Meeting cousins

Margaret is getting to know Ashton. She loves babies. So does Abby.

What Earth Day Means to Me

I've been celebrating Earth Day a long time. Before Earth Day was popular (and noted on the calendar). I knew about other natural-resource based days before ED -  First there was Bird Day, and Arbor Day (both instituted in the 1800's). And Earth Day came much later. The first one wasn't official until 1970.

Earth Day for me just sort of morphed into existence from these others, which I celebrated with the kids.  Later, when I worked at Valley, Earth Day became ultra important, as we did all sorts of events that focused on Earth Day. My favorite was the tree planting. That was due to one particular teacher who did a great job at helping us all realize the importance of nature, and protecting it. Yay Ms.VZ.

Now I just like this day, April 22. It's a day that reminds me to appreciate the earth I live on. It’s a day to remember to take care of natural resources. It's a day that reminds me that "Reduce, reuse, and recycle" isn't really all that hard to do. And it helps - not only the larger world, but the places that each of us live.

This is also garden planting time, which goes right along with appreciating that we can grow things, and water things, and nurture things. Earth Day happens at just the right time of year for folks that live in the city, and folks that don't. It reminds us to clean up our crap, take it to recycling, and reuse the things that are otherwise just lying around.

Earth Day is a day that helps me be practical. And appreciative. I love this day, and I will for a very long time.

Springtime Gardening

Love this time of year and all the hard work that comes with it.

William says my flowerbed looks like DisneyWorld. Couldn't get a nicer compliment even if it's no where close.

I'm excited to see those marigolds in a few weeks. Last year they were huge and bloomed until November.

Obi and Rosie helped weed this garden bed so we could plant lettuce, celery and onions. They really did most of the work pulling out all the weeds and old roots. 

Sunset at Michelle's

We went to Michelle's house to play and put the kids to bed. The sunset is so gorgeous, after a hard rain.  Extra colorful. What a view from her porch!

Marshmallow roast

Jackson had his first experience roasting marshmallows the night before I had to go home. He decided he liked it a lot, but he didn't like the black part. I assured him that was OK, I'd eat the black part and he could eat the rest.  He was happy with that partnership.

Baby funny faces

I know I shouldn't laugh but Ashton is so cute. He's got Zachary's great scowl brow. This is him happy!!