So big, already...

Sometimes you capture them looking the way they will when they are big - a good friend once took a photo of  Melva, and we all could see that it was a fleeting glimpse of the future. In this frame, I caught the baby in the boy that is now almost five.

I was trying on his new sweater, and he was being as compliant as he could be.

I think the yarn is itchy... 

See the pavers in the background?  They were left over after the owners of the house decided to extend the patio behind the house.  (It is always slightly unnerving when the house you lease is suddenly improved - are they planning on selling?  I do not really care, I just do not like not knowing.) Those paving stones have been rockets, mountains, battleships, airplanes ... and of course, towers.  They are the best toys we have had in a long time.  And they fit right in with our current theme for our back yard, along with the random pieces of driftwood and wooden palettes.

School has been good, we are sticking to the schedule, and I love the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum that we bought.

I have been buying more organic where I can, but I must say, many of the "healthy, natural recipes" are just the staples that I grew up with.  We are not really changing our diet that much, not because we do not want to, but because we have never been buying TV dinners.  I do not even think that I knew the phrase "from scratch" before moving here, but I may have just forgotten.  That is not because no one made anything from scratch, it is because we had no idea that there was another way to do it. I did make our own pizzas the other night (we usually buy pizzas, but my sister-in-law makes wonderful pizzas, as does my aunt); mine tasted suspiciously like bread with melted cheese on top.  I'll have to work on it.  The yogurt has been good, I have made a second batch, but I have also found a store that sells organic yogurt at 12c per ounce...  Not that much more than it costs me to make it myself.  I have mixed feeling about that.  I guess it is all about prioritizing.

I have been feeling energized and happy the last couple of weeks - could it be because somewhere it is almost spring?  I wonder if the Acacias are blooming yet, and if anyone notices.  Or is it because I know we will soon see our loved ones?  Either way, I am grateful for it.  The next thing I do might be to clean up the backyard!