Warm Days

Just realized that I forgot to post the "Easter" posting.  So these will run back to back.

It is amazing what a few weeks does to the landscape in Nebraska.  The hills are green, the trees are budding, the tulips are beautiful, the fruit trees are blossoming, and the days are WARM!  Jerome and I had a day at the lake beach.  We tried again yesterday but the wind was totally insane.  So we came home and played "beach" in the backyard.  I called it our "non beach day"!  The picture below is him actually holding my chair trying to keep it from blowing away.  Even the beach in the backyard was windy!  As in hurricane windy!!!!

I got to witness an amazing sight at the lake these past two weeks.  The pelicans are here!  I've discovered bird watching.  I never realized the different birds that would stop in Nebraska on their way north or south, depending on the season.  The pelicans are huge and amazing to watch fly.  It was strange to see because we did not know that you would ever see them here.  Apparently they breed in South Dakota somewhere and stop here for a few weeks. 

The children are getting anxious for school to end and summer to begin.  I can not say I share their enthusiasm but I am planning a very busy summer so that it will go by quickly.  :-)  I need to stay busy with Joseph as boredom can bring on unpleasant behavior.  So we will spend a big chunk of our summer at the pool, at the lake, the zoo and library and anything else we can find to do.

School Days

Terra is blooming like you would not believe.  It gets me excited for the summer but scares me too.  This early in April seems a little too soon for these temps.  I fear a heavy frost and losing all the fruit on the trees.  But it is exciting regardless.

Jeffrey and Jerome skipping rocks at the lake.

Jeffrey preparing for the hills of Ireland!

Easter

What a wonderful Easter!  The weather was so nice.  It was the first spring like pretty Easter we have had since moving here to Nebraska.  We had a difficult Triduum as it was the first one we have not attended as a family.  We have discovered that things are just too difficult with Joseph so we opted to only attend Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  The older kids did the whole Triduum.  Jeffrey served MC for Good Friday and Easter Vigil. 

We had a quiet family dinner (as quiet as it can be here at our house) on Sunday afternoon.  It's been so nice to visit with the older children and some of their friends. 

Justin and Lynlee got off to PA.  Their trip was uneventful, Deo gratias.  He started his new job Monday, the 5th.

Jeffrey will be here until Saturday and we are enjoying every moment we get with him.  He is not giving us very much between the text messaging of friends and hanging out with a few others.  I get to spend quality time with him at the Y as we sweat riding the exercise bikes.  Nice!  What more can a mom ask for???  :-)

Skipping rocks at the lake.

We had another visitor during Easter.  It was very nice to see him again and share some great conversation.  Looking forward to doing it again during ordination weekend, God willing.

See Joseph's blog for updated news on him.  The other children are just trying to get the candy out of their system and get back to "normal"....whatever that is.  Would someone remind me next year to put bubbles, fruit and nuts, and maybe some granola bars in their Easter basket?????  PLEASE!

Dave continues to slave for us.  I will not be able to call him Big Dave much longer.  He is melting before my eyes.  Way to go, Dave!!!!!  I'm so proud of you!

So here we are in April.  And true to it's title we have had shower after shower after shower.  Everything is turning so green.  It happens literally overnight.  It never ceases to amaze me.  We are talking about doing a small garden this year.  A SMALL one.  The summers here are just to unpredictable.  I would honestly rather spend my money and time going to the Haymarket on Saturday mornings and shopping at the farmer's market.  Seems much less of a hassle to me. 

The calf is getting bigger.  The chickens are laying again.  The ducks are as cute as ever....and giving us lots of eggs.  I am not sure I'm even doing the layers this year.  The feed has gone up so much that I feel too bad charging people enough money for me to cover my expenses and profit anything.  I think I would have to charge $10 a bird which, organically speaking, is not alot but I don't know if people are serious enough about it for me to spend my summer dealing with it.  Besides, with all the therapies we will have in dealing with Joseph I really don't have the time to deal with much more.

Pictures coming soon.  Spring is awesome at Terra!  Can't wait for the next wave of company at the end of April.  It should be beautiful by then!!!  God bless and happy blessed Easter!