Flashback Friday

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House

{Home of Little Women}

Concord, Massachusetts

April 10, 2005

Just down the road from the Air Force base we lived on, and from the hospital Abby was born at.  Just days before we said good-bye to New England.

In a window just above where we were standing is where Louisa May Alcott penned the story of the Little Women.  I think my little woman is destined for great things; they both are.

Thank You Thursday

1. Thank you stamp party. Because of you, I didn't have to endure the Nasty Mom Club at gymnastics tonight. Of course they weren't in attendance this evening, according to my husband; that's just my luck. Oh well. I had fun at my creative outlet nonetheless.

2. Thank you, Geoff, for being you. I'm glad you're my guy. My best friend. My partner.

3. I'm thankful for working with such great people. I love them! I've never worked anywhere like this school before. What a great environment to spend my days!!!

4. I was going to thank my mother for something, but for the life of me I cannot remember. So I guess I'll thank her for the life in me. I find that at least once a day I'm thanking her for something, even if it's only in my head.

5. Thank you to my pushy friend, Susie. She's pushed me in directions that have lead to great things. Everything happens for a reason, even if only for a season. Thanks, friend! {And you know by "pushy", Susie, I mean it with love!}

Hurry, Hurry

Lauren was hamming it up last night at the dinner table singing her preschool songs.

*Remember to pause the play list in the right column.

Old Lady Leary

Hurry, Hurry



Old McDonald on Speed

This makes me wonder....

What kind of farms do they have here in Ohio?!

*Remember to pause the play list in the right column to hear the video.

Ten on Tuesday

1. I found a new post office.  One I like.  It is possibly my favorite post office in the whole world.  She didn't even freak out on me about not signing the back of my card.  Yowza!  I'm going to Alpha for all of my future delivery needs!

2. Some names bug me.  Some of them I just wonder why on Earth one would put their child through the wringer with a name like that.  I'd best not put the one I'm thinking of in print, for fear my daughters will name one of their children that just to anger me some day.  Hahaha.  I still hate that name.

3. When did I become that person that couldn't wait for my book to arrive so I could dig in?  It's here! Hooray!

4. Today she came home with an arm full of ink.... What happened to my innocent Abigail?!

5. Why would this kid let another girl write all over her arm? Seriously! I don't know whether to be dumbfounded, annoyed, or just down right upset.

6. I've never been a big Christopher Cross fan.  So thank you, Geoff, for whistling it in the shower.... it is stuck in my head like gum on my best tennies.

7. I'm craving good Italian food. The kind you walk into a café in Boston to get. Hmmmmm. Bliss.

8. Because life wouldn't be complete without another cupcake recipe: http://loveandhomemaderecipes.com/2010/10/purple-people-eater-cupcake/. Purple People Eater pastries. More Yumm!

9. Geoff still sings songs about Tiny Tot in the shower. Thank you, Geoff, for replacing Christopher Cross with your lyrical love letter to Lauren.

10. How dirty can two little girls get in one day? By the looks of our bathtub, Geoff was bathing pound puppies and not little ladies last night.... they must have had a good time outside!

Them Apples

In this family, the apples don't fall far from the tree....

{Papa's Apple Trees in the Spring}

{Lauren and Abby's Apple Trees in the Fall}

How do you like them apples, Papa?

I Got Canned

When I first met my friend, Susie, she asked me a simple question: Do you give yourself challenges?  Hmmmmm.  If she meant, do I take on a million projects, then the answer was yes.  She didn't.  She was referring to the kind of challenge where you take on one task for every day of the month.... like sending random thoughtful cards.  I don't.  But now I've found one.  I think.

I've been canned.  Twenty cans of one of Owatonna's other beautiful exports, Festal Pumpkin!  My challenge: The Twelve Days of Pumpkin.  Twelve consecutive days is a bit too much, even for this fellow Owatonna native.  But I think between now and Thanksgiving I should be able to come up with twelve ways to put my Festal to good use.  Any ideas, friends, please pass them my way!

No matter how you look at it, it's a beautiful thing.  Thank you, Aubrey and Jason.  Now my Christmas gift of Hy-Vee Mac 'n Cheese has some company from home in the cupboard.

Stay tuned to my foodie blog: www.feedingthelovelies.blogspot.com for the low-down, complete with a five pumpkin rating system.  Hahaha.  Happy Fall!