the weekend and things that go together

tomatoes + fresh mozzarella + basil + olive oil + balsamic vinegar

meat + a grill

dinner + the deck

me + him

these rocks + a wheelbarrow + my arms and legs (okay Carl helped too). we moved them from our neighbor's yard to ours. wonder how it's going to feel tomorrow?

these girls + laughs

april + tree blossoms

this salad + my mouth!

a beer (bought for you by your friend because "it matches your hair") + a porch swing

yellow scarves + yellow sandals 

ian + the bath (all this playing outside can really get a boy dirty!)

emma + her tether ball + all the neighbor kids-- we've become very popular

And me + you. Thank you for coming here so often and reading- even the boring parts. Thank you for letting me be real and honest. Thank you for encouraging me. Thank you for every word that you've typed to me. Technology is so great. Thank you for being close even though we may be far apart.

hardwired

"Admit it. You're a glory junkie. That's why you like the 360, between-the-legs, slam dunk, or that amazing hand-beaded formal gown, or the seven layer triple-chocolate mousse cake. It's why you're attracted to the hugeness of the mountain range or the multihued splendor of the sunset. You were hardwired by your Creator for a glory orientation. It is inescapable. It's in your genes."

—Paul David Tripp

confession

I feel like I've been keeping a secret. A fairly big one. And strangely, I'm not feeling very guilty about it. The truth is that I'm not having very much fun homeschooling right now. I really expected to bounce back from The February Slump...but I just haven't. I'm putting on a cheerful face and we are getting stuff done, but it definitely isn't my favorite part of life right now. It probably sounds horrible, but I'm losing interest. I think I've found myself in a selfish little spot and I'm getting sort of comfy here. Homeschooling requires that I give so much of my time away. Frankly I'd just rather be doing other things with it. I'm not sure where all this will lead. Maybe I'll feel better after a nice long summer break...but maybe not? Either way, days like today are getting me through...

We took a little field trip to the dam.

We went down below, but we didn't see any salmon. (Not that we were patient enough to wait more than about 2 minutes.)

Ian LOVES all the machines.

That's the fish bypass. The baby salmon get dumped into the river there. Looks like a pretty fun water slide to me!

We've been here lots of times so we gave ourselves the self-guided tour.

And then we headed out to picnic.

Park blankets are the best. For kissing...

and resting.

Happy Friday Friends...there's no school for a couple of days :)