A Mini Tour of the House

This will be short, because I should be packing . . . but we closed on the house on Tuesday, and have been working on stuff all week. Here's a mini-tour comprised of a few pictures I took yesterday & today :)

Walking up the sidewalk from the driveway. LOVE the nice big front porch with a SWING!!!

My view when I was sitting on the swing enjoying a break from unpacking :)

The front door goes into an entry hall. Living room is on the left, kitchen (& powder room) is straight ahead, stairs go up on the right. 

(I have pictures of the living room & kitchen on my phone, but they haven't uploaded to dropbox yet, I'll add them in (here or a new post) when I get them. Off the kitchen is a sunroom. It's functioning as a playroom for Little Bit while we're in transition. Once we get furniture moved, the big toy-stuff will be put away or move to the basement, and it will be more of a sitting space (and soaking up nature space!!! Little Bit commented "it's like being outside, but you can stay nice and cozy!" great description. The long wall is ALL windows (3 of those big ones), and each end of the room is a sliding glass door, one onto a deck, the other with a path to the garage). with some games and toys. for now Little Bit's enjoying the room to play with the tunnel . . .

 And, Lexie made her a "house" out of the box our washing machine came in, so she's having a BLAST with it :)

The only picture I took upstairs is Ashlyn's room. She (and Daddy) painted it yesterday, did touch-ups this morning, and she "moved in" this afternoon. She chose a light grayish lavender paint and a gray comforter for her bed. Bed frame still needs to come from my parents' house but we moved the mattress & boxspring in there so she could "make" her bed.  The curtains that were in there work ok, so for now she's leaving them. She'll also have a dresser, desk, night stand and book case in the room eventually but for not it's the minimalist look :) 

Lexie & Little Bit (and Daddy) painted their room today, so I'll take pictures after the tape is off. Our bedroom just has boxes stacked in it at the moment. Then there's a hall bath for the girls to share and a master bath with large jacuzzi tub, separate shower, and a huge walk-in closet. Right now those areas are all cluttered with the process of figuring out what I want where . . . :)

Weekly Wrap-Up for the Week of December 28

Ahhhh . . . after the busyness of December, this past week was a very welcome week of relaxing . . .

New Years just isn't something we bother to make a big deal of in our house, we took down the Christmas and Hanukkah decorations, we fell back into our normal school routine . . . it was nice :)

The girls had decided, in the midst of the busyness of December, that they wanted to rearrange their bedroom. For awhile now, Ashlyn has craved a more "just my own" space. Lexie and Little Bit continue to be happy sharing a bed (I must admit, I hope they continue to be ok with that until we do the new addition (hopefully in a few years), because the space fits a double bed better than 2 more twin beds, and the sloped ceilings don't allow for bunk beds). So they got out the tape measure and figured out exactly how they want things. But . . . first there was/is LOTS of cleaning up to be done. That was one of this week's projects. They still have lots to do, but we managed to clear out the area that Ashlyn wanted for her bed, which included rearranging the schoolroom to make room for the sewing stuff in there. And, much to Ashlyn's excitement, by the end of the week she was all settled in her nook.

 One side of their bedroom had a closet built into one side and then, the previous owners, planning to use that entire room as a "dressing room/closet" had put closet rods across the rest of that side of the room. They're easily removeable but we've left them so far and Ashlyn chose that space as her nook, and hung curtains (that we had on their windows at the old house) on the outer rod to separate it from the rest of the room.

She decided awhile ago, that she'd rather sleep on the floor, instead of having a trundle bed under the double bed, so that made this move easier :)

She got the feather bed topper back out (that's what she used instead of a mattress at our old house) to use as a mattress, but during the day she kind of scrunches it up into the corner as a "chair" of sorts, giving her a place to sit, and the rest of the floor space free (otherwise the featherbed takes up the whole space).

There's no light in that space, so when we were using it for sewing, we had clamped a desk lamp onto one of the "closet rods", so she just continued with that, as lighting in her space.

The wall at the "foot of the bed" is for storage. She packed up the legos that were in a plastic drawer unit. Now she's using that as her dresser, and Lexie and Little Bit continue to use the shared dresser, which we moved closer to their bed.

When we shifted things around in the school room to make room for the sewing stuff, I had some "milk crates" that there wasn't really room for, so she took those to use as additional shelf space in her nook as well.

