We have a tee ball player in the house..

Eliot has her Daddy's skills. He was good at baseball I was NOT good at softball. We may have to sign her up...

A surprise delivery...

I wonder who sent us a surprise delivery of diapers? I think a call to Granny is in order.

In the garden box now

A little Spring color....

My new read!!!

You know I had to have this one...

Children's Chapel

I helped lead a lesson today about Spring and Easter...
I stuck with the symbols of the season.

Dropping off green cloth for an Earth Day project at church

 

Green for our Earth....

Eliot helped drop off some solid green cloth for a project the children are working on at church. They are making cloth leaves to help decorate a chair that will represent the church at a community event.

Painting...

Big sister little brother painting together....

Celebrating renewal....

With my children

Spring is here!

A little after 7:00am this morning the Spring Equinox occurred. The world was at balance....

Not so much for me personally. My kids were split. Three are with their dad for the rest of Spring break. I had to work a spilt shift and I am just not in a good mood. The weather is cool and I did not spend the day outside like I wanted to. The kids and I will enjoy some chocolate rabbits and candy eggs but the spirit of renewal that comes with this time of year is a bit out of my grasp....

What's for dinner?

Help from the kids...

Storm a coming...

Stormy day

My Connor

Since he was wearing this shirt I could not resist.... I turned Connor into my own private Coca Cola commercial. Coke is my one vice that everyone makes fun of me for....

Family dinner

Danny is missing but the rest of the kids enjoyed dinner tonight. Elaina's favorite was the lima beans...

A time for eggs

 

 

 

 

With Spring a few days away and everyone getting ready to go on Easter egg hunts, celebrate the Christian Easter, or the Pagan Oestra, or simply welcome the vernal equinox we think of eggs. They are a symbol of fertility, renewal, and life.You can balance an egg on its small end when the Earth is perfectly aligned at the equinox. They just bring balance to life and are just fun and meaningful not to mention tasty in many forms. One of my favorite eggs is this blue soladite stone egg I own. It warms up as you hold it and is a great meditation piece. It makes for a wonderful focus as you hold it. It sparkles in the sun here. If you look close you can see a rabbit, another fertility symbol and symbol of the season, hiding under the daffodils. Eliot came to join in my picture taking fun by watering my flowers....

The weather is warm and  planted a few seeds today. Bring on Spring......

From Connor

 

 

 

Connor gave Annika a flower cluster when she left her Dad's this weekend. We tried to figure out what type of plant or shrub it came off of all the way home. As we turned into our neighborhood Annika spotted the flower on an ornamental pear tree.
Mystery solved.... And tree climbed!!

Spring is on its way...

 

 

 

 

 

I put a few flowers in the ground today and hung my yearly red geranium. The white flowers were already blooming. I also bought a lot of seed to put in the ground. After a few more weeks to make sure the chance of frost is gone I will be planting herbs and flowers galore. Hopefully the heat won't take the lavender this year....

Saying goodbye...

 

Working in Early Intervention makes for short relationships. Sometimes it's hard to leave a child when I have only been working with them a few months sometimes even a few weeks. Today I saw a child for the last time. The child has made wonderful progress. I was given a card and a flower by the family. This book is one that we read a lot and that I also own myself to use with other families or to share with my own children. Every time I read it I will remember this child....

To the playground we go....

 

 

 

 

The weather was really warm today so after work I took the little kids to the playground at the end of the street. Even Elaina felt well enough to come. She is getting over Roseola and a bad case of teething. That is a good way to wear everyone out so they are ready for bed.

Sold but loved..

I will miss these vases. They were handblown. The color is so compelling. They found a new home and I made a little money....

Waiting with a good book

Annika and I are waiting to see her pychologist. It was picture day at school and having to deal with that change in routine kicked in a panic attack. As I was pulling into the school's parking lot I got a call from the school nurse. I was checking Annika out anyway so good timing. The book fair was going on too so we snuck in and Annika found a cool book that entertained her as we waited. The results of her psychological testing came in yesterday. That gave me a lot to mull over.

Well, we have a few more answers and a few more diagnoses. I will be setting up a lot more appointments with more professionals as reccomended by her team....

I will share this info with her doctors, her dad, and her school professionals. Hopefully we can all get on the same page.

9 months old today

Wow!!!!

My baby is getting so big. 9 months old. Where did the time go? She eats everything off everyone's plate and is using a couple of baby signs. She can sign milk, want, and all done (finished). She pulls up and crawls everywhere. There is no stopping this little one. She has one tooth broken through and 3 more on the way. Little sassy girl bites me all the time when she nurses.

This picture is of her sleeping yesterday. She naps well but lately she wants to get up at 2am and party...

Sweet Elaina....

At the ER....

Even the big strong Father of the home needs some doctoring sometime....

Everything is OK.... We will leave it at that. I am grateful grandparents are here to help with the kids.

A perk...

Since the busy 3 year old is at Grandma's I took advantage and enjoyed my tea in the livingroom. A friend gave me what I am using as a teapot warmer. That may not be its original purpose but it works well with my large teapot. We enjoyed chocolate matte tea with a touch of coconut.

The pictures do not do justice to the positive mood this helped make.

Snow and Fire

Elaina helping me with the last fire of the season.... It has been a chilly weekend. You can barely see the snowflakes on Elaina in her carrier as we left the MUUMS meeting on Saturday. It snowed off and on Saturday.

All the kids are wearing them

Just like when I was a teenager and the generation before me the Baja is back. Lyn was talking about wanting one. I told her I had one that my father's second wife, whom I was very fond of and who never had children of her own, had given me. The only catch was there was a hole through it. An ex of mine, who knows who he is, cut a hole in this piece of clothing. I think he believed it had belonged to a new boyfriend. Nope, he erred. It is a piece of family history straight from the '60s to my oldest daughter. She patched it but she was still told at school that it looked like she was shot. Hmmm..... I wonder if that was the effect that that old ex of mine was going for?

3 little bunnies.....

To sell or not to sell...?

They are so cute and just in time for Spring, Easter, and Eostre all rolled into one. I have them up for sell but they are cute enough to keep.