Here is a project from this week. I'm so slow at getting things up on the walls. Since my usual interior decorating consultant currently lives 1004 miles away, I invited another talented friend to come rescue me.

Ta daa!
Cool, huh? Okay that's just the amazing method I used to arrange my photo collage on the wall. I laid all my newly spray-painted frames on the floor in the arrangement I wanted them. Then I traced each frame and cut out a paper that size. Then I marked on each paper where the nail would go for that particular frame. Then I stuck them to the wall. Then I hammered a nail through my mark on the paper. Then I tore the paper off and hung my picture. (I'd love to take credit for that innovative idea, but I found it on the internet and most likely it's old hat for you interior design consultants.)

And then, Ta daa!

Here is my Easter centerpiece.

I really like pussy willow right now. There is very little green out there, but there are pussy willows and they also mean spring. So, if you look closely, you can find 3 places I've stashed pussy willows in this photo.

Waterfalls and Easter Bunnies

It was so warm yesterday that as soon as Eli got home from school, I loaded both boys into the truck and drove down the road to a place where the melting snow made little waterfalls. I let them have the huge chocolate Easter bunnies that I had been avoiding. They ate for awhile, then murdered their bunnies and sent them down the river. I hear Evan apologizing to his bunny, saying, "I don't want to have to do this, but I think I gonna have to," right before he sent him down the waterfall of death.
Happily chomping away on Mr. Easter Bunny.


Horribly planning Mr. Easter Bunny's demise.


P.S. Right now it is 66 and very, very sunny! It's HOT out there!

P.P.S. Unfortunately, I just looked at the 14-day forecast. 61 is the highest thing on there. Tomorrow shows a high of 50 with light rain and Sunday a high of 36 with light snow. Lovely.

Quotes From Sir Evan Rodney

Evan is currently really into singing. He might deny this fact, but what I hear around the house proves otherwise. Here are some songs I've heard him singing recently:

"Don't doubt mine worries and your strength!"

(Dog howling.)

"Right now is the opposite. It. It. It."

"The 5th."

We put clean sheets on his bed and he was quite happy about it. Here is his exclamation: "They smell so good! They smell dirty, but they're really clean!"

And, I'll leave you with the most flattering quote of all. He sat down with his paints and a clean sheet of paper and declared to his mother, "I'm gonna paint a picture of you. In a thunderstorm. Alone."

Snow, Snow, Go AWAY...

The snow is on it's way out!
Here's our backyard on April 10:

Going on a walk on April 17. (Doesn't Kendall's walking pose look so real?)

April 23. The boys are working on a river to drain our mud pit (a.k.a. parking lot). This is the view out the patio door.


And today! Summer is here!
Or maybe we're just desperate...
Yes, that is snow in the background.
Well, anyway, we're getting closer. The forecast tomorrow shows a high of 52. Then 60s for a couple days! We'll enjoy it!

Easter Morning

We started a tradition of filling the Easter baskets with coupons from Mom and Dad. It started when money felt tight and filling the basket felt expensive. The coupons are things like "Date with Mom/Dad," "Foot rub," "S'mores by the fire," "Game night with special snack," etc. Here Evan opens his...
Eli seemed more intrigued with his Kinder Egg Surprise...

This is one afternoon when Kendall was waking up. I set the boys loose on him because I knew he would "appreciate" it. :) I'm usually pretty good about not sending the boys in yelling. I've learned he likes to wake up quietly after a night shift and day of sleep. Kendall laid there and talked to them quite pleasantly for awhile, then fell back asleep.

We Have A Dog

Her name is Lucy.

She's rather active.

We like her and try not to be afraid of her.

Mom, will you still come visit?

"Spring" Outing

Here are some photos of a little outing we took last week. It's true that Kendall's wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, while I'm all decked out in a snowsuit.

This last photo depicts a tired little boy crawling across the lake. Way in the distance you can see an abandoned snowmobile. It has been abandoned for lack of gasoline. No joke.

April Fool's Day

I guess the April Fool's joke was on me this year. I sewed the boys' socks together, but that bombed when the thread just came right out when they pulled a sock out of the drawer. The only reaction I got from that one was an annoyed, "What's this string?!" I filled their toothbrush holder with water the night before and stuck it in the freezer. The next morning they couldn't pull their toothbrushes out of the holder. But this is what I heard: "Why is all frosty?! Why is it wet!?" They just didn't get the humor of the joke. I stuffed rags in their boots so they would have trouble getting them on. Evan tried to encourage me and said, "I laughed a little bit." I put a pack of candy and a pack of dried cranberries in their lunches. (They don't like the cranberries.) But I switched the contents. When I was at the school that day, I stopped in at Evan's classroom. I asked him if he had a surprise. He said, "I don't like cranberries." I said, "I know. Did you get the candy?" He said, "What candy?" Poor guy. Turns out, after he discovered the mean joke in his candy pack, he never even bothered looking in the cranberry pack! But I think I made up for the bombed jokes with supper. I told Eli and Evan that the April Fool's part of supper was that we would eat dessert first. Then I served them cupcakes. For dessert, we had our main course of spaghetti. Can you figure out what they were really eating?

The cupcake is a mini meatloaf with green mashed potato icing. The spagetti is frosting squirted out of a cake decorator, straberry jam, and no-bakes.

P.S. I wanted to put Orajel on Kendall's chapstick, but I had mercy on him. He was going out ice fishing for the day and I didn't want him to think something was really wrong with him and come all the way back in. (A couple days later, I did hear about someone who put Anebesol on their husband's toothbrush and he thought he was having a stroke!)

Sandy Lake

I had a good time with Glenda in Sandy Lake yesterday. It was fun to fly in and see everything below. I've only flown in a small plane one time when we were up here visiting. I guess I've flown in small planes lots of times- they're just all before I remember! In fact, that was when Mom and Dad first figured out that I got motion sickness- Their little toddler just threw up all of the sudden while flying over this same land! The flight in was very smooth. Merle pointed out several reserves to me, including Deer Lake, where I spent the second year of my life, but haven't seen since. Here's Sandy Lake:

The flight home was a bit choppier. We dipped and dropped a couple times, but I just looked up at Henry and he kept calmly reading his book, so I assumed we were fine. The clouds were lower, so we flew lower to stay below them.

It was nice to see Glenda and a bit of her life in Sandy Lake. It's so strange to me that a place so close can be like a different world. It was good to get out and see a different life.

For Dad

I thought these photos might jog some memories... Was this where you attended church? And the path to your house...

Was this how you remember it?

Sandy Lake

Tomorrow I have the chance to go to Sandy Lake to visit Glenda! I think this is what I've been needing. I'm ready to do something different and to see a different world. So I'm flying up with Merle and Henry. They're going for a funeral. I'll take Subway sandwiches up for Glenda and Cindy and we'll have the afternoon together. Then we'll fly home. Should be an adventure!