Good Reads

I go in spurts with my reading. I wish I could be more disciplined about picking up a book but a book either takes me 6 months to read or 6 hours. When I get hooked, I'm hooked. 

Mary let me borrow this book and I loved it! It's by Lady Astor's personal maid. Very interesting and I learned many tidbits about this family that I did not know. I love this kind of writing, it's like you are getting to peek behind the scenes. 

This was a 6 hour book. I cannot even tell you how it grabbed me. Like I was reading on my phone while cooking dinner and stayed up way too late to finish it because I could not look away. The fact that the story is based on real life events is shocking and fascinating and just well, a little insane. I really really enjoyed this book.

If you need me, I'll be off reading everything Diane Chamberlain has ever written.

Spring has Sprung!

We think we are finally out of the danger of the weather killing flowers, so this past Saturday we finally got to work on our yard! Scott and the kids measured and planned, then got to work. 

Nate was a big help and there was talk of him taking over mowing the yard this summer. Yikes! I'm not sure I'm ready for that. 

The hostas in the picture above are massive. They seem to grow bigger every year. When we moved to this house, all of the hostas were in the back yard by the fence. We moved them up to the front beds when we took out the shrubs a few years ago and they have really taken off! I love that we were able to shop our own yard when it came to landscaping these two areas!

Spring has definitely sprung and we love it!

Spring Hike at Babler

Nate has swim team on Saturday mornings and it is at the pool that is the furthest away from our house. Lila and I have been taking him on the weekends that Scott is working and we enjoy our time at Panera while he swims. Since we were already out that way, I decided we would go on a hike at Babler State Park after practice. It is so pretty there. We had done a hike there in the fall and I knew I wanted to come back in the spring. 

Setting off on the Woodbine Trail!

It was such a pretty walk, so many flowers and trees in bloom.

My boy. Who is going to be taller than me like next week.

He was stopping to smell the flowers, doesn't get much better than that!

I thought these tall trees in a line were interesting. Lila looks so small! I wonder if they were planted there like that and for what reason?

We hiked as long as they could then went back to the trail head to play on the playground and eat our lunch. Lila wanted to sit by this tree. There is a perfectly good picnic table right next to the tree. Go figure. So Nate and I joined her for a authentic picnic on the ground.

Good times at Babler! I wish it was a little bit closer to us, but it is fun to get out there in the country and really soak up spring!

My Helper

Lila has recently taken an interest in helping me around the house. Let me just say after I got over my obsessive compulsive tendencies for everything to be perfect, it is a downright gift. She is a happy worker and I am so thankful for her helpful heart. 

When we were at Sam A. Baker a few weeks ago, Sarah grated cheese using a cheese grater. Lila was in awe. She turned to me and said, "Do WE have one of THOSE?" I told her we did, but that I rarely had a reason to use it. I remembered when I was growing up my job on Taco night was to grate the cheese. I enjoyed it. So I told her next time we had tacos, she could grate the cheese. Of course we had to do that as soon as we got home. She liked grating the cheese but quickly told me that Sarah's grater was fancier than mine. Ha! I used to grate cheese all the time years ago instead of buying the pre-grated bags. After doing it this time, I decided I wanted to start grating my own cheese again. I know it's healthier and it just tastes better. 

One day when Lila was home, I was folding laundry and she asked if she could help. Now for those of you that know me well, you know that I love me some laundry. And I'm pretty protective of it. So my kids live in one of those lucky houses where the mother has trouble giving up control of the laundry. Score for them.

I told her that I was so thankful she had asked to help, but that we would find something else for her to do. I needed to empty the dishwasher so I set her to work doing that. She emptied every dish, fork, spoon and cup. And dried the stuff that needed drying. And put it all away. If she couldn't reach the place where it went, she left it on the counter. It was blissful. Truly.

My happy helper!

Go Cardinals!

This is how we feel that baseball is back...

We are pretty excited. I mean the Cardinals left something to be desired during their opening series against the Pirates. 

But we are still super excited that baseball is back in the STL.  

