a super successful adult birthday

I have written before of how I've had trouble making the adjustment to adult birthdays. How I still have incredibly high expectations for my special day each year, even though I'm no longer a kid.

Well. I just turned another year older, and here at the start of my thirty fifth year of life, I believe I am beginning to grow in wisdom. Because I nailed it this year. All of my expectations were met because I met my own expectations! The success of this birthday began early in the week when I ordered my own birthday presents. And the presents I chose were all toys that the kids would love. Ivar has been wanting smoker jumpers for his fire and rescue airplane and has been making a case for why these would be great things for me to get for my birthday. He was convincing and in the end, I actually did want these smoke jumpers because I knew he would be so enthused. And then I got myself a play parachute. It's always been a dream of mine, and now I have one which means play dates are going to rock at this house.

The night before my birthday I cleaned the kitchen, baked muffins for the morning, put out a cloth table cloth, hung my own pennants, wrapped my own presents, got the birthday plate out and set the stage for a fun birthday morning. You might read all of that and think it's sort of sad. But it wasn't! I wanted all of that for my birthday and I have let Rory off the hook for my birthday expectations. I actually took great joy in setting the table for my own party.

But before we had our family party, I met girlfriends at our local breakfast place that serves $5 breakfasts. I organized this myself too and it was such a great way to start the day. I'm hopeful this becomes a birthday tradition for all of my friends in this town! We stayed for an hour and then all returned to our homes, where I found my family just starting to stir. Ivar was the only one up and was so excited to begin the day...or more accurately, to open my presents. He was pretty certain I was going to get some smoke jumpers...

Ivar and I waited for the others and read my Bible together. We turned right to Ephesians and read, "Wake up oh sleeper! The light of Jesus shines upon you!" And Ivar thought that was so awesome, because we had sleepers in the house that needed to wake up before we could open his my presents. 

Then we read about how children should honor their mom and dad so that it may go well with them. And then we read about putting on the full armor of God, which he was thrilled to see was in my Bible too, because he had already learned about the armor at kid's church. We put on each piece of the armor and prayed for our day at Lego Land, that we would be a light and shine bright.

Finally the rest of our family woke up and we met everyone at the kitchen table for blueberry muffins and presents. I got to open my parachute and Elsie and Ivar got to open the smoke jumpers. It was all very exciting.

It was 9:00 and already this day was a success. But then we got everyone dressed and loaded up the car to head to A Mall of Themerica...

(I was going to make this a two-part blog, but I'm just going to plow through...)

Elsie picked out her own beautiful outfit for our special trip to the Mall and she was disappointed that I wasn't going to wear a dress for our special outing. It has been a while since we've been to the mall, and I felt like a tourist. We only went to the fun places, and man we had fun. Lego Land was the top priority, followed by the Disney Store. Legos and Princesses. That sort of sums up my kids these days.

Elsie was spellbound by all of the princess dresses and accessories. That store felt so much like Disney World...the smell was the same, the music, the lights, the happy workers.

This was Hattie's first time in the stroller. Which is crazy, but she was born in October and we haven't been anywhere that has required a stroller since. We ran from the car into the mall and she was smiling so huge the whole time. Her eyes were set on mine, trying to figure out how she was gliding along so smoothly. It was awesome and hilarious. And she was incredible the entire day. She napped and smiled and was happy to be taking in the mall. This was when we were in Barnes and Nobel eating birthday dippin' dots.

We ate at the food court and watched the roller coasters, went to the American Girl doll store, watched the fun at Build a Bear Workshop and decided to call it a day. It was so fun and the perfect way to spend a birthday, doing things my family all loves (and Rory was a good sport to even be at the Mall of America...not his first pick!)

So that's the story of my successful birthday. The bottom line: plan it yourself, but plan it for the one's you're with, plan it so it's fun and special and plan it so that it is certain to be a very happy birthday. Here's to 35!

we love board games!

Have I ever told you that Rory loves to create board games? I just went through my pictures and found just a sampling of the games he has created throughout our marriage. There were pictures of us playing a card game he created with our own set of playing cards made out of index cards and taped icons on each one. That was back when we lived in Nebraska. Then he created another game called Sojourners that we played a lot.

Most of the games he has created have been tested on our nieces and nephews. I imagine it has become a bit expected by our family that Rory will want to test out a new version of his latest game. It's so fun and creative, and they always offer back awesome, helpful feedback.

