Grey and Sunny

 A brief photo update... it's cold here still. 40 during the day teens/20s at night. Lots of clear blue sky and sunshine though, which makes the temps bearable.This time of year is so weird for it's complete lack of color. Even in winter there seems to be color (even if it's a lot of white snow, the contrast is at least pretty spectacular --think snow on dark tree limbs--). But in spring, it's all mono-tone dead stuff. We are getting the first inklings of things beginning to sprout, so I felt compelled to grab the camera to capture it.

 There's no real reason to post a picture of these old birds. Little E has quite suddenly taken an interest in them though. G showed him how to catch and hold one, and since then E has spent loads of time in the run, holding birds and telling me all about how "they coo when they're happy, and I make them happy!"

 

What the heck is this?! Can you see it? Barely, I know. I realized on Saturday that we had loads of garlic sprouts coming up! I had put such a thick layer of leaves over it all in the fall that I had totally forgotten about it. 

   

 Crocus. They're popping up here and there. I love how small and humble they are. Just the smallest glimmer of growing things to come. It's always refreshing when they pop up. Purple harbinger of hope.

 We received our seeds yesterday (well, the first batch anyway). This prompted me to run out and plant some spinach and lettuce in the front yard bed. It always tickles me to me plant seeds in something my oldest two kids slept in for years. I love the way this simple pine rectangle keeps giving to our family.

  

This summer will mark 12 years in this house. I have only painted the porch floor three times during that span. It definitely needs to be done again. I took this picture to remind myself to do it this year!

Sweet M. Tomorrow she's 18 months old. She continues to be a sweetheart. True to any child that comes after the first, there are just not many pictures of her! There are many silly quick ones taken on my phone, but as for getting the camera down, it just doesn't happen all that often. She has many, many words that we are all slowly learning. Newer words:

May-May= Eamon

Makees= monkeys= pajamas. This took me a full week to figure out. Every evening I'd tell her to get a pair of jammies and she'd come back with a pair saying, "Makees! Makees! We thought maybe she was saying something like, "it matches", but that seemed unlikely. It wasn't until I put on my pair of very silly pj pants with monkeys all over them that I figured it out. She shouted, "MAKEES!" Oh! Now I get it!

Cheese=eat=hungry=someone's taking my picture

Chicky=chickens

swuarell=squirrel

pup=cup

Amy=our pal Amy

Nanny=Nan (my MIL)

Bizzy=our neighbor Elizabeth

Say-na=Bizzy's son Sena (pronounced as M says it)

STU!=carpool buddy, Stu. Tho M says it clearly with an exclamation point every single time
thank you= cookie

And many more words: grandma, Maddie (g'ma's dog), shoes, many various body parts, book, hot, cold, Sarah, phone, Dora (the Explorer), dance, etc.