Lucky Baby: Lucky Us (April 2024)

 

It's Another Happy April to Every Happy Fool (April 2024)

 

Annika and Tim were able to come visit the week after Easter and her birthday for a belated 20th birthday celebration, and all I have are two crummy pictures. 

Do we ever love and miss this April Fool.

<3

Newly Twelve is Too Soon, Ezekiel! (April 2024)

 

From the time he was a toddler with an affinity for vests and bow ties, Grandma Owen was Zeke's benefactor in all things sartorial. The year before she went Home, she bought Zeke a couple of suits to last him through the year, including this vibrant blue one, so I took this picture to send to her. Look at that handsome young man, eh?

THEN HE PULLED THIS OUT OF HIS POCKET.

NOOOOO!!!!! 

Not the pursed-lips-furrowed-brow Look of A Gen Z Male Teenager-- noooooooo!!!

I forbid it, in totality. 

Phew. That's better. 

The Halos Are Hidden (April 2024)

 

I met Kalae only briefly at Annika's wedding, remembering her as one of two angels who descended in the nick of time to help prepare tossed salad so that I could run to the farmhouse, throw on my dress, and walk to my seat before Annika came down the aisle (I got dressed in one minute flat and made it in time, thanks to the aforementioned angels). 

A couple of months later, Annika delivered this gorgeous, hand-knit sweater...from Kalae! I needed no further proof that she was an angel, and neither should you. 

And while we're speaking of angels...

Solar Eclipse (April 2024)

 

The day Tim and Annika left happened to be the same day as the Great North American Eclipse, and John stocked us with fancy glasses from the library. We could have traveled north for a total solar eclipse but instead opted for a backyard-hillbilly-near-eclipse. The last time we saw a solar eclipse, I clunked out a poem. This time, I didn't even have the gumption to take more than a couple of pictures. Good thing I have girls to take a million for me.

 

Piper drew the eclipse onward with a Welcome Dance. (Which child is like me? Hm? Hmm?)

The weekend was so crazy I totally forgot about my mom until the eclipse had nearly reached its peak, so I rushed down and tossed her in the car for a rapid trip up the hill. She arrived with seconds to spare before the clouds rolled in and covered our view. 

And this is all we got. The clouds parted a few times to give us a split second view of a fingernail-tip of sun, just before they rolled over it again.

Before We Dumped the Seedlings (April 2024)

 

A Good Way to Turn Forty-five (April 2024)

 

My birthdays are funny around here. It's usually all or nothing, and my forty-fifth birthday morning was definitely all. The little children served me breakfast in bed and carried away the dishes. 

I had not only a red carpet and a birthday couch but also a blanket carpet leading down the staircase and covering the entire living room. 😂💚

I didn't think it could get better than that, but they'd also made a springtime throne for me in the library, to sit upon while I ate lunch. If you're wondering if I felt like a queen-- yes, I did. 

I don't know what my birthday dessert was, but here's a picture of the candle!