once upon an Easter...

.... my kids all looked really cute. And I took a bunch of pictures. And then I never blogged about Easter, so the cute pictures of my cute kids simply sat in my camera, gathering a thick layer of digital dust and virtual cobwebs.

But it's never too late to blog about something, right?
Right.
(does anyone even still read my blog? or have you all given up on me? I mean, it's been since May 20 that I wrote something. I wouldn't blame you if you'd abandoned me. I sort of abandoned you. mutual abandonment. how awful.)

ahem. Here are those pictures, for memory's sake.

once upon an Easter uncle Elijah and Aunt Lindsey also came to visit!
They are some of our very favorite visitors.

I like this girl, too.

once upon an Easter, Bennett and his daddy took some awfully adorable pictures together.

And this? well, this about does me in.

Happy Easter!!
Wait.
I mean, Happy Independence Day!
The pictures from our fourth should be posted by Thanksgiving. Dream big, I always say!

like the rain to the earth.

It's Friday.

The end of the week.

A long week.

Too little sleep, too many chores and commitments, too much mess, too much grumpiness, too little time to slow down and relax and breathe in deep, too many bad attitudes and missteps.

To be completely honest, I'm exhausted and tired, frustrated and snappish, feeling behind on EVERYTHING, overwhelmed. My house is a mess, the laundry is piled up, and the dog desperately needs a bath.

But, guess what?

It's springtime!

And it's very hard to stay grumpy or peevish for very long in the spring.

These pictures were from a few weeks ago, but my (sadly neglected) garden has offered up such lovely gifts of color and bloom lately, fragrant and soft and bright. They grace my table and my view from the window, using their charms to make my spirit bright and soft too.

As I type, my girls are out in the backyard digging in the dirt with trowel and hoe, scattering wildflower seeds and making, I'm sure, more of a mess with the hose than is really necessary. But they are happy, so I am happy, and as they plant and play, today's delicious breezes are blowing away any dismal dust left from the week, making us shiny and cheerful again.

 I always love this time of year in our city, these sparkling weeks between foggy cold and downright HOT. It's a time of year when everything is green and pretty, and the sun is welcoming and warm, the world just a little bit softer around the edges, framed in blossoms and blue skies. A time of gray clouds and rain-scented air followed by drops and puddles, everything fresh and clean and new for when the sun comes out again. I love the rain, and how overcast days of wet and cloud are mingled so closely with days of pure blissful sunshine.

We need the rain, just like we need the sunshine.

I came across this verse in Hosea a little while back, and it's so beautiful to me when I'm tired and beaten down, when I need to be reminded of what is important and how my God will always come through.

 

"Let us know,

Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.

His going forth is established as the morning.

He will come to us like the rain,

Like the rain to the earth."

Hosea 6:3

 

Just as the morning always comes, just as the rain always falls as a blessing and a benediction to the earth which needs it...

so will the Lord come to us.

 

and I, I will come to Him, again and again, and breathe in deep of His mercies and forgiveness and grace, and feel His spirit in my soul, sweeter even than the springtime.

 

 

happy Easter, twenty-twelve.

dyeing Easter eggs with sweet cousins and Auntie.
pretty new dresses on our three girls.
joyful worship on Sunday morn, followed by Easter egg hunts in the warm spring weather, lots of good food, a delightful time for family and friends in our sister and brother's lovely home..



















so many reasons to rejoice...
and rejoice we did!

a very flower-dy post

(does anyone else use the word "flower-dy"? you know, instead of "flowery"? I do, just for fun. it drives my husband crazy. I'm sorry, honey.)

Spring is such a speedy season. I can't believe it's already May!
And I know May will fly by too, for it is crammed full of many things. I also know that it will be summer here before we know it. It was 97 degrees here yesterday, this is how I know.
So, I'm trying to soak up as much spring as I can before the heat arrives for good and the season is officially over.
We've been spending lots of time outside, doing our schoolwork for the day on the patio at the little table covered in the strawberry-print tablecloth. Reading in the playhouse on pillows and eating lunch in the sunshine. Riding scooters and getting covered in chalk-dust. Being chased around by the puppy and playing with neighborhood friends. Digging in the dirt, planting tomatoes and corn, hollyhocks and roses, basil and creeping fig.
My garden has been so good to me lately, with flowers blooming in wild abandon and honeysuckle and jasmine scenting the air with delicate perfume. When I take Violet outside early in the morning, I wander from plant to plant and just drink it all in. The beauty of the garden feels just like a gift to me, something I can enjoy without care. My house is always a mess no matter how hard I try, the laundry always needs to be done and is never finished, and the closets and cupboards never seem to stay organized... but outside, in the garden, it's a different story. This beauty doesn't rely on me. It's not a project that awaits my hands in order for it to be lovely or complete... this beauty just happens, thanks to the good Lord above. Once upon a time I simply stuck a plant in the ground, and now, for years after, it simply IS beautiful, growing and gracing our yard and home even when everything else might be less-than-lovely.







It makes me happy. And thankful.

You know what else makes me happy and thankful?

These three little ladies, clad in their Easter dresses on that Sunday.

Yes, indeed, they make me quite happy and thankful. I love my girls.

Even if they won't let me take just one good picture of the three of them together.

teehee.