Singing and Dancing in the Rain

Emmy had a checkup two weeks ago and I wasn't thinking and scheduled it too close to when I need to pick up Cecily from school.  So mom picked up Cecily and we all met up with Shelly and Gideon at a park for lunch and to celebrate Emmy's birthday.  

 There were some familiar faces on the playground- Tammy and girls were there, and Kay had some of her grandkids.  

 These swings are weird, but they loved it.

 We came home, put Cadence to bed, and dug into the enormous pile of mulch I ordered.  

 They were so helpful with their tiny shovels and a little sand scoop....  they only lasted until Emmy tipped the wheel barrow onto herself.  She freaked out that she was dirty so I sent them both inside to rot their brains with cartoons.  

 I mulched until Bob got home and we ate a quick supper- I was trying to clean it up quickly so we could get back to the mulch pile and someone found the markers her big sister forgot to put away.  It didn't look too bad, just on her hands and a little on her arms, until she proudly lifted her shirt to show us her decorated tummy.  Aiyiyiyi.  

 They found the packing peanuts before I had a chance to dispose of them.  Snow!

 Emmy got a new flower sprinkler for her birthday so we had to try it out.  

 The garden finally got tilled and I was in a rush to get it planted before the rain came.  They wanted to help sooooo bad but they were not being helpful at all or following directions so I banished them to the house with Daddy and I planted until it got too dark to see.  I am glad that somebody enjoys walking freshly tilled earth as much as I do.

 Behind the scenes at Emmy's 4-year pictures.  The littlest one wanted in on the action and threw a royal fit when I wouldn't let her.  It was not the best picture taking session ever.

 We dropped my sewing machine off to get serviced while we were in town.  It's gone until at least the end of June... sad day.  (I stole borrowed my mother's for the duration.)

I signed up to bake pies for teacher appreciation day a while ago.  Of course, I thought I had everything I needed until I started baking at 7 pm and realized I didn't have enough apples for the apple pie I promised,  nor enough strawberries for a plain strawberry pie.  And it was already late so I didn't want to go out shopping.  So I pulled some I-don't-know-how-long-it's-been-in-there rhubarb from my freezer and made a strawberry-rhubarb pie, and frantically searched the pages of the "Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook" and found an Apple-Blackberry pie recipe and subbed frozen mixed berries.  Then they both boiled over in the oven and house smelled like burnt pie filling and it was after 9 pm and I was tired and sorely disappointed.  Things always look better in the morning (after all, tomorrow is another day!); and other than slightly crispy edges they looked edible, so I took them to school and figured that nobody had to eat them, there were plenty of other pies. I actually got a complement on the Apple-Berry later (FJCPC for the win again!).  Remind me to plan ahead better next time.     

"Buuuuh!!"  

 We made the teeniest tiniest frosted cupcakes in the Easybake oven.  

 We don't really do fashion here if you hadn't noticed. Cadence is wearing her flower shirt, a flippy little skirt, the boots she insisted on wearing ("boo! boo"), and her ever present leopard print blankie.  Emmy is wearing a sweet little dress I made from the vintage fabric my neighbor gave me and a ladybug bow that doesn't match.  Somehow we always manage to look just a little strubbelig. 

 "Swinging in the rain, just swinging in the rain...."

 It was barely sprinkling off and on but it looks like we may need to get another umbrella so we don't have to fight share...

 It was a lunch at the park kind of a day.

 Emmy: "Can I tell those people what to do?"  Me:  um... No, no you can't.  

 Friday evening Bob's mom came to our house and watched our girls and Grace and Eden while the adults went to potluck.  We were on our way to Jon and Nichole's when we saw a familiar vehicle at the side of the road... Dale and Meg were having car trouble so we picked them up and went on our way to potluck.  Nothing like being in the right place at the right time.  :)  We had fish tacos and other tropical style food for supper, which was really good.  We got home a little later than we should have, probably, because a couple of girls went into complete meltdown after Grandma left because it was waay past their bedtime.   
Saturday was a quiet day at home and then we went to Tate's graduation party.  The girls played with Jack in the playhouse and with all the fun farm toys for a while.  Sunday was Kyle's graduation party.  I can't quite believe that they are out of high school.  Tate and Kyle were the little boys for so long.  I mean, this really wasn't that long ago, right?? https://jrwyss.blogspot.com/2009/01/snow-days.html  Now I'm down to only one "little" cousin yet to graduate... I'm really going to feel old when it's Cliff's turn.  
It rained today and so instead of working on all of the rainy day projects that actually need to get done, I finished this t-shirt throw that I started several years ago.  These are my High School t-shirts so it's mostly Band, Musicals, WYSE, Scholastic bowl.  