Four years ago we went to learn about tree tapping at Murphy's Landing, and on the drive home we brainstormed what a board game could be like that centers on tapping maple trees. We loved the idea and Rory went home and drew up the first version of Sugar Maple. This week we got a package in the mail...his first printed game. He created every playing card, token and even the box cover. He created many of the graphics himself and designed the entire game board from scratch using photoshop. I am so proud of this one. Because the game is gorgeous. But not only is it really nicely designed, it is also super fun to play. At the moment I am working on an educators guide that would be included with each game so that a teacher could use this game as a part of a unit on tapping trees for maple syrup. Our imagination is flying with more games with this same vision. Our name is Grovestead Games and the tagline is: Always Educational. Oh, I love it so much! 

Rory wrote about Sugar Maple over on his blog, with pictures of the final design. It was so exciting when that box was delivered. We opened it up and played the game right away. And this game is awesome. It's the right pace, there is strategy but we had no idea who was going to win. Elsie and Ivar could play easily with our assistance to help with the math. It's so fun. And fun to see a vision become something so finished. Hooray for Sugar Maple!

still tuckered, part 2

I woke up this morning to my mom calling. I knew right then that maybe my blog post yesterday was a little melodramatic. She was calling to check on me and find out why I am so tired.

We haven't really adjusted to daylight savings at this house. Everyone just goes to bed an hour later, or later than that actually. And Rory and I are sucked into a Masterpiece Classic called Poldark. Have you watched this yet? Every episode can span the time of a year, which means the pace of the show is fast and the story is always moving. We are plowing through the first season and going to bed later and later. But then Hattie is still waking up to be fed, and she's ready to start her day even if the rest of us are definitely not.

A funny thing happened today, though. Hattie took two very long naps. And Ivar and Elsie have played together nicely all day long. I have accomplished so much, and for all the frustration I felt the last two days for not getting anything done, today has been downright productive. Which makes me believe even more that on the days when it seems I can't get anything done, it really would be best to just stop trying.  Because a productive day will come, maybe even the very next one.

But I'm glad I wrote all of that yesterday because it still stands true. When I was writing it I was wondering if I was risking sounding like a melancholy downer. But I hope when my girls read my blog one day, they have an honest view of the absolute joy and happiness I feel in being a mom, as well as the exhaustion and character that comes from serving my family in this role.

Later this morning my mother-in-law sent me a recent blog post by Ann Voskamp. I read it and enjoyed every single word. So I'll leave you now to click on over and read it for yourself. You'll be glad you did.

tuckered out

Grandpa Paul sent these bull hats for the kids and they loved them. :) 

Rory spent the weekend sitting next to the evaporator, boiling down the maple sap into syrup. Truth-be-told, we were not quite ready for the weather to get warm this fast. Now hear me, the weather has been awesome. But tree tapping caught us by surprise, and suddenly we are gearing up for the whole hobby farming season to begin. I was so ready for winter to come back in October so we could rest after doing so much last spring, summer and fall. And now the winter has ended and I don't feel rested yet to start it up again! I got my hair cut today and my hair lady kept asking me questions and I realized I had answered a lot of them with some variation on, "I'm just so tired..." 

Which is saying something because I've been eating right, getting outside, taking my vitamins, drinking water and drinking tea instead of caffeine. But sleep has been a problem lately, and therefore I am tuckered.

The other thing is that I've been battling that part of me that wants to be productive every day. But some days are completely reactionary when you're home with your kids. I tried so hard to get a few things done yesterday, but they didn't get done. Some days (lots of days) that's just how it goes. I am trying to grade myself on the Panera Plan again. And trying to relax my own agenda to make lots of room for kids that love books read to them, ask for snacks all day long, get hurt and need band-aids and hugs, need to know how to spell new words, can't find the tape to hang their artwork, and a baby who needs her diaper changed, belly filled, and who likes to be held upright all day long to see all that is happening. It fills a day, it does. And I am grateful for this sweet season, so I'll just head for bed now and hope to be more chipper tomorrow...

it should be a holiday

It's becoming my very favorite day of the year. But it's on a different day every year. And I never seem to see it coming. Also it wouldn't be the same day for every mom in Minnesota, based on their personal calendar. But Tuesday was my day. Yours might be this Saturday.

