Photo 365 #164

January 18, 2015January 17, 20158 Comments

Yesterday Seymour stopped in at the local second-hand shop to see what they had for sale. I couldn’t believe what he found:

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary puzzle. At first glance, I was unimpressed. But then he turned the box over:

This was an anniversary gift for my grandparents. I didn’t remember it, which is unremarkable since I was six in 1990, but there’s no mistaking my grandmother’s handwriting. What are the odds that Seymour would stop in the day they had this puzzle out for sale, and that he would find it?

Apparently the cashier was unimpressed by the amazingness of this coincidence. It appears that my grandparents donated the puzzle to the local library once they finished it, which I suppose explains how it eventually ended up at the second-hand shop. I wonder if it still has all one thousand pieces…

Have you ever experienced a coincidence like this? Tell me all about it in the comments! 🙂

Photo Friday throwback continues!

January 16, 2015January 19, 20151 Comment

My brain seems to be out of the office today, so my throwback post isn’t going back all that far:

bubblessnake

Here’s Bubbles fighting with some landscape edging last spring. He and Seymour were prettying up the front yard at our old house, and he had a little bit of trouble.

Don’t forget to stop by Charnele’s blog and see what she’s been up to lately. Hope your Friday’s a happy one, and have a great weekend!

Photo 365 #162

January 16, 20156 Comments

Have I mentioned lately that I’m tired of winter? Cuz I totally am. We seem to be getting the short end of the winter stick this year – all the sub-freezing temps, but none of the pretty, pretty snow.

Now, of course, it feels like March outside because the temperatures have rebounded from somewhere in the -10°F range to the mid-30’s, and it’s glorious. But, as one of my awesome friends said yesterday, “I want it to be March in March.”

March it ain’t, at least not yet.

tractormama

But in honor of the warmer temperatures, I thought I’d share a picture from a warmer time of year. Here’s me driving a tractor for the first time last summer. We lost some trees in one of the many storms that plagued our area last year, and Seymour and I spent a good portion of this particular afternoon cleaning one of them up. Driving a tractor was an interesting experience – I’ve driven riding lawn mowers many times, but it’s been ages since I did it last, and this is quite a bit bigger. Still, it was a good day.

I can’t wait for more good days on the farm this summer. What are you looking forward to this year?

Photo 365 #161

January 15, 2015January 16, 20152 Comments

We have a banana fiend in our midst.

bananas

There’s nothing Mr. Thumper would like better than a heaping big bowl of bananas, and we have a whole bunch ripening on top of our fridge. When told they were for banana bread, he decided that would be an acceptable substitute.

But he wanted it right. now. You know, as we were walking out the door for the day.

*sigh* Threenagers. 🙂

Photo 365 #160

January 14, 20154 Comments

Kids are only kids once. Here are some of my favorite kid-related stories and things I will miss about them as they get older.

misst Miss Tadpole

Several years ago, we were down at Seymour’s parents’ house helping set up for a garage sale. Bubbles and Miss T. were in the house watching The Lion King while I fixed dinner and Seymour and his ma were out in the garage. As I was serving the kids, they asked me if I’d seen the movie before. I said, “Yep. This movie came out when I was a kid.”

Miss Tadpole: “Wow, that’s an old movie.”
Bubbles: “Yeah, really old.”
Miss Tadpole: “So…why is it in color?”
Me: “What?”
Miss Tadpole: “Well, I thought old movies were…

Photo 365 #158

January 12, 20153 Comments

We had our final family Christmas get-together last night with my sister and her family. At the end of the evening, we were talking about pictures and the respective hundreds that we have on our phones. Bubbles walked up and said, “Mom? Can you take my picture?”

bubbles

I was pretty happy with how this one turned out, but a little sad, too. He used to ask me to take his picture when he was little, and then he’d immediately want to see it. If I was using my digital camera, it worked fine, but he just couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t immediately show him the ones I took with my film camera. Actually, he still doesn’t get it, but anyway.

Cricket and Thumper used to do the same thing, but now when I try to take their pictures, Thumper won’t sit/stand still and Cricket says, “No, Mom – don’t take my picture.”

Guess this means I’m gonna have to improve my stealth skills. 🙂

Photo 365 #157

January 11, 2015January 10, 20154 Comments

Yesterday Miss Tadpole decided to take the boys outside to play in the snow. Thumper was all excited to bundle up, head outside, and build a snowman.

That lasted all of about five minutes. Then the cold got to him and the screaming began. At least I got some nice cuddle time while he warmed up under a pile of blankets.

Cricket, on the other hand, didn’t start screaming till he was forced to come inside. He wasn’t ready to be done playing, but he wasn’t listening, either, so in he came.

This weekend has given us the warmest temps we’ve had in quite a while – mid-twenties above zero! – but there’s a breeze, and it’s knocked the wind chill down well below zero. Still, at least it’s better than the last week.

Photo 365 #156

January 10, 20154 Comments

It’s been a long day already, and it’s not even noon yet.

“But Mom, I just wanna watch Dungeons and Dragons!”

Thumper was up bright and early at 6:30 a.m., which was shortly after Seymour woke up for work. Naturally, then, I was also awake bright and early, first chatting with Seymour before he left for the day, and then snuggling with my favorite little bunny.

The rest of the morning has been spent supervising a grumpy Bubbles, who’s doing penance for letting a shed door get torn off by the wind the other night. If things keep on this way, I’m gonna need a stiff drink by the end of the day.

How are you spending your weekend?

Photo Friday returns!

January 9, 2015January 9, 2015Leave a comment

I had actually planned for Photo Fridays to return last week, but since last Friday was my first day back to work and generally insane, I decided to push it back a week.

This week’s Photo Friday post (and next week’s, and probably at least the week after that) is a throwback. You know, like Throwback Thursday, but on Friday. I have a huge archive of old photos, and I thought it would be fun to share a few.

100_1668

This one, clearly, is from 2010. We traveled south to see Seymour’s cousin get hitched, and as always, had a heck of a great time. Her wedding was the day before our first wedding anniversary, so we made a fun weekend of it.

Don’t Bubbles and Miss Tadpole look little? It’s hard to believe how much they’ve grown in the last four and a half years.

Have a great weekend, everybody, and don’t forget to check out Charnele’s blog to see what she’s got going on!

Photo 365 #152

January 6, 2015January 7, 2015Leave a comment

I love my boys. I love that they get along so much better than my sister and I did when we were little. Cricket and Thumper are best friends, and it’s wonderful.

brothers

That said, they’re also three and four (read: they don’t always share well). So when they were playing nicely together the other morning (i.e., sharing) while watching Dungeons and Dragons, I had to take a picture. Lately there’s been too much fighting over who has whose toy car, and I relished the morning’s relative peace.

I know I’ll miss this stage one day, and I hope they can stay best friends as they get older.