Art you spend hours on then

give? away?

Why?

What’s the point?

I need a point.

Try it?

Why?

I might like it? Hah!

Fat chance of that but okay

just once … for you …

because you like it.

I think it’s silly

a waste of time ….

a …. a …. release …..

hmmm, nothing to do with

nothing but … fun …

a little (maybe a lot)

rewarding.

Okay ~ you got me.

This is my first attempt at an Artist Trading Card.  I printed two copies of the picture (taken many years ago in a college photography class), wove them together and modge podged the top after adding the words.

It’s not exactly what I envisioned but all in all, I was pleased. And the recipient seemed to like it well enough.

and a couple of splashes of this

Next you will need some whole milk but because you only have 2% you’ll substitute with this.

which you will totally justify because there was no fat in your yogurt.  So there.

Whisk all that with some sugar (which you’ve got in abundance) until it’s smooth then set it aside.

Now grab some frozen raspberries … and thaw them. (If that isn’t counter-intuitive I don’t know what is but the recipe said to and I *always* follow the recipe.  …. ahem.)

Of course you won’t have right amount of raspberries because at some unknown time the bag was opened and and handful or three escaped.  It’s okay.  Puree the heck out of what you’ve got and add a sprinkling of sugar and some water so your old blender doesn’t keel over from the strain.  Now set a sieve over your yogurt blend and pour the raspberry goo into it.  Using a rubber spatula work the mixture through the sieve and leave all those pesky seeds behind.  Probably all the nutrition is actually in the seeds but whatever.  Thoroughly mix the yogurt and raspberry together.

Finally, pour your concoction into one of these babies (and by “these” I mean this exact kind because it’s the best one ever.  No ice, no salt, no ice/salt mess.) and flip the switch.

In 20 to 30 minutes you’ll go from this:

to this:

And all will be right with the world.

So …. we’re at breakfast discussing the state of the union and solving all the worlds problems and generally having a great time carrying on an uninterrupted discussion when we get sidetracked by this:

First of all I’m unsure of the quality of gun classes given by a breakfast joint but wait there’s more ….

“All the coffee you can drink”?!  Because what we really need are a lot people hopped up on caffeine and carrying concealed weapons.

Uhm, ok … moving on….

Spring is coming (and if it’s not don’t tell me.  I like my deluded world.)  So after breakfast we went wandering through the landscaping section of Home Depot; making big plans and wishing it weren’t so cold.

A text from Aunt R. says “baby’s asleep. take your time.”  It’s a wonderment.  Little miss, “I never go to sleep unless someone (guess who that is) nurses me first.”  totally conks out for Aunt R.

Worry behind us we drive to the library to find some night time reading for Sister.  She’s reading every night now and likes to have books that are short enough to finish in an evening but long enough to make a good story.  Not as easy to find as you might imagine.  Even so, Will and I came home with several possibilities.  I love the library.  Also, on our way we saw these:

How random and fun was that?

Fast forward to today …..

Lovely weather, Dora outside stretching her legs,

lots of gardening discussion and landscaping discussion and the big project of determining our actual property line.

Tired babies,

hunting for crawdads

and this most awesome huevos ranchero recipe cooked by my wonderful hubby … He even cleaned up … mostly.

Unfortunately, this weekend had one inherent flaw.

The End.

Reach. Touch.

See Baby want.

Grasp. Drop.

See Baby hold.

Look. Look. See Baby.

See Baby strain.

Struggle. Cry.

See Baby turn.

Push. Stretch.

See Baby roll.

Look. Look. See Baby.

See Baby squirm.

Wriggle. Twist.

See Baby rock.

Move.  Fall.

See Baby crawl.

Look. Look. See Baby.

See Baby hope.

Know. Need.

See Baby sit.

Wobble. Stand.

See Baby grow.

“Yea!”, “I love scavenger hunts!”

“This is going to be a measuring scavenger hunt.  Okay?”

“Okay”, “Cool”

So I handed them a sheet with the following and gave a little basic instruction on what they were looking for.

FIND SOMETHING THAT IS:

1 - 3 INCHES _____________________

5 - 10 INCHES _____________________

10 - 15 INCHES _____________________

15 - 20 INCHES _____________________

20 - 30 INCHES _____________________

30 - 40 INCHES _____________________

40 - 50 INCHES _____________________

50 - 60 INCHES _____________________

She was to write in what they found and he was to take a picture.  They were over halfway finished and all was going well until he decided to be a typical boy and swing the camera like a lasso over his head and she decided to react like a typical big sister and tell him to stop.  It pretty much deteriorated from there.

Still, I maintain that in some ideal world this could work.

*updated to add a couple of pictures that survived the carnage

.

I think she was surprised by how much I truly enjoyed her attempt contempt.

No, we do not want store bought Valentine’s.  We want to make them.  Yes, all 41 of them.  Each.  (That’s 82, but who’s counting?)

And you know what?  They did. (Well, she did and he helped assemble the pieces that I had printed and cut out the night before while watching the season premiere of Lost.)

In other Valentine news there was no romantic date because Brother had an unfortunate ‘bout of “I don’t feel so good’s” just as we were getting ready to walk out the door. BUT Will did have this delivered:

It’s a replacement for the one he designed himself and purchased for my birthday after hearing a random comment I made about how much I love Amazon.com.  It’s a replacement for the one I adored but that got stained and would never come completely clean.  And this time around he included a bonus for Dora.

And one last bit of romance news.

Last night was not as restful as I’d have liked so this afternoon I lay down on the couch for a nap. Before I did I told Will I was debating whether to make cookies or take a nap but the nap was winning.  He laughed and woke me up an hour later with a glass of milk and a plate of warm cookies he’d made while I was sleeping.  So sweet.

[Insert picture of cookies here ]

You’ll have to use your imagination for this one. They disappeared too fast to be photographed.

In the midst of this commotion
Comes a balm, a magic potion
Seeping to my very core
Something that will peace restore
In chapter 3 of Lamentation
A promise that will end frustration
I have hope, I’m not consumed
The days loom large but I’m not doomed

With morning’s light hail mercies new
Compassions from my God debut
Faithful Father, One I need
Daily for Your help I plead
Please, this raging storm abate
Seeking you my soul doth wait.
Peace descends ~ still much to do
But now I know that I have You.

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”

Lamentations 3:21-25 (KJV)