Eat Pie, Love Life

-Tom's Cheery Cherry Cherry Berry Pie-

Steve bought me a pie. Not just any pie mind you, but this pie which just so happens to be a 2009 Food Network Pie Challenge Best of Show Winner! This award winning pie is made in a small town bakery cafe just up the road from here. Their motto is:
"Eat pie, love life."
...words to live by...
We all had a piece of this amazing "Tom's Cheery Cherry Cherry Berry Pie" and set the rest away on the counter where we have been quietly polishing it off in small bites everytime we walk past ... which, let's be honest, has been mostly me.

p.s. You can't judge me like that until after you've tasted it! You'd eat the whole thing too if your family wasn't looking!

Ballet shoes ... check.

Ballet shoes ... check.
Pink leotard ... check.
Frilly tutu ... check.
Hair pinned back ... check.
Smile on ... check.
One little girl, giddy with excitement ... check.
Ok ... I think we're ready for the first day of dance class.

I'm so unappreciated...

I thought of a great song while vacuuming this morning. 
It goes a little something like this:
(sung to the tune of "If I Had a Hammer")

If I had a vacuum, I'd vacuum in the mo-or-ning.
I'd vacuum in the evening.  All over this la-and.
I'd vacuum up Legos, I'd vacuum up GI Joes,
I'd vacuum up Barbies and Polys and little baby dollys
Aa-all over this l-a-a-and.

Second verse:

If you want to save them ... rescue your to-o-oys,
then here's my suggestion.  Listen to my pla-an.
Pick up your Legos.  Pick up your GI Joes.
Pick up your Barbies and Polys and little baby dollys
Do you ... un-der sta-a-a-and?

I sang it to Sunny and she lowered her head,
glared at me and said quietly, "I hate it."
Ha!  Every one's a critic.
Gage's didn't like it either. 
I'm so unappreciated in my own time.

Flint C.M.

Loved this fabulous hands on Children's Museum in Flint.

Einstein?  Fitting I thought.

A royal coach!  Even more fitting.

Hey, it was Bullwinkle the Moose, I couldn't help myself.

Some light grocery shopping.

Then a stop at the pizza parlor.

Where's the fire?

Oh, here it is.

Dress up theatre.

Yikes, what a great place!

Back to School Specials (people that is)

Here are 2 back to school specials you won't want to miss:

Good luck this year in 2nd grade Gage ... and in ???nd grade Steve!

Beach-tastic ...

Today was beach-tastic.

Sand, surf, sun ...

Boat watching, castle making, seagull chasing ...

Definitely beach-tastic!

A few summer favorites

Here are a few of my favorite (summer) things ...

Favorite summer riverbank ...

Favorite summer park bench ...

Favorite summer hangout ...

Favorite summer toddler ...

Favorite summer underdog launcher ...

Favorite summer strolling spot ...

Favorite summer pool boy ...

Favorite summer goggel eyes ...
Oh, how I LOVE those goggel eyes!

Happy anniversary ...

It's been a year (and a few weeks) since our Michigan journey began.  Saying good-bye to our home and friends, the long exhausting drive, the anxiety of starting law school, daily house hunting, living in a hotel, soothing crying kids who were missing old friends. 

Yep, a whole year ago.  And now ... new friends, new home, new school, lakes visited, parks explored, callings fufilled, winter survived, and seasons enjoyed.

And oddly, as we visited that old familiar neighborhood this last month on our family vacation the feeling was surreal, like we'd never left, as if the entire last year hadn't happened at all.  To the point where I was having a difficult time remembering what Michigan even looked like.  The details of our first MI year were fuzzy.  I felt as if I had fallen asleep and had a long vivid dream.  Like in the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Michigan felt like a dream to me now."  Steve felt it too and so the analysis began.  Was it because our freindships had remained true?  Was it being back in such natural and familiar surroundings?  Was it the Lord's way of telling us he would erase all the negatives and leave only the amazing positives in our adventure?  Or His way of saying our trials would be but a moment?  What ever the message was meant to be, we felt a huge confirmation that our decision to start law school this last year way out here in Michigan was the right decision.  It's good to feel you're on the right track!  Just a relief.