There is nothing like the first day that the weather is warm enough to be able to mother outside. It's just my favorite day. And I forget what it feels like throughout the winter.

But Tuesday was my day. I cleaned out the garage, which is basically one of my top five favorite things to do on planet earth. I love cleaning out the garage, organizing the shelves, sweeping it out. (This might be genetic, as my dad is a joyful garage cleaner too...) I cleaned the garage while Ivar and Elsie drew with sidewalk chalk, brought toys back out to the rock box, found jump ropes and balls that had been put away all winter. They were busy keeping themselves busy.

Oh it's such a fun day. A little foretaste of the summer days to come. And then today we had our first picnic on the back stoop. Elsie commented that she likes eating her food outside and I told her that food tastes better outside. It's a mystery of the universe, but it is true. Ivar thought about it for a moment while he chewed his grilled cheese and confirmed, "it really is true!"

an art auction

After Ivar drew all the pictures of our farm in the summertime he drew a picture of Troy and Sara's family. And I told him he should draw a family portrait of every family in the Groves clan and have an Art Show where they could buy a work of art for $1. So we set it up in his room, with a post it note for a dollar on each portrait. 

But then Aunt Sara suggested we turn this art show into an art auction. Ivar didn't quite understand what that meant, but as he watched the bidding from his top bunk he started to catch on. The first piece to be auctioned off was the drawing of Mimi and Papa. Ivar's big cousins kept raising the price by twenty-five cents and Papa kept up. Finally at "five dollars!" Rory called the bidding and Papa got his drawing.

Uncle Kyle bought the picture of Ivar and Oma Zina for three dollars. Oma Zina was downstairs because our steps are so steep. Josie won the picture of her family and Toby bid all the way to five dollars for the picture of his family, which included his dad dressed as a bunny and their new puppy, Meg.

 Ivar was thrilled and quite encouraged as an artist.

We went and had cake and coffee, and finally sweet Harriet woke up from her after church nap, just in time for a snuggle from Toby.

Hattie's Dedication

We dedicated Harriet to the Lord today in the presence of our church family. Our pastor explained how baby dedication comes from Hannah, the woman in the Bible who could not conceive a child for years over years, and wept to the Lord that if He gave her a baby she would 'give him to the Lord.' God is faithful and Hannah does conceive and has a little baby boy. And when her baby Samuel is weaned, she fulfills her part of the promise as well, and dedicates him to the Lord...and actually gives him to be raised in the temple. 

Harriet's dedication was similar as we made promises to raise her with the same teachings: to know her Creator, to love her Savior, to come to love the scriptures, and to recognize her gifts in the Holy Spirit. Then the congregation promised to help train her in the ways she should go and to keep our family lifted up in prayer. 

We had the Groves family up with us and it was a sweet visual of all of the love and support this little baby has right in her own family. Just as she was surrounded by family at her baptism. I've said it before, but somewhere, generations before me there was a family that decided to repent of their sins and turn their hearts to Jesus. They started living by faith and not by fear, and listening to God's voice. I don't know who that family was. We only know of Christian ancestors all the way back to Sweden. But whoever they are, they are on my short list of "find first in heaven." Because the legacy they have left...the life they have left their descendants is the real thing and I can't wait to thank them for planting the seed of faith in our family. No joy can top the joy we felt this morning. My heart felt so full and my soul so satisfied. God is good. And that sounds like a cliche until you really know his goodness and then those words ring true right into your core and his love flows through your blood and his Holy Spirit pours out of your every breath. I would wish this hope that I have for every person on the planet. 

Pastor Brent prayed over Hattie, Papa prayed for her, and I read Psalm 91, the Psalm we have nicknamed "Hattie's Psalm," because it has become the promise we have clung to since she was only 5 months in my womb. Then Rory prayed, our friend Danny spoke a powerful prophecy over her life, Max prayed a mighty prayer and Jen spoke a word by calling Hattie's spirit to attention. And when she did, Harriet sat up straight and smiled a huge smile right at her. She listened to each word Jen spoke and confirmed every sentence with a smile so huge we were all captivated. She was receiving those words with joy. It was a joyful morning, full of promises and thanksgivings.

"Because she loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue her;

I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name.

She will call on me, and I will answer her;

I will be with her in trouble,

I will deliver her and honor her.

With long life I will satisfy her;

and show her my salvation."

