February

 

I know. February is not generally a good month to re-visit. Humor me, though. 

Only four months left!

Blue on Blue

Our favorite Deirdre came for a sleepover. Millie took lots of pictures. I took these two. 

(The lovely girl still likes blue.)

And Ransom likes her.

 

We Almost Named Him Apollo*

It was inevitable that Ransom eventually discovered that he had hands and fingers.

He promptly put them to good use.

*For those who are pop-culture illiterate, as I once was before John undertook my education, that's a Rocky reference.

Birthday Wren

 

One of the best things about daughters getting older is that the parent-child relationship grows more into friendship. I'm deeply grateful for my friendship with all my children, and Susannah Wren is no exception.  Birdie, you know how much I love you. And thank you. Thank you for everything but especially thank you for encouraging my stupid jokes. You don't know how much it bolsters one's heart to hear your giggle coming from the corner. (Don't let the You Know Whos influence you otherwise. We know better. WE KNOW IT'S FUNNY!)

Okay, back to this fifteen year-old.

Bierocks and apple hand pies for breakfast for the fifth year in the row. Once she hits on a good idea, she sticks with it.

Grr. Darn party hat. I think that invalidates the birthday wish.

I've become so lazy with the camera. 

On Susannah's birthday, I took a picture of the Perfectly Puffing Pitas that Millie made to accompany the birthday supper of souvlaki and tzatziki.  They were beautiful, and Millie was jumping up and down like a girl who's just been given a Christmas pony.

Our dryer was broken for a couple of months, and since our pellet stove was also broken for a few weeks, I had to dry all of our laundry in our kitchen near the wood stove.  Seeing these pictures, I guess I thought it was a good idea to show the results of someone washing something terrible (an entire roll of toilet paper?! I don't know) in the laundry. I was so glad it happened on a birthday. I had nothing else to do apart from shaking out clothes onto the floor, after all.

I have no pictures of her birthday supper, but here is Susannah in front of her 15th birthday wish, which was disguised as ice cream sundaes (also for the fifth year in a row).

What?!! A paper crown also snuffs out the wish. Sigh. Maybe you'll get TWO wishes for your 16th year if you let me take a picture. ;)

Pixie

 

Having a Mildred-knitter in the house pays off.

Little Light

It's fitting that Lucinda Hope's favorite color is yellow. 

I just can't get used to the passage of time. Lucinda is eleven now. ELEVEN! 

Piper stayed up late to decorate the birthday couch and to make her a crown.

She also tacked a bookmark to the library wall, thoughtfully covering one of the holes in the drywall.

I tell Lucinda that Ransom might end up thinking that she is his mother, due to the hours of cuddle time she's given him while I'm making breakfast or doing dishes, et cetera, et cetera.  Sometimes I have to remind him that he is MY baby, not just hers.

Every year, we do what we can to make Lucinda's bones disappear, but we've had no luck yet, even with extra whipped cream and berry sauce. 

Now it's evening time! After birthday supper and birthday books...

came birthday ice cream sundaes with all the toppings she wanted. (Millie and I combined make a ferocious sauce-making team.)

She tried her best to extinguish all the candles in one mighty poof, 

but to her great horror, a few remained lit. (Does every family equate still-lit candles to boyfriends? We do.)

One more try...

Phew.

Happy birthday, Lucinda Hope! May God grow a wellspring of joy in your heart, my love. 

Tapping Trees 2021

For some reason, I mostly tapped trees with three little ones this year until Annika came out for the last half. Who knows why? I also don't know why I apparently handed my camera into one of their hands for safekeeping. 

I deleted over 70 pictures of who-knows-what a few days later.

Ah! Now I remember why Annika only joined me for the last half. It's because she was on a run. Here she comes!

Now you know why the three little ones stuck around. The first taste of sap-run!

And, no, I haven't the least idea why their fashion choices kept changing.

 

V-Day 2021: Fragments

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year, which made for a somewhat hurried breakfast.

Aidan waiting for the pancakes and shake to be delivered.

Zeke finished the pancakes so I could dust on the sugar hearts.

"THIS one is for YOU, Mama!" (Mysteriously, I can't shake those 45 extra pounds hanging on this time around, even though I regularly engage in the grueling rigors of pancake-eating.)

The other pictures of V-Day festivities were accidentally deleted, along with most of the pictures of finished valentines, but here are a few that survived (by Susannah, Piper, and Cadence).