Grass!

If you can't tell, that is our grass coming up. The picture is already a week old though! I am slow with blogging. Here's Grant modeling a pair of sunglasses I got for my birthday last week. By the way, thank you to all my family and friends for making it a wonderful day!
This pretty pot is from my mother-in-law. Grant loves it and I have a hard time keeping his hands out of it. I also got a porch swing from my parents and siblings, which I LOVE. It is so relaxing to sit there in the evenings and listen to the sprinklers and watch the sun set. Grant had a great time with the tissue paper. His face cracks me up!



Tyson got me a NetFlix subscription. So far we've enjoyed The Bucket List, and No Reservations is on its way. Any movie suggestions?

While I fix my hair...

Anne Shirley

I love Anne's character. Here's a great quote from Anne of Avonlea: "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." First of all, that last phrase is lovely with the alliteration. And second, isn't that true? Yesterday was a great day. Nothing fabulous happened, but sometimes after a bad day, the next day seems beautiful no matter what. Grant was such a sweet boy. He took an extra long nap so I was able to get lots of cleaning done. The feeling of a clean house is wonderful! Our grass started to come up. Tyson called it "green whiskers." That's pretty much what it looks like! It was overcast and cool and the sky was a dark blue. And I could smell rain. Ahhhhhhh. It was just a nice day.
Today Grant and I were eating grapes. He just learned how to put things in other people's mouths. I would give him one and then he would give me one. Little moments like that are so precious!

Reading

I haven't put much on the blog for awhile, because I don't have much to blog about. If I was witty and clever like some of my friends, I might have been able to come up with something. But, I'm not. So... I started reading one of my textbooks from college about children's literature which led me to the local library to check out lots of books: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Anne of Green Gables, The Westing Game, Hope was Here, My Louisiana Sky, and a couple of biographies by Russell Freedman. (Along with a Baby Einstein for Grant.) All excellent books, I might add. It's funny, I am good at procrastinating. When we had cable, I would put things off to watch a tv show. Then it was blogging. Lately it's been reading. I'm working on self-mastery, but I think it's a lifelong quest. Sigh.

Happy Independence Day!

We had a fabulous holiday yesterday! I love the things this city provides for people to enjoy. The parade was great! We got to sit by lots of family, Parkers and Crandalls. We followed up with a couple of barbecues, which meant good company and good food. We watched the fireworks from our house this year, which meant I could hear the music much better. It was inspiring! Although it's not quite the same as being at the river, it was still spectacular. I read about the Declaration of Independence and bios on a few of the men who signed. I was reminded of the caliber of those people who were willing to give up everything for our country to be free! And those men were definitely inspired by the Spirit. Yesterday made me grateful for our country and grateful for my religion.

Energy-saving, Money-saving

I wish I could say I am trying to conserve energy to save the earth. But really, it's to save money. Power bills are about to go up. So I have been reading about tips to save power. Here are four that I am going to try this month:
- wash clothes in cold water
- dry clothes on a drying rack (at least some of them)
- use a power strip for the entertainment center
- allow dishes to air dry in the dishwasher
We still have the energy-sucking incandescent light bulbs, but we have at least entertained the idea of upgrading to fluorescent. Someday. It's a big investment. But our city has recently provided a way to dispose of the fluorescent bulbs. I guess we'll think on that. I'll let you know if I am saving money. Any other tips?