Spring at home

You may have noticed the adsense links above. After much dithering, I've jumped in. The kids need crayons (or Prismacolors and Dover coloring books), I need some help supporting my book habit (said totally tongue in cheek). Seriously, it's income, however small. Please click away. Thank you.

On other fronts...

Q is nursing and has gotten his hands together--a very big deal and good sign, as is his laughing. While he's eating, he's kneading his little fingers together, as though, suckswallow, suckswallow, he's, suckswallow, breeeeeeeathe, plotting to overthrow something big. Suckswallow, pause, "mmmboo," says he, talking with his mouth full. And his focus shifts to kicking, tongue thrusting, having a conversation. Sweet boy. "Aaaaaaa," tongue, tongue, tongue, "Ng-goo." I wish could speak the language. A soft, "Mmmph."

Yesterday, on our way out the door to church, S spots a big slug on the sidewalk. "Mama, that's a banana slug." Yup, I say. We walk on, down the steps to the driveway. More slugs, smaller ones. "And that one is a strawberry slug." Stands to reason. It is smaller, after all.

Last week, same girl brings an LP she found next to Papa's stereo to the dining room, where we're almost ready for dinner. She's gotten it out of it's jacket and is holding it up. "Looook, mom! It's a giant CD!!" It was all I could do to get through the explanation of how we hold records (and what they are) without cracking up completely. I feel so old. Waaah.

It's raining, thundering too. A lovely spring storm, watering the lemon trees out front in their pots and the clouds of forget-me-nots dotting the property. There are foxgloves and peonies and poppies budding. The red maple and pink columbines are dueling for best of show for the week. Buttercups, lily of the valley, daisies, violas and violets are tucked in under the earlier blooms. The siberian iris greens are up, the lavender is heavy with buds and even the daylilies and curly willow, which appeared to have been decimated by the tree falling and it's ensuing removal, are shooting out green stuff like mad. The red lilies and their even more bodacious friends, the Casablancas, are sending up their summer stalks. The butterfly bush is fluffing out, for later in the summer, and a couple of primroses are nosing out, tentatively, checking for further falling trees over their bed, no doubt.

This is a beautiful place. The bunnies think so too--Friday afternoon two were playing tag on the front lawn, then running circles around the house. A robin was refereeing, making sure things didn't get out of hand. It was endless entertainment for two little girls who had "puked fourteen times" the night before and were happy to just hold still, watching. There's a thrush outside in the mornings and evenings, a resident woodpecker, the occasional raccoon or deer wanders through the brush around the Douglas firs. Sighs of contentedness all around. There's the thrush now. Wow.

Yikes. There was just a very close lightening strike and the biggest crash of thunder I've heard in a long time. And now S has soap in her eyes in the shower, so I'm off to the more usual, less lofty things, snapped out of the reverie.

Have a lovely evening. Smell the rain?

Ahhhhh...