Bare Feet

The flowers are popping out! The trees are budding! Natty can run around in bare feet!

Note: Bare feet in this picnic with the pansies. 

Last weekend was lovely; warm and mostly sunny. We walked to Carole and Murray's through the Audoubon land both days.

They are on a trip and we used their kitchen because our propane went out on Friday. (And I called the wrong number for the propane company all day. I figured out my mistake at 4:30 pm and then the correct number was busy. I finally got through to an answering machine at 5:30 pm - No stove for the weekend). Thankfully I had roasted 2 chickens the night before so didn't actually have to cook much. And it's amazing what one can do with a electric griddle and toaster oven. But I digress. The point was that we had some fun outdoor time. 

 Sam snuggles down happily in the Baby Bjorn for our walks.

Natty started out strong. She's a good walker, but we have to get in shape if she's going to keep up with her Alaska cousins! They're amazing.

This is the final field heading up to the Buttners and we had pity on our wilting rose. It's overcast in this picture, but was warm enough that she was comfortable in her little sun dress.

This is the flowering tree in the secret garden. I can't capture the gorgeous perfume, but it is Spring!

Since then we've had a few chilly, rainy days. But every day there are more flowers - tiny violets carpeting the grass, violently yellow forsythia bushes. Gorgeous pink trees, white trees, hyacinths, acres of daffodils and the early tulip or 2. Natty is in heaven and I'm pretty close. 

Odds and ends

Life is settling down. I'm not frantically busy - as you can tell by the fiddling that's gone on with the blog layout. When you have time to mess around with that, you've got time.

Here's some fun things from the last week...

The Saturday before Easter we had the aforementioned "Eggstravaganza" at church then drove to Woodbury to hang out with Jon and Abbie. We always love spending time with them - besides being great company, there are many shared passions; Abbie and I share a love of cheese, Jon, Murray and I share a love of single malt scotch (in fact, I think Jon and I can share the blame for turning Murray on to whiskey. Now we're going to work on Abbie) and Jon and Murray share a love of early spring swims. Truthfully, Murray has the passion for the frigid swims but Jon is cool and went along with him. Jon and Abbie have an awesome swimming hole so the afternoon included a walk through the woods to the swimming hole and a dip by the guys. Abbie, I and the kiddos just watched in mingled awe and horror. There was the lure of a crackling fire and delicious dinner back at the house and then home again.

And the week has flown by. Sam Slishman, a friend of Murray's from NM days stopped by for the night - a lot of fun. He's been doing some impressive stuff in Albuquerque - check out Endorphin Power Company. 

Oh, and Murray and I missed our anniversary again! It's tradition. Even when we do remember it, we remember it wrong. We both thought it was the 14th. But the morning of, I checked the towels my Aunt Kathy made with the date embroidered on them and it was actually the 12th. Sheesh. It's been 6 years, you'd think we could remember. Thankfully, we forget together so there's no hurt feelings, just laughter.

Yesterday I dropped Natty off at school and ran errands in Putnam. But it was one of those days when half the places I needed to stop weren't open so I had empty time. Do I drive 20 min to do more errands or get a coffee at Victoria's Station until it's time to pick Natty up? It wasn't even a choice. An excellent coffee and a chocolate croissant - by myself, in silence - is a form of heaven for me. I had Sam in the Baby Bjorn but a) he didn't wake up and b) I didn't spill anything on him so that was a resounding success. I don't need or want to do solo coffee every day, but as an unexpected, occasional treat, it satisfies some deep craving in my introverted self. One of the things I find tiring about motherhood is that I'm rarely alone. Even though Natty is great company, it's still company. But I'll be alone enough when they're grown, so I'll snatch a minute or 2 now, call it good and enjoy our constant chatting while she enjoys it too.

 

Actual Easter pictures

Happy Easter from our Easter Bunny!

We had an Easter Egg hunt on Sat at our church

There was also a craft time that involved silk flowers - Natty was enthralled and collected some for Sam. He's very appreciative.

Here's her princess hat. I remember making these as a little girl. Judging by the "Beautiful Princess" look on her face, I have a feeling we'll be making more of them. 

Here's my goofy kids, hanging out. Sam is wearing a sweater Beth knitted for Alex and handed down to him - lucky Sam!