Better Late Than Never. . .

Thank you summer, for FINALLY showing up.

Peony Love

Have I ever mentioned how much I love peonies?

Mine are blooming right now.

I have white, pale pink, medium pink and deep pink.

I want to plant more.

So I can pick them and put them in vases all over my house.

Sort of like right now.

Only, it would be nice to be able to leave a pretty display on the bushes too.

That way I could enjoy them inside and out.

Because they just make me smile.

When You Wish Upon a Star. . .

Since the minute she could walk, at ten months, Signe has been a dancer.  She sings and dances her way through life.  As a toddler she sat through Hannah's dance recitals in awe of the production and the music and the dancing.  At three years of age I signed her up for her very own ballet class.

All the way there, decked out in a foofy tutu, she kept asking, "Now, where are we going?"

To which I would reply, "Dance class."

She would get a funny look on her face and say, "Whose dance class?"

Silly question since she and I were the only ones in the car and I certainly wasn't wearing a tutu!

"YOUR dance class!" I would assure her.

And every time she would get an awe filled, completely pleased look on her face at the prospect.

A month and a half after her ballet class started we moved.  It was very sad.

TWO years after moving, I finally signed her up for another dance class, much to her delight.

Her recital is in two weeks.  Her class is dancing to "When You Wish Upon a Star".

She can't wait.

Last week she got to bring her costume home, and today she got to put it on and get all done up for pictures.

She was in heaven.

As she twirled in her foofy skirt she assured me, "After my recital you are going to be seeing a lot of this dress."

I don't doubt it.

Idyllic Idaho

There is something about going home that always makes you revert a little to the state of your childhood.  For me that means country living and simple pleasures.

The country is full of things that capture the emotions of a way of life I dream of for my girls.

And they make great pictures too.

My sister's barn makes me want to go hunting barn cats and sit in a hay loft on a sunny day watching a mother and her kittens. . .

and the older the barn the more homey it feels.

The countryside spread out behind it makes life seem simpler. . . even though I know farming is a lot a work, it is an honest lifestyle that connects you to the earth in a way that I love.

It brings you outside and invites you to smell the lilacs,

or pick a daisy.

Where a walk in the countryside, or a hard day's work, is done with a loyal and constant companion.

It's the kind of place where children's laughter fills the yard,

where my niece can be heard whispering, "I love you so bad!"  in a kitten's ear. . .

as she cuddles it up next to her face,

and laughs with pure joy when it purs for her.

Where wishes can be made on dandelion fluff. . .

and sisters love each other every day.

I love going home.