Springtime

So, while I am no photographer, I have tried to make a point to document my children’s lives.  Then last weekend, I went to my Mom’s and took the opportunity to dig out my mission pictures and journals for a talk I’ve been asked to give.  They were in the same place as all my college photos. 

I sat on the floor in my parents’ basement turning page after page of pictures and feeling nostalgic.  I LOVE the pictures that document my life.  And it made me think – am I taking pictures now?  Well, not so much.  So I pulled out my camera and started snapping.  It’s point and shoot, and I’m not entering any contests.  This is just my life. 

My mom pulled out a picture while we were there – one of this kitchen at the time when she was dating my dad.  I like to think that, one day, we’ll pull out this pic of L in the kitchen and stare in wonder … “THAT was how the kitchen used to look!  And look how small L was back then!”

My babies in front of the “Beacon House” …

J refused to be distracted from using the squirt gun he’d found somewhere in the house.  Everything needed to get wet.

This lone, purple tulip reminded me of my grandma.  She always had beautiful flowers.  I have cousins who inherited her talent. 

My mom took us to the aquarium.  I could live there, if they’d let me.  I probably watched the octopus for 15 min, and I could have stayed longer, except the kids don’t have that long of an attention span.

Do you see how my baby boy is perched on the edge of the ray tank?  I actually turned to the aquarium worker next to me and asked, “Have you ever had someone fall in?”  She smiled and said that it actually happens quite frequently, and it’s not usually small children.  The last kid to fall in had been 12 years old, and it was on a school field trip, so he had to go the rest of the day in wet clothes!

The oar is nailed down, so the girls had to pretend to row the boat.

And we’ve discovered that L is now larger than the emperor penguin!

The purpose of the trip was to get my quilt quilted, and I was lucky enough to have my grandma and mom help me out.

At one point in the evening, L decided she wanted to sew.  I brushed her off and told her she was too little.  When I noticed she was missing a little later, I found her crying under the piano.  Upon reflection, I decided I could possibly teach her to quilt.  Sometimes I forget how big she’s getting.

But, when I brought her down and said I was going to teach her, my grandma came to the rescue.  She found a hoop, two pieces of fabric, and a small square of batting, and set up L with project of her own to work on.  Yay for grandmas!  And how precious is this, with Grandma teaching L to sew?!

The other purpose of the trip was to see my precious new niece and my amazing sister (-in-law, but I’ll take her as a sister!). 

Finally, now that C is talking about selling his car, I gave in to the kids’ pleading to let them take a ride.  My concern has always been securing the car seats properly in it … but I figured, just once, I ought to let them take a ride with Daddy in his “Blue Car”. 

J changed his mind and stayed home with me, but the girls went.

I love this pic of C helping L get her seatbelt on!  (Again, not in the “amazing picture”, artistic sense, but because I think I’ll be glad to remember the moment 15 years from now.)

Can you see the look of pure joy on S’s little face?!

Good bye, my loves!  Have fun!

And for my last batch of memories, we put in our garden yesterday.  This is our third year, but it was the first year that L and S were really able to help, and not hinder.  Yes, I could have done it a lot faster on my own, but it was fun to do it with my girls. 

We’d worked hard the last few weeks to keep the weeds out of the garden, so we wouldn’t have to pull them all, like last year.  I used a fork and turned all the soil, then we dumped a few wheelbarrows of dirt across the back to replace what’s been eroded away.  Then a few bags of compost and a rake, and we were ready to go.  We let the kids pick what to plant this year, and we ended up with tomatoes, purple and orange peppers, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, watermelon, carrots, beets, and green onions. 

That’s all for now, folks!  G’bye!

Mmmmwah!