Lovely Spring Day

Stacia and I ended the day at the T-ball field. We dropped by to watch Benny plan and to visit with Arielle. This time we came armed with hand warmers, hats, and 20 oz of HOT DRINKS...EACH. We even brought a drink for Arielle. 

We had planned for Mike, Dad, Stacia and I to meet the family at the ballpark. Dad didn't want to go. It WAS windy tonight, so Michael said he'd stay home with GG so we could keep to the plan. 

These kids are so cute to watch! Benny's a joy to observe. He's got a good swing and throw...and I don't think he stops talking the whole time he's out there. LOL  He seems much less nervous this week...

The day was full. I began by upsetting a broody hen. She was not going to give me her eggs - but I prevailed. We have 12 new chicks in our brooder. When it warms up a bit, we'll probably hatch some of our green and olive eggs...but we want to time it better so they can make it to joining the others before it snows...and to give them enough time for the current chicks to move out the brooder.

I got Grandpa up and his morning routine completed. The girls agreed to stay present so I could run out and meet with a friend.  I've wanted to check in with her as she's had lots of changes in the recent past and upcoming future. Church just isn't enough time to REALLY catch up. LOL 

When I got home, I found Allie catching some sun - while avoiding the chilly wind. Allie isn't taking summer courses, but she's doubled her local workload. She's enjoying more time to read FUN things - rather than textbooks. 

Stacia finished her high school work in January and jumped right into college classes. We've advised her to finish her current class and then take a break until the fall semester. She enjoyed studying outside today and has decided to finish this class and break until August. 

This time of year, it's hard to know which chores take priority. Michael decided to try out the new rear-tine rototiller. We have decided NOT to plant all the in-ground garden space this year. We'll try to get the beds planted. We don't plant outside until June, so we are on schedule.  We just don't have the hours to maintain all of the garden spaces this year. We are hoping this will allow us to make progress on things like, unloading a trailer, setting up a guest room and the study, staining the house, replacing a retaining wall...

The chickens are living their best lives. They are classified as free-range but they do not have free range of our property. Why? Because they make a giant mess I don't want to deal with, we have predators, and we have grands who are nervous around them. We've created a generous chicken yard for them to run around in. We hope to reseed this year so they have fresh grass to destroy.  They crowd this gate looking for food every time someone walks past. 

Not only do they get to be OUT for hours and hours this time of year, but they also get to eat the freezer burned salmon. These eggs are rich. 

I spent a couple of hours uploading photos from my phone to google photos, then downloading to the laptop and deleting from my phone. My phone was squawking about no storage space...and not is is yelling that something is wrong with the SD card. I don't know....I just know I freed up over 1.5 gb of space and went from 98% full to 95% full. It was liberating to delete all the inspirational and sarcastic memes I'd saved as well as about 500 photos. 

I love the fact that winter is over. Arielle tried to convince me tonight, as we sat in the chilly wind, that this is still "winter with green." I refuse to accept her assessment. LOL 

Krista called from Guam where they are hunkering down for a typhoon. I am thankful to be in Alaska - the sunlight is glorious and the sun was OUT today - the wind is just a bit chilly...but our winds are far below typhoon speed winds. 

My Favorite Local Gallery

My favorite local art gallery is right here at Wibbly Wobbly Acres. I am not a fan of curtains. I love light.  Living in the same area as grandblessings has resulted in me possessing many priceless works of art. The collection outgrew the fridge. A couple of Christmas' ago I strung ribbons over the dining room windows and hung Christmas cards on them.  After Christmas I hung one of the overflow works of art...and now I have a gallery of precious art. 

 A young gall from church drew me a couple of pictures on Wednesday night. I told her I'd hang them in my gallery. Here they are: a lovely spring hillside with birds and a page full of flowers, bees and a bee hive. 

I rotate the art. As the kids give me new projects, I replace one of their previous works. The one below hasn't been replaced. It makes us smile AND some days one needs the reminder. Benny brought this to us on our anniversary one year, Valentines Day. 

"Bachan and Papa, You love each other. Benny."

Yes, we do. 

A Glorious Spring Celebration

Mark May 2023 as the first family celebration we've been able to go OUTSIDE since September 2022.  We were sad when rain was predicted. It didn't rain. It was a gorgeous day. Today's celebration fell on Gideon's birthday. He is 6 years old today. He came a month early when Mike and I were in Alaska looking for a home to buy so we could all move up here. We moved up in June and everyone followed in July. We also celebrated Arielle turning 26, Izaak's milestone birthday,  JaRissa's  7th anniversary, and Stacia's GRADUATION. 

What? Graduation? This seems to have hit several older Gherkins quite suddenly. Our baby has graduated. An era is done. We've homeschooled for 35 years. Stacia slid into college without taking a break as she rounded home to grab a high school diploma. She didn't want a big ceremony. She wanted to do "whatever" during May's family celebration. So - we did. We've joined homeschool co-ops and had the full-fledged ceremonies for 3. We created our own ceremony at a base community center for one. One walked across a bridge in Japan, one chose DQ with friends in TX (while on a move from Japan to CA). One chose the movie theater, one was a covid graduate, one chose horseback riding and a BBQ here at the house...I love watching how the kids choose to celebrate. Stacia would also like a party with her youth friends...so we're working to get a date picked for that. 

