Jun 28, 2011
Berry Sweet
Tis the season for strawberries! We picked with friends the other day. Ella did so great filling her bowl with only ripe ones. And her little friend introduced her to the joys of taking one big bite of a fresh berry and then chucking it with all her might into the surrounding grass. This is new and very exciting for her! My lawn is now littered with half-eaten berries. What fun we had in the sun today. Swinging, splashing and devouring!
Jun 25, 2011
This is Love
"This is love; that one's wife would find a home for one's dead animals upon one's walls." I can't be certain but I'm pretty sure that's somewhere in the Bible when Jesus us speaking of true, selfless love. (Please tell me you know I'm joking!)
If you don't know my hubby, there are three things that you really must know about him:
#1) He is a wonderful man of God.
#2) He is an AMAZING husband and father
#3) Even before he was all of those other things, he was a fisherman.
He loves to fly fish. He's in his glory when he is bushwhacking his way in to the most remote stream. He's happiest to catch and release. (in face the fish you'll see later on is the only one he's ever had mounted) He expertly ties his own flies. He guides trips. He teaches others. It is not a hobby. It is a passion. It has become a way for him to conect with God in His marvelous creation. He takes Ella all the time, but he doesn't go just for himself as frequently as he did before wife, house and daughter. So when he does, he goes for a nice long chunk. He guided a trip on Wednesday that was a great success and he's been fishing in Rangley ever since. I'm anxiously awaiting his return. But his time away gave me a chance to turn Ella's old bedroom:
Into THIS: The new office. Complete with entire side devoted to Jason's fly -tying and two walls devoted to his dead, stuffed or fishy things.
It's a continuation of his father's day present. I got him three new plastic containers in which to organize his fly tying supplies. But then I got him this desk off of freecycle (SCORE!), painted the room, painted a great quote and a few basic pictures, (The quote reads, "To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with thimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature.") 
and hung his dead things on the wall. I call this one the "Jackalope". It weirds me out to no end. But hey, love is sacraficial right?
Before this, he was tying flies on a tiny desk crammed in the back of our storage room. And he certainly did not have his dead things around to keep him company :) I CANNOT wait to unveil it when he comes home tomorrow.
If you don't know my hubby, there are three things that you really must know about him:
#1) He is a wonderful man of God.
#2) He is an AMAZING husband and father
#3) Even before he was all of those other things, he was a fisherman.
He loves to fly fish. He's in his glory when he is bushwhacking his way in to the most remote stream. He's happiest to catch and release. (in face the fish you'll see later on is the only one he's ever had mounted) He expertly ties his own flies. He guides trips. He teaches others. It is not a hobby. It is a passion. It has become a way for him to conect with God in His marvelous creation. He takes Ella all the time, but he doesn't go just for himself as frequently as he did before wife, house and daughter. So when he does, he goes for a nice long chunk. He guided a trip on Wednesday that was a great success and he's been fishing in Rangley ever since. I'm anxiously awaiting his return. But his time away gave me a chance to turn Ella's old bedroom:
Into THIS: The new office. Complete with entire side devoted to Jason's fly -tying and two walls devoted to his dead, stuffed or fishy things.It's a continuation of his father's day present. I got him three new plastic containers in which to organize his fly tying supplies. But then I got him this desk off of freecycle (SCORE!), painted the room, painted a great quote and a few basic pictures, (The quote reads, "To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with thimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature.") and hung his dead things on the wall. I call this one the "Jackalope". It weirds me out to no end. But hey, love is sacraficial right?Before this, he was tying flies on a tiny desk crammed in the back of our storage room. And he certainly did not have his dead things around to keep him company :) I CANNOT wait to unveil it when he comes home tomorrow.
Jun 23, 2011
Mixology
While my honey is away, I will play....with paint.
Jason is gone on his annual fly fishing trip. He actually guided a day of fishing for a little extra income on Wednesday and then his two friends from up North are joining him at which point they will all fish their brains out until Sunday.
For Father's Day I got him a rockin' desk off of freecycle, three new storage containers for all his fly-tying gear (and a really sweet homemade fishy card) and now I will work my butt off to get Ella's old room painted and turned into a craft/office room where he has his very own personalized fly-tying space!
