Spring = Bike Rides, Picnic, Chicken Coop and Seeds

 Shew! A  multi-post day! 

Back at home the girls asked if they could go for a bike ride. We agreed. They packed a picnic lunch while we got the bikes down from the garage ceiling. Michael also checked tires. This was the first ride of the season.  I'm proud of them for taking photos! Yes, of course, Allie has, and wears, a helmet. She must have whipped it off before the photo. 

Stacia and Allie📷by Stacia

The river is beautiful. I laughed when I saw where they'd ended up. Michael and I walked, sat and talked in the same spot during our respite hours yesterday. 

📷by Allie

📷by Allie

May I just say a ukulele on a picnic after a bike ride is brilliant! 

📷by Stacia

📷by Stacia

Grandpa has been sleeping a lot the past few days. We saw his doctor yesterday and they are checking his iron levels. They suspect we'll go in for iron infusions. Today he began complaining of nausea too and slept 90% of the day. 

While he slept, Michael worked in the chicken yard and coop. I love a clean coop.  The hens responded with five eggs. LOL 

I took advantage of the hours to plant seeds. This is an inside job  - so Michael could be outside. I planted 535 new seeds. I filled the grow cart and moved a couple of trays out to the greenhouse. I'm hoping they'll be warm enough to germinate. If not, I'll move them inside????

I covered them with plastic domes

The starts I'd moved to the greenhouse are thriving. It's time to up-plant quite a few of them. That will be the job for the next couple of days.  I mentioned while I drove the girls over to BreZaak's that I hate gardening. WHAT? 

Allie said she was sure I loved it. I told her I like a bit of food stability. I don't really like gardening.  I spent most of the afternoon and this evening (while planting  another 100 seeds) asking myself if I really dislike gardening? What DO I enjoy about gardening? I LOVE watching things grow. I love sitting in a garden with a drink. I love watching sprinklers water a garden. I love an excuse to be outside for long hours in the summer, rather than doing housework.  I do not like weeding, planting for hours at a time, weeding, hauling manure....but maybe I do love a lot of aspects of gardening. It sounds like I love to watch a garden more than I love all the hard work...but then the hard work is therapy. Many a prayer has been spoken in my garden. Many an idea has been wrestled through and situation surrendered in the garden. I think I may love gardening after all.  I'm still thinking. 

The melons are finally germinating. 

Kabocha squash

Beans are looking good

Delicata squash

I have not planted even one zucchini! Stacia informed me today she LIKES zucchini. Maybe I'll plant ONE...just one. I do not need to supply our church, the Russian church and the neighbors with zucchini. I do know it will grow well here and I'm not sure about the Delicata and Kabocha. 

Michael and I spent some time discussing the merits of leveling vs. terracing the wildly sloping garden spot. I think we're going with terracing as he told me we'd have to start all over to level the area...and it would result in bringing a bunch of hard packed dirt to the surface as well....

Maybe I like gardening because it is a never-ending source of conversation and it's always changing....always something new to discover. 

(Maybe this should have been two posts). 

Boy Baachan (You know - like Boy Mom)

Tuesday mornings mean.....picking up a "surprise" for Arielle and dropping by to play with the boys while she goes to work at her church.  Benny had EXCITING NEWS today....he has a new bicycle helmet and Cory took the training wheels off his bike. Of COURSE we had to finish breakfast and go for a walk/bike ride. 

This boy can RIDE. He managed gravel, pavement and grass. As we walked I remembered a little neighborhood "park" with pavement, a basketball hoop and grass. We headed over there so Benny could ride to his heart's content and I didn't have to worry about traffic. 

This park is down an alley way and is bordered by backyards of houses. 

I loved watching the boys play ball together....Benny and I played HORSE...hopefully the first of many fun outings. 

Benny made quite a few baskets. I quit counting at 5. 

Danny was NOT going to be outdone and figured out a way to make his own baskets. 

Bubbles! Simple delights. 

