When we bought our house, we had some landscaping requests: no rhododendrons and no fuchsia flowers. So what did we get? Rhodies with fuchsia flowers. Yay. The landscaper filled only one request: the cherry tree. It’s my favorite part about the front yard. Sassy likes it, too. She said to me, “Mommy, our tree is beautiful. But why is it called a cherry tree when there aren’t any cherries on it?” Sharp, ain’t she? I had to explain about ornamental trees and those pesky cherries that fall off the tree and rot on the ground.

When I sit on my overstuffed armchair in the living room, I can look out the front window and see the morning light streaming through the pale pink blossoms. And when the wind blows the petals off, it looks like it’s snowing. Snow in spring! Unfortunately, it’s not entirely unheard of in Seattle, but thankfully, we didn’t get real snow this spring, just lots of rain.

Sporty had a spring concert tonight, and since this is his 6th concert since kindergarten and all the pictures were starting to look the same, I didn’t feel like lugging my heavy 80-200mm lens to the concert, just to get a picture of him with his mouth opening while singing under fluorescent lighting. So I got a few shots of him at home. He was quite unhappy to sit still for me, but I managed to get a shot of his huge permanent front teeth, which are straighter now that he has had some orthodontic work. When I saw the second shot (with our cluttered house in the background), I was sad to see how grown up he looks. He’s growing up so fast…

Last week, we were in CA visiting family and friends, and I spent some time cleaning out boxes from my mom’s garage. I laughed out loud when I opened up a box full of Sweet Valley High books. Did anyone else read those? And what you see in the picture isn’t even all of them. I have some more here at home that are nestled in a box with my Sweet Dreams romances. Ah yes, that was my teen romance phase.

I went through my Nancy Drew phase, and I read all the Bobbsey Twins books. I loved Encyclopedia Brown and The Great Brain and all those eerie books by Lois Duncan. It’s been fun to introduce my kids to some of my childhood favorites, like Where the Red Fern Grows and The All-of-a-Kind Family. But I think I’ll shield them from Sweet Valley High and V.C. Andrews.

The trees that line the bridge and the street that lead to my house show evidence of the passing of the seasons. In the summer, the trees are filled with verdant leaves. The leaves change to a brilliant red with the coming of autumn. As fall changes to winter, the leaves fall off. And then life springs anew with the cherry and plum blossoms.

The other day, I drove across the bridge and noticed how barren the tree branches looked. Poor little naked, twiggy trees. But it occurred to me how they were full of hope. What an odd thought, since hope is usually associated with spring, with the promise of new life. But spring’s buds already know that they will blossom or yield new leaves. Winter’s branches have no knowledge of such promise. They merely wait, not knowing, just hoping.

Every year, my friend Angie throws an elaborate birthday party for her daughter. Last year, she had a pink theme: pink cake, pink water, pink M&Ms, pink marshmallows, pink lemonade…you get the picture. This year was a winter theme, complete with a fabulously incredible igloo cake and beautiful snowflakes. Stay tuned at the end of this year to see how she will top herself.

I was trying to get a picture that would show how big Sassy’s backpack is compared to her body. Unfortunately, she chose that moment to pick her nose.

Since 2006, I’ve been taking our annual Christmas picture at the bridge near our house. Recently, I pulled out all the old cards to compare them, and it’s amazing to see how much the kids have grown. I miss the baby days, but I enjoy their independence now. Yesterday morning, they both crawled into bed with me at 6:30 to cuddle. In 10 years, they won’t do that anymore, and I’ll miss the days when they did. It’s a good reminder to me to cherish each stage of their lives.

Secret Daughter tells the story of a poor Indian woman who gives her daughter up for adoption to an American couple. The book depicts the lives of both the mother and daughter and how their lives are impacted by the adoption. It’s a window into the heart-wrenching fate of girls in India. Beautifully written, it’s sad and hopeful at the same time.

In September, I took the kids out to the bridge to take our annual Christmas card pictures. I was going to be on top of things and get my cards done really early. Unfortunately, the kids weren’t super cooperative. I got a few good shots, but not what I was hoping for. The re-takes were more successful, though, and my Christmas cards are being shipped to me now.

Even with crooked teeth, he’s still adorable to me!

Yes, I realize that Halloween was a month ago. But I am just now feeling like posting pictures.

Sassy wanted to be a dragon for Halloween, and I thought, “Great! We can re-use Sporty’s dinosaur costume and put wings on it!” I bought some inexpensive blue wings which matched the dinosaur costume. She looked adorable in the dragon costume, but then that evening, she came up to me and whispered in my ear, “I don’t want to be a dragon anymore. I want to be a fairy.” Good thing the dragon wings can double as fairy wings. And the tutu she got for her birthday was a perfect match for the color of the wings.

My friend Angie carved this incredible pumpkin.