So that was the big project. It's still very much in progress, we need to do a bunch more rearranging and decluttering in the school room and the rest of their bedroom to get things to the place that we can try moving Lexie and Lina's bed the way they want it, and finish the rearranging, but Ashlyn's very happy.

And interestingly, at least for now, this change has brought her and Little Bit "closer". Little Bit is so excited that Ashlyn "invites her" into her space, and reciprocates by "inviting" Ashlyn to play with her on the bed.

In homeschool news we're back Bible Road Trip for Bible, the girls were concerned about remembering memory verses after taking December off to do Jotham's Journey, but with a few reminders, they're doing fine. We've been using Simply Charlotte Mason's suggested approach to memory verses for the past year plus, so we've accumulated quite a collection. Except I have them all nicely organized in an Evernote notebook instead of keeping track of index cards.

History's been all about the crusades, and Robin Hood. Lots of interesting books and videos about that time period, I'm enjoying learning right along with the kids.

Spelling Wisdom continues to be a good fit for us for language arts. Little Bit continues to enjoy writing, but shows no interest in reading, so we're going with that for now. I think she's starting to read bits and pieces without really realizing it, so time will tell, if she ever has to officially "learn to read" or if, as I suspect, she'll learn to read by writing :)

With such a nasty flu season going on right now, our science has focused on herbal cold and flu prevention, and care. Thankfully, so far, other than some minor sniffles over the holidays, we've not had to put any of the actual care ideas into practice. As we get more fully back into our normal school mode, we'll re-add astronomy back into the rotation. Lexie got tired of waiting for the rest of us to find time, and is reading Signs and Seasons at her own pace (it's looking like 2015 might be the year of her shifting almost entirely to independent work, choosing to read things to herself even if I'm reading them to Ashlyn and Little Bit).

So that's at least some of what's been going on around here.

B is for Beanbag!

I'm convinced that stuffed animals reproduce all on their own, that's the only way to explain how there are always SOO MANY of them! When Sassy & MiniMe were younger, they really couldn't have cared less about them, and yet still they seemed to multiply faster than rabbits. The nice thing was, since the girls couldn't have cared less about them I regularly weeded out the unloved stuffed animals and kept the menagerie under control.

Fast forward 6 years (give or take) and things are different. The stuffed animals are still reproducing as fast as ever BUT, Little Bit most definitely DOES notice if one goes missing. She considers each and every one her friend, I don't dare get rid of them, sigh . . . then I saw an idea on pinterest, the idea was to make a beanbag & fill it with stuffed animals instead of the normal stuffing stuff. I loved that idea, so I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond. The bad news was, there were exactly TWO choices of empty bean bags to be found (there are more online if you want more variety), and one of those choices was skeletons (NOT my thing, thankyouverymuch), but the other one, while not my first choice, was pink and black and do-able. The good news, since there were only the 2 patterns left, they were clearanced, so instead of paying $12+ for a small beanbag online, I spent $10 for a LARGE beanbag and have instant gratification, woo-hoo!!

So I brought it home and filled it with some of the not currently favorite animals (and some that are "mine" that I use as needed in the toddler class at church). Did some shifting around in the girls' room, and made room for the beanbag full of animals next to the bookcase, ta-da, no more stuffed animals spilling over every surface AND a nice new reading corner for their room.

See how nicely it works!

This post is a part of Blogging through the Alphabet from Ben and Me.

31 Days of Clean Challenge

A couple months ago I purchased the 31 Days to Clean Kindle book, and glanced through it. I loved (and still love) the idea of combining building better habits of time with God right along with building better cleaning habits. The problem I had with it was that the daily challenges seemed to assume my house was already clean and ummmm . . . it's not! Doing deep cleaning in a kitchen where I can't find the countertops seemed . . . overwhelming. So I set it aside for maybe another month. . .

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had that problem, because the author has since added a second set of challenges, available on a "member only" type part of her site, for those who own the book. These challenges focus on building routines of daily home maintenance that I can actually wrap my mind around where I'm at now.

