WayfaringStrangers

Behn and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary yesterday. We had a great day! My parents kindly offered to take the kids for the day and we toyed around with different ideas- go to the beer festival? Hike? Day trip to Fredericksburg? Explore a local garden? See a movie? In the end, guess what: we stayed home and worked in the yard all afternoon! It was so relaxing (and FREE) and we got lots of work done, side by side. We had dinner at the Irish pub, got some ice cream, and picked up Patrick. Graham had his first sleep over at Nana and Pop Pop's. And that was our anniversary. It was nice. Marriage is funny. You hear all this stuff about how stressful events will take a toll on your marriage. Taking on grad school? Try to keep the fire burning! Having a baby? Make time for each other! New job? Rough waters ahead.  Moving? Watch out! This year we had no  major life changes: no baby, no move, no school, no new jobs. But this has been the hardest year in our relationship....

We decided not to buy meat this month, trying to save a little extra money on the ol' grocery bill. So far it's really made a difference and if I think about it, it's not because I'm just not buying meat, it's because I'm also not buying extra ingredients that I use to make meat dishes. My mom asked me what we've been eating. My answer: "Rice and beans, rice and beans, pasta, salad, rice and beans. And cereal." It's been a little boring at times. Then I made a great dressing for a salad and thought, "This would be awesome over some rice and black beans!" So this recipe was born. Try it. Enjoy! You will need: Rice Black beans Any other veggies you want to add (red peppers, green onions, etc) Dressing: 6 oz. plain yogurt (can be Greek...doesn't have to be) 1/3 cup minced cilantro 2T mayonnaise 1/4 cup half and half 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1 teaspoon cumin 1 T lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepp...

I'm tired and listless. It feels like it's been a long week. I'm trying to let go of guilt regarding not mothering well...yelling, complaining, being downright cranky. I know I am covered in His grace. Repeat. I know I am covered in His grace. I think it will be a quiet summer, as it seems now. "Do you have plans this summer?" everyone asks. "No, not really." I think we will have days where we go to the park. Or find some water. Days of taking walks in the humid air. And letting boys stay up an extra hour to catch fireflies. We can do local things, like visit the lighthouse or walk through a new park or stroll in L-town (the only quaint town around). I can slow down and bake bread and listen to bluegrass music, we can work in our gardens. We should find an outdoor concert. We can spend time with our lovely family here and enjoy dinners together. If we are really brave, maybe we will go to Washington D.C. I hope we make it to Delaware at s...

Graham's vocabulary and conversations are really taking off, and that has made us really enjoy his being 3 1/2. He's always saying things like, "We're on a space rocket right now!" I love the funny things he pretends. Yesterday he asked "Please teach me to catch the baseball," which is so innocent and cute. Here's some tidbits of things he's said: "That way is East," he said, pointing West. "No, that's West. East is where the sun rises, over this way," I corrected him. "Oh, that's East," he said, pointing in the correct direction, "just like eggs." "Eggs? Oh, like Easter eggs. I get you," I laughed. In the car Graham was trying to convince Patrick that I am not an ogre. Patrick: "No Mama!!" (this was random, by the way) Graham: "Don't say 'no mama,' Patrick." Patrick: "NO MAMA!" Graham: "Stop saying 'no mama,' Patrick! M...

Spring means everything is growing. That includes my 2 wild boys. They both are taller and have bigger feet every day. I'm so glad and thankful that they are healthy. I don't take it for granted. Discussing something Everyday, they run and fall, eat strawberries and peanut butter, wrestle and fight, jump and skin knees. Every day, they wake at dawn (which right now is, like 6) and begin the day with relentless energy. There's little to no sweet morning snuggles- it's like "I'm awake! Aren't you glad?? I need breakfast NOW because I'm growing and haven't eaten in 10 hours!" I'd compare morning wakeups in this house to something like waking up and realizing your house is on fire. Occasionally we can combat this with a short Netflix to keep someone still for an extra 20 minutes, though I don't prefer to start our day with screen time. Sometimes, though, it's a sweet mercy from heaven. Inspecting a little snake If they na...

We've lived in our house for one year now. Thankfully, things are good- nothing major has broken, leaked, or needed to be replaced. Thank you, Lord. We've done lots of minor projects, like paint the living room and bathroom and add a storm door, but nothing major inside the house. We've been much more focused on the yard. We have 1/2 acre, and I am grateful for lots of space. Unfortunately, it's almost all hill and has very poor soil quality. Still, we are doing to the best we can with what we have, and even better, we are enjoying it! So, here's an update on our yard, as of this spring. First of all, Behn is continuing the fence. We chose a split rail fence (2 rail posts) and he is also putting in a nice wire mesh to keep the boys in the yard. This is a huge project.  We had estimates done to have the fence completed for us, but quickly knew that it would be something we had to do on our own. He's probably about 1/8 of the way done. Due to the mag...

I have a very distinct memory, for some weird reason or another, of my mother driving a van full of 7 of us kids to a dodgy side of town because she could get cheaper milk there. (Mom, it was the Cumberland Farm near the old Caldor, remember? On the edge of the city and you'd lock us in the car and tell us not to open the door. I so wish it was still legal to do this. ) This blows my mind. Not the 'getting cheaper milk' part. I totally understand that. I remember her saying, with a hint of worry in her voice, "Milk is really expensive- $1.59 a gallon! And you all go through a lot of it." Ever the fixer of problems- hello, young social worker Megan- I chimed in, "Well, one day when I'm grown I'm going to have a farm and a cow and you'll never  have to buy milk again!" We're still waiting on that one. I'm still going to try, Mom. Maybe we'll get chickens this year and be your personal egg provider. But let's think about t...