 I love the shade, but I hate how messy the silver maples are.  There was a waterfall over this corner while it was raining- and it's right above the bulkhead doors to the basement.  So there was some water along the foundation by the door downstairs.  I investigated this evening and found this lovely tree junk dam.

Cadence took the opportunity to drink from the bird feeder bath. 

 I know I'm not supposed to and I know you can't do anything about it from up there.

 Someone is still obsessed with getting a cat... 

Just gotta find the right house... or a couple of acres....which is not materializing, poor girl.  
Blessings.

May flowers

They seem a little delayed this year. And we really didn't get many blooms from bulbs.  But it's lilac season and the peonies have buds and it's warm and wonderful outside.

She gets hangry.... and goes looking for food.  This time she found a jalapeno pork stick.  It didn't seem to bother her, so....  

 There's a mole in our yard. Cecily was pretty sure that if we dug a deep enough hole in the garden, we could find the mole and kill it. 

 This is what happens when they all see the fabric you bought for yourself and think that they need it too....  part of me thinks it's fun to match with them and part of me thinks that people are going to think I am psycho.... So you may never see us all wearing them at the same time.  Ha. 

 Silly girls.  We went to Chik-fil-A after Emmy's last story hour.  I'm not sure who loves the play place more- Cadence is definitely the hardest to get out of there. 

 Our next stop was to pick out new trees.  The girls were so wild. Well, relatively.   Lots of running up and down rows of trees and playing hide and seek. 

 Cadence wiggled out of the stroller and found a muddy puddle to play in... *sigh* They were probably glad to see us go.

 The 26th was our 9th anniversary!  Crazy.  Look at us so young and carefree next to the Alma Mater...

 Bob had asked me for a list of my 10 favorite flowers a couple of months ago.  And then managed to get 7/10 in an arrangement for our anniversary.  So sweet and so pretty!  Cadence, of course, tried to eat them...

