just go away!

Rain rain, I don't mind, but the yard is a soggy sponge. The dogs are even skeptical, Sunny whined at the door this morning, the other two joined her, and of course I let them out. They bolted out the door and just stood on the deck. I watched them from the door...Duke went down and peed, the other two just stood there in the rain, then started to whine again, to come back in. I have a towel on the floor inside the door, and they are trained to just come in the door and sit, so I can wipe 12 paws and three backs, and give out treats. Sometimes a certain Sunny sneaks past me, bypassing the towels for something she thinks is more exciting, leaving a trail of muddy prints...but we are working on it.

They are now fed, dried off, and snoring peacefully.

Here's what I made yesterday:

Peanut butter cookies! I tasted one, but that's it. The girls saved some in baggies for school lunches, and Molly took a few to work. She came to visit, then left little Miss Lydia with us for the evening.

Lyd does not get bored. She eats Puffs, and finds toys to explore, and chatters the whole time. Some sayings are clear as a bell, like, "Wow!", and "Look at that!", but then she also talks in whole sentences and paragraphs that certainly mean something to her, but not quite to us yet.

She discovered the fun of emptying the book shelve, one book at a time. She was bringing them across the room to Jonathan, who was sitting on the floor trying to get her to sit with him to read the books...she just kept bringing new ones. (Notice how huge my "baby" Camille (Aunt Camille, ha!) is getting?)
Lydia won't be two until August, and she is so smart and so delightful.


A little bit of springiness...the mirror is from the thrift store, the first vase there is from the thrift store but was an ugly green, I chalk painted it the pale aqua, then coated it with polyurethane...the next vase, the gray one, was made by one of the kids in high school ceramics and painted green and orange, so I chalk painted that too...and the little glass jar, also. The aqua bowl - dollar store!

And here is what homeschool looks like sometimes...

Jonathan with some mac & cheese...notice the "broken cupboard" in the background...it's actually it's real name, The Broken Cupboard. The sad thing is that I found an old photo from when Evelyn was a toddler, standing in front of it, and it had already earned that name...and Ev is 17 years old. So the door broke off, and we just set the door in front of the cupboard...when I tidy up better and make sure the stuff inside the cupboard is in there properly, it looks better...and The Potholder Drawer is opened because I was in the middle of baking the peanut butter cookies...


Miss Charlotte Claire decided to get cozy to eat her bowl of yumminess.


Camille at her food properly at the table because she was in the middle of an art project.
Notice behind her, the small refrigerator from the camper, brought in when the big one wasn't working. Still sitting there. And the frame of that window...that's the first one Paul installed several years ago, he accidentally used a new building window instead of a replacement window...and it's still like that. I think of it like this: It hasn't killed me yet, so it' won't kill me today. But sometimes, it bothers me. It's just not on the top of the list, I guess. We still need more new windows, and have to replace the furnace this year...I am not complaining, I'm just saying there are always priorities, ha.


I just thought I would post a few "real" pics...I WISH I lived in a perfect house, but we don't. And I'm thankful for it anyway.

Today we are going out and about...it's Gymnastics Class day, and we also need milk and coconut oil and fruits and veggies. I was thinking of taking them to Moe's for lunch, because I have a free coupon for Charlotte...