So, fast forward to a new month. And The 31 Days of Clean site is having a September challenge! Now, on the one hand, it's a silly time for me to join, because I'm going to be gone for a week or more this month, BUT the reality of my life is, we travel, often. So, I decided to go ahead & join the challenge anyway. I won't be able to do the cleaning part of the challenge when I'm gone, and looking through the list of daily challenges, there are some days when what is asked is ummm . . . unreasonable, given the state of my house, so some days' "next thing" will have to spread out over multiple days, but it's all good. It's laid out in a way that I can tweak it as needed, I likely won't complete the "31 days" in . . . 31 days, but that's ok too.

Yay! The Home Keeper's Journal is back this week!

In my kitchen this week ……….I've been gone most of the week with our field trips (see the last 2 posts), but on Sunday I finally tackled the project I've been thinking about for awhile now. I cleared off the "fireplace counter" that is SUCH a hot spot for me, mainly because it's not a very usable counter for me, and moved all my small appliances (and the not-so-small dehydrator) over there. It's what I've felt would work best there ever since we moved here, BUT there's no electricity on that wall. I gave up on trying to figure out a "pretty" solution to that and just ran a heavy extension cord from the closest outlet, across a small walkway (taped down to the floor so we don't trip over it) and onto that counter, then plugged a power strip into that so everything can be plugged in. I've warned the girls (and hubby) to NOT try to run them all at once since this puts them all on one breaker, but I think we'll be ok with that, and it makes it SOO much easier to access them then having them all tucked away in cupboards and corners AND having to put whatever appliance I need to use on the only other counter space in the kitchen. So I'm happy with it.  The other use of this counter (when/if I can keep it cleared off) is that the lower height works for the girls to stand at, and I think there's enough space in front of the appliances for it to still work for that.  Here's the picture (our Berkey water filter sits there as well):

Around the house …….our project this week was getting the girls' loft play area. It was a project, but so nice to get it done. We've also officially set up a "bed" on the floor in the girls' room for Little Bit. So far she only sleeps in there for naps, but it's a start.

The family ….. Hubby has been travelling this week. He's been home at night, but been busy all week long. The girls and I were busy with our field trips, and playing with their friend, L, when they were home.  Little Bit and I enjoyed some of the activities from Before Five in a Row (review coming next month) while the big girls were busy playing.

New projects …… more baking and making things from scratch, hopefully, now that the appliances are more accessible. Continuing to declutter and organize things around here, though I guess that's not a "new" project, I'm always hoping to work on that . . . 

Ideas …… I'm really hoping to do regular field trips this year. There are so many fun-sounding things to do in this area, I want to try to get into a routine of doing a field trip once a week or once every other week or whatever.

Light Bulb Moments …… I must have dim lightbulbs, I'm drawing a blank on this LOL.

The Home Keeper's Journal - Summer

This week the Journal is about Summer …………

During summer, my kitchen …… is the main source of added heat in our house, wish I could find some way around that . . . people way back when totally had the right idea with a separate summer kitchen!

One of my favorite things about summer is …when it's not too hot, and we can love being outside! And hearing the children having fun playing in the sprinkler!

One of the summer things I could do without  …. humidity! HATE it!!!!

A planned summer or take it as it comes?   ….. it's pretty "take it as it comes" this year. We have campmeeting coming up in about a week, but for the most part, we're playing things by ear.

Summer meals consist of …… in season vegetables, I love pasta salads and potato salads and such in the summer. Grilling whenever Rodney's home. . . smoothies and fresh fruit for breakfast, yum!

The last thing on my mind during summer is …… hmm, it must be so far from my mind, that I can't think of it LOL, nothing comes to mind!

The Home Keeper's Journal - May 26

In my kitchen this week ……I've done absolutely nothing, since I haven't been home. . . I have, however, started thinking through foods I want to have prepared ahead for campmeeting in a couple weeks, so I predict the kitchen will busy the next two weeks.

Doing this and that …. this has been a week of fun for us, we went to a live butterfly exhibit, spent time with friends, went to a train museum. . . we've been having fun. Now Little Bit & I are heading home while the big girls spend more time having fun with the grandparents.

