It's Official: Leila's a Toddler

Leila's a WALKING girl now. She took her first steps while traveling back and forth between Jon and me yesterday afternoon.

We knew she was close. Lately she's been spending more time along the edges of a room, standing and gripping the furniture rather than merely crawling from here to there.

She had learned to take a series of rapid steps--thanks to the rather daring (and naughty) tutelage of Emma. Several times I caught her holding Leila by the hands while whisking her across the room, Leila's little feet dangling in the air if she didn't move them fast enough.

She had more practice on two feet this weekend, dancing at her cousin Eric's wedding reception. Eric is Jon's sister Ann's youngest son. He married school teacher Sarah at a small ceremony in the family church on Saturday.

The reception was in Bloomer. Jonathan and the three younger kids came with us to the dinner and dance. As you see, Leila followed big sister Emma's example at weddings and danced up a storm.

Friday we picked up some "new" wicker furniture for the greenhouse/porch. We found it at a moving sale-- it's only about 3 years old and fits the space nicely. We got the 3-piece set for $75; it includes two rockers and a loveseat. I wasn't sure about the red color at first, but now I kind of like it. For one thing, it matches the rug in there-- a gift brother John gave me after one of his trips to Turkey a few years ago.

We have new tenants in our Eau Claire house. The nursing students who've lived upstairs for the past year have moved on, and our new renters are a family.

During the transition between tenants, we reclaimed our patio table and chairs, which were still in the yard of the old house. Now they're on the back deck of our new house, just beyond the dining room and sliding glass doors.

The umbrella shade sure makes it more pleasant to sit out on the deck, which means we may actually use the space, now. At any rate, Leila likes it.

We also have a clothesline in the backyard, now. Jon drove an hour to pick up this portable metal clothesline from a guy who makes them. He wanted this type of clothesline because they're easy to pick up and move if you want to mow or use the lawn space for some other purpose.

We're hoping that the money saved from not using a dryer in the summer will eventually offset the cost of the clothesline. But meanwhile, it's a "green" thing to do. Of course, Michael let me know right away that clothes feel "rougher" when they don't go through the dryer. I encouraged him to appreciate the nice thing we were doing for our planet by using less electricity, but he still seems dubious about the change.

I'll close with our bloom of the week: irises. Enjoy!