Beautiful afternoon!

0419001830.jpg, originally uploaded by lichen lady.

It was gorgeous all day, but from about 4:30 to dusk it was exquisite in our yard. The soft sun dappled the lawn, the birds made heavenly music, and.... the kids were happy! They had their teepee tent out front and were soaking in the lovely weather. I think I saw Baby Dragon acting like a dog with a stick in his mouth running around on all fours. Later I saw Fairy Girl and two neighbors laughing as they were playing some form of charades. I looked around and was humbled by the blessings in my life. Simple and abundant.

Babywearing!

I am so excited. I followed a link from one of my favorite blogs- Soulemama- and found this blog called-Clean- and it is all about babywearing this week. "Clean" invited you to upload pictures of your babies being worn to their flickr group. I entered a few and forgot about it. Tonight I was showing Grant and as I scrolled down the blog, we were surprised to see a picture of Fairy Girl wearing her teddy bear! Ah, our hearts melted. So I backtracked a page and saw a picture of Baby Dragon on my back in our Gypsy Mama wrap. Anyway, just a little fame made me giddy! Check out these links:



http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2010/04/babywearing-celebration-day-5-in-my-wraps-embrace.html



http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2010/04/babywearing-celebration-day-6-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lusaorganics+%28Clean.%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher



Be sure to scroll down a bit to see our pics!

Feels like home.

0416001748.jpg, originally uploaded by lichen lady.

One of the first things I did as a new bride almost 12 years ago was purchase a fern. I was creating my own home and I wanted a fern to make it feel complete. But the fern didn't last. I purchased a little one every now and then to try again, but they never lasted. Too much light, too much or too little water, etc. Eventually my house was full of pets and kids and the house plants were all given away, except for the few that fit on a windowsill.
Then we moved into our "never-move-again" home and after about a month I started thinking about ferns again. My mom always had a giant fern. She placed it on top of the upright piano or the hutch and her fern would grow until it's fronds swept the floor. Today she gave me an offshoot of the original. However, if you look at it, it is hardly a small fern! Thanks Mom! My home is honored to have one of your ferns. I will do my best to nurture it so Fairy Girl can have one for her future home too. Cross your fronds!

Down to one lonely brain cell.

Equation: One feverish, teething, gassy, moaning, groaning, sleepless baby equals two exhausted parental units who are starting the week with a negative sleep bank.

Forecast: Two older kids with coughs, stuffy/runny noses (ahead or behind their baby sister in their affliction) will result in two stressed out, barely functioning parents who will numbly try to meet their obligations.

Fact: When I have a chance to nap, I can't sleep.

Irony: When I needed sleep the least, I had all I wanted of it. Oh college days, how I miss your sleep in's. Now when I am responsible for three other lives, sleep eludes me.

Grace: Not in my strength alone do I toil...

Easter/Spring Nature Table/Mantle

I love these German inspired wooden rings. I have one for birthdays and one for Spring. The ones above are leaf shaped with three holes each for ornaments or candles. I ordered this one from A Toy Garden. The short peg in front is a card holder, but I can't find my seasonal cards since the move and I am really frustrated that I can't find the Spring Banner I handmade last year. It was special to me, so I probably put it somewhere "special" for the move and that means somewhere I can't find it! But alas, I am still happy for an early Spring.



I treasure this Spring painting by Fairy Girl right before she turned seven. Her composition captures so much about Spring- trees in the midst of leafing out, a fast changing sky, pale sunlight, and of course, violets blooming in the grass. I had to put our sheep family next to it as it seemed a natural place for them to rest and graze.

Eggs and Bunnies.

Today my sister visited with my niece and we planned some watercoloring and some baking together. Baby Dragon true to form painted a black cave. Fairy Girl painted a blue sky and a flower under the sun. Day and night, those two!!

After some dress up, I finally got the bread dough mixed together and we set out to make loaves shaped like bunnies. It was more about the process than the results- but they were still awfully cute. When we baked them, some heads fell off, or raisin eyes popped out, or ears shifted, but they were all edible. I know this because OUR DOG ATE THEM when we left for dinner!

After my sister left, I felt a crafting momentum and I proceeded to blow out some green eggs I had been saving. I blew out 13 eggs and only 2 cracked! The health food store we get our eggs at is supplied locally by a farm that has a variety of chickens. The cartons we buy generally contain a smattering of white, brown and green eggs. For a while I have been putting the green ones aside so as to amass a decorative statement.