well-crafted

Four Years

Lauren celebrated quite a bit last week. Monday was the Big Day. I served her favorite meal, noodles with red sauce. Woo-hoo! She requested a “regular” cake (basic yellow) with strawberry frosting, which was a breeze with fresh jam on hand. Since this girl loves anything and everything fancy, I set the table with my grandmother’s china and let both kids drink out of some little wine glasses from the same collection. Will made place cards for us. So cute.

Each day following, many of her sentences began with “Since it’s a special occasion, can I…?” Or, when it was time to leave the swimming pool one evening and she didn’t want to; “This is supposed to be a happy birthday!!!”

I cannot believe she has been with us for 4 years. I love the way her eyes get watery when she laughs. How silly she can be, particularly when she does the goofy face and dance to “cheer me up” when I get grumpy. She’s an affectionate girl who loves all things glamorous, and all things snuggly. A girl who sits elegantly cross-legged—in her booster seat, with a thumb in her mouth. A girl who loves garden slugs and the hair salon game on Barbie.com. A girl who often wonders aloud how God makes things—it usually involves tape and/or a trip to Target.

Saturday she partied with her friends and ran around squealing “My birthday party, my birthday party. I’m so happy!”

And we are happy too. So happy to have you in our family.

Our dear, sweet , 4-year-old girl.

While We Wait

Portland summers take their sweet time to kick in. June is a particularly torturous month as we wait for our days to heat up, for morning swimming lessons that don’t require a cup of hot cocoa afterwards and going to our favorite fountain without being driven away by the threat of a mini thunderstorm.

Making our wait easier is the lovely Oregon strawberry, who’s season you could easily miss if you blink (or spend too much time looking forward to July). Our week has been full of strawberries. Monday we picked a flat and a half. Later we ate them with biscuits and cream for dinner—making me “Best Mom Ever”.
 

Tuesday we made jam and have eaten it with (or for) nearly every meal since. Well, at least I have. Two batches of cream scones have been made and the second nearly devoured, always with spoons full of jam to accompany them. Yum. I have never made jam before this and have become instantly converted. Nothing else can really compare. I just hope we can save some to get us through the winter.

“I guess we should have asked first”

 

 

Indeed.