hiking Anne U White Trail today

Best birthday ever!

Today I am 32 years old—WOOHOO! I woke up to sunshine, Zoe and Ashley jumping in our bed and giving me kisses, singing happy birthday and showering me with homemade cards.

Here is the bracelet Zoe made me with beads our neighbor got her at a garage sale. I LOVE it!

We went out for coffee, walked around the park, played in the playground, splashed in the splash-ground, bought a new dress for me, lounged in comfy chairs at the bookstore, ate at P.F. Chang's, strolled around their sculpture garden by the stream...

...and just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, Zoe learned to ride a bike!

Best birthday ever!!!

Around the house.

Last year our duplex-neighbor gave us a bunch of iris bulbs, and they didn't flower. Not knowing that they don't flower the first year in the ground, I tried my hardest to pull the darn things out last fall... and again this spring... but it was no use.

How glad am I now that I couldn't get them out?! They are amazing, and they smell heavenly. Here are some of the irises, enjoying the rain.

Today Zoe and Ashley got mail from Grama Patti. Very exciting. Inside the envelope was two homemade puzzles. So cool.

Then, late this afternoon the girls and I were playing around, making jewelry with beads that our neighbor picked up at a garage sale, and I made these earrings. What do you think? I think they're swell =)

this weekend around the neighborhood

One of our absolute favorite things to do is go to the local plant center, The Flower Bin. I feel like I'm dreaming every time we walk into the greenhouse full of flowers as far as the eye can see, hanging from the ceiling all around, and covering table after table in glorious colorful rows.

We picked out a couple lovely tiny purple flowers, one cotton-like lavender flower, and some celery green Creeping Jenny to trail over the edges.

We planted the flowers yesterday, as soon as be got back from buying them. Zoe and Ashley were so excited.

I also got my wish for a double jogger last night. After a couple weeks of squeezing both girls into the single passenger jogger, I wanted to upgrade. The girls didn't mind cuddling up, Ashley in Zoe's lap, but it did limit what they could do while riding. Zoe can hardly go five minutes without writing something, and it wasn't exactly easy to do in there =)

So I went on Craigslist, and found this double jogger for a great price. I emailed the owner, she called me 15 minutes later, and within an hour we had gone to her house, 10 minutes away, and bought it from her. Awesome.

First thing this morning the girls and I couldn't wait to try out our new, used wheels =) Andy came with us, and we took the path behind our house, which leads to a cute little coffee shop.

Along the way we saw a mama duck and her 6 baby duckling in the creek.

Under the bridge were a ton of swallows.

Purple wild flowers

White wild flowers (they smell so good)

Light through the trees on the creek

We have a ton of prairie dogs in the open space, and they announce your presence to each other with lots of chirping. Zoe and Ashley like to say, "Hello prairie dogs!"

I look at these pictures and I have to pinch myself to make sure it's real—I can't believe I get to live here =)

This week around the house.

Lately I have been addicted to walking. So much so that the girls and I went for an hour long walk in the rain the other day. It was one of my favorite walks of all time. The sound of the rain drops on my rain jacket, on the grass, on the leaves. The swoosh of water when a car passed by. Everything so pretty, all wet, shiny and reflective. And yes, I was pushing two kids in a jogger made for one =) They love it—all snuggly and cozy under the blanket.

We also went to the indoor water park. It must be a water themed week we're having. Click here for photos from last year of the same water park.

My other latest obsession is these salads with as many nuts, seeds and fruit as there is lettuce. Macadamia nuts, walnuts, hemp seeds, apples, strawberries, dried cherries, and raspberry vinaigrette. Homemade of course :-) This one, below, I also put some macadamia nuts in the blender with the other dressing ingredients for a creamy raspberry vinaigrette. Heaven.

And, don't laugh, but I still had a sort of fall/winter wreath up in our living room. It was vaguely seasonal though... kind of :-) So yesterday I got some pretty greenery and made a spring/summer one, which I love even more than the last. Light green makes my heart flutter, just looking at it.

The girls have taken out the "word wammer" or whatever it's called and put it back on the fridge. They sing the alphabet and Zoe spells words, much to Ashley's delight. Ashley also presses the letters to hear their name and repeat it—very cool. They are about to do some Time4Learning as we speak—Zoe operating the program, and Ashley watching over her shoulder like a hawk, the entire time. I have no doubt that Ashley gets so much from watching Zoe work.

We started reading Sugar Plum Ballerinas, Plum Fantastic, by Whoopi Goldberg again today, and as usual we couldn't put it down. The way she writes is the way she talks—hilarious. I don't know what other people have been saying about these books, but we love them.

As for me, I'm off to create flatbread for my next cookbook. Wish me luck! =)

XOXO, Kelly