First Green

After so much of this......

We now have this!


The early willow leaves reminded me of this:

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I just learned this poem is by Robert Frost. I have to admit I learned it reading the Outsiders by S.E. Hinton as a teenager and fell in love with it. Is the first poem I remember memorizing. Every spring when the leaves begin as small golden buds I remember it.  I am more grateful for spring this year then others I can remember. As the our land wakes up I keep finding treasures in my yard I didn't know were there. So far I have discovered 3 beautiful Red Lenten roses, several forsythia and a mature pecan tree!

I had no idea what a Lenten rose was until I moved to the South. They are really not a rose. They are evergreen and bloom first here. I still miss the forsythia being the first flower of the year, is that silly? These boom even before the crocus I think. I will plant some crocus for next year find out.

Mr. Luke

 Luke's front tooth is loose. It has been for a month. He won't let anyone pull it or pull it himself. It makes me laugh because it totally makes him look like a hill billy.

Luke got a special award at school last week from Mrs. Walsh, the principal. His teacher nominated him as a "Terrific Kid" for the month. I am super proud of him and how hard he tries to choose the right and help other's at school. When I got to the award's ceremony Luke came over and sat on my lap. I love that he will still snuggle me and show affection. But he won't hold my hand anymore as we walk places! He still loves to be tickled though! Cracks me up!

I need to get a picture of all of the stuffed animals on his bed. Each of them have a certain place and Luke sleeps in the middle, surrounded. His favorite right now is a Minecraft pig he named Jeffrey.

Luke is smart, funny and an awesome worker. Our family would not be the same without him. I love his sense of humor and how happy he is in the morning when he wakes up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had our traditional green breakfast. Green shamrock shaped pancakes, green eggs, kiwi and green water courtesy of Sophie. School was delayed because of icy weather. I was glad we could all relax and have fun instead of the usual rush to get out the door. Grandma Smith sent the mustaches. I sent this picture to all my family and everyone else sent green mustache pictures too. It made me laugh all day long! Well, the sibs with young kids. Luke wore his all day long at school! Crazy kids. Well, at least until I picked them up at early release. It started sleeting and they canceled school. Big huge sigh... there is now not spring break at all and we are 2 days added in June. 

We celebrated Molly's "birthday" today too. We adopted her 4 years ago the week of St. Patrick's, the kids always remind me to have her party. They make a cake of sorts out of canned dog food and dog treats. I can't believe it has been 4 years that she has been in our family. Molly is sweet and funny and barks way too much at strangers and friends. She keeps me company, I call her my velcro dog, because she is always with me. Except at night when she is on one of the kids beds. She can't sleep on ours and she has figured out that people beds are much better then dog ones I guess. 

Uncle Sam is the Best

Sam arranged a business trip where he needed to come to North and South Carolina and then spent his birthday weekend with us. We had so much fun. Seriously. I can't believe he turned 30! Seems like a long time ago that I was sitting in home ec class in middle school waiting to find out if he had been born yet.

 We went to the Lego movie, out to eat a few times, and just hung out at home. Saturday and Sunday were really nice and warm. It felt good to be outside in spring like weather. Sunday after church Sam put up some swings that Grandpa and Grandma Smith sent us from Jamaica. It will be fun to think of him when the kids play on them. Jason left Saturday to fly to Salt Lake to be there for Craig's Silver Beaver ceremony. Before he left he made sure Sam had a chance to do some tractor work and heavy lifting. I am always glad when someone stronger is here then me with big jobs! Having Sam here for a few days made me miss him more. I a grateful to have family to love though, even if they are far away.