Oh my goodness, I love these images of two weeks old Lumae and her family. She is such a sweet teeny punkin, which is probably accentuated by the fact she’s got two full-of-energy older brothers! It’s such a privilege to walk into someone’s home and capture their intimate family moments.

Thanks, Lindsay and Case, for having me over. Lumae is a beautiful baby.

Nothing says Happy 4th of July like a fully-lined knit penguin hat.

Livia’s Auntie Bean gave her this super cute winter accessory last weekend and of course Livia put it on immediately. Who wouldn’t want to wear a penguin hat while lighting fireworks?!

I love having Livia next to me while we bake cookies. She helps crack eggs, samples each ingredient, and then cleans off the Kitchen Aid paddle for me. Plus, with her, baking is an Event and we don aprons. Makes it more fun that way.

Shiloh gets in on the action, too. He cleans up the floor. Today he decided the bare arches of my feet needed cleaning—way ticklish.

We like to make this chocolate chip recipe from my Aunt Ruthie because it makes enough for a crowd. What cookie recipes are your favorites?

Yes, it is really hot outside. The egg-frying part is debatable.
No, these photos were not taken recently. But they do seem fitting for a hot summer afternoon.
Yes, it is really hard to avoid looking at Facebook.
Yes, I might blog a lot more until I get Facebook out of my system.
Yes, I do miss reading about the minutiae of everyone’s lives.
No, I am not giving in already.
Yes, I am loving Summer 2011, hot weather and all.

Question #1: Do you like hot weather or cold better?
Question #2: How often do you check your email or Facebook or Yahoo News each day? Are you as obsessive as I am? Is this a problem for you, too, or is your level of online activity totally fine for you? Just curious.

Livia Day involved our second salamander hunt of the summer. And while Liv has found snails and flowers and exercise and fresh air, she and Jeremy haven’t yet located salamanders. I don’t know that anyone’s devastated by that fact, however. The reward seems to be in the adventures had together. On Sunday we waded through wet grasses, crossed over railroad tracks and back again, went under bridges and over them, and worked up an appetite for a hardy lunch at a nearby diner.

It was a good day.

Pull on some shoes, grab a net and get hunting because it’s Livia Day!

Seven years ago today Livia Raine came into our lives and thus today is a day of celebration.

Thank you, God, for your grace in our lives. You have made us a family and you’ve blessed us beyond telling. May Livia never know a day she doesn’t trust in and rely upon Jesus. May you draw us closer to you and closer as a family. We are so grateful, Lord! Thank you for Livia.

It’s a dark and rainy morning and my newborn photo shoot is officially on a rain delay. Mumford is blaring over the speakers while I catch up on email, Facebook, online life as it is. The dog rests behind me, ears flattened a bit—I don’t think he appreciates Roll Away Your Stone as much as I do. I’m finally finally finally easing back into a normal existence after having elbow surgery five weeks ago. Being down and out for that long was both depressing and enlightening. Apparently I’m not much of a patient patient. Back to Mumford & Sons. They played in Council Bluffs two days ago and I. wasn’t. there. Can’t tell you how unfair that seemed. I heard that show sold out in minutes. Ah well, good for them.

Jeremy, Liv and I planted some vincas and impatiens and begonias and lobelias the other day. We’ve got more work to do, but we made a good start using some amazing dirt from our compost pile. Livia loves planting. It wasn’t until later that day when she was contentedly watching tv and I was finishing the potting that I realized, Wow, planting by myself is much easier than doing it with her around! Always, a mama needs to slow down to adjust for younger fingers on a task. As silly as it sounds, I think sometimes we expect Liv to act like an adult. But it takes a long time to nurture this little soul–what a job we’ve been given to train up this child.

Enough with my Thursday ramblings. I’m off to conquer a few piles of laundry.

I just deleted an entire post on gardening. It seemed boring and I’m not sure anyone else is interested in the topic. So if you actually read my posts on gardening, let me know.

Is anyone blogging any more?

Flowers make me happy. I know several gals who’d rather receive a potted plant or a foot massage or have the trash taken out rather than get flowers from their spouses. I am not that girl. I think this is why I love spring so much. I love the bursts of color coming from my yard right now and slowly Livia is learning to adore them, too. This morning she kept yelling for me to come outside to see something. When I turned the corner I admired her discovery: the first little rose blooming on our David City rosebush. (We have a small rosebush from Jeremy’s grandparents’ home in David City, Nebraska. It’s extra special to me.)

Most plants in our yard come from unglamorous origins. The peony pictured above came from Sam’s Club many years ago. Most bulbs died, but two survived and continue to make me happy year after year. Other blooms have come from garden store shopping trips over the past ten springs. There’s the clematis from Earl May, the pincushion flower from a neighborhood greenhouse, the gorgeous blue Columbines that Jeremy picked out from a location I can’t recall. The gardens are a constant work-in-progress. Some plants naturally die out after a few years; others are victims of rabbits or over-eager weed spraying. Some are divided and transplanted in better locations where they thrive with more or less sunshine.

I cringe to think of moving and leaving our beloved yard behind. I want to dig up each plant and take it with us. But Jeremy has a more positive take on the move. He reminds me that we can start again—and, I daresay, we’ll be smarter about it this time around. We’ll use the last ten years of knowledge to start something new. Like an artist with a blank canvas, we’ll see endless possibilities in a new space. And hopefully the new Prairie Box homeowners, whoever they are, will enjoy the peonies when they come up, fresh and lovely, next spring.

**Update on moving. No, we haven’t sold the house. No, it’s not on the market yet. We’ve got a few more renovations to make before listing it. But if you or someone you know would like a lovely 1915 home with three bedrooms, let me know!