The First

The first man who whistled
thought he had a wren in his mouth.
He went around all day
with his lips puckered,
afraid to swallow.

(Another side to Wendell Berry - for those of you who read Andrew's blog.)

Forshadowing

Who is the dirtiest in the picture? Feel free to blow it up.

I think this may be what I have to look forward to for the rest of the summer.

Spring at the Garden




For some reason they were more interested in sharing their fruit snacks while walking than looking at all the beautiful flowers.

Eye of the Beholder

I must be entirely immature because I think the new art sculptures at the Botanical Garden are pretty funny. The mosaics are really beautiful, but the large rearends make me laugh.



A Night in the Life

This has been a great evening. The kids took great afternoon naps and I got some painting done on the stairs. Mike was able to get home in time for us to go for a run with some friends in the park. We had two double jog strollers, four kids, a dog, two people who have recently run a 1/2 marathon, one with an annoyingly long stride, and a fourth huffing and puffing, too proud and competitive to quit early. No need to give names.

We get back and fire up the grill - which I plan to be standing behind for the rest of the summer. (Regarding the hefty chain - we aren't paranoid, but we do see a bit of activity from time to time, so just precaution.) Grilling makes cooking supper so much easier I think.

Olivia finally gets to do what she has been asking to do for weeks - feed the birds. We need a ladder.

And Joseph and Ridley share toys. The weather is geting nicer every day and the trees and flowers are beautiful right now. It is just nice to be outside.
On another note - Olivia did a flying trapeze move off the end of the couch tonight (dancing to American Idol tunes) and we thought she broke her nose. The nose seems to be fine, but she has a nice purple knot on her forehead and the potential for black eye. We'll see manana.

Proud Father

Yesterday (Sunday), when Olivia woke up from her nap, she drug her sleepy self and her "minket" into the family room and crawled up on my lap. Facing the t.v. she asked, "This the Masters?"

Of course we are more proud of the fact that she can articulate that God made her and all things for his "gory." But, that was a pretty good moment as well.

Welcome to Holland

Not really. This is just our front yard, but we are pretty excited about the tulips. Mike and I bought about 20 bulbs two years ago while we were in Holland, MI and last year the late freeze got them. I think two bloomed in the back yard. We still have about 10 that have never come up. They were blue and dark purple - could have been too unique a variety to bloom here??? Or, I could have planted the bulb upside down. I had to dig a few up after realizing I was planting them upside down. We have four up in the backyard, but no buds yet. Our daffodils were pretty puny this year. We've had six total - and one Ridley ripped the bloom off of and Big O gingerly plucked the buds of another three. So, we have two beautiful, yellow daffodils in the backyard. The leaves on the irises look promising and all the daylillies are full and green. So, we'll see.



Living outdoors

Between rain showers, we have been spending as much time outside as possible. I think Olivia could play for hours with Ridley. She likes dropping her dog food, piece by piece, into her water bowl and watching her fish for it. We are in the park almost twice a day - and I, unfortunately, keep forgetting to take my camera. The flowering trees and daffodils (or buttercups as my dad calls them) are beautiful right now.
Joseph has four and 1/2 teeth now. Today during our walk Olivia was feeding him goldfish (I am seeing a pattern with Olivia feeding other people/dogs.) and he bit her finger. Baby teeth are like pirhana teeth if you haven't been bit lately by an 11 month old. Our lazy dog - who, after a long day of fishing for her dog food, makes herself a little pillow and takes a snooze.

Ms. Newton-John II

I promise I do not dress her like this. Well, actually I do dress her like this - the mix matched pjs are proof that Spring really needs to get here - Olivia has outgrown all her Winter clothes. But I am talking about the headband. She did this on her own again today - different headband. Here she is doing some honey braided pretzel curls. Here she is eating a honey braided pretzel. Kind of messes with the purpose of the exercise I think. She is not furrowing her brow...the headband is just a little low and tight.

Funky Chicken

Blow this picture up. This is the funniest looking chicken I have ever seen. Even their legs were hairy - like they had little go go boots on. We went out to Purina Farms for their Easter baby animal festivities. There were a bunch of high schoolers dressed up in these ridiculous bunny outfits holding baby animals. In this case it was a "yamb." That big pink thing on her arm is her (the high schooler's) bunny ear. What was funny was that they all had these miserable looks on their faces. I guess hoping nobody they knew would show up.
Olivia and Annika watching the Australian Shepherd dog show. If Ridley has that much energy, we are dead meat. Can you tell which one of the two of them is the dog lover? I'll give you a hint - the dogs are not in the direction Annika is looking.