Currently...

 

Wow.  This has been a spring to remember.  Just wow.

Covid seems to have disappeared sometime back in March and its hasty departure left a tangle of chaos and disarray in its place.  A giant mess for us to clean up  Or at least attempt to.

Then the ridiculous weather prevented baseball and softball seasons from carrying on as usual.  So much for my favorite spring tradition!  Poor Jon has been robbed of playing 4 years of high school baseball;  9th grade was a success, 10th grade was canceled due to Covid, 11th grade was abbreviated due to Covid, and 12th grade was one giant rainout!

And now I'm winding down in the last few weeks of the school year, preparing for Jon to graduate.  He will actually be the first of my kids who will graduate from high school.  The older two were fortunate enough to graduate from the school of Mom (aka homeschool) but didn't have the experience of formal graduation.  There are a lot of peripheral details that go into the planning and carrying out of this event! Not to mention the emotions that seem to effervesce through my heart at the thought of having now raised 3 children into adulthood.  Geez.  Did I do that??

Which brings me to the inconceivable fact that Sarah just turned 13.  What the altogether heck?!  I don't even know what to say about that.

We did have a lovely birthday celebration for Sarah though.  All of my kids were with us for dinner which made my heart happy.  Sarah wanted to have dinner at Sierra and as we all gathered and shared a meal, I looked around at our huge table filled with family and just felt so grateful and content.  On the drive home, those feelings leaked out of my eyes.  

Oh, and I forgot to tell about our recent weekend in Astoria!  Jake and I met his brother and sister-in-law (Julie #1) in Astoria for a little vacation.  This was a Christmas gift from Jake's parents for all of us and we had so much fun.  We shopped, ate, walked, hung out in a sketchy tavern, took multiple baths, watched TV. and just relaxed.  We laughed too.  A lot.  We both love being at home so leaving for an entire weekend is a big goings-on for us!  So.  Much.  Fun.

Jake got my garden tilled up recently and now I'm getting ready to plant!  It's a big garden this year-bigger even than last year!  In fact, I think it's the biggest garden I've ever had.  He likes to tell people that he made it big enough to keep me busy and out of trouble.  We've also been finishing up the new chicken coop and when I say "we" I mostly mean him.  It's big and red as a barn and will have my favorite barn quilt (a birthday present!) on the side when it's all finished.  I'll definitely have to post some yard and garden pictures soon.  I just love it here so much.

We have a baby cow now too!  His name is Shakey and we will bottle feed him until the end of summer.  And in the next few years, he will reside in the freezer in our basement.  But we don't talk about that.  *side note*  when we were looking for houses to buy, Jake really wanted to find a house with enough property so that I could keep my little herd of cows.  Fast forward to now and our bovine situation is so much better than I could have asked for!  I get to see them born and feed them sometimes and sit on the back porch and watch their antics every day.  He delivered exactly what I hoped for.  💕  

Would it be nauseating to talk about how contented I am?  And how happy I feel?  And how much at peace I am (most of the time)?  I wonder if people get tired of hearing this?  Like I said earlier, sometimes the emotions just effervesce and I'm awestruck with how my life is unfolding.  My people and I are safe and loved and cared for and respected and understood (most of the time).  My silly little heart overflows.