Psalm 91: 14-16

off to make-believe Mesa

Ivar and Elsie came down in their swim suits with their suitcases packed and announced that they are "going to Mesa!" They flew on the colorful couch to get there and when they arrived, Ivar pulled a swimming pool out of his suitcase, much like a Mary Poppins bag. He spread out blue towels and then brown towels for the sand. And my heart swelled with pride. This kid has a sweet imagination. And then Elsie declared that the blue blanket that was in the sun was the hot tub. She's a genius!

Hattie was the life guard and made sure everyone stayed safe in the water.

Ivar Art

Ivar spent the whole day working on drawings. All morning he was drawing pictures, "either from last summer or this next one" as he told me. He drew pictures of flying kites in the apple orchard, Rory mowing the "super long grass," a picture of our house and jeep and the garden. He told me of this garden picture that "Dad is picking carrots, those are the wood chips and those are your zinnias, and that's the garden (raised bed) that just had weeds in it." He's got an eye for detail.

This one was hard to photograph because he taped it to the ceiling above his bunk bed before I could get a good shot, but that's the barn with a goat in our goat pens, Rory driving the tractor and Ivar standing on "that part of the steps where the steps turn and go up higher. I'm watching Dad from up there." His artwork delights me to no end.

tea time

In 2005, my sister-in-law Lisa gave me a jar of Aveda Loose Tea. If you've ever had that tea, you know it is amazing and definitely adds to the whole haircut experience. That gift made for a lovely year of cozy drinks.

But it turns out, like a good haircut, that tea was expensive. So when my friend Annie posted on her blog that she had read the ingredients in the Aveda Tea and went to search for its knock-off, I was thrilled. Thank you Annie for being so diligent. She found it! And it's called Yogi Egyptian Licorice Mint Tea. However, it isn't at any of my local stores and apparently she has only been able to find it on Amazon (linked above). But I found something really close at Cub Foods, just without the mint and, as it turns out, I LOVE the stuff without the mint too. Don't be scared of the "licorice" part. It doesn't taste like licorice. It's sweet and an absolute personal favorite.

My other longtime favorite is Harney and Sons African Autumn. I had my first cup at a women's event while talking to my friend Heather. We both had a cup and couldn't carry on a conversation to save our lives because we kept saying, "wow! this tea is awesome. what is this? did you try this one? get the can. what is in it? what is a red bush? ah, cranberry and orange. no wonder we love it." This is my old faithful.  It never disappoints.

And then just last night, while out with friends, I got a cup of Harney and Sons Decaf Hot Cinnamon and loved it. Loved, loved, loved it. And I've been thinking about it so much that it resulted in this blog post on teas that I love. It's another great, sweet-tasting tea that sort of feels like a sugar treat, without actually being one.

These are my top three. I'm realizing now that I tend to not like the really earthy teas. Based on the three teas above, I think I'm basically looking for a sugar drink in a hot tea. If you have more of this sort of tea to add to the mix, I'd love to know!

burgundy

Well red is tricky. We all know this. I have painted the past two nights, after the kids went to bed, late into the night. The first night our living room walls felt sort of pink. But we didn't worry too much because you can never tell anything from the first coat. The next night I painted the second coat and it went on nicely and darkened up quite a bit, but it was night and I was painting by the glow of one light fixture. It was hard to say if we liked the color or not.

Thursday morning we walked down the stairs, looked around and Rory said, "burgundy. it's definitely burgundy. ron burgundy."

If we had been going for burgundy it would have been no problem, but that wasn't what we were going for. The walls are too purple and we were going for more of a warm red/clay/brick color. We have spent the day painting swatches over our burgundy, hopeful to find the perfect color. Because we are not going to give up. The color is out there. But is it Grand Canyon Red? Rich Chestnut? Terra Cotta Tile? Mars Red? Mexicana? Hot Apple Spice? Country Redwood? These are the deep conversations we are having at our house this weekend.

I'll keep you posted. We're confident the perfect color is out there!

it's tree tapping time!

We can hardly believe it is already time. The past two years we haven't tapped our maple trees until mid March, but here we are, end of February and the sap is flowing. Rory is trying something new this year, using tubes and five gallon buckets. He's excited not to have to empty the bags each day and pour them into the buckets. In theory, he should be able to simply replace the bucket when it gets almost full with an empty bucket. 