We’re getting geared up for summer by ….. planning for campmeeting. We will have my parents' motorhome at campmeeting this year, so the planning is different as we figure out what we need to make ahead and have on hand for actually staying at campmeeting. It will be nice to not have to juggle the logistics of the big girls' meeting schedule . . . an evening meeting that isn't over until past bedtime doesn't mesh well with living at home, 45 min away. But since hubby's work doesn't lend itself to him staying up there (and his back, that doesn't even like most hotel beds, doesn't lend itself to staying in a 20 yr old motorhome), that means the challenges of "camping" will be interesting to navigate with a two year old without a second adult there the whole time (my parents are still deciding how much of the time they'll be there).

My summer plans include ….. campmeeting (notice a theme here?), I need to pin the girls down on VBS, if they want to go, or not. They loved it when I could stay with them, but opted out of it last year when I pointed out that I couldn't stay with them, with a toddler in tow. Same applies this year, but they've become more willing to venture on their own, so we shall see . . . Otherwise, I think our summer is going to be trying to hit some of the close-to-home tours and museums that we somehow never make time for.  And of course, possibly traveling some with Daddy.

The weather here has been …… overall, very nice, BUT there's been thunderstorm/rain predicted every day which makes planning outdoor activities a challenge. The girls had really wanted to go biking on a nearby rail trail with my parents yesterday (and Little Bit and I would have headed home) but the chance of thunderstorms vetoed that idea, turned out to be a gorgeous day, but we had fun at the train museum, so the day wasn't a total loss.  

Visit ChristianHomemaker to see other HomeKeeper's Journals for this week.

Yay! The Home Keeper's Journal is back! This week’s Journal is all about Home and Garden

This week in my kitchen ………. we've been trying some new recipes, loving in season strawberries! 

My gardening thoughts this week …….nothing like a garden to make me love the rain . . . yay for no watering! 

What I’d like to can, freeze or put up this year …… as much as possible! I'm really hoping that our tomato plants do well this year &/or I find a cheap/free source for tomatoes. I'd love to get a GOOD supply of spaghetti sauce and tomato soup, and maybe some salsa (MiniMe has become a big fan of mild salsa, so if I could find a recipe she likes, I'd love to have homemade for her to eat) canned. Also need to re-stock on applesauce, the big girls weren't eating much, so I didn't do much last year, but Little Bit LOVES it, and went through my entire supply the week she had a stomach bug).  Need to freeze a LOT of blueberries again this summer (we didn't do enough last summer, we ran out). . . if my pepper plants do well, or again, I find a cheap/free source, I'd like to get a decent amount of bell peppers chopped and in the freezer. . . and really anything else I can get my hands on!

My plans for my home this summer  …….. decluttering, organizing . . . as always . . . now to actually DO it!

This absolutely positively has to be done to my home this year ….  ummm . . . decluttering and organizing . . . seriously, desperate need!

The Home Keeper's Journal - Unity

This week’s Homekeeper’s Journal is about Homemaking and …..Unity

In my kitchen this week …my Mommy's here, so the kitchen actually gets cleaned up promptly after every meal, and more cooking than usual is happening, but I can't take credit for it, Little Bit's being super clingy . . . not sure what's up with that!

In my household plans this week …. I'm straightening up the main floor, taking advantage of my Dad's bigger-than-mine and carseat-less car to send a huge load of recycling to the recycling center. Continuing to make slow progress at decluttering. Focusing more on a total end result than visible process right now . . . 

My off-the-cuff definition of Unity is …. choosing to get along.

The opposite of Unity … hmmm . . . not choosing to get along? It occurs to me that selfishness leads to a lack of unity . . . 

Unity in my home ….. is a work in progress. Three spirited little girls can find unity a challenge, but we keep working on it, and seeing progress.

Unity in my Church … hmmm . . . do I want to touch this? I think when it comes to my church, or any church, whether a person sees unity or disunity depends on what the person is looking for. There will always be differences of opinion. There will always be people who look for those differences and highlight them and make small differences into major issues. I can choose to focus on that, or choose to focus on our mutual love of God and fellowshipping with other members of God's family. Most of the time I choose the latter. 

Between a husband and wife, Unity …. is essential, and requires a selflessness that is at complete odds with what society tells us we should strive for. 