All is right in the world again. 

Go Cardinals! 

Sam A. Baker 2016

This past weekend was what we've termed "The Best Saturday of the Year." It was true to the name and was a fabulous weekend! We got there early because the kids did not have school on Friday. Again. Truly I feel like they've been out more Fridays than they've been at school since January! We quickly set off on an adventure with Wayne on the Ranger. 

The kids simply cannot stay out of the creek. And who can blame them??

It is such a beautiful part of the country and even though I would not call myself an outdoorsy girl, running water on a sunny day gets me every time!

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures after Friday afternoon! Mostly because I'm not brave enough to bring my camera or my phone when we go canoeing on Saturday. It was a very fun day though! It was only about 60 degrees and the wind could make it cold at times, but it was a great trip.

We missed some of our trip regulars this time and will be glad when they are back next year! We did enjoy having Laura, Cade and their boys this year. Laura and I grew up doing these trips with our families so it was nostalgic for both of us!

35 years in the books for this April trip to Sam A. Baker. Here's to 35 more!

Put Away Your Shoes

A few months ago when Scott & I were in IKEA, we saw this storage bin. It was shown with shoes in it on the display. I loved the idea of it but had to think on it to determine if I I had a place to put it in our house. Well last week, I got really tired of looking at the shoes that were on a shoe rack in this corner. So I asked Scott if he would make a trip to IKEA to obtain one of the bins. 

I love how it looks so clean when it is closed up. And then you open it and you have shoes! It's even big enough for rain boots.

Best IKEA purchase to date. The set came with 3 bins so we are going to put the third one in the basement. I absolutely love not having to look at shoes!

Special Visitor

Last weekend, we had a very special visitor! Ben had to be in St. Louis for a meeting so he stayed with us for a few days. We all enjoyed the visit and felt a little closer to Emily and the girls too just by having him here! Lila asked when he left, "Why did he have to leave so soon?" We are looking forward to seeing them this summer! 

Ben took off on Saturday to do some non-kid activities, which is totally what I'd be doing if I had some free time! So Lila and I took Nate to swim team and had a snack at Panera while he was there. 

That afternoon Lila wanted to bake, so we made some cookies before Scott got home and we grilled out.

After dinner, Scott & Ben took up residence in the living room to do their fantasy baseball draft. Ben runs the league so it was nice that they were able to be together for the draft!

Remembering Miss Mamie

Last week, Lila was able to attend a special activity to honor her teacher that passed away late last year, Miss Mamie. A parent who is also a counselor and art therapist volunteered to lead this activity so that the kids that were closest to her had a way to honor her in a special way. 

She read them "The Kiss Box" and then they got to make their own kiss boxes. What a wonderful book! We had not read it before but I'll be purchasing it for our collection soon. 

www.amazon.com

They also decorated a wood circle (wish I had taken more pictures!) that were placed in a shadow box. The circles were a reflection of each child's memory of Mamie and were so very sweet. This large "kiss box" was delivered to Mamie's family.

We feel so grateful to have known Mamie and are thankful to live in a community where parents take the time to share their talents with our kids!

Easter 2016

We got home just in time for Easter! Honestly, we were all running on fumes but the spirit of the day carried us. Lila was ready for some eggs! 

We joke with Scott that he's almost always the last out the door, but it's true 98% of the time. So on this day, we took some pictures to pass the time. 

We got to the church before they started hunting eggs. I was sweatin it, but our church runs on easy time, so we were in the clear.

Lila and her best friend...they are in the same class at school and can hardly bear to go more than a few days without seeing each other. I'm thankful for their sweet friendship.

Egg hunt begins!

Nate was quickly off with his friends.

Lila cannot help herself. Truly. She was very excited to finally hunt some eggs!

After all the eggs are collected, they all count their baskets. Then they dump all the eggs in the middle of the floor and each child gets to take home the same amount. We're all about equal opportunity egg hunts!

My sweet Easter blessings...love them to pieces.

We came home and relaxed before having Easter dinner. Then it was early to bed to get ready for back to school!