Piper Joy

I'm still not sure how it happens, but I know by now that it does, and will, no matter what. Little Pip-- our Pipsqueak-Pippilotta-Nut Berry-Lovey Dovey-Sugarplum-- is growing up. 

Proof positive? On June 1st, she turned 12 years old.

She requested a birthday breakfast that involved lemon buns with lemony cream cheese frosting. I was excited about this breakfast, which may be why I over-estimated how much frosting we'd need.

Birthday suppers are usually too involved and chaotic for me to remember to snap a picture these days, but Millie made Pip a delicious raspberry cream trifle for dessert, and I took a picture of our elegant birthday lady.

After supper (the which I do not remember except that it involved lots of frying, as birthday suppers generally do), we celebrated her properly with song and wishes.

Happy birthday, sweet girl! We loved you from the first moment we knew of you, and we are so glad to have you with us! May God grow you even more in the years to come.

Little Fire, Arrow Ours

The "Birthday Couch" has designs on the whole house and spreads further with each birthday.

When I came in first thing in the morning, I saw Aidan doling out little pebbles from his teacup.

Oh! Nerds. Perfect pre-birthday breakfast appetizer.

He requested Swedish pancakes drenched in syrup and.....what else but Nerds?

Bad quality photo, but just try to look at his face without grinning.

Later that afternoon, he almost fell asleep on Grandma Owen's lap. Nerd-eating on a heroic scale exhausts little boys, even boys who are newly six years old.

One haircut later, he revived enough to enjoy his birthday supper and a Jello poke cake (the easiest cake ever, by request, and since it was gardening week, it met with my full approval).

I can't handle that cheesy grin! What a boy.

Our boy. Our wonderful work. Our joy.

We love you, Little Fire. Here's to six!

Birthday Boy Blue

Because the memory card on which Zeke's 8th birthday celebration is likely lost for good, here's a birthday post featuring, instead of his strawberry rhubarb pie and apple pie burritos, his loose front tooth.

This boy is still sweet and sensitive, and he's still obsessed with building and all things motoring.

The most amazing birthday gift he has probably ever received in his life was this year's gift from Grandpa Owen. He gave Zeke a new battery for this old, bladeless mower, which turned Zeke into an Immediate Driver 8 years before his official time.

He thinks he's a man now.

But even men need to continue learning to articulate their phonetic blends!

Oh, yeah. That loose tooth?  He lost it a couple of weeks later.

Big man, indeed.  Happy birthday, my boy! We love you more than you love that mower (which is a LOT)!

Brightest Day

Millie took these pictures and posted them to her blog months ago, but I want to save a couple here, too, because they're special. After 8 weeks of not being able to worship with the local body, we sneaked in a visit with our Newman-folk. 

I almost cried when the girls jumped out of the van to tackle each other. Christian friendship is one the largest gifts of sustainment God gives.

Even Andrew couldn't contain his excitement and leapt ten feet into the air...kind of.

Man, I love this bunch.

Phone Pictures: April Walk by the Lake

This was the walk on which someone thought we were breaking the Righteous Mandates, even though this was before masking rules, and we only numbered ten (the limit), and we were all family members, and due to children on wheels, we were all spread apart, anyway.

The ranger, though skeptical, finally accepted that those nine people were all my children, though the couple who called him clearly did not trust my honesty and thought I was pulling a fast one by bringing a whole neighborhood with me on a walk.

All in all, another glorious time!   ;)

Maybe to gain respectability, I should have bundled the little girls differently.

Naw.

Phone Pictures: My Birthday Date with Lemonhead Luci

Lucinda had her usual elaborate date with John, but this year, she also requested a mini-date with me. We took it in early May, when All Things were shuttered and locked.

Thank goodness for donuts and drive-throughs and the dike.

 There she is! A little speck on the opposite hill, waving to her mama.

We love you, Sunshine Girl.

Spring Leftovers

I found this picture of me looking weathered and careworn. John took it during a day of family gaming. I'm sure he beat me. He always does.

Aidan really is a Raphael.

Sammy's (a.k.a. St. B.'s/a.k.a. Fatty's) owner stopped in for a visit in the early spring. He was huge then, and he's only grown! It was the sweetest thing to see Olivia and him immediately recognize each other. She started nipping his ears and generally acting like a scolding mama at once.

(photo by Millie)

(photo by Millie)

An overdue sleepover. I don't know why they're all inspecting the old car, but I'm sure we had a roaring good time.

Someone done chopped her hairs.

A proper picture of the cake sans photobombers.

This spring Grandpa Owen taught Aidan to drive the zero-turn mower. We're all in trouble now.