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3 KJV

Life Skills 101

This week's Blog Cruise topic is incorporating life skills into homeschooling. I think at our house it might be more accurate to say that we incorporate homeschooling into our life skills. I feel it's soo important in today's world, to give children a good foundation in home/life skills. I recently read an article in which someone had criticized a mother for teaching her 5 yr old to do household chores (in this particular example, unloading the dishwasher) because "what if she doesn't want to be a housewife, what if she wants to be a lawyer or doctor?" Well in my world, even doctors and lawyers have to eat, and if they're going to eat healthfully, they should be eating at home, not eating out 3 meals per day. And if they're eating at home, they're going to have dishes to wash, so yup, even future lawyers and doctors need to learn to unload the dishwasher!  And the same argument can be made for most other life skills, that's why they're LIFE SKILLS!!!  So, in the grand scheme of life, I prioritize my training of my children as follows:  #1 Love of God and a relationship with Him, nothing else matters if we fail in this great responsibility! #2 Life skills and #3 academics (I'm sure if I thought about it I could think of additional categories, but for simplicity  sake, we'll stick with those 3. 

So, rather than incorporating life skills into our academics, I tend to incorporate academics into our life skills.  We learn fractions while reading recipes, while we're learning to cook in the kitchen.  Nutrition and gardening are important useful skills that also teach science. Reading can be learned in anything and everything, by . . .reading about . . .the topic we need to learn about. Money management skills are taught through an allowance, which also teaches math.  Chores teach cleaning skills as well as responsibility, patience, a good work ethic, unselfishness . . . and countless other character traits (learning to have a good character is an aspect of that #1 priority above).  Some days cleaning might also teach science or math or who knows what else, so much of school is just being aware and grabbing the learning moments as they present themselves. 

One key I've found to keeping my children interested and less whiny about life skills is to be constantly challenging them. It's much more fun to tackle a NEW life skill than to keep doing the same old chore over and over. As Little Bit gets older, another great learning tool will be having the older girls help teach her chores. We're already doing some of it, as they have her help them feed the cats, her job is to open the cat food bin and help put the food into the bowls when they bring the bowls inside, help sort the silverware when they unload the dishwasher.  She's also learning to take dirty dishes to the kitchen. She can't reach to put them in the sink, or on the counter, but she can set them on the kitchen stool or the floor in front of the sink, for someone else to move to the sink or dishwasher when they notice.

And that's a little bit about how we incorporate learning into life skills . . . er. . . I mean incorporate life skills into homeschool, hee hee.

Check the TOS Crew blog on Tuesday to see how other homeschoolers incorporate life skills in their homeschooling.

The Little Green Project

Laura at Heavenly Homemakers is hosting The Little Green Project in honor of St. Patrick's day.

The rules are simple . . . post about something green . . . so many options . . .

I'm going to combine 2 green things, (and revisit a topic I posted about frequently when I first started this blog). So, today we're going to talk about Going Green While Saving Green (and improving your health too!)

So, I read a wide variety of blogs, websites, books, and message boards. Some deal with saving money, but too often this seems to be at the expense of health and environmental concerns . . . yes white flour is cheaper than whole wheat flour, but at what cost? Yes, you can "play the drug store game" and get laundry detergent and shampoo for free, but what are the chemicals in those products doing to your family's health, and the water supply as it all washes down the drain?

My goal, is to balance these things. To find ways to be healthier AND economical AND ecological! So here are ten tips (in no particular order):

1. Make your own bread
2. Use homemade natural cleaners
3. Use cloth diapers
4. Green-ify your laundry routine (natural cleansers, vinegar fabric softener, and hang dry)
5. Grow a garden
6. Throw out the soda and chips
7. Replace paper towels and napkins with cloth
8. Cook dry beans instead of using cans
9. Use homemade, natural toiletries
10. Pop popcorn in the stove or use an air popper instead of using microwave popcorn

So there are 10 of my "go green" tips! Check back over the next couple of months and I'll expound on each of these tips, and probably others as I think of them! 

Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

The Home Keeper's Journal - This and That

This week’s Homekeeper’s Journal is about This And That!

In My Kitchen this week……….. the big girls made guacamole for lunch (part of our new nutrition study . . . this week is "brain food"). We tried a yummy new Greek Salad, it was a winner! And Little Bit has figured out how to get her own water out of the Berkey Water Filter system.

In My Yard …….. the daffodils are peeking up, so are the chives. There's green on the thyme. . . now to find time to start on this year's garden . . . 

