Naturally Optimistic

By Dahlia. (the one on the left. Steve drew the 'base' for the one on the right & Dahlia made it looks "more like Daddy." The yellow spot above her head is the sun, the gray spot is a cloud.)

It was so beautiful yesterday. We spent a couple hours out in the front yard, soaking up the sun & weeding the flower beds.The kids loved it. August 'shared' his new gardening tools with his sister & they both dug in the dirt (& um, one of them ate some dirt....) It was also a fun day for bubbles as the wind picked up in the afternoon. Again August shared his new birthday bubbles with his big sister & they flew all over the yard, across the street, into the sky.It was a glorious, beautiful day. I am so looking forward to more like it. Sadly today is overcast & rain is threatening so...our plans of planting flowers may have to be on hold. Mostly I'm excited that this summer both kids will be old enough to really enjoy being outside. And because August is so close to walking, his poor little knees won't take such a beating. Regardless, this summer promises to hold more fun that last summer - the summer of no sleep & a colicky baby. Bring ...

Finally a few nice days of spring-like weather in a row. I'm in heaven. I've been taking the kids for walks each day, getting outside as much as possible. And I'm having oh so much fun with the new camera.

Dahlia loves to go outside on these beautiful spring days and color the sidewalks with chalk. She got a huge box of new ones for her birthday (December, we've been waiting to use them!). They're so fun because there are so many colors. I probably have as much fun, if not more, than she does. And August likes to eat the chalk. Oy vey. She calls it "chalking" & I love that. We are going to go chalking after she gets up from her nap. :) Yay spring!

This was the sight on Monday morning - rain & ice and more rain & ice and yet MORE rain & ice. We have a small (large?) pond by our backdoor. The sump pump (portable, borrowed) was running like crazy trying to keep water from spilling in through our backdoor! Not much we can do about the leakage into the basement for now but at least we're not floating yet!! More....to come...

So the storm came. It's WINDY and snowy but not as snowy as I thought it would be. Most things are closed today - schools, clinic, banks, some businesses, etc. The plow has come by the front of the house (twice) but not the alley or the avenue so it's a bit tricky to maneuver anyway. We're pretty much staying put today. In fact Dahlia's going to have a Pajama Day and I'm not going to bother dressing her at all! The snow is wet & heavy but it's warm out so things are melting pretty quickly. We're supposed to continue to get snow and have strong winds through tomorrow morning and then it should really warm up and melt! Jason has no electricity at his apt and is bored out of his skull. Steve's dad also doesn't have power (or heat) so they're a bit miserable. We're snug as bugs in a rug though so I can't complain.

...this blizzard becomes as big of a deal as they're advertising (I'm skeptical because they're usually WRONG about weather 'round these parts).... So - I picked up a gallon of milk & OJ (we're almost out), some lunchmeat and a bag of Doritos....in case we're snowed in. Two new flicks from NetFlix await our viewing pleasure and the babe is stocked up on formula & diapers. Bring it on. That being said - I would rather we have a blizzard that consisted of 60 degrees and not 60 mile an hour winds.

I took Dahlia on the Lakewalk for the first time yesterday. It was such a beautiful day and we had been in the office all day and decided it was a good time to get out. I work very close to the Lakewalk and enjoy walking there. With the stroller it's not problem. Everything is accessible which is very nice. Of course it would've been nice if they had SHOVELED the ramp leading from the "Park Place" Park (is that what it's called? Lake Place? I can't remember) to the actual lakewalk...the STAIRS were cleared. IT seems to me it would make more sense to clear the path that EVERYONE can use....Of course the top of the ramp (it zig zags back & forth) was clear but about 1/2 way down....it was LOADED with snow. I half dragged, half carried the stroller through - only to encounter more snow later. I was stuck. Half way up half way down. Ugh. It was like taking the baby off road. It sucked. And I am sure I looked like a jack ass along the way. Ah well, Dahlia slept...

But it's all sticky & wet and supposed to be around 40 here today by this afternoon so....I guess I'll have to live with it. I'm just SO OVER winter already. Sheesh.

Another weekend's come and gone. Why oh why must they do that so quickly? Friday I took the day "off" so I could stay home and clean prior to my parents arrival on Saturday. I cleaned all day on Friday and it felt really good. I love having a tidy & clean house! I even line dried our sheets which is oh so heavenly. Friday night we went to Steve's brother's apt for fondue with a couple other people. The menu was chicken, beef, green beans & broccoli. Um, it wasn't that "varied" of a menu but it was okay. I went home after that while Steve went to a "Guitar Hero" party. Saturday we finished up the last of our cleaning (scrubbed the kitchen floor, vacuumed stairs) and then my parents arrived. We showed off our "new" floors (my Mom hadn't been up since the wedding so hadn't seen our new floors in person), our new dining set & buffet, new chandelier & new bathroom floor. And our wedding album. It was fun to hav...

To celebrate Earth Day last Saturday, I had intended on participating in the city's "Clean & Green" program with Miss M (my mentee). Saturday rolled around, however, and we found ourselves to be deluged in April Showers. And very cool temps. So instead of chucking the whole idea out the window, I enlisted Miss M to help me start my seeds...which we did inside. We planted peppers, mini-pumpkins, spearmint, rosemary, marigolds, ornamental grass and two kinds of sunflowers. The most fun, however, was digging in the dirt. At first I thought Miss M was going to chicken out and use the little shovel the whole time...but I didn't push her and as I got my hands dirty - slowly but surely - so did she! By the end of our planting session she said "I just LOVE digging in the dirt." I'm hoping this leads to more joint gardening projects this summer. I am looking forward to tending to this plants with her and watching our hard work produce some great results! Righ...

I spent most of the weekend in Willmar, MN filming a wedding for a friend but yesterday after I returned to Duluth, I was able to enjoy a lovely spring bike ride with my newly shaven husband! Rest break on the Munger Trail just south of Duluth. Our new matching bikes! (Yes, it feels like kissing someone else. Weird!!!)