 So funny story (At least to me.): we were out driving around and the girls wanted to see where we lived before we lived in our house.  We drove past the duplex and they were unimpressed.  Then we turned the corner to go home and drove past a lovely, classic transitional four-square that I've always admired.  Original windows, original details, pretty front porch, lovely neutral color that suits the time of construction and fits well in its setting.... EXCEPT!  They've resided it.  With half vertical running and half horizontal siding. In WHITE. And put in awful new windows. Black windows! With Black muntins!  I about died.    "WHAT have they DONE to that house!??!  It's RUINED!!"  "That is a FOUR SQUARE not a FAKE FARMHOUSE!" Ad nauseum... the girls were very concerned and Bob was bemused.  I was trying not to hyperventilate.   Anyway, the girls tend to process out loud, so they continued to talk about the "ruined" house after we got home and I had calmed down a little bit and I was having to run damage control... 
Cecily: Who would do that to that house?   Emmy pipes up: Maybe it was Satan's helpers!  Oh. My. Word.  I about died laughing.  Then we had a talk about how the house isn't really ruined, I just don't like what they did to it, and we live in America and it's a free country and people can do whatever they want to with their own property. 
My family got an earful over text later that night complete with google street view shots from when it was still pretty and surreptitious cell phone pictures of the current.... I will not post them to protect the innocent.  Haha.  It's really not that bad and I would hate for whomever owns it to hear that I don't approve... since, you know, it's just my opinion and it is a free country and I'm definitely not in charge.  :P   
But.... since this is my blog and therefore you get large doses of my opinions.... and, I own a copy of "A Field Guide to American Houses" and I'm not afraid to use it...  The house just looks a little bit off now. Four squares are related to the prairie style movement and share a lot of similarities with Frank Lloyd Wright's styles and ideas.  They are fairly ornament free and emphasize horizontal lines and blending in with their setting.  You can do two siding styles/ colors on the upper story and main floor, but they should both still emphasize the horizontal.  Putting the upper story siding vertical is really jarring because it is not congruous with the four square style.  My guess is that they've watched too much "Fixer Upper" and think all older houses can be turned into Joanna Gaines' fake farmhouses.   Also, the porch has original Ionic style columns.... I don't think that meshes well with the "farmhouse" vibe.  You could maybe get away with it if they were piers... but Ionic columns on a house you're trying to masquerade as a simple country dwelling is just kinda out of place.  
(I'll give my great-grandparents a pass since they put Doric columns on a 30's colonial revival that is essentially a four square inside.... sitting on an active farm so it is actually a farm house. Colonial revival was just getting started and it was pretty much anything goes.)  
I actually like the "Fixer Upper" aesthetic, buuuutt... you can't force shiplap and "farmhouse" on every house.  And, what even is a "farmhouse"?  (Sorry Mom, I am going to continue using excessive quotations just to drive you crazy.)  Since I grew up on a farm in a Colonial Revival, across the road from a cross gabled Victorian, passed several brick four squares and 70's ranches on the way to school, I'm not really sure that's a thing.  A farm house is a house located on a farm, built in whatever style was popular when it was constructed, not a style.  Don't even get me started on "farmhouse sinks."  (They were designed in Belfast, Ireland and were popular in Europe.)    I read an article recently that posited that the current obsession with "farmhouse" is just a recycling of 80's and 90's "country" style- dusty rose and geese and ruffles on everything and all that, which made me smile.
All that to say, if you must try and make your house look "farmhouse"-y, first start with a house that's at least cross gabled.  Or more Victorian/Gothic style.  They can take the abuse a bit better than the poor four square.  Or just never invite me over.  Not that anyone will after reading that. 
I can honestly say that I never thought I would have to explain to my children that the devil is probably not in the business of exterior renovations.  

Now that I've got that off my chest, our trees were delivered Monday and the girls were sooooo excited to help plant them for about 3 seconds.  Cecily even brought her shovel out and dug up a chunk of grass.

Dirt!  Still doesn't taste good...

They were super excited to water the trees... because the hose is the best toy ever.

I sent the older two next door to play with Miss Crystal's charges and Cadence took a long nap and I planted both trees all by my self.  I regretted it the next morning too; I ached all over.  Ha.  I'm getting old.  
It's always a good day when there's a funny Chemistry joke on the comics page.  

They have the best imaginations sometimes.  Cadence is inside the tunnel roaring at the other two.

And so proud of herself.

They love to swing and Emmy can finally pump enough to keep herself swinging!  There was great rejoicing!

We drove through a torrential rainstorm on our way to our last Chemistry class of the year.  Matthew got a picture of the rainbow on the other side.  It was really pretty!

I think we've single-handedly been keeping Pinky's open.  I usually share with Cadence, but this time she shared with me- "MY!!"  (She wanted the cup it came in, not a bowl.) 

Little Emmy turned 4 on Saturday!  "For my first cake, I want an Elsa cake, for my second cake, I want an Anna cake, for my third cake I want a tower cake..."  Um... I'm only making one cake kiddo.  We settled on a castle/tower cake with Princess Emmy on top.  It turned out pretty cute, even with the rice crispy tower falling off once and the tiers shifting and sagging to one side.  Haha.  Piping hides a multitude of sins.

I had a big section of sagging, bumpy fondant to hide so I piped a big tree that the girls said was for the princess to climb up to the tower.

She was so excited.  

"Will I have 4 candles?"

She wanted to eat the princess, and the tower, and some flowers... 

Then we opened presents!

She was very happy.

Trying out her new bike basket.  

Learning how to drink from the hose (all important life skill).

The crabapple blossoms bloomed one day and started dropping petals the next.  It's been a weird spring, but we brought a few in with some lilacs.  I love spring flowers!

We spent Saturday evening at the Beutel Spring Fling and saw a double rainbow, then Sunday was church and in the evening the girls and I went to Hermann's talk at the FH.  
Life has been full, but not to crazy, which I love.
Blessings.