I love garage sales

So far this year, I got Elena's entire summer wardrobe for about $10 plus a large wok for $2 and a tent for the kids to play in for $2.

Last fall we got a trampoline for $25 - I mainly wanted it as a way for Elena to burn enough energy so I can get her down for a nap at a decent time. Otherwise, she doesn't get tired until 5:00, at which point she is either cranky the rest of the evening or she naps and stays up and can't fall asleep at night.

It's great excercise for the grown-ups, too. Shortly after we got it, our neighbor came outside and caught Seth and me jumping on the trampoline like a couple of kids while Sam and Elena were napping.

Easter Egg Hunting

I just realized I never put up any pictures from Easter. Here are the kids hunting for eggs.

Perfect!

In case you're wondering what has happened to us, the weather has been absolutely perfect here for the past couple of weeks. So all of our free time has been spent outside. I'll try to do a blog update on the next cool day.

Just to tie all of my avid readers over, here's something I overheard the other day that made me laugh. Seth was trying to comb Elena's hair, which she absolutely hates, but which we need to do daily lest she end up with a permanent wad of hair knotted up in the back of her head.

Elena: No! No! No! No!
Seth: Elena, Hold still.
Elena: Nooooooo!
Seth: We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Elena: Hmmm......the hard way.

(the hard way, by the way, just means Seth pretty much puts her in a headlock while he combs her hair)

Drowning

Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in venison. Not only do we have a large box in our freezer full of venison from this past fall, we also have a slightly smaller box in our freezer full of venison from the previous fall.

Half of my freezer is venison.

And I don't like venison. I really wish I did, but I just don't.

I eat it because it is there and I would feel guilty letting it go to waste, not to mention wasting all the money and time put into killing the deer and processing the meat. But I use it sparingly and I'm not keeping up with the incoming meat.

Seth likes it, but I don't think he would be thrilled with me making him eat venison egg bake for breakfast, venison lasagna for lunch and venison hot-dish for supper every day for the next 6 months, which is about how long it would take one person to finish it all off.

Sometimes when November rolls around, I am tempted to pray that no one in Seth's family will get a deer. I say tempted because I would never actually do that. I love them too much. I will admit, though, that I don't pray for them to get anything, either - only for their safety. And that's as far as I'll go, boys. Sorry.

But in the end, I guess it doesn't really bother me to be drowning in unappetizing, inescapable meat. For one, so much of the world has such a small quantity and variety of food that I should be happy to have food at all. And if that's the price I have to pay for a happy husband who loves me as much as Seth does, I will do so with a smile on my face.

Even if it looks more like a grimace while I choke down yet another bite of venison.


By the way, if anyone wants some venison......

It's hard to believe I'm now the mother of a 3-year-old

Words can't describe how wonderful it has been to watch Elena grow these past 3 years. She's just an amazing child (as all children are, of course), and we hope to enjoy many, many more years with her. As her personality emerges more with time, it has been especially fun to see so much of us in her.

From Seth: she gets her social skills and an ability to remember a face anywhere.

From me: I see a joy for learning, extreme talkativeness and strong-mindedness. I'm unfortunately getting a good taste of my own medicine.

Like both of us: she enjoys dancing and is stubborn as a mule when it comes to potty-training. (Seth and I were both the most difficult of our families to potty-train)

Happy Birthday, Elena!