To save money, I am mixing the remainder of three left over gallons of paint. (They are all a shade of light green.) The polls are now open for voting on whether this is going to be a raging success or an epic failure. Feel free to chime in your thought.
Of COURSE pictures will follow!
Jason is gone on his annual fly fishing trip. He actually guided a day of fishing for a little extra income on Wednesday and then his two friends from up North are joining him at which point they will all fish their brains out until Sunday.
For Father's Day I got him a rockin' desk off of freecycle, three new storage containers for all his fly-tying gear (and a really sweet homemade fishy card) and now I will work my butt off to get Ella's old room painted and turned into a craft/office room where he has his very own personalized fly-tying space!
To save money, I am mixing the remainder of three left over gallons of paint. (They are all a shade of light green.) The polls are now open for voting on whether this is going to be a raging success or an epic failure. Feel free to chime in your thought.
Of COURSE pictures will follow!
Jun 20, 2011
Kids Say...
...the cutest things.
This morning jumping on a mattress on the floor:
ELLA: I jumpin in da bwue wagoon! I goin' undew like da kids doos! Da watew's weally warm!
ME: Oh wow. Look at you! That's great honey.
ELLA: Hewe. Fowd my bwanket fow me and set it wight hewe. NO. Not dere. WIIIIGHT hewe. 'Cause I patended it's my towew. You can dwy me off wif it when I get out of da watew. K, mom?
Today driving home from errands:
ELLA: MooOOoom?
ME: Yes love?
ELLA: I can have a sip of youw delisus coffee?
Today sitting at the table eating lunch:
ELLA: So. We goin to sing happy birfday to me. K, mom?
ME: Oh I see. And when do you want us to sing happy birthday to you?
ELLA: Ummmm.... Fursday.
Maybe it's because she busts out very big words for a very little girl - out of no where. Maybe it's her sweet sing-song voice tone. Maybe it's the detailed inflection she adds. Or maybe it's just because she's mine...but I just cannot get enough of Ella's little quips. They never fail to melt my heart or make me laugh or simply amaze me. Here's a few recent conversations.
This morning jumping on a mattress on the floor:
ELLA: I jumpin in da bwue wagoon! I goin' undew like da kids doos! Da watew's weally warm!
ME: Oh wow. Look at you! That's great honey.
ELLA: Hewe. Fowd my bwanket fow me and set it wight hewe. NO. Not dere. WIIIIGHT hewe. 'Cause I patended it's my towew. You can dwy me off wif it when I get out of da watew. K, mom?
Today driving home from errands:
ELLA: MooOOoom?
ME: Yes love?
ELLA: I can have a sip of youw delisus coffee?
Today sitting at the table eating lunch:
ELLA: So. We goin to sing happy birfday to me. K, mom?
ME: Oh I see. And when do you want us to sing happy birthday to you?
ELLA: Ummmm.... Fursday.
Jun 17, 2011
Meet Theo.
Introducing...Theo the Turtle. He was sitting in the middle of our lawn this morning.
We think he's quite special.
He's pretty darn big too!
Ella decided she'd like to play with him. And because her favorite things to do right now is dump water, Theo got lots of water dumped on him.
She was quite intrigued by him, "Hello little turtle," she would say. We did lots of touching...his shell, his feet, his nose, his head, his belly. And then she tried to get him to crawl into her bucket.
Poor little guy. He put up with a lot. So we returned him to his home.
I'll admit. There have been days (quite recent days) when I've cursed this yard of ours that needs so much work. But I really am grateful for our land! Thus far this spring we have:
We think he's quite special.
He's pretty darn big too!Ella decided she'd like to play with him. And because her favorite things to do right now is dump water, Theo got lots of water dumped on him.She was quite intrigued by him, "Hello little turtle," she would say. We did lots of touching...his shell, his feet, his nose, his head, his belly. And then she tried to get him to crawl into her bucket.Poor little guy. He put up with a lot. So we returned him to his home.I'll admit. There have been days (quite recent days) when I've cursed this yard of ours that needs so much work. But I really am grateful for our land! Thus far this spring we have:- caught toads, frogs and snakes.
- trapped tadpoles, raised them into frogs and released them.
- caught (and accidentally de-tailed) a salamander...sorry little buddy!
