A Sure Sign

What's this boy up to, I wonder?

 Even more than red-winged blackbirds or fat-chested robins, 

even more than daffodils and frogsong... 

chive breath seems to be the surest sign of spring there is.

Power's Out

Just when the warmer weather, forest walks and daffodils were starting to make me believe that spring really had sprung, a foot of heavy snow dumped on us last week causing hundreds of thousands of people around these parts to be without power, stretching for days on end.  It's all well and good (an adventure really) except when your woodstove doesn't work without electricity.  Then it can get pretty cold.

Although, I learned from experience- when you are grumpy and refusing to do anything but sit on the couch, sulk, and shiver, a 54 degree house feels a lot colder than the 54 degree house day where you are perky and productive and actually moving.  Then, 54 degrees really isn't THAT bad.

Overall, with a gas stove and a nearby pond/stream, we are in pretty good shape other than the heating situation.  I am a candle person so I always have plenty of those, we all read by flashlight every night so we have those for each person and we keep battery powered twinkle lights to light up stairways and bathrooms.  AND- it was cold enough outside to keep food out on the porch safely.

A few days before, a neighbor said I could split up some overgrown daffodil clumps.  I got so many beautiful bulbs that I was able to surround the three fruit trees in the front of our house!  It felt like my birthday.  And then I heard the weather for the next day.  I cut as many daffodils as I could in case the snow killed them all.  I was thankful to have bright and cheerful bouquets throughout the house rather than the snow falling outside.  

Don't blame me for the snow pictures... but hopefully they will be last?!  (PLEASE Lord.)

 

The snow was gone two days later- before the power even had come back on- and it is all just a fond memory now.

Flashback: A Peach Eating Peaches

 

Last year was the best year we have had for the peach trees... the trees were loaded and the blight kept at bay long enough for us to eat our fill.  Moses discovered early on where he could get free snacks.

As he was just a teensy fella, he was relegated to eating the scraps that had fallen to the ground.  When I saw him with a peach, I would run over to see if it was a good peach or a rotten one.

(There were times, my friends, there were times...)

This was his face every time he was caught...

If the peach was good- he continued on with relish.

If the peach was bad- well, it was usually too late to do anything about it anyway.

Flashback: 2 out of 3

Graduation party= September.  Triplet birthdays= September.  Let's continue this bit of CATCH-UP without too much whiplash.

Since Judah already blogged his birthday photos here, the birthday trifecta is more a duo for this post.

When asked what cake he wanted for his birthday, Moses said "gum".  Maybe he loves gum.  Maybe it was the only word he knew how to say.  Either way, I made it happen.

Corynn chose strawberry shortcake with biscuits, sweetened strawberries and mountains of whipped cream.  

Considering it is impossible to take three photos of children blowing out desserts simultaneously- I feel lucky to have anything at all to show for my September birthday babes.  

But I particularly love that I captured this grin.

When you are old enough to discover that birthdays are a 'thing', it gets fun.

I don't remember much about the presents except that it happened to be pretty ironic (and maybe a bit cruel?) to give the boy with the broken foot, a box of balls and a book called Quick as a Cricket.

Impeccable timing.

Flashback: A Party of Parties (By Corynn)

It's time to get myself firmly rooted in the present...but I can't do that until I shake off the shackles of the many things still left undone from the past.  To that end, I am going to focus on getting caught up on the many photos still not archived here on the blog.  I apologize in advance for the untimely blog posts.  What must be done, must be done.  

Out with the old.  In with the new. (At some point.)

To start things off: here is a blog post Corynn made about her graduation party that was never published.  It was therapeutic to relive all those bright, lively and cheerful moments this morning while  deep in the depressing throws of cold March mud.

                                                               

                          

                                                                              

                     

                         

                             

And there you have it... a week's worth of work all done for me by Mama. The day was perfect, the sugar and food were delicious, the games were epic, and the people (and the hugs they gave!) even more so.