I’ve been thinking ….about ministering as Jesus ministered. A friend from high school sent out a message on facebook asking for volunteers to help at the ministry he runs, serving the homeless, teaching reading to those who don't know how, such great ministries, truly meeting the NEEDS of hurting people, not just worrying about whether church membership is up and tithe is being paid and the outreach is resulting in baptisms . . . THAT is serving, as Jesus serves! And then the next day Japan . . . again, real needs, makes all the gripes I have seem so silly!!!

What motivates me more than anything else is ….. some big event, right now, the girls' birthday! We'll be celebrating all 3 birthdays a week from Sabbath (which is Little Bit's birthday, the big girls' birthday is 2 days later). Time to get the house ready for their birthday! I need to schedule some big event every month or two, then maybe I'd keep up with the housework better!

My Devotional life and walk with Christ …. has been going well lately. I'm enjoying the study on Motherhood that I've been doing.  Little Bit has never been one to stay asleep if I get up, but now she's old enough that she can play with big sisters, or "help" them with their morning chores while I have my quiet time, I'm really cherishing that after a season of grabbing bits & pieces of Bible-reading when I could. I also just finished reading Quiet Times in Loud Households, it's inspired me! 

I struggle ….. to have patience. And to remember to praise more than I criticize my children. It's not that there isn't plenty to praise, I just forget . . . 

I dread …. I really don't have anything for this one . . . life is good, the future looks bright. . . I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could think of something, but I choose not to dwell on it, so I won't . . . 

But I look forward …. to watching my children grow into lovely, godly young women! They are growing up SO FAST! I can't wait to see what God has in store for them!

The Home Keeper's Journal - Service

This week's Home Keeper's Journal topic is service.

In my kitchen this week …. L has been cooking. She made cornmeal mush for breakfast one morning, has been cutting apples for snacks for her and her sisters, mastered the espresso maker, now I get my latte or mocha delivered to me during my morning Bible time . . . at least until the novelty wears off, hee hee.

Service is/is not something that is on my mind very much because … service is an on-going character discussion around here. A and L are entirely too concerned about making sure they don't do one iota more chores/helping than the other one, so we are constantly working on this character trait.

There are times when my service seems ….. hard to balance. . . does that sound strange? It comes back to the whole training my children concept, I have a hard time knowing where to draw the line between "modelling service" (by doing things for them cheerfully), and training them to serve others, by expecting them to cheerfully do chores, etc.

I know I serve others when I ….. stop worrying about whether others are noticing.

My service to others is most like Jesus when …. it is truly selfless.

The Home Keeper's Journal - Spring Time Changes

I like the idea of this journal and thought I'd join in. 

This week the Homekeeper’s Journal is about Spring Time Changes.

In My Kitchen This Week … I'm catching up from being sick last week, and focusing on decluttering the rest of my kitchen cabinets (started several weeks ago, then got side-tracked).

Changes I Make To My Home In Spring … Open the windows whenever I possibly can! Switch from flannel sheets to regular ones. Work on washing the afghans and throw blankets on nice days (so they can dry on the line, not the dryer) and pack most of them away for the summer.

Changes In My Schedule … I can't think of any specific schedule changes, other than making sure to make time for plenty of outdoor time for the kids.

Changes In My Yard/Homestead … Right now I'm just excited that the ice and snow are GONE (well, there's still ice in the middle of the pond, but it's almost gone). I want to clean up the flower/herb beds in preparation for a new growing season. Hopefully we'll have bulbs coming up soon, and all the perennials have survived our colder than usual winter.

What I Look Forward to This Spring … Sunshine, FRESH AIR, warmth! Being able to use the clothesline more of the time!

Spring Brings with It … the geese . . . they actually arrived back at our pond today. Now to teach a 2 year old the art of not walking in the goose poop that is a part of summer in our yard.

A Sure Sign Of Spring … the sun coming up earlier (Little Bit thinks she should get her morning nursing session much earlier now . . . I think she's slowly realizing that the sun is no longer a reliable indication that Mommy's ready to get up for the day, hee hee). I can't wait for it to be warm enough to leave windows open overnight, then the birds waking me up in teh morning will tell me it's really truly spring!

A Favorite Spring Activity … starting the garden,  going for more walks in the woods. Honestly, I know I'm weird, but there's not much I enjoy more than hanging the laundry on the line on a beautiful spring morning! I look forward to it all winter long!