bits of sunshine

Father's Day Q&A for Ben

 

read what Maddie and Isaac thought about Ben a few years ago - in 2009 - here

then read what they think about him now - they answered these questions on Father's Day this year

birthday number 34

this has been a super awesome day.  i woke at 9:00 am to sunshine.  and i felt so rested.  we puttered around home a bit, then all four of us headed to the Y for some good exercise.  after we returned home, my mom came by with a boquet for me - a huge gerbera daisy in the middle and some pussy willows - so spring-like - in a vase that belonged to my grandma.  what a happy treat! 

my dear friend elissa called to wish me happy birthday - so i got to visit with her while ben made us a grand brunch.  eggs and sausage patties and more bluberry crumble bars (leftover from last night) and coffee - of course.  then ben and the kiddos did the dishes.  and i took my sweet time in showering and getting ready for the rest of the day. 

we drove in the sunlight to starbucks where maddie and ben told me to pick out a mug before we ordered our drinks.  i picked one with a porcelain marker - so maddie, isaac and ben could decorate it for me for my birthday. 

i wanted to watch maddie and isaac ride the ferris wheel - they make me smile.  of course, they didn't mind fulfilling that wish for me.  :) 

i also wanted to visit a dear friend and meet her almost brand-new baby boy.  she and her husband shared part of their saturday afternoon with us. 

he is such a tiny little bundle! 

ben had done some restaurant research and picked one out to try.  we had to wait for about half an hour for a table, but it smelled so yummy (wood-fired rotisserie chicken cooking away), and ben had read good things.  so we waited.  maddie worked on math (by her own choice) and kept us smiling.

isaac was a bit disgruntled by the wait.

once sitting at the table and knowing that food was on the way, he was his happy, goofy self again.

maddie insisted on a birthday kiss for the picture she snapped of us.

the food was worth the wait.  so tasty!  and i had a few bits of cheesecake with raspberry sauce for dessert.  we all kept commenting on what a grand day we were having together.

we stopped at a store at maddie's request.  she and ben went one direction.  isaac and i went to find some kettle-corn for him and maddie and some dark chocolate for ben and i. 

then, we headed home.  we listened to and sang and whistled to this music, this song in particular (thanks to maddie for bringing cd's so we could have some good birthday music), and visited and again talked about how much we all love hanging out together.

back at home, i took a picture of the table - with some of my favorite things on it - before tucking my dear kiddos in and sitting on the couch next to my hubby as he does some research and i write this.

all throughout the day, i had happy birthday notes coming my way, through the mail, by text message, on facebook, on my blog and on my flickr page.  this has been a super awesome birthday.  i have very dear people in my life, and i am so very, very grateful and blessed.

on a little side-note - this is what i wore today:

this is a pic from my 30th birthday:

some things haven't changed . . .

 

11 times around the sun as mr + mrs

how about we go 'round at least 60 more times together.  i think that would be doable and wonderful!

it's friday morning and this week has been a good one

first of all, and i'm SO excited about this, if you click over to this habit page, that first picture you see - that's mine! 

i don't know how long i've been loving habit - i know i've mentioned that lovely blog many, many times on mine.  and last november, and a july long ago, i joined in when they had a flickr pool and invited anyone who wished to post a photo with 30 words or less each month.  i added some photos to the pool each time, and received some lovely feedback, but never had a photo chosen for the blog. 

and now, last night, just before i went to bed, i clicked on to habit and found my photo! 

today i thought i'd just share some moments from the week, habit-style.

sunday

today we made a plan. a plan for a routine that should make things better for all of us. especially me. but all of us. cause if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

monday

calvin and hobbes and hello kitty and a little lego man on a dune buggy.  not just monday, everyday.

 

tuesday

       i voted, she said. no you didn't, he said. yes i did, she said, in my head.

wednesday

second cup already. this could be a ten-cup day. that's what i get for staying up till after one. but i love talking with him. he's my best friend.

the sun shone all day.  in the evening it was painting my walls.  what a very good day.

thursday

sometimes the best cure for an attitude is to be snuggled in to the darkest corner of the house and to fall asleep to the hum of a fan.

gluten free, grain free pumpkin bread . . . except i was out of coconut flour, so it wasn't quite grain free.  but it was tasty.  especially with butter and cinnamon sugar.

(vegan friends, you may just want to skip over the next photo explanation . . . )this means that we have about 40 more pounds of meat in our freezer for winter.  ground up.  ready to use.  God is so good to us.  venison is so good for us.  and we had a good hour of working together.  ben and isaac skinning, de-boning, maddie and i cutting, grinding and bagging.  zoe begging scraps.  we all cleaned up together.  and i rearranged the freezer, and brought what didn't fit over to my parents' freezer.  at some point, we need to buy a chest freezer.  but that's a good need to have.

and it's friday.  today we are starting out a little slower. it's grey and i'm starting a stretch of five days of work. so, if i'm not here as much for the next few days, it's because i'm there. and with my family in between. but we'll get a little tidying and a little learning done before i head off to work this afternoon. 

i hope that you all have a lovely, lovely weekend, my friends.
love, ~e

down memory lane

i found these today when i was looking for alphabet stamps . . .

look at the dates on those. . .

apparently, ben and i saw the first Lord of the Rings movie on 1.19.02 and then we went to Black Hawk Down the next night!  possibly some sensory overload! 

i remember being in awe of how well the Fellowship of the Ring was cinematized.  and ben had never watched a fantasy film of any sort before - he was impressed, as well. 

then, Black Hawk Down.  what an intense movie.  i started crying at the end of it.  after all the suspense and the horror and death during the mission, at the end they run out, past people and children cheering them on . . . and i cried.  and cried.  and cried.  for about half an hour.  and then we went again not quite two weeks later.  ben had a friend in town who wanted to see it.  so, i went again.  and i cried again.  but, thinking about it now, i'd watch it again.  i wonder if i'd cry now?

and Punch Drunk Love.  oh my.  what a weird movie.  really weird.  we both have really enjoyed adam sandler movies, but this one was just. so. strange.

anyway, funny i found these today.  ben a i rewatched the Fellowship of the Ring this week.  A bit each evening, and i was thinking i should reread the series.  we'll watch the Two Towers next week.  and then the Return of the King.  it was fun to watch a movie together, even in bits and pieces.  (though these movies are nothing on a small computer screen compared to what they were on the BIG theater screen!)

i'm off to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe.  if it turns out well, i'll share it with you. :)

the snow was really pretty, even though the day was grey

 

  we all decided to go out into the grey,into the falling snow

{the boy and the dog}

{my handsome husband}

{and the girl}

twas a good idea

now there's more wood ready to be split

we all had fresh air in our lungs

and things just seemed altogether better

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

today, the sun is shining,

schoolwork is done,

piano lessons are over

and i think we'll sled down the hill

in the wind

a least a time or two.

happy monday, friends.

 

this weather we are having is not regular january in minnesota . . .

so, on saturday afternoon, after ben did a bunch of yard-work and brush-clearing, and the kids played baseball and soccer and in the sandbox, and we piled up a big burn pile, and hiked all over our property and found a beaver trail and a coyote bed, ben got the jeep out, and we went for a ride - in the open air - on january 7 - under the rising, almost full, moon.

i must say that this year i do not miss the snow.  we've got ice for skating and fishing on.  and the sun has been shining and shining and shining.  it's like the best parts of fall decided to stay on for a long, long time this year.  it's wonderful!

i wrote myself a to-do list for this week.  but it was written with sunlight pouring through my window and a lot of things on the list are actually fun - i just need to remember to do them.  

i must jaunt off to take maddie to her piano lesson and run an errand that will allow me to cross something off my list.  :)  i hope that your monday is going along nicely, my friends.  mine sure is.

my favorite place to be

i have a new favorite place to be

it starts and ends in the truck,
ben driving,
me in the passanger seat
happy as a little pea
maddie and isaac sitting side by side in the back seat,
sleeping on top of each other if they got too tired

it involves day packs, or bigger packs, or both 
that's where our lunches and raincoats and sunscreen and cameras and maybe our tents
and water - lots of water - can be found

there might be a creek

or a bluff

or a swing

or a beach

or a place to set up our tents

there are for sure four Pattens all together
the way we like it best

and i have lots of stories for you all . . . i'm going to work at telling them . . .

happy Thursday to you, my friends. 
love ~e

dear Ben

we've been married almost 10 years.
crazy. 

i read this quote:

you have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.  ~Jonathan Carroll

and thought of us.

i am way past walking carefully
you know me so well
and you would never laugh if i trip
or if it comes out all snappy
or if i hit a post with the car
or if i rip out five hundred thousand stitches in the quilt i'm working on
for no reason other than they just didn't look right
or if a recipe in my mind doesn't translate so well to the plate
or if i want to haul five hundred thousand rocks to work into our landscaping
or if i work on little bits of this and that all morning long and don't ever accomplish one big thing
or if i cut out twenty-five little projects and sew madly on them all evening
and the same from me to you
i would never laugh if you trip
or if you need to put your headphones on and listen to your music too loud
and be somewhere where the phone can't ring and no one can need you for a little while
or if you drink too much coffee
and eat the last bit of dark chocolate out of the cupboard
and i will always let you sleep if you fall asleep on the couch,
but not for more than half an hour
so you aren't too muzzy when you wake up
i love watching you read the Word and underline something here or there
and i love to watch you play with the kids
setting up trains
and teaching checkers and chess
and teaching Maddie to draw
and even you wrestling with Isaac,
even though it scares me -
and i'm not scared that you'll hurt Isaac,
i'm scared that Isaac will hurt you
i love it that you step in and take over for me when i get overwhelmed
and you hit things head-on and cut them down to size
(whether the thing is my to-do list or the man at the bank)
and you treat me with tenderness and gentleness
yet i know that if anyone messed with me or our kids you would tear them to shreds
i love that you live with conviction
conviction that your life is not your own
conviction that you were bought with a price
conviction that your task is to testify
and part of that testimony is the way you are a husband to me
and a father to our kids
you rock at both
i love that we know what each other is thinking most of the time
and we know what to say and do to make each other laugh and take a deep breath and live in joy
i love that we quote really silly movies to each other
and that we quote them with our kids
i love that we don't do things the regular way -
like our first christmas how we couldn't wait to give each other our presents,
so we opened them all at least four days before christmas
and when we decided to get matching wedding bands
we didn't wait until an "important" anniversary
we just went for it last summer when we'd been married for eight and a half years
and that we can just sit together and sip on coffee
and that when i've been too busy you tell me to just stop and sit with you
and that you know what i need before i do sometimes
and i'm so glad that you do

i'm so grateful that the Giver of Good and Perfect Gifts saw fit to give me you and you me
and that makes what we have together good and perfect
always through His grace

i love you 
~Elizabeth

the bicycle photo

i'm definitely going to get this printed out and framed . . .

after so many of you commented on this particular photo, i had a bit of fun with it on picnik, and this is what i came up with.  i'm going to hang it in our home somewhere - i'll let you know where it ends up.

thanks for the inspiration, friends!