Ivar is quite the helper and stuck with his dad the whole time, even though it was very windy and chilly. Hattie and I were out for about as long as it took to take this picture. She was not a fan, even though she was adorable in her little peek-a-roo. Elsie lasted a bit longer but came in the house crying that she was cold and wanted to read books on the couch with me and Hattie. 

I am growing more convinced we were created to live on an agrarian calendar. Having annual traditions tied to the time of year always feels so, so right. It was fun to be out and seizing the day, watching Rory putter with buckets and hoses and for all of us to be getting a little vitamin D. I believe spring fever has hit the grovestead.

Here are pics from tapping our trees in 2013 and our how to,  2014 and the trip that got it all started...

sweet mara

My sweet niece, Mara, called yesterday and told me she is home from school again still fighting a fever. She was feeling very discouraged and disappointed because today her entire 5th grade is going on a field trip to go down hill skiing. And she's going to miss it because she's sick.

I'd like to pause right here and put on my old aunt hat for a moment. When I was a kid we took field trips to thrilling places like the county courthouse. Down hill skiing?!! My oh my, how things have changed. It was Mara's own mother who had to be picked up from her field trip at the Pickle Factory because the fumes made her puke.

Back to Mara. I just love this girl to pieces. And being that she is home in bed today, feeling sad to be missing out, I thought I'd leave her a little blog love.

Mara was born when I was a student at the seminary and she lived just 20 minutes away from me. Now there is something very, very special that happens when your sister has a baby. Because of the closeness of sisters, that first baby born between the two of you is basically your shared child. Of course your older sister doesn't quite see it this way, but the younger sister absolutely does. I loved Mara like my own and spent every minute I could with her. When she was one year old, Rory and I drove with her and her folks in a big moving truck out to Montana where she lived for five years. And I missed her so much that we decided to move out there for a while too.

Now she lives just an hour away and I still soak up every single minute with her. She is a very bright and intelligent girl. And she loves to write! She will send us her stories and it is such a joy to read all that is in her imagination. Writing has been such a gift for me, such a fun outlet for my thoughts and feelings, and I'm so pleased that she processes life this way too.

She is amazing with my kids and loves to hold and feed Hattie. She enjoys running and has become quite the soccer player. And she ice skates. And she does gymnastics. And she has a lovely singing voice. She's quite impressive all around. I love this girl with my whole heart and have enjoyed every age, watching her use all the gifts God has given to her.

We love you Mara! We will be praying for you to feel better very soon!

(Late last night I got a text that Mara has Pnemonia. So keep her in your prayers. Her cough sounds awful and even with a day of antibiotics she still has a high fever. She sent me texts from the doctor's office keeping me in the loop, and I sent her pictures of my living room that we are painting Girard Red. I loved it in that house and Rory was the one who picked it for this one. It's going to be awesome. Off to paint coat #2!)

a cheerful giver

Last night, after the hot chocolate stand I overheard Rory talking to Ivar. He asked Ivar to give a bit of his earnings to Elsie, since she was helpful in sitting with him the whole hour. And then Ivar came over to me and Elsie and said, "Elsie, this is five dollars for helping me." He was a little hesitant to do it, but I complimented him for doing something because it was simply the right thing to do.

Later on Rory talked to Ivar about tithing and giving a portion of his hot chocolate money back to God. Rory read from the Bible, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly, for God loves a cheerful giver" and explained to Ivar that he should give whatever amount he wanted, back to God. He shared how God loves when we honor him with our gifts because God is the giver of all good gifts and loves to give to his children. He told Ivar about God's floodgates, ready to burst open and pour out blessing when we give to God. God says in the Bible, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgate of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

There was a part of me that thought this was all a bit too complex for Ivar to wrap his head around. These are some big kingdom themes for a five-year-old. But Ivar was taking it very seriously, thinking really hard about how much he wanted to give back to God. And I started to see the importance of having him wrestle with this "giving back to God" concept at a young age...because it doesn't get any easier when we get older to begin. But the blessing is there and waiting for all who give, and once you experience this truth, it actually does get easier. I want him to know this early on. It's the greatest foundational truth of money management: tithing, first fruits, cheerful giving. I could see his conflict in his head; wanting to keep it all, but also wanting to test God's promise.

I was upstairs when he landed on his number. He had earned 26 dollars, given five to Elsie and came to tell me with great joy, "I'm going to give God SIX of my dollars! And God's gonna open the floodgates!" He had come to that number on his own and was pleased and happy about his decision.

