Thank You!

Thank you for telling me about your favorite flowers on my Columbine post! I'm glad to hear it is warming up where you are, and I'm expecting you to share photos of the flowers growing around your place too. ;0)

I really appreciate the time you take out of your day to come visit me and the sweet notes you leave for me too. I wish I could invite you over for a cup of tea as a "thank you" but for now this will have to do...

For Tina and Christie...


For Mrs. U and Susan P...


For Connie Lu...


For Karla...


For Anita and Flora...


For Rebecca and Susan...


For Lisa...


For Julieann and Amy...


For Jennifer, Sharon and Copper's wife...


For Lori, Just mom and Jenn4Him...


For Susie...


For Candy...


For Tracy, Momma Roar, Charree, Becky, Peter, Karen, PEA, Dot, Heather, Mrs. Pivec, Deb, Susan, Trella, Jerelene and all of my blogging friends...thank you, again for stopping by to visit me!


This weekend we are going to take a meal over to some friends who just had a baby. It has been raining for the past few hours and I've had to empty over 10 gallons from my water garden! The new Martha Stewart magazine is out and I'm hoping to find some fun Easter ideas. Can you believe Easter is just over a week away? I haven't done a thing to get ready for it! I'll be sure to share any ideas I read about.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll talk to you soon!

Pictures found at art.com

~The Song of the Columbine~

Have you ever seen a Columbine flower? Let me share with you the yellow variety that is growing in my garden...

Who shall the fairy be
For the letter C?
There's candytuft, and cornflower blue,


Campanula and Crocus too,
Chrysanthemum so bold and fine,
And pretty dancing Columbine.


Yes, Columbine! The choice is she;


And with her, see,
An elfin piper, piping sweet,
A little tune for those light feet


That dance among the leaves and flowers
In someone's garden.
(Is it ours?)


And look at the petals...they make perfect little fairy shoes!


Thank you for letting me share one of my favorite flowers! Do you have a favorite flower?

Poem by Cicely Mary Barker.

~A Trip Down Memory Lane~

Hello everyone! I thought I would share some pictures from my childhood with you today. You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

This first picture is of me at 2 1/2 years old, with a head full of blonde hair.


It didn't stick around though, by first grade (or Grade 1 as they say in Canada!), I had long brown hair.

Actually, this dress is what started me looking through my old pictures in the first place. I was visiting my friend Revee this past Friday and her daughter was wearing a dress with possibly the same print as my Grade 1 dress. Revee, you'll have to tell me if you think it's the same!


I can still remember most of my classmates from Grade 1, even the boy who sucked his thumb all day long. It's funny the things you remember!

My teacher was Miss Becker and I thought she was the prettiest and nicest teacher ever. She once traded sandwiches with me because I didn't like my cheese and mayonnaise one. She lived in the only tall-rise apartment building in our small town and I still call it "Miss Becker's Apartment building" to this day!


I had the same classmates in second grade but my teacher wasn't as nice as Miss Becker. :0)
I wasn't the best student and my parents pulled me out halfway through second grade to homeschool me. Virtually unheard of in the 1980's!


By Grade 2 I had short hair, which I think suited me better!


Along with the pictures I found some crafts from long ago. I guess my love for birds started at a young age...here is one that I made when I was 5. It says "Kelli and Daddy" on the back so I think I had some help!


Evidently, I have always like anything to do with the 4 seasons too! These pictures have really faded over the years, sorry they are so hard to see!


Two little Valentine's from Grade 1.


Lastly, a Sunday School Graduation card from December 1981. I was 5 years old.


My mom was my teacher and it is signed by her and the pastor.

The inside says...

"If you listen to advise and are willing to learn, one day you will be wise, have reverence for the Lord, content and safe from harm. ~Proverbs 19:20, 2


Thank you for coming down memory lane with me!!

Our Weekend

Hello everyone! Did you have a nice weekend? We had a busy, but fun weekend.

It started with Benjamin getting a much-needed haircut.


After the haircut, Phillip and Benjamin went to this small piece of land near our house. It looks like it's out in the country but there are office buildings right across the street!


Grace has named these horses "Star" and "Eggnog." They are very friendly and love to be petted.


We were expecting company for dinner so the girls and I made some bread. You can find the recipe here. I brushed on some butter as soon as they came out of the oven.



We had Roasted chicken and vegetables for dinner. I made a herb butter mixture for the chickens. I chopped up a few tablespoons of rosemary, thyme and parsley and mixed in about 3 tablespoons of butter. This will give it a nice brown color while it roasts.


