haphazard. erratic. random.

How cute is this kid when he’s wearing only a pair of pants?

I’ve been trying out a handful of recipes from my “cook this” Pinterest board.

This weekend I made the recipe for Oatmeal Sandwich bread.

I laughed when one commenter said, “Our family devoured this in three days.”

Our family devoured this, warm from the oven, piled with butter and strawberry jam, in about eight minutes.

It was the best bread recipe I’ve come across in a long time.

(And another great way to use some of the fifty pounds of oatmeal I bought in bulk.  Yeah – fifty pounds.)

I also created our own taco seasoning.

We’re having tacos on Wednesday night and I’ll try it out then.  I love that the ingredient list was like five items and nothing unpronounceable on the list.

Plus, it was ridiculously easy to create.

The website also has a recipe for ranch dip and I think I’ll try that this week too.

The dogwoods are in full bloom everywhere around here.

They make gorgeous displays.

I think the kids and I counted eleven dogwood trees in the woods around our house.

My favorite spot for them right now is the mantle in our dining room.

I finally took the time (and the money) to get this print Kevin purchased framed and hung over the mantle.

(I’m still using that generous Hobby Lobby gift card and maximizing my weekly forty percent off coupon.)

I love the print because its colors are fun and it’s funky.  Kevin loves it because it’s one of his favorite bands, The Decemberists.

Maybe inspired by the dogwoods or the Hobby Lobby gift card, I also purchased these vinyl stick-on letters a while back and finally placed them on the wall in our foyer.

(“Foyer” is a funny word, isn’t it?)

I’m not going to lie –

I love this wall now.

Sometimes I just stand there,

kids running around me, dog bursting through the screen door, chicks squawking on our front porch,

and I smile at my wall.

Oh, and remember how I said we were naming this house?

Because it’s a house that seems to deserve a name.

We named it Wildwood.

Based on a novel by the same name that Kevin read to the kids.

A novel they all adored.

And Wildwood was a place where anything could happen.

A place of beauty and mystery, of the unknown and the only imagined.

And now it’s the name of our house.

(And also the name of our school, by the way.  Wildwood Academy.)

And that, my friends, is all the rambling I have in me today.

Thankyouverymuch.