at home | pictures from the past week

Spring is coming! Can you feel it? There's still a thick layer of snow on the ground here in Milwaukee, and this week's forecast is bleak-- I don't think we'll even reach 20 degrees in the next seven days-- but Spring is on its way, I just know it. There's still a smidge of sunlight left in the sky when Ryan comes home from work. Bunches of fresh asparagus have been $1.99 a pound at the grocery store for three weeks in a row. Gardening books have been ordered and are on their way to my front door right now, and I made a long list of flowers I hope to plant in the garden this summer. I'm taking great pleasure in filling the house up with tulips and finding pretty supplies to scrub things with, because when it comes to Spring cleaning, I'm on the same level with Danny Tanner. I can't help myself. I love Spring.




Last week the temps hit a glorious almost-50 degrees. It was pleasant enough to draw everyone in the neighborhood out of their houses to feel the warm sun on their face and shout things like, What a beautiful day! I wish it would last! Are you surviving the winter? across their yards and over their fences. And for the first time ever, I willingly let Ralph skip a nap just so we could walk to the park and jump in some puddles. We stayed long enough for him to get thoroughly soaked, and when his teeth started to chatter, I hauled him home through the slush while he screamed in protest the whole way. And then he had a nice warm bath while the sunlight poured through the window.




When Ryan and I went out for Valentine's Day last week, Ralph went to my sister's house to play with his older cousins, and he returned home with a new love for tools. He carries around his little tool box all day long, hammering on furniture and pretending to plug little nails into holes. He especially likes to press his screw driver into various screws around the house and make a loud errrrrrrrr sound. It's so fun to see his imagination start to take shape. Ryan and I are constantly looking at each other asking, Did you teach him that? And then we shrug, because nope, neither of us did. At least, not on purpose. He is a tiny sponge right now, and I love it.


Ryan turned 26 last Thursday. We didn't do a whole lot to celebrate, because I think I married the most easy-to-please man on the planet. All he asked for was a cheesecake, and I was happy to oblige. (I made this one, and it was definitely the easiest and tastiest I've ever made. Try it!) I also got him what turned out to be the manliest assortment of gifts ever-- a new baseball cap, a pack of beer, a beer brewing book, and a chainsaw. If I had all the money in the world I'd have him retire and then make him spend his days building things and brewing beer and maybe going fishing every once in a while. I'm pretty sure that's all he ever wants anyway, besides some slices of fresh bread with butter for supper every night. Ryan is just a good, goofy, happy dude and I sure do love having him around.

Also, here's the post I wrote on Ryan's birthday last year, just because it's a fun one.