“Miss April’s come, and I have found,

She’s spread her carpet on the ground.

It’s the nicest rug I’ve ever seen,

So big and soft, and bright and green.

It covers Earth’s old dirty brown

And all those ugly wrinkly cracks.

It can’t blow off; it’s fastened down

With golden dandelion tacks.” (-Unknown)

The beginning of April found me at an Airbnb with some of my best friends, taking in an online conference, and celebrating Grace’s belated 40th birthday. It was the most beautiful refreshing retreat. I think we all came home feeling inspired.

April has been just beautiful this year, although the weather has been a little erratic. I’ve enjoyed the cooler days, and my children have loved the hot, sunny, “swimming weather” kind of days.

One downside of the cooler days, is that one of them was followed by a really cool night, and now the lovely green leaves I’d been admiring on James and Lorretta’s walnut tree, are almost all fried.

A highlight of April this year, has been Anna Grace turning 10 years old. That feels like a milestone. We can hardly believe that the little dark haired darling that we brought home (not that long ago,) is now up to my shoulder.

We tried to make her birthday extra special. She is just such a dependable fixture in our home, and takes so much responsibility as the oldest, that we feel she deserves a little extra recognition. I asked her what she would like to do to celebrate her birthday, and she requested a hike with her “Aunt” Emily and myself.

After we stuffed our faces, we headed home, and Anna Grace was walking on clouds the rest of the day. A day spent with Aunt Emily is a highlight anytime. This time, she spoiled her with a new camping chair and a lovely travel mug in one of her favorite colors, and she is beyond thrilled. Thank you again, Emily, for taking time out of your busy life to make a little girl’s day.

With Baby due in two weeks, I have decreed that we are only having a small “eating” garden this year. I have been a little amazed at how big it’s getting, though, as I think of one thing and then another that I want to add. And planting seeds is so fun! I guess I’m counting on lots of help from Hubby and the kids.

We also finally finished the bathroom project that I’ve been wanting to do. I started on my birthday, and I breezed through the drywall work, and the sanding and painting, but when it came down to the final details, my ADHD took over and I procrastinated for a few weeks. But eventually, I got those cabinet doors put back on, and hung the shelves and hardware back up on April 18, (making it exactly a month long project,) and now I’m just rejoicing every time I walk in there, because I DID IT!

Lest you think I’m better at home improvement than I actually am… I will tell you a little secret about the floor.

It was very stained and needed to be replaced, but I was a little scared of taking it up… thought I might find more work needing to be done underneath. So after some YouTube research, I sanded off what was left of the finish on the linoleum, and coated it with Kilz, then two layers of patio grade paint. Then I stenciled on the design, and topped with two layers of floor grade clear coat. According to YouTube it will give us at least several years of use, so I’m calling it an improvement. 🙂 My hubby thinks I’m a little redneck for implementing such a fix, but he’s also probably relieved that I didn’t ask HIM to redo the bathroom. 🙂 He was horrified by my color choices at first, but I think the new look is growing on him.

Now that we have that project out of the way, I’m working on a list of less exciting tasks that I want to get done.

My Mom and my sisters came and gave me a huge lift with my spring cleaning. This is a tradition we like to keep for one another, (if you’re having a baby, you get a cleaning day,) and I recommend this tradition if you have sisters. If you don’t have sisters, I’m sorry, but maybe you could call me and I could round up some “sisters” and come to your rescue. 🙂 (Just probably not in the next two weeks.)

Speaking of Baby, he still doesn’t have a name. Harrison calls him “Baby French Fry” (long story) and I’m afraid that nickname might actually stick, but hopefully we can find him a real name too. 🙂

Life is busy and full, and (with the exception of these last few weeks of pregnancy,) seems to be flying by. I want to take time to smell the roses, but also we need to make sure the important things get done… I’m not sure where the balance is…Today was supposed to be a “get it all done day,” but it is definitely turning into more of a smell the roses type. Currently I’m sitting on my front porch, just loving this beautiful spring weather.

Yes, there are millions of things I should be doing. But Harrison asked me to swing with him and I’m trying to soak up allll the precious moments with him, while he is “the baby.” As I’m typing this, he is pushing me on the porch swing, singing “ The Wheels on the Bus” at the top of his lungs. Once in a while he stops singing to exclaim over an airplane, or looks at the cows grazing in the pasture… “Those your cows, Mama? Pretty cows, Mama!” He is so much sunshine, and we all just adore him.

One of his latest “things” is he likes to bring me two dandelions, one yellow, and one white, and he holds them excitedly, saying “Tell me the story, Mama! Tell the story!” until I recite the Dandelion poem for him.

Your children might like it too, so I will share it with you here:

🌼🌼🌼
Oh Dandelion, yellow as gold,
What do you do all day?

I sit and wait, in the cool green grass,
Til the children come out to play.

Oh Dandelion, yellow as gold,
What do you do all night?

I sit and wait in the cool grass,
As my hair grows long and white.

And what do you do, when your hair is white,
And the children come out to play?

They take me up in their dimpled hands,
And they blow my hair away.
🌼🌼🌼

I don’t know who the author of this poem is. I remember finding it as a teenager, and saving it for my future children, and I think (maybe) it was in an Ideals magazine, but not sure. But I think it’s so cute, (and sure enough, my children do love it, so mark that down as one good decision I made as a teenager.)

A few random pictures from our April…

I hope that the next post I make will be a baby announcement. Pending we can actually come up with a name. Stay tuned. ❤️