Rory got him an envelope and they put six dollars in it for the offering on Sunday. And Ivar remained joyful and excited the whole time.

Today we called my dad to tell him how the hot chocolate stand went and Ivar told him, "I gave five dollars to Elsie and gave God six dollars for a floodgate!" When I took the phone back I explained to my dad what we were trying to instill in Ivar's heart. Dad told me that when he and my mom were first married he made $3200 that entire year, working at a church. He said, "we tithed on every paycheck and somehow managed not only to pay every bill that came in, but we had money in savings at the end of the year! Try to explain that!" We talked about the mystery of tithing, how it goes against our mortal minds, but somehow this is truly how money works in the kingdom. God loves to give back to cheerful givers.

Then I told Dad how this morning I heard Ivar and Elsie talking in the bathroom, "Elsie, do you want to give your money to God too? Then you'll get your own floodgate!"

hot chocolate stand

This summer, after hosting the lemonade stand, we talked about how fun it would be to have a hot chocolate stand in the wintertime. So since the first snow Ivar has been asking when we could have it. Earlier this week Rory saw the warm forecast and declared Sunday would be the day.

We sent out an email to our neighbors and made little invites for our church friends to come too. We got home from church and I baked the cookies while the kids worked on the sign. Rory turned his attention to tree tapping, as it seems this may be the week to tap the maple trees. And Harriet slept, bless her heart!

By the time 4:00 rolled around it was clear that our kids were going to crumble. Similar to a highly anticipated birthday party, they had used up all of their energy by being excited all day. It meant that once it was time to sell the hot chocolate we had a little boy who was sad about everything. He and his dad had to have a talk and, thankfully, he did pull it together and was able to sell his heart out when more neighbors were there. It's hard being a kid. And it's hard being a parent. :)

Elsie only spilled her hot chocolate two times on the table cloth and likely ate a dozen cookies. (I think I'm kidding, but actually I have no idea...) But all in all it was another sweet time of seeing our neighbors, introducing our friends to each other and celebrating community in the middle of winter.

grovesisms

First of all, how sweet is this girl? I can't get enough. And that quilt! I love it so much.

I kept a piece of paper with me this week and wrote down vocabulary that I believe may be unique to our family. It started when I heard my kids talking about A Mall of Themerica. And I realized this has been going on for some time and I just can't correct it. I'm even proud of them for saying it this way! A Mall of Themerica. It's just so awesome.

Then I thought about how we team up into two groups: The Peanut Butter Boys and The Jelly Girls. This was started almost a year ago and used all the time. Yesterday Rory and Ivar went to get haircuts. When Elsie wanted to know if she was going I said, "Nope, the Jelly Girls are staying home and reading books. Just the Peanut Butter Boys are going." It's very helpful and makes any division of the genders sound more fun.

I can't remember if I've written about this one yet, but when Rory was up at North House Folk School, I told the kids at lunch, "I love Grand Marais (pronounced Ma Ray) so much." And Ivar said, "I love this sandwich so much." And I said, "Maybe we should call that sandwich a Grand Marais." And wouldn't know you, it stuck. So anytime he asks for a Grand Marais, I whip up a ham and deli cheese sandwich with mayonnaise and mustard, If we're out of ham it's called a Cheesy Marais (very healthy!) We've also had Salami Marais.

And Dark Dark Mountain is the coat closet in our kitchen. I'm not sure when it got that name, but I believe it was given by Ivar during some sort of pretend play. This has also completely stuck so that if Elsie can't find her shoes I'll ask, "have you looked in dark, dark mountain yet?!!"

I'm not sure how a family bonds, but I love our lingo and think it makes us stronger. When I was little we used to call the tall pine trees on the way up to Duluth, "Giraffe Trees" because they looked like long necks with only the actual branches up near the top. For years that was used in our family and I loved that it was only the Harrington clan that knew what on earth a Giraffe Tree was...

an awesome big brother

I probably could have asked him to stop squeezing her cheeks, but I ran for the camera instead...

Today I gave the kids salami for lunch and Ivar was thrilled. I wrote down his quote immediately so I wouldn't forget one word. He said, "Thank you God that there are birthdays in the world! Because this salami is so great and I'm so glad a pig got older so he could be salami!"

Pretty sure that boy won't ever become a vegetarian.