”

“The key to perfect muffins is to never over-mix the batter.”

“Repeat after me, I will never over-mix my muffin batter.”

“I will never over-mix my muffin batter.”

Good girl.

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Sarah ate all 6 of her tiny muffins and then ate one of mine.  Then Caleb and Seth each had a muffin.  Ethan came home from picking up Tessa and they ate the remaining nine muffins which meant Michael, David, Jacob, and I did not get a muffin.  (12-3=9)

“I feel so bad,” said Tessa when she realized.

“I don’t.  I’m proud of us.” said Ethan with his eyes closed contentedly.

my birthday {2018}

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Yesterday was my birthday and Rich took the day off.  We had such a nice day together.  We took our books to the diner but never touched them.  We had plenty of things to talk about.  I had wanted him to try the homemade corned beef hash and we both ordered it with eggs and toast.  He liked it so much that he took me back for lunch so he could order it again.  Between breakfast and lunch he ate half a dozen eggs (over medium) and lots of hash.

He told me stories about his wrestling team and at one point we noticed one of the youth wrestlers across the room eating with his grandma and Rich went over to shake his hand and say hello.  During our meal he told me about a freshman who began the season so soft that he couldn’t do a pull up.  He couldn’t do a sit up.  But on Friday as they did conditioning Rich noticed him from across the room and he was easily doing pull ups on his own.  “Hey how many of those could you do when you first began the season?” he called.  “Zero, Coach!” was the happy answer.  He told me that wrestling is hard work, hard practices, but one of the boys answers when Rich asks, “How’re ya feeling?”  “Like a million bucks, Coach!”  We’re both so proud of the team captain who was so shy she cried when she first started having to speak publicly for the team a few years ago.  “She’s something else, Shan, she’s going to be something someday.  She’s brave in her own way.” and he told me a story about wrestling tape and singlets and how she got things done.  They aren’t perfect kids by any means, but they’ve been a pleasure for Rich to work with this year.  States are on Saturday!

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We left the diner and headed out to mail something to our son Jacob and then Rich said, “Where are we going?  It’s your birthday we can do anything.”  So I said, “Please please won’t you take me to the antique store in Sturbridge?” and he did.  Happiness is going to an antique store that you haven’t visited in a very long time.  We had plenty of time so I looked at every single thing in the store (two floors).

The first thing I studied (through the glass door) was stone fruit.  I’ve noticed over the years that I always pause over fake fruit.  How dumb.  But I do not collect it.  However, I was reading a magazine over Christmas and there was an article in it on “what is hot to collect next”‘.  Stone fruit was on the list along with a picture.  If you look at the fruit you would not think it was made of a solid stone, it looks lifelike, with bruises on the bananas and markings.  I made the decision that I would keep my eyes open for stone fruit since now I know it’s not dumb—after all, the magazine said it was a hot collectors item for 2018!  I didn’t buy any yesterday.  I didn’t realize it was so pricey.  But I believe I will come across it during some of my thrifting trips. . . . . . .

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Dawn, of course I thought of you, and my mom, too.  Vintage paper valentines!!!

This display case is done so beautifully!

Makes me want a display case in my own house that I can play with!

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Rich walked over to me with a Valentine and told me to put it in our stack of purchases for the day.  Inside it said:

Someday when I am older,
I think it would be fine
If you would be,
Sweetheart, to me
A loving Valentine

So many things brought tears to my eyes yesterday, I was deeply sentimental.

I went in for a hug about 7 times while we were browsing.

It was a love-connection day.

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I took pictures of things that I thought were interesting but not interesting enough to purchase.  One of the reasons that I love antiquing and thrift store shopping is it’s educational in a way, you get a sense of times past.  You can see the things that were in style 100 years ago…old photos, postcards, jewelry, art.  I love history.

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69.00   Excellent Shape  🙂

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This Cast Iron Amish Family tickled my fancy

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Baby photography from time gone by….I LOVE THIS LAUGHING BABY in a basket!!!!

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I collect HLC Fiestaware so I always always search for it.  I found this little set of black fiesta which was interesting because you don’t really see black out in “the wild” much.  The bowls were priced at 7 dollars each, the gravy boat was 14.  The creamer was missing from the coffee set.  I picked it up and looked it over but left it as I do have four small black fruit dishes already.

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“There really isn’t anything much to look at over here,” he teased.

“Oh look!  Gray!  I hardly ever see gray!”

