Boreal Witch

Today Robinson and I were driving to town. As we passed the Bible Baptist church, I checked out their sign as is custom (I find what they have to say fascinating, although a little misguided) and laughed.

Their sign read, "THE EARTH IS YOUR MOTHER. YOUR MOTHER IS DIRT."

Okay...?

I found this entire argument rather ridiculous because according to the Bible, God made man out of dirt, dust, or clay depending on the translation (Genesis 2:7). If we take this literally, then we are made of dirt, too. We are made of earth, our Mother.

This sign was supposed to make people like me upset, but really, all it did was give me a bad case of the giggles. I guess keeping your humor when it comes to religion is never a bad thing.

On another note, I love that it's raining outside. The sound is so soothing. Enjoy the spring.

Blessed be.

This may as well have been the busiest week of my life.

Let me back up: Robinson, Arthur, and I were supposed to go down to Anchorage in March, but a huge snowstorm hit the day before we were supposed to go, so we canceled our trip. I was pretty sad, but it meant that Arthur and I were able to go to his friend Alek's birthday party after all. Robinson and I decided to reschedule our trip for April.

Due to some unforeseen work technicalities, Arthur and I ended up flying down on a one-way ticket and Robinson drove down a few days later. Instead of re-hashing my entire trip, I think I'll just tell you the five most fun or eventful things that happened to me while in Anchorage.

NUMBER FIVE: A two-year donation.
After Arthur was born I was afraid I wouldn't be able to continue actively volunteering, so I decided to donate my hair to Locks of Love. It was something I always wanted to do, but I was never able to grow my hair long enough. I'd cut it as soon it was "too long" - which was usually about shoulder-length.

Two years later, I was thrilled to sit in Naomi's chair and have her cut and style my hair. It feels fabulous to have short hair again and she did a magnificent job (though I've never doubted her abilities - she's wonderful!). Everyone who has seen it loves it - I even had someone remark that I look younger (which is a woman's prerogative, right?). The hair is currently sitting in my living room and will be mailed tomorrow when Arthur and I are running errands. My donation will soon be complete!

NUMBER FOUR: A new title.
Arthur requested well in advance a "big berry cake" for his birthday, so when I recently bought a cake cookbook from Gulliver's that had a Strawberry Shortcake Cake inside, I thought the timing was too good to be true. To test the book, I made a Lemon Lust Cake for a Monday gaming session. Excellent reviews.

Sure enough, the Strawberry Shortcake Cake was amazing. Even my dad loved the cake (and he said that he was not a big fan of strawberry shortcake to begin with). I made a small one for Arthur and a large one for me - oops, I meant to share - and they were worth all of the extra time it took me to make it.

Just call me...the Grand Duchess of Cakes. Bow to my amazing baking abilities!

NUMBER THREE: Family and friends.
Because we live so far from Anchorage, we don't get to see family very often. Sometimes we get to see everyone three or four times during the summer, which is nice. The winters are another story. It was great for Arthur to play with his cousins and spend time with his aunties and grandparents. He liked being the center of attention so much that he didn't want to leave Nana and Papa's. It took some bribery to get the kid in the car so we could go. We didn't have to bribe him with much - just some cheddar cheese!

NUMBER TWO: My baby boy is no longer a baby!
I'm not sure why I decided to put myself through the chore of having two birthday parties for Arthur - it probably has something to do with my love of hostessing - but I thought a family party on his birthday would be a fun event. I spent most of the day cooking and cake-baking (see above). It was a bit stressful Friday afternoon because Arthur did not want to take his nap and I had a lot to do, but Superdad (aka Robinson) certainly swooped in and saved the day!

It's funny, but I don't really have mixed reactions about Arthur turning two. I love the fact he's growing up and that he's learned (and still learning) so much. I certainly don't miss him being a baby and I can't wait for him to continue to grow into the lovable little boy I know he'll become!

And finally - NUMBER ONE: April showers bring May babies!
Blythe and I joked about Becky having her baby at the baby shower...

I'm not sure who exactly she got her information from, but that little bird was dead on! Becky had her baby the next morning at about 2am. She went through a midwife this time and had the baby at a birthing center.

Little Ella was 6 lbs 6 oz. Mom and Blythe said that she looked a lot like Molly when she was a baby. We extended our trip a day just to see the baby. What a great surprise!

Blessed be.

Arthur and I went on a walk today. The spring warmth has started to melt all of the snow on the scenic overlook and the McDonald's wrappers, Big Gulp cups, Marlboro cigarettes are starting to creep out. Oh, the blessings of spring.

Blessed be.

Both my mom and my grandmother asked me if we were doing anything special for Easter. We didn't make a special dinner or have any friends over, but we had a great weekend anyway.

On Saturday, we went to Mush for Kids. There were dogs everywhere, including a make-shift track for some dog sleds to run around Pioneer Park. Arthur loved watching the dogs run. He also got a balloon (he chose the color). After lunch, we went back to the park and Arthur got to sit in the firetruck. He really liked that (maybe more than the dogs?).

That night we dyed some eggs. Arthur also got to choose the colors: blue, green, and yellow. He even tried putting rubber bands around the eggs to decorate them. The next morning we hid the eggs in the living room and told Arthur to find them. He got the biggest kick out of searching for the eggs (and later wanted us to hide them so that he could search for them again). We had a nice, quiet meal with - what else? - deviled eggs!

I bought Arthur some rubber boots at Once Upon a Child this weekend. He had some apprehension at first and didn't even want to try them on, but when I explained that he couldn't wear his shoes in the puddles, only his boots, he finally gave them a try. Wouldn't you know it...he loved them! They are a tad big, so he had to learn how to walk all over again. Sunday afternoon we went back to Pioneer Park to take Arthur through the puddles. He had a good time splashing in all of the big puddles and seems as excited as we are for spring.

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the warming weather!

Blessed be.