this and that: tiny stories to share

+Ivar loves it when we're driving and we see "a truck with a little hat on it!" We've got a Napa Auto Parts nearby and so we see those trucks with little hats a lot. Above is Ivar's attempt at putting a little hat on his own truck.

+When we put Ivar to sleep we sing him two songs. The song choices are varied: Country Roads, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Jesus Loves Me, Love Him in the Morning, Leaving on a Jet Plane. Come to think of it, it's a pretty equal mix of Jesus and John Denver. Anyway, the current favorites are Love, Love, Love...that's what it's all about and a Rory-original called Ivarwiess (a remake of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, Edelweiss) Rory sings: Ivarwiess, Ivarwiess, every morning you greet me. Small and white, clear and bright, you look happy to meet me...

+Here's a picture of the Brussels sprouts I enjoy a few times a week. I wrote a loosey goosey version of the recipe here. Usually I use deli ham and string cheese, but bacon makes everything better. It's a pretty picture isn't it?

+If you ever want to get Rory all riled up, talk to him about the current state of... ice cream. Something is happening in that industry so that it is nearly all reduced fat or whipped. Rory wants full fat, creamy, ice cream. But ice cream makers everywhere seem to be lessening the cream in their recipes and Rory is not fooled.

+At farm class the other night they brought in baby goats that were four days old.  The presenter passed around her own home made goat cheese and then I got to hold one. Suddenly goats have been added to the list of: one day at the Grovestead.

+In the meantime, we will just have to enjoy our neighbor's adorable puppy. Bandit is a new favorite friend around here and has even made it into the bedtime prayers line up. I'm sure Bandit appreciates the prayers.

+For my very first time ever, today I used the drive thru pharmacy at Walgreens. As I sat in my car I thought, wow, this is so handy and wondered why I've never utilized this service before. I think I'm like a decade behind.

I love this picture of Elsie with her Mimi and Papa on Easter Sunday. Mimi and Papa took care of our kids this weekend and it was awesome. I feel like I got some motherhood mojo back. And Ivar cannot stop talking about his time at Mimi and Papa's and how he got to play with Papa's trucks.

Donald Miller has been posting all sorts of good stuff lately. I enjoy his writing so much. I just started Storyline and I can't wait to work through this workbook.

At the beginning of this month we got in a few visits with the Groves cousins It was wonderful and it made me so sad that we no longer get to see them every single Sunday morning at church. Moving away from that consistent family together time was a real loss for me and for my kids. 

Our little fluffy chicks are getting bigger and bigger. At some point in the near future I believe we will have to start calling them chickens. Just look at Hambugerpoopedonthecarpet!

We have had three or four Sugar Snows. When we decided to tap our trees this winter we thought it would be a fun thing to try. But since this season is one for the record books, we have turned into a full-on maple syrup operation. At the moment we have over 80 more gallons of sap waiting to be evaporated. And every bag hanging on every tree is overflowing. Rory is out by the fire right at this moment. And will be for a few days...

And finally, Ivar is really into deciding who is who in each of his books. He'll point to the people and tell me "there's Ivar, and there's baby elsie, and there's mama and there's daddo!" This line up made me laugh out loud. That's Baby Elsie with the black and blue pony tail. Ivar is Elmo, I'm the teacher and Daddo is that purple monster muppet in front. I double checked to be sure he didn't mean the blue faced preppy guy next to the purple monster, but no, Ivar was sure, that purple one with the healthy sized eye brows is Daddo.