Our baby

📷by Carrie

Everyone brought their own meat to burn, we provided sides and desserts. Several arrived early and helped pull out the picnic tables and set up the trampoline for the season. Y'all - WINTER IS OVER!

Dad agreed to come out for the afternoon. 

GG and Josiah

Nolan, Jared, Noah and Larissa catching up 

Liv, Allie, unseen grands, Danny, Benny, Stacia

Bre, Nolan and Alex in the background

It was fun to have Nolan and Alex arrive from their home across town. Alex brought RIBS.  They were good. I got the recipe. 

Noah is 4 months old! 📷by Carrie

Such sweet giggles! 📷by Larissa

Son, these are chickens. Your Bachan and Papa
are chicken people. 📷by Larissa

The chickens and baby chicks (who are now about 5 weeks old) are a big hit with the younger crowd. 

Monday night at t-ball we ordered a t-ball stand for Wibbly Wobbly Acres Preserve. We were SHOCKED when it arrived on THURSDAY. Josiah and Carrie picked up some bases. Cory and Arielle brought ball and bat, and several brought their gloves. It was great fun. This reminded me of the kick ball games we used to play as a family in CA. 

Go, Livie! 

We had told Shannon and Lindsey, our friends who are....well...going on a road trip...we would be interested in buying the little house they had in the parsonage yard if they needed to move it. They decided they were giving it to us. When we picked it up it also came with a car, a wagon, a couple of bikes, a small thing of nail polish, assorted little plastic toys in the carrier area... What a huge surprise...and let me tell you each toy was widely appreciated. It gave me secret smiles as I remembered conversations with Lindsey...and watched the grands play on the girls' toys. 

Powered by 100% girl power! 📷by Allie

Benny and Bella 📷by Allie

Michael power-washed the house. We have plans to stain and paint it to match our house, but it didn't get done by today. The kids didn't care. 

Benny, Little Buddy, Bella📷by Allie

Gideon loved being a chauffeur. 📷by Allie

These two! Pure energy and activity. Pure joy. You can see Danny's face. Little Buddy's was just as excited. They took turns driving each other around. 

📷by Allie

Josiah - our 3rd 2 yo. (Jo jo)

Danny seems to be the grand which loves the horse the best. He sits on it and patiently waits. When one of us hits it's rump and it makes galloping noises he begins to madly ride it. LOL  Actually, the horse was gifted to us by Shannon and Lindsey last year when the girls had grown out of it. It's still well-loved. 

A boy and his horse. 

Uncle Jamin arrived. Being self-employed, work often hounds him - but he does a good job of being present with us when he can break away. He's a favorite with the grands. 

Jamin, Annie, Benny and Jojo📷by Allie

Danny plays hard.

 Hello, Boys! 📷by Allie

Little Budy - we love you! 📷by Allie

SMACK! Gideon's got it. 📷by Allie

BreZaak's children - minus Trudy📷by Carrie

The wind picked up and it got chilly. The timing was perfect to move inside for cakes and gifts. First, Stacia had to don a graduation robe and walk the aisle...while Pomp and Circumstance played. We cheered. She didn't give a speech. 

Perfect gift! Arielle is 26. Letting that sink in.  

Josiah had been eagerly waiting for Arielle to open her gift. It's a T-rex toilet paper holder...and it fits the theme of the bathroom in their new home. The master suite has a bathroom so the hallway bathroom has been dubbed "the boys bathroom" and they chose all things dinosaur. 

It's been fun to watch Jared slide into his new Daddy role. 

📷by Carrie

Yes, we continue to put candles for each celebrant on a cake round. Gideon was excited. He loved his spiderman cake. He matched the cake. 

Izaak had quite a few more candles than Gideon. 

I laughed when one of the kids said, "Aunt Arielle, You're old." The comment soon followed that Izaak was "very old." Kids are fun! 

Gideon was the designated pig hat wearer. 

Izaak worked long hours on homework all week so he could join us. We are so happy he did. It was fun to celebrate him in person. Izaak is just about to finish a masters in human services...and then he will finish his masters from seminary in formational leadership or something leadership. He's been working diligently, steadily....and when the masters are done? He will be able to get into the Phd program he wants to get into for counseling from Liberty University. I may well edit the exact titles of these degrees at a later date. LOL  I LOVE all the online options for young families these days. I wish we could have spent a few more years in Eugene with family before moving away for seminary...but in the day...one went "in residence." 

Allie has been missing JaRissa's visits as they conflict with her work schedule. She soaked up lots of vibes from all the grands today...but especially Noah bear. 

📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

Sweet moments with Trudy. She is six months old already! 

📷by Larissa

I leave you with this very telling photo. Benny is dying to get his chance to hold the chicks. Papa told him to wait a bit, then someone gave Papa Noah bear. Both Papa and Benny have priceless expressions. 

📷by Larissa

Yes, all who wanted to hold a chick were able to do so. 

We missed Krista and Luke. Krista was in Hawaii last week and is Guam this week. 

Now, it feels like spring is really here. A month ago, we were shoveling and snow blowing to get to the play set...today...things are starting to green up nicely. Two Saturdays ago we still had 4 feet of snow on the ground, and it was snowing. One week ago, the snow was mostly gone - and everything was brown. Today all our snow is gone, the ground is drying out nicely and green leaves have appeared everywhere. The neighbors are disappearing and that always signals summer.