Check out their expressions

We continued our walk down a new to me road when we left the playground. We walked/rode up a big hill and found ourselves at the "Hippo park." I THOUGHT we were going to stop and play but it became quickly apparent Benny had a different plan. 

"Watch, Baachan, I can ride down this hill." 

"Benny, I don't think that's a good idea." 

"I can do it..." and he was off. 

I gave chase...trying to catch him before he reached the steep decline....and then Danny began crying. I thought he was upset by how fast the stroller was going. He wasn't. He'd slid out of the stroller. I picked him up, strapped him back in, and took off running with the stroller down the decline. 

"Benny, pedal backwards." 

"Benny, stop before you reach the street." 

We don't say, "Be careful," we give helpful instructions.  I must admit, parenting 5 boys, "be careful" became a fall back. We have learned to think of the steps we want them to take rather than telling them to be careful - which gives them a sense of danger but no clear-cut idea of how to deal with it.  Later, talking the event over with Arielle she said it is ok to yell, "Stop." 

Um...yeah that was the word I was looking for. 

Benny was excited about his accomplishment and thought he'd do it again. 

"No, Benny. Baachan doesn't want to do that again." 

"I didn't hurt my privates!" 

This Baachan was perplexed.  I told him we were going to play at THIS park and we were not going to go back to the hippo park or ride down the hill again. He agreed. 

Danny appreciated the tamer pace of THIS park over the mad dash down the hill. 

Back at home we decided to cuddle on the couch and watch some cavorting pirates on Disney. I had hoped Danny would fall asleep. Arielle got home before he could fall asleep. 

I knew Arielle would be fine with the boys and I going for a ride/ walk. I think we'll keep doing that now that the weather is nice. We all loved it. I shared about the mad dash down the hill, losing Danny, and Benny's perplexing comment.  I knew she'd laugh - and she did. Arielle shared he'd had a bad wreck a couple of days ago and HAD hurt his privates. Evidently, all activity is now to be judged by weather it hurts and if it doesn't, it's safe.  ::snort:: 

I do miss having a houseful of little boys...these two haven't started throwing bricks into trees yet...

Random Glimpses of the Week

Michael and I snatched a few minutes after one of Allie's appointments to do a wee bit of celebrating. This is our first time inside Dairy Queen since 2020. LOL  Please note it is Allie's hand and blizzard in the foreground. I am not holding two blizzards...and also note they are minis. I am hoping it doesn't tank the A1C test later this week. 

Michael, De'Etta and Allie

It's getting real! The banner and yard sign arrived. 

CoRielle walked down to a local coffee shop to do a bit of celebrating on their own. LOL  

That's some drink! 📷by Arielle

Arielle's guys! 📷by Arielle

Millie loves play time with Stacia

I suppose I am going to need to spend a bit more time gardening and less time reading in the greenhouse very soon. LOL 

I was SHOCKED to see gas jump from $4.09 to $4.71 (and this was AFTER my fuel rewards were applied) in less than a week. I need to find out which day of the week gas prices rise and fill up strategically. LOL 

We've done a lot of driving this week. The cost is high, but the girls are getting lots of practice driving around town.  Allie finished up her gig helping with a short film created for a high school class. Stacia had several babysitting gigs. Allie worked with Lady. Food co-op was this week. Lifegroup was this week. Michael had a couple of appointments in Anchorage.  

I was thrilled to get one walk in the midst of a busy week...walking may be smarter as gas prices rise. 

A cart like this can only mean a BBQ is in the planning...

And when the cake decorating tackle comes out....it is going to be a party. In this case we spent time this week prepping for Alliebration - our celebration of Allie. 

The girls and I ended the week by going to see Aida last night at our local community theater. It was a blast. Allie gifted me with a night out at the theater for my birthday in January. It didn't work out with friends and  we decided the three of us would go! It was a fun ending to a hectic week. 

We are two months into Lifegroup and I'm realizing I need to be sure we don't schedule a lot of out of the house activity and appointments on the weeks we have Lifegroup  and Wholesome Food Co-op (2nd and 4th Tuesday and Thursday).   Simply being aware of the heightened pace and scheduling accordingly will relieve stress around here. 

