Or what is on my phone right now.  Provides a decent snapshot of life this week. 

Orange love.  I was peeling absent mindedly while reading morning devotions.  When I stood up to clean up I saw this tiny heart. 

Abbie's new how-to-draw. 

Fluke snow.  It was all gone by the end of the day. 

Decided it was as good a time as any to tear through all the kitchen drawers and reorganize.

Spring picture books lately. 

My baby dog with his first grown up clipping. 

Dinner courtesy of the Six Sisters Stuff book we just got.  Fun!!  Don't let my pitiful phone snaps turn you off.  This book has been fun.  Chock full of homestyle food and crafts.  Above is the 7-Up Grilled chicken.   The chicken was so tender it cut with a fork. 

Six Sisters Root Beer Cookies with cheater frosting on my part.  We made the cookie dough as directed but Alannah had leftover white frosting so we just added some of the extract to that. 

It's been quiet over here because our days have been anything but that. We have been to four states in the past two months, Air Force groupies following Dad around the country. We have seen temperate rainforest and redrock high desert, crossed the snow-covered Great Divide, and visited tulip farms in bloom.  It has felt so good to get on the road again and learn about new and so very different places.  

 In between we have been working hard to finish the school year strong and planning our upcoming home improvement projects.  And reading, reading, reading. I hope to be able to sit and put a few thoughts to page.  Until then, you can catch glimpses of our coming and going on Facebook and Instagram. 

(image captured in eastern Oregon)

Old buildings always draw me in. The sun was heavy and low in a hazy sky when we ran across this forlorn place in Montana.  I was transfixed. So many, many thoughts about home and place and being and belonging have been running through my mind as we mark a year in our new place. How those words intersect and how they are separate all at once. 

How does that saying go?  

"Happiness is a road trip with a great playlist." 

We couldn't agree more. That's why if you're in our car for any length of time, sooner or later it's gonna look like this. 

Because what better frame of mind to begin the day with than a blanket cape and paper crown? 

Glimpses of a very happy Easter Sunday.  At different points this weekend I worried it was a bit of a lame Easter celebration (menu and activity wise) only to hear Brendan declare tonight it was the best Easter dinner we've ever made (doubtful, truly ; )) and the best candy and most fun hunt.  

It reminds me of what I said a few days ago to mom friends.  You don't need many crafts and traditions.  Just one or two - bunny pancakes are ours. Your kids are not on Pinterest.  They were perfectly happy writing on hard boiled eggs with crayons and dipping them into tacky dye from the grocery store checkout. They were quite satisfied with the simple baked ham sans fancy glaze and steamed green beans. They thought pressing peeps onto green frosted cupcakes was exceptionally creative. Process over product, right?  I'm still learning that lesson.

 It isn't the menu or the agenda.  It's just that we were all here together and relaxed.   It was enough.  

Just like it always is.  

"Everything we have done as a family during the forty days of Lent has led us to this day.  It is time for rejoicing! It is appropriate to bring out the very best of everything for the feast of Easter Day.  Flowers, china, the works. If you can, though, have food that doesn't take a lot of last minute preparation, so that instead of fretting too much in the kitchen, like Martha, you have time to rejoice with Jesus, like Mary." 

                                                    LENT AND EASTER A SOURCEBOOK FOR FAMILIES
                                                                Helen Hull Hitchcock

It's nearly here, the pinnacle of our liturgical year.  It has been a prayerful lenten season.  We have managed to read through three of the four gospels together in the evenings and now we are talking about the Passion. The crucifixes are draped in violet.  The easter outfits are coming together. Jelly beans and egg dye are waiting in the pantry so we can sit the yard Sunday afternoon and watch the children race around trying to fill their baskets. Ham is defrosting.

There are so many wonderful, crafty ideas online.  I think of them too late as a rule.  Perhaps tomorrow we will fit one in.  Or perhaps not.  That's ok too.  It's not about the crafts after all, nor the decorations, nor the eggs as much fun as all those things are.  It's about Heaven, the big stuff of salvation.  So it seems in our best interest not to lose our peace over any of the rest.  

Thrifted finds this year. 

There is no mandate that you must adore your child's inlaws, but let me tell you how wonderful it is when you do.  When I grabbed this towel for the 20th time this busy day, the towel sent by the other mother who loves my son these days, I stopped and remembered again how truly blessed we are.

No matter how tiny your children may be, don't forget to pray for their vocations and the people who will become their family someday. 

So.  Disclaimer ok?   90% of the time I'm a hard core, from-scratch, crunchy mama.  The other times it is a holiday, birthday, or bring-a-treat event and I pull the semi-homemade card.  The nice thing about this sort of compromise is that small people can follow the directions and work successfully on their own. Big morale and confidence builder.  That's exactly what we did today.  I knew we couldn't pull off a big project in between two weekends of travel but we wanted to do something fun.  Also, I have a huge aversion to throw away crafts and would rather they play with food instead.  Granted,  Twizzlers and Rolos probably stretch the definition some…

Pinterest for the win! 

#nailedit