Happy Birthday, Grandpa Carl!

Granpa Carl, man of style. On a picnic with Dennis, Carol and Ron. Probably around 1952 or 53., originally uploaded by MrsBinParis.

He couldn't have done it better.

Kind, thoughtful, patient, hard working but always has plenty of time for us. Generous with everything he is and everything he has, with a ready smile and a laugh and of course, a hug. If you're up for it, he'll sit and talk until 2 AM, eating goodies, and then get up at 4 and put the coffee on for the early risers. He's the one we've always been able to count on, no matter what. And on top of that, the man can rock a fedora.

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandpa Carl. We love you so much!

Happy Easter!

Then things get crazy..., originally uploaded by MrsBinParis.

Though we are still feeling like it's winter around here, the snow melted the day before and we had a wonderful day. Rowan woke us up with hand made paper Easter eggs for each of us (delivered in bed), followed by Easter baskets, an egg hunt, breakfast, and getting ready for church. The girls indulged me and let me take a few photos before heading off for more Easter activities at Sunday school, including another egg hunt. Worship was wonderful, and the girls sang in the Angel choir (under my direction). Well, Rowan did. Anya walked out halfway through, but she's not even 3 yet so it's forgivable. We came home for a quick, light lunch and Anya and her dad took long naps while Rowan read her new books and I prepped Easter dinner. Two families of friends came over, and we had the big, traditional Easter dinner, with ham, scalloped potatoes, and all the fixings (and I mean ALL.). We ate enough to gain about 5 lbs. each, and then everyone stayed until every dish was done, dried and put away. This is how you get another invitation to dinner! (Love our friends!)

It was a wonderful day, even if nature didn't cooperate with warm temperatures.

I hope you had a wonderful day, and got plenty of chocolate in your Easter basket!

(Full set here.)

She's learning to read

Untitled, originally uploaded by MrsBinParis.

and I love what she's writing.

"This is my mommy. This nice. I love my mommy. My mom is so nice. This is my mom with me."

Free EBooks!

A friend recently posted a link to a page of an aggregator that lists FREE ebooks. Woot! I hate paying for them, since I'm an avid library user, but I also hate disappearing books on my nook, and I never seem to remember to turn of the wifi in time to keep them until I'm finished.

Since they don't have any images, and I wanted to pin it to remember it, I'm blogging it here so I can find it again. Photo from here. Thanks to Neil Harvey for the image.

Snow!

Snow!%, originally uploaded by MrsBinParis.

We got none for months (and my mood sank lower and lower). Then, in about 3 days we got lots. The girls dressed up in their new winter coats and hats, and headed out to burn off some energy. Yay, snow!