tonight

I'm wearing seahorse pajamas and seahorse socks.  (Or as Ellie says, my "Sea Otter Pants!")  I bought the pajamas a few weeks ago, and then at the reunion, one of the sweet little surprises Teresa left for us girls each night was this pair of perfectly matching socks! What a happy coincidence!
I like to wear them together, and I may even wear the socks more than one night in a row before washing them....

I'm also wearing a jacket.  And I may have turned on the heater today. Just a tiny bit.  It was 45 when we woke up this morning, and it didn't get much warmer than that.

But I'm thinking this is a genius idea.  Having a few days of mini-fall in the middle of summer?  So much fun!  We stayed inside, watched the clouds roll past the windows, made homemade play-dough stars until our fingers were crusted with salt, rolled golf balls back and forth across the floor, read books, and took a cozy little mid-day nap.

I'm thinking it would be super fun to always have a mid-season break.  Can you even imagine how much we'd all enjoy three days of summer smack dab in the middle of February?  Pull out the grill and swimming pool for just a few days before getting back into winter?

Tonight, I'm listening to the Andersen Family Reunion Playlist.  Shannon gathered everyone's favorite song from the past year and put them all together.  We listened to these all through the week, when we were playing in the pool, hanging out on the patio, cooking and visiting.  I just can't listen to these songs without grinning.
Our family's contributions?  Kent picked Safe and Sound-Capital Cities. I submitted On Top of the World-Imagine Dragons. Nicholas, of course, chose Radioactive-Imagine Dragons, and Ellie added Whole Wide World-Mindy Gledhill.

I'm smiling as I remember how Nicholas knew the words to almost every song on that playlist, and he'd sing along at the top of his lungs as he paddled around in the pool.

I'm remembering how absolutely gorgeous it was tonight as the sun was setting. I was driving to Walmart, and I had to pull off the road to take a few quick pictures.

These don't do it justice, but across the valley, fresh from today's rain: blue-gray lake, green trees, golden fields, white mountaintops, blue sky, pink clouds, golden sun.  Amazing.  I love this place where I live.

Tonight, I need to replace lightbulbs.  Has anyone else noticed how lightbulbs across the house all seem to go out at the exact same time?  We currently have nine burned out.

I'm dreaming of making a fairy garden with Ellie next summer (or maybe the summer after that....)  Like this one. Or this one. And here's the ultimate fairy village. I'm pretty sure I'd have more fun with this than she would.

I just finished reading The Light Between Oceans, by M. L. Stedman. Whew, what a book! I loved it. The writing, oh the writing!



Tonight, I'm yawning.
Good night.