It's Been A While

 Hi! Hello everyone. Just wanted to pop in and say hi to my blog friends. Sorry, I've been missing from this space for a while. I didn't intend to be gone for so long. My daughter and I both celebrated birthdays over the past few months, along with little Rosie, who turned three in April. 

Spring is always such a busy time, especially in May, which is the last month of school. Charlotte had finals this year, and she did amazing. We are so proud of all of her hard work. We had a wonderful year of homeschooling and are looking forward to doing it again next year. 

I've been cooking a lot lately, along with gardening - two of my favorite things! Above is our dinner from a few nights ago. A Mediterranean salad with roasted beets, lots of dill, olives, and feta cheese - I served it with grilled salmon. It was so good. I've been visiting our local farmers' market on Saturday mornings and buying so many wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables. I feel that I eat so much healthier this time of year. For dinner tonight, I made pasta with basil pesto and asparagus, grilled chicken, and a pavlova for dessert, topped with strawberries from the market this morning. Sorry, we ate it so quickly that I didn't get pictures! So, what are you cooking these days? Do you also have a local farmers' market that you visit?

Last week was Charlotte's first full week of summer break, and for the most part, we took it easy and just relaxed. We are slowly easing into summer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We have one vacation planned for this month and, hopefully, another one in August, which we are looking forward to. I love the slow days of summer without much of a schedule. 

Feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from everyone! Happy summer!

And I have to admit I'm squinting a bit too much as I write this post. I think it might be time to invest in a good pair of readers!

I'm so happy it's almost spring!

 

Hello, everyone! I'm loving the extra daylight in the evenings. And I'm happy that spring will arrive next week. Yay for spring and longer, brighter days! The winter really got to me this year. In the dark and gray days, I just have to say, I wasn't feeling it at all. Winter usually doesn't bother me very much, but for some reason, it just felt very long this year, and we didn't even get snow! The older I get, the more I feel the need for bright, sunny days. It motivates me. I keep telling my husband that maybe we should consider moving to Florida at some point. He didn't say no. 

Anyway, enough about the weather. Charlotte has the week off from school for spring break, and it's been so nice not to have a daily schedule. We've shopped, gone out to lunch and brunch a few times, slept in, and really did whatever we wanted to do - it has been really nice. Oh, and she got her ears pierced yesterday! Her birthday is coming up on Sunday, and she decided it was time, and she was ready. She looks so cute with her ears pierced. We are taking her out to dinner on Saturday night, and I'll be baking a cake on Sunday to celebrate with her grandparents. It's so hard to believe my baby girl is going to be fourteen!

Well, I guess that's it for today. I hope you all are doing well! Are you as ready for spring as I am?

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi! I just wanted to hop on and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! I've always loved this sweet holiday. I'm making dinner at home, as I usually do on this holiday. I'm making lasagna and a salad, and I've decided on individual chocolate molten cakes for dessert. They are so good with ice cream or whipped cream. 

The weather is so warm today at 65 degrees. It truly looks and feels like spring! I hope you have a wonderful day. 

January Days

 Hi! Hello, friends. I hope you are having a slow and cozy start to the new year. We haven't had any snow (only lots of rain), and honestly, I'm ok with that. The older I get (I'm 47), the less I like snow. I mean, I like snow in December because it makes everything feel more Christmassy, but after that, I'm kinda done with it. Needless to say, we didn't get any snow in December.

Homeschool is back in full swing and has been for the past two weeks. It's going very well, and we love it. I bought a devotional journal for myself, and I'm really enjoying reading it each day. I've also bought a few bunches of tulips to help brighten up the house on these dark, grey days. I always start buying tulips in January. They remind me that spring is not far away. We baked our favorite brownies last week, too. They are so good! You swirl raspberry jam through the batter right before you bake them.

So, what have you been up to lately?

It's a New Year

 

Happy New Year to you! 

I always look forward to January and welcome it after the busyness of the holidays. January is a time to rest and really just be. Drink lots of hot tea, read books, and relax.

Here's to a new year filled with health, happiness, and peace!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas, friends! Hope you've all had a wonderful day celebrating.

A New Ornament

 

Hello friends! I treated myself to a new ornament as I do most every year. It's a Linzer cookie ornament and I just love it. I came across it online, but it was sold out. I searched and searched and finally found it at a little online shop in NY, so I ordered it and they shipped it to me very quickly. It's a great addition to our tree. 

I finished the last of my Christmas shopping online today and that makes me very happy. I'll have lots of wrapping to do next week and lots of cookie baking, as well. I always gift cookie boxes to friends and neighbors, and family, too. Charlotte's last day of classes is on Thursday, so Christmas break begins for us on Friday. We are very much looking forward to a relaxing two weeks. We are meeting up with friends for dinner on Saturday night and I'm looking forward to catching up with them. We'll likely stroll around and look at the Christmas lights afterward.

 I'll be back next week to share pictures from our holiday cookie baking!