Seeds and sanguine expectations

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Seeds and sanguine expectations

Last week, James and I tackled the springtime task of starting a vegetable garden at Gramma's—something I've never attempted in the past due to an egregiously non-green thumb. After seeing how well Brianna's garden grew last summer, I decided to give it a shot at my place.

So James and I planned, prepped, and planted with sanguine expectations seedlings would soon sprout.

Our eventual bounty will include...

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Grandmas can change the world!

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Grandmas can change the world!

How grandmas can change the world!

Maria Shriver publishes a weekly newsletter, The Sunday Paper, that's chock-full of positive information and inspiration. I was once a diehard reader of the print Sunday local newspaper but nowadays The Sunday Paper is the one and only newspaper I peruse, nay, devour on Sundays. 

In yesterday's The Sunday Paper was a quote that especially resonated with me, as I think it...

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OT for Tooth Fairy

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OT for Tooth Fairy

OT for Tooth Fairy

Last week I shared a precious pic of Brayden displaying his first missing molar. Mere days after that post, Megan shared on social media a photo of Brayden and Camden, who both lost another tooth.

One day later, Megan posted yet another photo, this one showing Camden lost yet another tooth.

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Word of the day: Freckles

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Word of the day: Freckles

Today's word is... FRECKLES!

Definition of freckle (per Merriam-Webster):

1: any of the small brownish spots in the skin due to augmented melanin production that increase in number and intensity on exposure to sunlight

Freckles on display:

Megan texted me this photo a week or so ago showing nine-year-old Brayden...

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Throwback Thursday: The tunes they are a changin'

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Throwback Thursday: The tunes they are a changin'

This #TBT piece by Lisa Carpenter originally published March 24, 2011 on Grandma's Briefs.

I'm proud to say my family is musical. We dabble in playing — a guitar and piano here, a recorder and ukulele there — but it's in the listening to music that we really excel. As a whole, our hearts, minds and ears are open to myriad genres, everything from classical to Christian, country to show tunes, hard rock to soft rock and many that aren't really rock at all. We even have our family favorites in the rap genre. (I must admit, though, jazz and easy listening rarely pass notes in our homes, our cars, our iPods, or Spotify queue.)

Music plays a prodigious and powerful role in our family, which is why...

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Word of the Day: Jubilation

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Word of the Day: Jubilation

Today's word is... JUBILATION!

Definition of jubilation (per Merriam-Webster):

1: an act of rejoicing : the state of being jubilant 

2: an expression of great joy

Jubilation on display:

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A 'Disquiet Time' gem

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A 'Disquiet Time' gem

I am a sucker for a good quote, as this post and this post attest. I recently checked out from the library Disquiet Time: Rants and Reflections on the Good Book by the Skeptical, the Faithful, and a few Scoundrels, edited by Jennifer Grant and Cathleen Falsani, and while reading Tracey Bianchi's touching (and truth-filled) essay "One Disgusting Mess," the following passage jumped right off the page and into my heart:

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Throwback Thursday: 10 things I forget I love... until I remember

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Throwback Thursday: 10 things I forget I love... until I remember

This #TBT piece by Lisa Carpenter originally published February 21, 2011 on Grandma's Briefs.

I love jams and jellies. Chokecherry, strawberry, pomegranate, cherry. Yum! I eat jam or jelly nearly every day. On peanut butter sandwiches. On crackers. On toast. On English muffins. On bagels. (Not all in the same day, of course.)

Recently though, as I toasted an English muffin, I noticed the honey in the cupboard and decided to travel that oft-ignored culinary road. So I put it on my toasted muffin instead of jelly or jam, took a big bite, and instantly thought, "Yum! Why don't I have honey more often?"

I always forget how...

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Snow at last

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Snow at last

Snow at last

Though much of the country has had far more snow this winter than want and know what to do with, the Pikes Peak Region — the place I call home — has had nothing measurable nor magical.

Saturday we got measurable, we got magical, we got happy thanks to moisture-filled snow that fell most of the day.

Of course, as is typical for Colorado, snowy skies Saturday transformed into sunny skies Sunday. Temps rose little, though, so the blanket of white stuck around and created an enchanting winter wonderland Jim and I — and Mickey Dog, too — enjoyed viewing from indoors.

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