Stress?  Check out our favorite stress-relivers. They're growing fast. Millie is doing well with them. She simply ignores them...and we are always sure someone has a hand on her when we open the brooder. These guys love to fly out into our faces as we attempt to change water, shavings and food. 

The Barred Plymouth Rocks are getting so cute. They have a much more "in your face" personality than the Golden Bovans. We've called them our little ninjas. they love to run and fly at the others. 

Dominion

Check it out! Note that while the sun rises and sets at the big bolded times, it is actually light for an hour on either side. This is the time of the year when keeping up with inside chores gets harder. Outside chores are screaming for attention. All the snow is finally melted around our yard. 

And so, a new week begins. 

Allibration - Celebrating Allie Part 2

 Today is Allibration! As we discussed Allie's desires for a "graduation ceremony" she suggested a family trail ride. We talked a bit more and I suggested a BBQ where folks could share a Scripture, quote or song lyrics with her and we would pray a blessing over her together. She liked that idea, too. The logistics of doing it all in one day simply didn't work. Victory couldn't handle family and friends on a trail ride, and we didn't think we'd be back in time to host friends the same day. We planned for 24 and had 35....it was a fantastic gathering. 

So...today is Allibration  - the day we celebrate all things Allie. Although, in truth, we are celebrating God's faithfulness to Allie. We are giving special acknowledgement to the educational milestone she has worked hard to reach. 

We planned to have an outside BBQ and it began raining on Friday and into Today. Michael and Dad went to men's breakfast and the girls and I got busy cleaning the house so we could move everyone inside.  About an hour before people were to arrive we decided it was turning into a gorgeous day afterall and we'd pull out the picnic tables and yard toys from storage. People could be in or out. 

Stacia made this darling graduation cake. 

Zoom in for details

The notebook is for everyone to share their bits of wisdom and blessing. That basket was full by the end of the party. 

Setting up the trampoline. I am so thankful Michael thought to do this. The kids loved it.  

Michael, Allie, Nolan and Millie set up the trampoline

Michael was ensconced on the deck with the grill. 

Michael manned the grill 

Shannon, Lindsey, Allie, Joe, Jessica, Krista, Danny, Jennifer
Frank, Joanne, Mona, Mark, JaRissa, Stacia, Nolan, Arielle
Tim and Noah in the background

Alex, Joe, Larissa, Arielle, Jennifer, Krista, Joanne, Frank
Cory, Joisha, Allie

Allie surprised us by preparing a speech. It was very nice, but I'm not going to include the text here. She gave honor to those who walked alongside her and God. 

📷by Lindsey 

We had Allie share as soon as eveyrone arrived so she wasn't nervous about it as the day went on. Others played and visited until the meat was ready. 

Livie and Shannon and Lindsey's girls had fun together

Livie & Allie

This is just a "little bit of sugar"

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

Sweet cousins - Benny and Gideon

Lindsey, Shannon and Jennifer📷by Lindsey 

The youth began a game of Bocce. When they had exhausted it's thrills, some of the men jumped in. Ed carries a measuring tape with him. Allie says, "He's just like Padre."  Shannon won three games and MI hael won the game Shannon didn't play. 

Bocce

Michael, Ed, Shannon & Danny📷by Lindsey 

Luke and Danny set up a course

As the afternoon wrapped up we placed a chair in the middle of the yard, and called everyone to gather. This was a challenging moment for Allie, but she was forewarned and did great with all the people crowding around...seriously in her space bubble. I laughed when I heard a Gherkin say, "You'll get used to it Allie. It's a thing."  Most were sensitive and did the hover hand....🙂. Everyone prayed for Allie and it was a great moment. 

📷by Lindsey

The photo on the banner is from the evening we celebrated Allie's acceptance into UNCO. 

Allie and Stacia - Seesters

Allie 📷by Lindsey 

As the banner says, "We are so stinking proud of Allie!"  Today was the perfect compliment to The trail ride.