I added red potatoes, carrots and onions. I did have to remove some of them so the chicken would brown. I also put about 1 cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the pan.


I cooked it on 400F for what seemed like forever! It did take 2 hours to cook but I think 1 chicken would take less time. I don't have any "after" pictures because we ate it all!

For dessert we had strawberry shortcake.


Last, but not least, here are some beautiful red roses that Phillip surprised me with on Friday.


Thank you for looking at the pictures from our weekend!

I didn't get everything done on my to-do list from last week, but should have them checked off by Tuesday. Plans for this week include putting winter clothes away and sorting through summer ones, more laundry lessons and exercising more than once! :0) What do you have planned for this week?

Question of the day!

Hello everyone! We are having a couple and their grand daughter over for dinner tonight. The girls and Benjamin want to eat outside on the patio with their friend, so that leaves 4 adults at the kitchen table. I have a question about the seating arrangement...Do I sit the couple beside each other, leaving the one side of the table empty? Or, sit one on each side of the table, across from each other? If I do that, do I remove the extra chairs so that there are only 4 at the table instead of 6? More importantly, does this make any sense at all?! ;0)

HELP!

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you so much for your suggestions! I ended up sitting them on one side of the table and using the other side for the food. We had Roasted chicken and vegetables, bread, salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert. I'll post pictures and recipes tomorrow!

Welcoming Spring

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your comments on my herb garden!! I'm always happy to hear from fairy fans and especially fans of The Secret Garden! I've been reading it out loud to the girls and Benjamin. Mary has found the garden and met Colin...my favorite part of the book!

This afternoon we ran some errands and when leaving Costco, noticed a field filled with these pretty yellow flowers (AKA weeds!) I'm not sure what they are, but they remind me of Buttercups.


We've been trying to work more in our Nature Journals. Today we drew some spring pictures with our watercolor pencils.

Here is Emily's picture...what a pretty blue sky!


Grace wrote a little spring poem...

The Fox Hunter

Bunny hop away,
Chicks hide in your nest,
Fishies swim far away,
For the fox hunter is coming.


Benjamin drew a picture will lots of different spring time critters.


Phillip is making me post this picture....it's the robin from The Secret Garden. The poor thing!


Later in the evening, we had chicken salad sandwiches, boiled eggs, chips and lemonade for dinner.


For dessert I made a Lemon Pudding Cake. I used to make it all the time when we first were married. The top half is light and spongy and the bottom half is a creamy lemon pudding


Here is the recipe...

Lemon Pudding Cake

2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 350.F Beat eggs whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, beat yolks slightly. Beat in lemon juice and milk. Beat in remaining ingredients until smooth. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into ungreased 1 quart casserole dish. Place casserole dish in larger pan (I used a 9x13 pan). Pour 1 inch of hot water in pan. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove casserole from pan. Eat warm.

We had Peeps too. It isn't spring without Peeps! :0)


Would this be a good time to mention that we haven't had shower or laundry lessons this week? We have had some lessons on selfishness and lying though! Oh and burping really loud at the dinner table. All I can say is "thank goodness the weekend is here!"

Herb and Fairy Garden

Happy First Day of Spring!

Thank you for sharing the things that you do to keep your home running smoothly. Also, thank you for the tips on making the shower and laundry lessons easier. I will let you know how things went later this week! If I survive. ;0)

Since it's the first day of Spring, I thought I would finish up the garden tour I started last week.

This is my fairy/herb garden, although there are some flowers too. A yellow Columbine, Asparagus Fern, Lamb's Ear, and Snap Dragons. Ivy is climbing up the trellis.


My Rosemary, Oregano, Sage and Thyme survived the winter. Last week I added Parsley, Chives, Cilantro, Lemon Balm and Dill.


This is a simple birdbath at one end of the garden. It's just the bottom of a plastic terra cotta planter. It needs a good scrubbing! The Morning Doves use it almost every day.


I've posted this before, but here is my little fairy house. I painted a doll house door and added some miniature gardening tools and stones.


These plant markers are new and I got the idea from my friend, Anita. She posted about them last November and I've been waiting until Spring to make them!


Tiny terra cotta planters resting on top of a wooden dowel. I used a white sharpie to write the name of the plant or flower.


Finally, at the end of the garden, by the back gate, is this set of keys. The girls and Benjamin have fun playing with them. They remind me of my favorite book, The Secret Garden.


Thank you for looking at my Herb Garden! Is the weather warming up at your house yet?

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.