Hello Again!

Holy cow! It's been almost 2 1/2 months since I've posted anything. Well, if there's anyone left out there that checks this thing, this one's for you! :)

Let's see, what's happened since February. Since then, we've had a trip to the zoo as a family. Aidan and Julien have been to the Science Center. It warmed up and then it got cold again. Then it got hot, like 90 degrees hot. Then it snowed. Then it rained. And rained and rained and rained. I try to look on the bright side and think of the savings to my water bill since I don't have to water the flowers. Flowers! My flowers have come up! My tulips were beautiful, although I lost one over the winter. Then my peonies, lilies and irises came up too. The peonies and irises will be blooming soon. I was very happy to see everything I transplanted from Iowa survive the winter and thrive. My grandmother would be pleased to see her flowers doing well and back in Missouri soil.

We've painted the livingroom and kitchen since I've been away. We added board and batten treatment to the livingroom. It was A LOT of work but so worth it. My neighbor told me it looks "right out of a Pottery Barn catalog" which I took as a huge compliment. I'm not very good at design and decorating so pulling this off was a big coup for me. Julien was a huge help and very good sport about it all. I told him the next time I ask him to paint a room he won't mind as much because there's no way it could be more work than that was! :)

April brought my grandmother's 90th birthday and her big party. I was very glad the kids and I could be a part of that. My grandmother is such an inspiration. She's sharp as a tack, very active, and in great health. I hope I can be half as healthy at half her age. I have such wonderful memories of going to her house, playing cards, and of course kringlas and lefse hot off the stove.

April also brought a trip to Texas for a good friend Kevin's wedding. Another friend, Mikey, drove down from Iowa and then we were off to Texas in the van. Drove through a nasty storm in Arkansas, made fun of the names Texarkana and Arkadeplhia, saw some really backwoods parts of east Texas and LOTS of donut shops, but made it in one piece in about 12 hours. The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time. Hard not to enjoy a wedding that serves BBQ at the reception. :) It was fun to see the boys together. In my mind I can still see them as 18 year olds with no responsibilities or direction and then now, to see them as grown men, all married with families no less, is quite the sight. I guess we all grow up eventually, don't we? While we were gone the kids came down with quite the bug. Both had bad coughs and fevers making them sick for a week. It's the sickest Olivia has been. When she lays on the couch and falls asleep, you know something is wrong. We're finally back to good health, minus some coughing here and there. Unfortunately the weather and their fevers managed to get in the way of Easter egg hunting and we were forced to do it in the house and miss out on the other two hunts we were supposed to go to. The kids still had fun and liked their baskets. Hopefully next year will be better.

May will be a busy month again, as if there were any other kinds. We have trips to Iowa, music festivals for the kids, the end of preschool for the year, and who knows what else to look forward to. Hopefully somewhere in there will be the planting of a garden and maybe even work on a deck. *Fingers crossed* I'll try to keep you posted. :)