“Who on earth would want GRAY FIESTAWARE?”

“Take my picture!”

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The mug and two bread plates were new, but the dinner plates were vintage gray so I bought one of them.  I’ve always liked gray in combination with pink and I have lots of Rose fiesta.

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The very bottom plate was a vintage Ivory chop plate in very good condition.  I LOVE chop plates they are so big and make lovely platters.

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**the most cheerful teacups** only 3 dollars said the sticker

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Not fiesta ~ ~ and yet I took a photo because Springtime!  Roses!  Pink!  Valentine’s Day!

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One last picture before getting our totals added and seeing how much we spent!

It really wasn’t too bad.

And then……time to drive down the road to pick out my birthday cakes.

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At my favorite bakery. . . .

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I got a chocolate peanut butter and a carrot cake.

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And then…..lunch.  As we got out of the truck to walk in the diner I noticed some people looking at me through the window.  “They must think I’m pretty or they can tell it’s my birthday”, I thought to myself.  But when we went in and walked to an empty table the man called out to Rich, “Hey, we were just admiring your truck!  That is one nice truck!”  It was awesome.  I simply love being humbled.

Generously buttered sour dough toast dipped in homemade clam chowder?  Comfort food.   Across the table from my very own husband of more than 20 years?  Soul-comfort.

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WHEN I GOT HOME THERE WAS A LITTLE PACKAGE and it was from my parents….a birthday check AND a homemade glorified dishcloth from MOM.  She made it up as she went along with an idea she had in mind.  I placed it on a scarlet cake plate to take a picture.

I love it.

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When I asked him to take a picture of me with the dishcloth so I could send it to mom, he took this first.

My husband and my fiestaware.  All very important to me.  🙂  I choose the middle.

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My birthday gifts from the antique store:

  1.  kitchen towel made from a flour sack with embroidery and three red and white doilies (MUCH less expensive than anthropologie!)
  2. betty crocker kitchen toy set (I LOVE)
  3. blue ceramic spoon (fiesta kitchen craft–a great find at 5 dollars!!!)
  4. snake book for Caleb
  5. Abe Lincoln book to read to the children
  6. and a Stereoscope viewer–Rich’s find, along with a stack of photos (very cool!)

 

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The next time I bake Sarah and I will do some miniature baking.  There are 2 cake pans, a muffin tin, a pie tin, a tiny cookie sheet, and mini cookie cutters.  So darling.

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Rich had a meeting at 5 and I spent time doing a puzzle and guess what?  Another gift from God—SUNSHINE after days of gloom and rain.  The cat agrees–sunshine is wonderful.

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MY FRIEND HANNAH who is on vacation in Hawaii, sent me this photo!!

And Joanna called to sing Happy Birthday.  We had the best little chat on the phone.

So many gratitude tears!

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The other day this package came from brother Dave.  He always remembers and he knows me so well.  Thank you Dave!  I got loving texts from my other 2 brothers and my sister and other family members throughout the day.  And of course Facebook makes birthdays extra fun and I heard from so many people I love.  So thankful to be on earth with all of you at this time.

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Rich took the video but when he stopped it he said, “I’m so sorry but that was like the worse singing of happy birthday we’ve ever had.”  I was thinking the same thing which is why I blew out the candles before the last note was finished.  LOL

 

most delicious chocolate cake

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Seth’s birthday

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had a backdrop of pure white and a sky of baby blue.

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It was absolutely magical in the woods.  Photos just do not do it justice as a photo turns everything flat and motionless and room temperature.  Reality has endless depth, layers, temperature, smells, sounds, feelings of expectation, exploration. . . . .

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nature’s playground

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here comes the sunshine

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They insisted on the short cut back home which involves a perilous crossing of the stream.

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No one got wet.

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For dinner that night……looks amusingly not that good….creamy scalloped potatoes with pan fried sausages on top.  Yum!

Birthday cake for dessert; two round cake layers with fresh whipped cream, sweetened strawberries, and homemade fudge sauce.

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topped with chocolate dipped strawberries.

I made everything myself except I did use a cake mix for the chocolate cake.

((((presented upon a Scarlet fiestaware cake plate))))

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It was truly as delicious as it looked.

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One piece remained but was quickly eaten the next day.

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“I got no cake.”

“I only got this dumb green streamer in my collar.”

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We took a photo that night at 9:20 pm, the exact time of his birth, nine years earlier.