- seen a mama deer and her tiny tiny fawn strolling through.
daily, watched happy little bunnies that munch on our clover and let us get very close to them. - seen more birds than I've ever seen in my life.
- watched the squirrels and chipmunks frolic...even right across our deck (Ella's loves it...I'm teacher her to scare them away...you should hear her roar at them...HILARIOUS!)
- And today we got to meet and play with Theo.
I LOVE that Ella loves animals and all things outdoors. I LOVE that she is not afraid of them. In fact my motto has always been, "Go ahead! Touch it!" and so she does, with such wonderful curiosity surrounding her new discoveries. I LOVE teaching her about all of these things and continually seeing the world afresh through her eyes!
Jun 14, 2011
Big Girl Room!
I should really be weeding the garden... and finishing stacking the wood...I really want to bless my husband with that suprise when he arrives home today...and I will. But FIRST I must post this!
We moved Ella into a new room (because it is brighter and has two windows for lovely airflow in the summers) and got her a big girl bed!
We moved Ella into a new room (because it is brighter and has two windows for lovely airflow in the summers) and got her a big girl bed!
Some bedding and curtains from a friend inspired the color scheme.
And I finally got to paint the tree that's been lingering in my head for over a year. It came out EXACTLY as I had pictured it! VOILA! I am EXTATIC about the way it came out!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I painted the same little creatures that we see frequent our yard everyday. How she loves her little woodland animals. "Bunnies, biwdies and chickmunks." All I'm missing are our friendly deer. Perhaps I shall paint one of those too some day. I absolutely adore fulfilling my passion for art and creativity while completely something practical and something that is a blessing to my beautiful daughter!
Jun 8, 2011
Summer Time!
Here's a sweet little photo of our family just before taking off to help a younge couple celebrate their marriage at their reception in Maine. 
Ella looked SO adorable in her little outfit. And man o man does she look like me as a child in this picture! We tried to take the milk away. Really we did. But we had to wake her from a nap to get her going and the jaws of life themselves weren't going to pry that cup from her face!
Look at the hard workin' man! And all this wood is only HALF way through our first pile...these stacks are a good 30ft long and they wrap around the corner too! 
I've said it before, I'll say it again. This child is an adrenaline junky just like me. A new found joy this summer is swinging in the big girl swings. 
And she has to go, "WEALLY HIGH!" or nothing at all! 
Her new fave snack (thanks to daddy letting her pick out the absolutely worst kind for you at the grocery store... ahem.) is the "nanola bar." I spring for the Annies version!
Ooops! Dropped a piece! "Where'd it go!?"
C'mon! I've got to put in the obligatory potty picture! Especially with her on the big potty!
The other day, after a bit of alone playtime I came into the playroom to find this: 
When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I packin' my bag to go to gramma's house." I see. And surely every girl needs a cowboy hat to go to gramma's! 
This is everything she had put in it! So cute! 
The garden is growing like crazy. We're splashing in pools and running through sprinklers to stay cool and we're stacking wood like crazy so we can move on to tackle the indoor renovation projects.That's what's happening 'round here!
Ella looked SO adorable in her little outfit. And man o man does she look like me as a child in this picture! We tried to take the milk away. Really we did. But we had to wake her from a nap to get her going and the jaws of life themselves weren't going to pry that cup from her face!Look at the hard workin' man! And all this wood is only HALF way through our first pile...these stacks are a good 30ft long and they wrap around the corner too! I've said it before, I'll say it again. This child is an adrenaline junky just like me. A new found joy this summer is swinging in the big girl swings. And she has to go, "WEALLY HIGH!" or nothing at all! Her new fave snack (thanks to daddy letting her pick out the absolutely worst kind for you at the grocery store... ahem.) is the "nanola bar." I spring for the Annies version!Ooops! Dropped a piece! "Where'd it go!?"C'mon! I've got to put in the obligatory potty picture! Especially with her on the big potty!The other day, after a bit of alone playtime I came into the playroom to find this: When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I packin' my bag to go to gramma's house." I see. And surely every girl needs a cowboy hat to go to gramma's! This is everything she had put in it! So cute! The garden is growing like crazy. We're splashing in pools and running through sprinklers to stay cool and we're stacking wood like crazy so we can move on to tackle the indoor renovation projects.That's what's happening 'round here!
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