Ainsley as Charlie Brown in an Earth Day drama. My girl reading in front of an entire congregation?! I can't even put itinto words. Oh I can.. GOOD GRIEF!!!!! ;o)
New Costco hammock. Thank goodness it's only $30 and we have lots of trees. We definitely need another.
Peekaboo!
He promised he'd nap there. He lied.
Our Magnolia tree!!!!
Sideyard, the underdog of the 1/2 acre, but wait! FOUR lilac bushes?! AND the raised berry beds and the perfect spot for t ball and soccer play?! Ok, new favorite spot!
Babysitting Rory for the weekend!
Watching Star Wars for the first time...all three of them. They are officially more cultured than I am.
Felix on his THIRD birhday!!!
Ainsley continues to tire of my procrastination with properly decorating her room by doing it herself while we all sleep. This girl. I tell you.
Ahem. That's a Rory photo held up between a hair binder stretched between two nails. Are you kidding me???!!!!
My parents came over for dinner last week (how fun to get to do that, mid week, just because!) After giving Felix an early birthday gift (his very own soccer ball and rebound net!) and dinner and brownies my mom and Louise and Felix and I walked around the yard, my mom helping to walk me through identifying plants and upkeep help. It was so much fun. This house and our plot keep revealing magic to us.
Just last week Felix and I found rhubarb and onions growing in the strawberry bed. Tonight I learned so much more about what we have growing. Lilacs and bleeding heart bushes, crab apple and magnolia trees, new sprouting raspberries (in addition to the 30 foot bed of them!), tons of ground cover and more perennials than I knew to exist. I remember how exciting it was to have our first yard space in oak park and to discover all that was planted there that first year. Now to watch this garden unfurl, well it's a bit like Christmas morning every morning.
In this in between we're still finding our footing. It's little things like how to take care of and clean a bigger house, how to do laundry and grocery shopping efficiently. In general, how to parent growing learning little people, how to fit everything we need into a day, week, a season.
Today I was feeling overwhelmed. I wasn't handling things the way I wished I had. I am really struggling off and on to transition from my early years of parenting little ones to big elementary kids. I am so resistant to all the homework and memorizing and un fun that must go into a day. I am resentful that they spend 8 hours at school and we still need to do more at home. If we have even one thing after school it can feel like such a flurry to get it all done. I am really thankful for my down time in a day and I want that for my girls, and growing boy when it's his turn for school. We are learning to balance a bit more and already choose the things that mean the most. I'm finding I am so excited for the long open days of summer. I'm starting to plan for that too.
Our garden has been put on hold while we wait to get some utilities mapped out. I ran into our phone line while taking off sod (mere inches under the ground!) and am panicked about finding a gas or electric line while making the garden. I don't deal with stresses and set backs like this well. I am SO antsy to get the hardy seeds in the ground. I may have to go get some tiny seedling planters to get things going a few weeks early indoors.
Though! I still have lots of yard and garden work to keep me busy. I weeded the whole raspberry and strawberry/rhubarb patches and have started transplanting some of the raspberry plants that have migrated out of the raised bed. I love being able to watch the life cycle of those plants. We have tall thriving stalks that will produce this year, just as many dead stalks that produced last year and need to be cut back and brand new seedling plants that will produce next year.
The strawberries look very hardy and I'm excited for the yield that will bring and all those delightful white blossoms to come. Ainsley is already asking when the strawberries will be ready to pick. Gearing up for patience for us all this first year figuring it all out!
Louise's Tball season starts next week and I find myself excited and a bit weary. I know once we get out first practice and game under our belt it will all be fine but I want it to go well and I feel some definite pressure being the coach. I'm glad they make it so low key with very low expectations! And Louise looks so darn cute in her full baseball gear. It'll be fun!
Spring life is so wonderful. This first spring together in our new Minnesota home feels almost monumental. I watching it happen, already knowing I'll remember it forever. Special, magical stuff.
Becky I am so happy for you and your family. I know you dreamed of moving for so long before it actually worked out. Your kids are wonderful. I enjoy reading your blog.
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