walk with sisters!

^ we found a place near the pond that was shady and grassy.

^ clara and her awesome panda shirt!

^ me.

^ beautiful melissa

^ clara in the tree

^ crossing the stream on the way home

^ piggy back rides!
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best dressed birthday party

^ Jenny, Sarrie, Olivia, Breanna, Elicia, Emily, Sharlena, and Melissa

^ this cake (sour cream chocolate chip, i think) was so delicious. and this picture is delicious too. i’m rather proud of it.

^ dancing in the night.  this looks kind of like a painting, doesn’t it? em and jen wove christmas lights all through their backyard.

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day at the park

two weeks ago, on april 16, we babysat two four-year-old twins, jenna and asa.  as part of our day together, we went to the park that is just down the street from our house.  the city recently rebuilt the park, so this was my first time going down there and playing on it since then.

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planting

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dallas arboretum

I slept over with some friends, went to church with them, ate lunch, and then we went to the Dallas Arboretum.  Despite the rain, we had a really fun time.

^ Jenny, Ellie, Emily, and Sharlena

^ the pancake bush

^ we had a nice picnic in a gazebo: lavender lemonade, cookies, and banana muffins

^ the mist was beautiful

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carwash

On Saturday, Clara and Amy and I helped at a carwash for Margaret to raise money for her intern account.

^ This is what it looked like most of the time.  Holding signs, waiting for customers.

^ This was our entertainment.  That, and Margaret and Arielle dancing while holding signs.

^ All of us, minus Amy.

^ We stopped at Starbucks on the way home.

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snow day

it has been snowing all day.  and we made 3 snowmen.  this is just one.

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this time was so good.

carrots

i didn’t even know we had anything growing still, but today we picked these carrots from our garden in the backyard.

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backyard living, no. 1

[this one is for claire.]

and now, dear readers, i shall now feature a series of posts about how to live in one’s backyard.

to start, one must have a place to sleep, such as a treehouse, or perhaps a tent. i have already featured such a post here.

next, one must have  a restroom facility (fully equipped with toilet paper), like an outhouse in the corner, like my sisters and i had in our fourth-acre backyard of sand in new mexico.

one must also have a way to prepare food, such as a firepit, bonfire, or grill.  the main diet of  a backyard camper may consist of hotdogs, chili, hot cider, and smores.

more examples of backyard living to follow.
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