Look! Look!

After much begging (blogging) I got my perfect Mommy's Day. Except the girls changed clothes. That was a good thing, because we all went out to the woods:

... to eat ants on a log. ...

Of course, the mommy readers will know that ants, while nutritious, were not my Mother's Day luncheon. We had celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, otherwise known as ants on a log. We also had yummy roast beef sandwiches and carrot sticks and chips. Then the local cool kids showed up to the waterfall we were visiting. They were on a late Earth Day thing, cleaning up trash. But there was no trash, yay Oregon! So we just visited with the cleanup crew, otherwise known as our nearest organic farmer, our across-the-road dairy goat neighbors, and the fun family who sold us our current house. They live in eight miles or so from us, in a monstrously huge barn-turned-home, and they homeschool, so we don't see them very often. It was a nice divine appointment.

After that, we all hiked, even Laura:

That's the dog you see in the foreground. And, no, Laura is not bearing any weight on her little stubby chubbies. But I'm telling you, that baby wants to GO! She would not stop grunting until I put her Robeez on the ground like the other girls. How funny.

After the hike, the most important part! The long-awaited handmade gifts!!!!! (multiple exclamation points, I know, but this is mommyhood heaven right here):

Try to ignore my multiple chin problem, and I will love you forever. That's a wreath made out of baling twine and silk flowers. Gotta love it.

And that is a paperweight hand-painted with a portrait of Sarah and me, no less, on the chopped off end of a fencepost. My girls did this 100% by themselves. No help from Daddy. I am so in love with my gifts. They also bestowed upon me handmade paper that is embedded with flower seeds (what a good teacher to do this with their classes!), a pen with a silk flower top like the kind I'm always tempted to swipe at the bank (they made it at Sunday School!), and a dogwood tree. We arrived home in time for dinner and dessert with my mommy, who received much fussing and more handpainted globbies than I did. Finally we wrapped up the day with THE PLANTING OF THE TREE.

[Imagine photo here of a dogwood tree in a new shade garden created by my husband.
Very nice.]

So you know, I am a dingbat. I locked my camera (and car keys) in my Suburban late last night and can't get it out until the EGE gets home from work. Otherwise this would be a multi-photoed post. Last night the EGE and the girls cut back some of our native rhodies and planted a dogwood, a mountain laurel, a hosta and a viney maple for me. The big plan is to add a slate "floor area" to the shade garden and put a thinking bench there... very very sweet.

Today it is back to the grind. I am adding tops to a bunch of my vintage aprons. Oh, I wish that I could take photos to share with you all! But again, we must remember and make allowances for my forgetful key and camera episode and my ditsiness in general.