Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Nice Picnic

Leah & Shona, Mercy & Olivia, Sarah, and the boys & I got together for a little picnic the other day. It was pouring rain and a little chilly, but we ate under a shelter/pavilion thing and enjoyed ourselves anyway. Olivia and Shona were looking really cute and snuggly bundled into their little blankets.

Shona just lights up when you talk to her.


I can't decide if Olivia is really, really calm, or really, really, intense.


In other news, I made refried beans with dry pinto beans that Mom says were at least ten years old [EDIT: Make that SIXTEEN years old]. And they turned out just fine. I guess dry beans really do keep forever. I soaked them with baking soda first, maybe that was the key (3/8 tsp. baking soda per cup of dry beans).

Friday, September 11, 2009

Happy Birthday, Caleb



Happy (belated) birthday, little brother!

Edit: Here's another one for ya.

Friday, September 4, 2009

So I opened an Etsy shop...

Etsy is a site to buy and sell handmade and/or "vintage" items. I opened a shop to sell some century-old postcards, part of a collection that had once belonged to a distant relative. Check it out:

www.thoughtfuloldrose.etsy.com

Eventually I'll be selling some handmade bags and other handmade odds and ends via Etsy, so this vintage shop is sort of a practice run, if you will. I'll post again when I open that second shop.

So what are you doing this morning? We're going to the library and the park--an exciting morning for the little ones! And later, during Noah's nap, I will head out again to (hopefully) find a new pair of running shoes, as the pair I have has about had it with these country roads.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

On the back patio this morning...

Tucked into the corner right up against the back door, Ben found this critter:

I know it's fuzzy, but do you see the red markings on its abdomen? That's right, it's a black widow, a big fat mama black widow. She was surrounded with little babies, too, and a few egg cases. *shudder*

She was dispatched thanks to half a can of bug poison, sprayed liberally about (by Ben, I wouldn't be so brave).

Once deceased, she served as the subject of the following photo: