Two Squirrels on a Bench

Tonight my babies are pretending to be squirrels, foraging for nuts and making "nut pies" together. Adorable, creative games like this one make it impossible for me to throw out all those random, itty bitty toy pieces that drive me crazy. In the Harpers' eyes, those crazy-making toys are the perfect nuts to forage!

The photo above was taken at Washington University in St. Louis (my partner-in-crime's alma mater) during the summer of 2008. Nat, age 3, was doing his darnedest to keep Lizzie, 8 months, from sliding off of his lap.

No longer a new game. Warm weather please!

Buy Local

My friends and I have romanticized our local Amish roadside markets. We try our best to find whole foods - locally grown & organic when possible - to feed our children and ourselves. And we feel really good about it.

Tonight, on the way to our big label grocery store ("Giant Eagle"), Nat pointed to an Amish roadside market, now boarded up for the winter. Our exchange went something like this:

Nat: "Hey, Mom, you've been there before!"

Me: "Why yes, Nat, and when spring comes, we'll go there again for fresh fruits and vegetables and plants for our garden." (Ah, the smart and healthy eating habits that I'm bestowing upon our child.)

Nat: "And that's not all: we'll get whoopie pies and cakes too!"

Hmmmm...to make myself feel better after this exchange, I joined the "ban on high fructose corn syrup" group on Facebook and then I found these wonderful photos of Lizzie & Nat and the Amish whoopie pie adventure. I have a feeling there will be more of these come Spring.

I Don't Mind February...

But I do mind this nasty cold virus that feels like a case of mononucleosis and has been plaguing me since last Tuesday. I have missed three days of work, slept away the weekend, and cannot even think of exercising, let alone functioning like a normal human being. Tomorrow will be better.

Lizzie's Latest Theme Song

Aunt Katie told us about this cool song, "Lizzie's Do's and Don'ts" by Jessica Harper. Not only does Jessica get thumbs up for being a Harper, she gets major thumbs up for writing funky, sophisticated kids' music. I think our own Lizzielou has found her theme song. Take a look and listen:

http://www.jessicaharper.com/music/inside-out.php

My Littermate

This is Buddy, our 9 year old Golden. He is unique and beautiful and we love him dearly. His rap sheet is long, but his heart is huge. He is the first thing on Lizzie's mind when we greet her each morning ("Buddddeeee, where Buddddeeeee?"). Although he prefers to be by my side, he will sleep in Nat's room and help to keep the monsters at bay on particularly scary nights. When I was pregnant with Nat, and later, Lizzie, our faithful dog glued himself to my (bed)side and was a source of comfort as I dealt twice with 9 months of nausea.

Per our vet, Buddy views me as his littermate. I know that I shouldn't take this as a compliment, but, secretly, it makes me smile.

A Fine Game of "Ghost Rafters"?!?

Smelling the lilacs with Great Grandma

Flashback Spring 2006:

Oh the giggles that erupted from little man

over tickling great grandma with the lilacs!

Flashback to almost 5 years ago: Nat, age 1.5, visiting with his great grandma and great grandpa at my dad's house in Spring Grove, Pa. This was a beautiful moment (and right now a reminder that time goes by too quickly and, rest assured everyone, spring will be here soon).

We had a beautiful old lilac bush/tree at our home when we moved here 5+ years ago. First tree that had sentimental meaning for me. It was about 100 years old and had to be cut down only two years later. I miss my lilac tree and think we need to plant a new one so that 256 N. Market St. can enjoy an awesome old lilac tree again in 100 years.

First post!! First blog!!

Didn't think I was the bloggin' type. Still might not be. But I thought it would be fun to give it a try. And really, why not?

My hope is that "Harpers' Miscellaneous Articles" will be a place for me to chronicle our family's life together and share little slices of this life with our friends and family who live so far away. (Of course, we also love sharing with our local friends and "family" too).

The name of my blog comes from our children's shared middle name (also my maternal grandmother's maiden name) and a play on the fashion mag "Harper's Bazaar". Of course, my first try at a title was "Harpers' Bizarre" but since I'm not a pioneer in the blogosphere and didn't claim this name early enough, I used the trusty thesaurus and discovered that a "bazaar" is just another name for a marketplace that sells "miscellaneous articles". And that just makes sense when I consider the sort of posts in my blog's future!