Happy Birthday, Henny!

My sweet baby boy is five years old today. It still doesn't feel like it's been that long since he joined us. He is such a happy boy, such a good learner and helper and friend... what a joy he is in our family!

Happy birthday RubbleBubba Hasenpfeffer, Heinrich Von Warden, Henny-Benny, Bubba! We love love love you so.

It Started With a Toad...

First, I found a toad.

Then they found a home for the toad, alongside some weeds the chickies happen to love.

So then they brought the chickies some "salad" and realized the space where our garden used to be was now full of purple toadflax.

So they moved on to our old garden space and spent the last few hours of daylight "planting flowers."

And that's the story of how we went from arguing about TV and whose balloon was whose and why laundry has to be carried up the stairs and put away instead of left indefinitely on the bottom steps... to being outside in relative harmony, covered in sand and way better off for it.

And it all started with a toad.

Weekending

We went back to the "tractor store" again this weekend, perused the aisles some more, posed for another round of goofy face-in-a-hole cardboard tractor photos............. and finally decided that we'd been teasing ourselves long enough and it was time to go for it.

What our land- our budding little hobby farm- has needed for so long is a tractor.

Cardboard can only pacify us for so long, right?

Strawberries in the End

We have had quite a week, y'all. Just as every other Spring before has begun, this one has been full and even a little frantic- chaotic even- with all the ups and downs that one would expect from that kind of energy. This week has been no exception.

Everyone is restless. Everyone is a little edgy. Everyone is kinda bouncing off the walls.

Most of the photos I've taken this week have been a mess, which truly represents the mood du jour but which doesn't make for a very pretty blog post.

This one is a good one, though. A moment, on the last day of March, where there is morning light, a brief pause, some buds, some green, and some strawberry plants.

So instead of recapping the month gone by with tales of stress, loss, conflict and frustration I choose to focus on this moment, and the ones that were like this, peppered throughout the other stuff.

On that note, so long March. It's been real... but at least there were strawberries in the end.

Annual March to the Mailbox

I've unintentionally started a birthday tradition for my Littles, and as all good family traditions go, it's growing to sustain itself without (much of) my influence.

For every kid party so far we've managed to produce and send out "snail mail" invitations, and as both kids' awareness and appreciation have grown so has their participation in the ritual. As a given party day approaches, they start asking, When are we making invitations?, When can I start helping?, and most importantly When do I get to take them to the mailbox?

By far their favorite part of the process is Mailing The Invites. Once envelopes have been stuffed, sealed, addressed and stamped, I hand the stack over and they are very seriously carried down the driveway and tucked into the mailbox.

I've been told the best part is putting the flag up.

I didn't realize how loved this process was until the ride home from picking Sissy up from school yesterday when I heard Henry practically yell from the backseat "Sissy! I finally got to mailbox my birthday party invitations today!"

I caught myself wondering when (because let's face it, it'll happen) this tradition will taper off in lieu of digital invites or word-of-mouth or whatever, and it kinda made me a little bummed to think about it. The excitement, anticipation, and chatter of my soon-to-be-another-year-older kiddo while walking down the driveway? That kinda makes the hassle of the ol' paper invite process worth it.

Totally.

For now.

Easter at Home

For all the years that we've been together as a family our Easter tradition has been pretty much the same. Celebrating, eating way way too much, and usually driving quite a while both ways to be a part of it all. This year, however, circumstances shifted our tradition and kept us at home. Though we felt the absence of the ones drawn away for the weekend, being at home and gathered around our own table with our wild Littles running after balloons, hidden eggs, and eventually each other (there was a lot of sugar energy to be burned off) was actually kinda perfect.

Who knows where we'll find ourselves next year... or quite frankly, at the next holiday... but this Easter we learned that change can be a struggle, a headache, and can sometimes bring heartache, but change can also bring the opportunity for peace, joy and light. You don't have to loose your appreciation for The Way Things Were to be able to find enjoyment in what has changed, you just have to be willing to stay open to What Comes Next.

Hoping all had a great Spring-warmed table-filled well-loved weekend!

Weekending

To do:

• Hardboil/dye/make deviled eggs
• Clean and prep strawberries for shortcake
• Mix dough for dinner rolls and set it to risin'
• Make vegetarian entree
• Chill sparkling wine for mimosas
• Clean potties
• Vacuum (and mop? maybe not...) floors
• Set table
• Hide eggs
• Clean off back porch

Um, we may need a break to recover from this weekend when it's all said and done! But of course this prep work is specifically so we can enjoy Easter with the Littles, family, and friends we love... the fruits of our work will provide our refreshment.

That and a beer on the cleaned-off porch this evening.

Until then, though, we'd better get to work!