happy birthday dad!

My mom and my sister did a switcheroo this week. Mom is in Montana with Mara and Sonna and Annika is back in Minnesota for a wedding. This meant that Dad got to celebrate his 67th birthday with his daughters and their babies. It was a sweet day of baby holding, Oprah viewing, blonde brownie eating and celebrating dad.

church garage sale

Just a heads up. This Thursday starting at 4:00, my home church, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran in Apple Valley is having their annual church garage sale. It is ENORMOUS and all money raised goes to children in need (a collection of various charities, I believe).

Check out the website for more information: SOTV homepage. I adore garage sales (already been to a dozen or so this spring) but this one is really something else- entire rooms of the church are designated for sporting equipment, baby items, furniture etc... It's something to behold!

neighbors

I think the very best part about all of our back yard projects has been reconnecting with our whole neighborhood. We live on a very friendly street- actually, alley and street. And the neighbors are so excited to see what we're up to. Rory, Ivar and I went for a walk a few nights ago and never made it out of the alley. We stopped and talked to seven houses.

Oprah's last Oprah

On Wednesday, Oprah will air her show finale and my sister just happens to be in town for a wedding. If there is one person I'd like to watch the finale with, it would be Annika. We used to watch a whole lot of Oprah together growing up. So I sent her this personal evite and we've got a viewing date.

I haven't watched Oprah in ages, but I have been tuning in these last final episodes. Something about it actually does feel sort of momentous. No matter what you think of her, the woman has had a whole lot on influence.

Art Day

I got the greatest invitation from a crafty friend of mine. She asked if I wanted to join her art club and described it as something similar to a book club, but instead of reading books they gather monthly and get creative. I actually squealed at the computer when I got this thoughtful, super-fun invitation. I missed my first month because Ivar had a fever, but I was able to go this past month and took my first stab at mosaic.

The morning was fantastic...full of good food, good conversation and the time and space to try something new. One person hosts each month and chooses the project, sends a link to what we're going to make as well as a supply list of what we should bring. In this case, we brought our own pot, tiles and hot glue gun, but she supplied the grout and sponges. I loved doing a new project group-style. It felt less intimidating to try something new this way.

And you know the very best part? I didn't have to come up with some excuse as to why I didn't finish the book...