Jude’s latte… either an empty cup he pretends to sip on or new this weekend-
a foamy steamed milk with a splash of raspberry. Yum!

We had a busy Sunday with Andrew preaching at both services and then a baby shower for me and little Fouche in the afternoon. The shower was lady bug theme colors and was a wonderful gathering of about 35 ladies from our church who are such a blessing to me and our family, I felt so loved and supported!
Happy Monday… live this week to the fullest!

SPRING!! Never mind the forecast for possible snow showers next weekend, yesterday was the official first day of Spring and sunny enough to sit outside without a coat! Jude and Andrew played and I sat in a chair soaking it in and took a few pictures as well.

I get a huge amount of satisfaction from seeing my boy’s clothes so dirty after he’s been playing outside that I have to change him when he comes in. I think this stems from my desire for him to love the outdoors as much as I always have and my belief that kids should spend lots of time outdoors exploring, digging, getting messy, and just being kids. When I was growing up we lived in front of what seemed like endless woods and a path through them that led down to a creek where a whole other world seemed to await us. We made tunnels through blackberry patches and mud pies in the garden. I can’t wait to plant our garden this year and let Jude help me pick fresh tomatoes and zucchini and see our garden grow.

It’s sprinkling this morning and Jude is happily painting at the table next to me, he’s on a painting kick lately I guess. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

This is Judo’s oil painting on our wall. The colors turned out different than I expected and I’m glad- art should be unexpected. I love the swirls and the blotches of red that he calls ‘dots’. What I love best about this project is the excitement he had making it- using real brushes and loading as much paint on at a time as he could. (It’s still drying after 4 days!)

I found this ‘hope’ sign for $2 at the thrift store last week- love the black lettering on my ‘African Amber’ walls. It’s hung with 3 pictures taken on outreaches to Nepal and China and we hope to add a few more as well.

This picture is a bit blurry but I wanted to share an idea I had that turned out well- surrounding the ‘hope’ and outreach pictures I framed cut up portions of a huge map of the world that just never looked nice enough on it’s own unframed. I framed portions of Africa, South America, and China in inexpensive black frames and the look is much cleaner and artistic.

Today I’m trying to focus on the blessings in our life instead of the way my body feels and I have so much to be thankful for. Andrew is such an amazing support and strength to me in general but especially during pregnancy and these last weeks when I’ve been feeling anxious for baby to be in our arms. Jude’s laugh, funny phrases, and silliness fills my heart so full and I am trying to cherish this time with him- life will change for both of us very soon and our days will look a lot different than they do now.

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hoping you have much to be thankful for as well…

Yesterday I set Jude up to paint & he did about 10 paintings with water colors & then I let him experiment with oil paints on a big canvas, hoping to have a new piece of art for our downstairs wall. I gave him the colors that would go with our existing wall paint & filled in a tiny bit of the border at the end so it was all covered with paint, but other than that the painting is all his & turned out so fun! Pictures to come of that when it’s dry & hanging on the wall.
Here’s a video of my sweet 2 year old from earlier today…

Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.
~Henry David Thoreau

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Loire Hartwould

Yesterday felt a little like Spring as Andrew, Jude, and I spent the afternoon out in our yard, moving rocks and getting our garden area ready for planting in a few months. Today is gray with a chance of rain but the signs of Spring are showing themselves inside…

If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in
spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout