THE GOOD THE RANDOM THE FUN ~ APRIL SO FAR

"April hath put a spirit of youth in everything."
-  William Shakespeare 

Grandson Elijah, granddaughter Shelby, Neil and I hit the DQ Wednesday after school for some yummy frozen treats. Banana splits for Elijah and Neil. Shelby and I tried the Brownie Cookie Dough Blizzard, and we both agreed it was totally awesome.

Elijah brought home his art portfolio, an array of pictures he made in class that imitated the style of various famous (and not so famous) artists, using different mediums. Pretty cool. Good work, Elijah!

Thursday was the day for class Easter egg hunts (or Spring egg hunt, as they call it now). The weather did not cooperate, and a thunderstorm blew in right as Elijah’s third grade class lined up to go outside and walk to a classmate’s home to have their egg hunt. His teacher is quite creative and devised an alternative way to hunt eggs in the classroom. Each student had a numbered egg and “hunted” through each pan, looking for his number. They had twenty seconds to go through each pan. Not the ideal situation but fun nonetheless I guess. They also got to enjoy a delicious lunch of burgers and dogs one of the dads grilled for them [in the rain] and fruit and other goodies and they played games.

Grandson Knox had his Easter egg hunt at his MDO school. His mom took this picture of him in his bunny ears.

This pretty blue egg is one he found during his egg hunt, and he carried it around all afternoon until his hands were blue. Matched his shirt. And Crocs, too.

Cherry blossoms ~ one of my fave things about Spring

Just a swingin’ after school. Granddaughter Shelby, who will be in high school next year [yikes!], gave up class egg hunts when she went off to middle school where holiday-related fun does not exist. Real world strikes again.

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment."
-  Ellis Peters

Son in law Kerry got into the candy stash ~ that Laffy Taffy is hard to unwrap

"Keep your faith in all beautiful things; in the sun when it is hidden, in the Spring when it is gone."
-  Roy R. Gilson

Daughter Holly popped in after work to pick up her kiddos, and Knox was happy to let her push him in the swing.

Trampoline time

Lovely Shelby

Jump!

Friday I dug out the plastic eggs and filled them with candy. Seems all the major holidays revolve around candy. Beginning with Halloween in October and running through Easter~I call it the Fat Season. It’s hard to ignore a piece of chocolate when it’s right there under your nose. And OOPS! now it’s in my belly [and on my hips].

Today we colored Easter eggs.

The first dozen. One didn’t make it.

Knox got a kick out of the process, but I think Kelly had the most fun.


Looking forward to eating these [with a sprinkle of salt, of course] They turned out so pretty, especially Kelly’s multi-colored eggs.

Seemed like a good night for homemade stew and fresh Italian bread for supper [Food Lion has the best bakery bread on the planet~just sayin’]

After supper, egg coloring ~round two ~the second dozen. Knox likes the blue ones best. Good times.  Great traditions. Hope your April has been awesome so far.

“ 'April, April, laugh thy girlish laughter, and the moment after, Weep thy girlish tears, April.' ” ― Angus Wilson, No Laughing Matter

It’s April already! No foolin’!

Ever Lovin Saturday

Today looked and felt like October. Neil was out in the yard all day, relocating plants and rearranging stones for the backyard path. He called me outside to sit with him on the deck while he took a break. He was sweating from all his running around. I was bundled up in my down jacket and a scarf wrapped around my neck. It was 42 degrees, after all. Men don’t seem to know when it’s cold. Always thankful for a day of sunshine and blue sky, no matter if it’s March or October. Ya gotta love it. Happy Saturday, everyone!

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'" — Robin Williams

Spring Break--Week Two  Grandson Elijah and granddaughter Shelby spent the day with me. We joined Neil at Steak n Shake for lunch. Elijah loves to play the "claw machine". He's won a few times. He snagged this stuffed Steak n Shake Sizzle Burger on his second try. Not too shabby.

Shelby amused herself with a quarter, stopping it with her finger while it was still spinning. She's really good at it.

Lunch! I prefer a dawg to a burger. Was good.

The weather today was perfect. It just doesn't get any better than this. We went for a walk after lunch and stopped in the street to take a shadow selfie which we all photo bombed. It was so bright I couldn't see the shot I was getting on my cell phone screen [I look like I'm impaled on a stick]

We stopped by daughter Kelly's house to visit her and grandson Knox, and I managed to get the three grandpeeps all together in the same photo.

Shelby and Elijah played a little volleyball using the brick wall as a net.

Smiley Face

Blue sky. More, please!

"The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring."  ~Bern Williams

THE GOOD THE RANDOM THE FUN

Remember when the sky was blue the other day? Yeah, that was real pretty. Would love to see more of this in the near future.

Beautiful Buttercups growing in my yard

And how about that gorgeous sunset the other day?!

The roofers [finally] came Friday and started tearing off the old old shingles [in the rain ~ they didn’t seem to mind]  and began to repair the damage done by that Maple limb that blew over onto this side of the house last October. We decided to take the plunge and do a whole new roof [which the house badly needed] and replace it with a metal roof [burnished slate is our color]. Remember those beautiful Buttercups in the picture above? They got squashed under the falling roof debris. Daughter Holly picked a bunch on Thursday, so they weren’t all lost.

It’s kind of scary to see the roof over your head looking like this.

Looking out my front door on Friday

Friday was the last day to eat at our fave Thai food restaurant, Ocha, before they closed for the next two months. [They do this a couple of times a year, it seems, as the owner returns to Thailand for a vacation. It will be June before they open again {{sigh}}] Kelly figured she may as well make use of her chopsticks skill. Look at her go! I’d starve to death if I had to eat with these. She’s really good at it.

And look at the dessert she [and Knox] made and shared with us ~ chocolate dipped oranges and strawberries. Major yum!!

Looking out my back door this morning

Showing off my spring wreath on my front door [Hobby Lobby rocks! especially when you’ve got a nice gift card to spend] Something pretty to look at in the midst of all the flying roof debris

Kelly treated Neil and me to a Frozen Lemonade at Chick Fil A this afternoon. We really enjoyed it. I’d definitely get it again. Grandson Knox had a good time in their playground. At one point, he climbed up on a ledge and didn’t know how to get down, so ….

…. Mommy to the rescue! Kelly had to climb up inside this tube to show him how to climb off the ledge, and watching her maneuver her own way down and back out was pretty amusing, so of course I took pictures and made this collage and posted it on the world wide web. Isn’t that what moms are for?

They were starting to put the finishing touches on the roof late this afternoon. By the time they were done, it was too dark to take a picture of the finished product. I’ll save that for another post. It turned out nice, and we’re pleased with their good job. The only thing left is replacing the soffit that runs up the right side of the roof where the tree fell ~ maybe next Tuesday if the materials come in and the weather cooperates. Happy first weekend of Spring, y’all!

“She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbor: "Winter is dead.” ― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

You could not have ordered a more beautiful day. In a word, perfection.

Kelly and Knox came over this afternoon and brought bubbles which are a must on such a day as this.

Playing the blues on the bubble horn. It didn’t take long for Knox to get the hang of it.

A dish of D.Q. ice cream with sprinkles is also a must on an almost-Spring day. Delish!

Neil didn’t get to play today. He was up on the roof, removing our chimneys that serviced fireplaces we will no longer be using.  A tree fell on our roof last October and made a mess. Tomorrow (we hope) the roofers will be coming and we will be replacing the whole roof with a shiny new metal roof. Stay tuned. Wishing everyone a blue sky, sunshiny week!