Shotsnaps

April Twenty-fourth

I still find it funny when people assume Zeke is here because John and I were dying to have a boy-child. I jokingly tell them that we were in the middle of such a great run of girls when he decided to step in and show us that little boys aren't too shabby, either. He is the sweetest baby. This past year has flown by, and we wouldn't trade him for a dozen girls.

We usually have my parents up for birthday parties, but unlike those who pull out all the stops for first birthday parties, I usually slap together a cake right before bed. That's it. Sometimes (okay, most times) we don't even give a present. This isn't because I'm a Meanie Who Doesn't Love Her Children but rather because of a perhaps too practical observation that babies don't appreciate all the hooplah; they just love the cake.

Zeke loved the cake all right. The girls directed me in the decoration; it needed to have a Honeybuckle Bear on it, because the baby who was Honeybuckle on the inside has become "Zekie Bear" on the outside. They all wanted the belt buckle and honey jar, Piper suggested the crown and sneakers, and I added the girly curlicues, to Zeke's someday shame. (What do I know? He's our first boy!)

Ezekiel was so disgusted by the curlicues that he took the first chance he saw to step on the cake. Atta boy, Zeke!

Then, right before bed, we celebrated one year of Ezekiel's life by letting him stuff himself full of sugar. I've never seen a baby tear through cake that fast.

We love you beyond words, Piggy.

(And here are the pictures singly, Mom O., in case you want to print any.)

Zeke Turns One, Take One

Dude, Mom O., and Sarah were able to visit for several days right before Zeke's birthday. We ate good food, enjoyed each other, and tried unsuccessfully to stop Mom O. from buying delicious pizza and other yummy food (a weak attempt is still an attempt, right?; it was delicious pizza).

The weather didn't feel like spring, but they cheerfully endured sleeping in the broken-furnace-pipe library, even missing nearly an entire night's sleep because of a pesky and very busy rat (sorry, Dude!)

Each time we are able to see them, either here or there, I am overwhelmed by how blessed I am to know them. I know several friends who, though they love their mom-in-laws, have had to struggle through some friction through the years for one reason or another, working toward peaceful relationships in spite of great differences.

The only laughable gripe I can come up with regarding our Owen family isn't even a gripe, but it's the best I can do-- they spoil us too much. There, how's that for awful? They just won't stop spoiling us no matter how hard I try (and I try hard)! I've got it bad, I know.

After a wonderful visit, the night before their departure Mom O. bought an ice cream cake to celebrate Zeke a bit early. (Sorry for the quality, Dudette; I had to switch most to black and white because of the flaming orange sunset, and they're grainy, to boot.)

This little boy's too young to know intellectually how blessed he is to have two sets of attentive and loving grandparents, but I'm pretty sure he knows it deep in his bones in the way babies do.

I love this next picture. He's so coy.

Oh, this one, too!

Here he is opening his Very First Birthday Card...with a smidge of help.

Zekie Bear.

AND there's cake?!!! He had no idea!

He blew out his Very First Birthday Candle....with another smidge of help.

PRESENTS, TOO?!!!! It was at this point that Ezekiel began to realize just how wonderful birthdays are.

He had more presents than a one-year old should have, which is to say, anything more than one (please see above section titled "Spoiling"), but my favorite was this wooden plane Dude had picked up at a thrift store and then painted, decorated with eagle and American flag decals, and sealed. It reflects Dude perfectly, and Ezekiel likes to roll it along the floor when his sisters give him the chance.

Since Piper's birthday is June 1st, she lucked out and got to open a couple of gifts, too. My only regret is the poor quality of the photos. Just look at her crazy eyes as she opens a plush Pooh and a Pooh necklace...

She must take after her mother.

All Is Vanity (but ESPECIALLY Self Portraits)

Taking self-portraits to change my profile picture feels so vain. I suppose that's because it is vain. If it helps any, that lovely black ballgown is actually John's bathrobe. I wanted something black, and I was too lazy to fetch something from the upstairs bedroom. The girls thought it was hysterical and said I should let you all know the truth, so there you have it. Bathrobes, ballgowns, what does it matter? Also, my creepy cataracts are visible here. A restrained balance of self-absorption and creepy cataracts makes the perfect portrait, don't you know? No? Well, now you do.

These Signs are Just as Sure

Sure, birdsong and color everywhere herald the advent of spring, but these do the same. A pile of empty sap collecting buckets drying in the sun and the living room entry...in its cleaner state.

Dirt & Seeds

I took these two pictures the week after you posted your pristine seed-starting photos, Rebecca, which filled my heart with wonder. My seed-starting begins like this and deteriorates from there, ending with dirt on every last surface of myself and the kitchen. It's like Pig-pen, only not as cute.

Only Old Ladies Wear Bathrobes During Breakfast

It's true. Millie made breakfast, I turned thirty-four, and the gray hairs increase. (At least they match my bathrobe!)

Roses & Thorns?

Or tulips and fenceposts? I don't know why I took these pictures, so I suppose that title's as ~~lame~~ good as any.

Celebration of the Fool

Our Nixie turned nine on April Fool's Day. WHAT IS THIS?! Oh, it's called time passing? Great.

(I'm happy to say she makes an excellent nine-year old.)

Her birthday breakfast was ready in stages. Course 1: Home fries and oranges with a candle.

Course 2: Her favorite muffins-- orange-yogurt-- to be slapped someday on buildabelly

(the reason for these pictures)

...with a candle.

Her cake was a doozy, and it will never happen again. She asked for (get this) a tree-- specifically, the cherry tree, with her, Dakota, and Ethan happily perched within. I don't watch television, so how was I to know you could make crazy shapes out of rice crispy treats? I wish I had known before the fact, because when someone told me about a cake show that uses that technique, I was flooded with rage. IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY! What did I use? I'm so glad you asked. My professional equipment included the following: toilet paper tubes, aluminum foil, duct tape (yup), old candy apple sticks, and then, when the tree fell over five times after I frosted it, a few metal skewers to brace the thing and lots more frosting to cover them up. Oh, and cake.

If you're wondering why the tree's a lumpy mess, that could be why. We barely had time to sing and blow out the candles before the tree collapsed for a final time. Tiiiiiiimbeeeeerrrrrrr!

I did really love the bark Annika scavenged right before the party to make into a swing.

Once she put herself, Dak, and Ethan (in the tree), Grandma (on the grass), Cassie and Zeke (on the stump), Hannah (on the swing), and Candida and somebody else (leaning against the tree) onto the cake, it looked pretty cute, provided you didn't look at the actual tree-lump.

She was pleased and thought the teetering tree was funny, so it was worth it, but....never again. Happy ninth, Nixie! You're the only one for whom I'll ever make a toilet paper roll tree. Such is my love.

In the Cracks

Here are a few extras: Annika opening gifts from Grandma and Grandpa O. and Aunt Sarah (while wearing the birthday dress my mom made her).

All the cousins at the dinner table after the birthday sleepover.

And leftover oranges for breakfast the next day.

Tulips

Tulips are some of my favorite flowers, and for the last two years, I've purchased fall bulbs at Aldi. These are some of last fall's batch. I bury the bulbs and then wait six months for confirmation that it's the best four bucks I've ever spent.

The Very First Blooms

I don't remember why I was outside with my camera at the exact moment that Piper discovered the daffodils behind the compost pile had finally blossomed, but I'm glad I was.