First Piano Lesson

Dear little Constance had her first piano lesson last Tuesday with our beloved piano teacher. It is so delightful to watch her learn new things, and she is ready for this new endeavor. Music is one of her loves. She'll have a handful of lessons over the course of the summer, enough to get her comfortable with the keyboard and practicing daily so that it's familiar come fall.

A Photo Book of our April vacation

From our vacation to Curacao in April, we created our first Photo Book at Shutterfly:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Enjoy!

Note from Shiloh: If you click on the view it larger button, it sends you to Shutterfly. You can view it there w/o signing in. To get the largest and most readable view, once you are in the slideshow, click "full screen" AND "single page", both located at the top right of the screen.

All done

It's been a few weeks, but here are the photos of the garden that is done being planted. The first picture is what I got done the first day or two of June: I staked the tomatoes, planted the beans/beets/carrots, and planted and staked the cucumbers.

On June 4th (a Saturday), we juggled baseball and it seems like 100 other things amidst PERFECT weather, and I got the rest in. I think I put in an hour in the morning, and three hours in the afternoon, and got all the flowers, beets, leeks, carrots, and more planted. It sure felt good.

Then, June 6th (Monday) I planted in the "community plots" the winter squash and pie pumpkins I'd grown from seed (they look good), and a couple days later, I got a nasty sunburn putting in the rest of my flower seeds for all to enjoy (again, in the "community plots" which would otherwise be weed-beds, so we've got corn, pumpkins, and winter squash there to keep the weeds down). Pretty cool.

Everything is now growing well, we've been back to water and weed on occasion, and we're very pleased with it all. So far, so good. And it's time to enjoy it since the hardest part is done!

Gardening 2011

As yall know, I love to garden and we've been busy at it despite all the rain.

I got a call (surprise!) on Mother's Day telling me they were able to get the gardens tilled and staked inbetween storms and we were ready to go. Yay! Here we are the next day - a before and after shot. Before is the "bare plot, 5/9/11" shot. We spent about an hour there and dug a trench around the perimeter.


A few days later (Friday, 5/13), we came back and dug the rest of the "trenches" to make our six rows. Kind of like raised beds.



Then it rained and poured. For a week.

When we came back, our trenches were more like moats.

It's important to note that this is the fifth year I've had a garden here and while I've been told there are wet lots (and we used to have one of them), I've never had this problem before. It's incredible.


It took me two HOURS to get one row covered in plastic (Friday 5/20). ONE ROW. It was like playing with playdough or making bricks out of mud. I also spent some of that two-hour chunk of my life trying to drain the moat (or at least give it an outlet and let it drain itself - slowly). Vivace and I played with rocks and bricks in the mud and I showed him how a dam works - that sort of fun thing.

Sunday 5/22, I took the younger two along and they helped and kept me company while I covered another three rows. We played fun rhyming games, sang silly songs, wore boots so we could play in the mud, they helped dig and plaster mud over the edges of the plastic as much or as little as they desired, and lay what cardboard we could find to keep weeds from growing (as if they wanted to in that slime). We also planted the tomatoes. Yay! Happy tomatoes. That took us three hours. It was harder-than-usual work.


The next morning (Monday, 5/23), it hadn't rained yet, despite a forecast calling for it, so Vivace and I went back again and finished the last two rows of plastic in just an hour and a half. Amazing how much easier it is when the mud starts to firm up! We are now ready to plant the rest of the garden - when we can find time and the rains hold off. So far this week, they've held off despite the forecast, but we haven't had time to get back there.

We have some gardens here at home too. The little kids and I planted our small home veggie garden and my flowers on 5/11 in the early evening (didn't take long). We have sugar snap peas, beans, spinach, and mesclun planted. It's not the sunniest of locations but it usually gives us a few things right out back which we like, and is fun to watch on a more frequent basis. As of today, one row of snow peas is several inches high, and the other hasn't even germinated, so we think they won't grow - oh well. The beans are just starting to come up. (Not enough sun to promote quick growth).

In the flower boxes, I use "Repells-All" that worked for keeping squirrels away last year and I actually used more of it this year, in a way I presumed would be more effective.... but something nocturnal and I seem to be in a war for WHO will WIN. This picture (click on it to see a larger version) was taken a couple days ago and it shows that whatever it is (not a squirrel I'm sure - maybe a skunk?) had dug out ALL SIX boxes. I've had to completely replant these plants about 5 times now - and it really is different behavior from the squirrels. The past two nights have been better - not sure why (nothing has change to my knowledge) but I have to check them every single day to be sure they're still in their pots!

Graduation from Pre-School

Today was the last day of pre-school for our youngest, our little Vivace. It has been a wonderful year for him. His pre-school has been perfect for him and for us, and with a wonderful teacher, and a small group, we couldn't have been more pleased.

This evening, we were treated to a graduation ceremony complete with songs, hats, gifts, and refreshments. It was very fun. He is really our most out-going, exhuberant, vivacious child (hence the name). If you can't tell from the pictures, he really gets into his singing, and belted out the words to each song with all his heart and soul.
We are proud of him, and we also recognize this is a big step for us as a family; it's the end of an era. In just a few short months, all the kids will be "school-aged." So tonight, we said "good-bye" to pre-school, not just for Vivace, but for us as a family. Bittersweet, indeed. But what smiles this child brings to all who know and interact with him.

Thank you Vivace for a very special evening. We are so thankful for this very special year at this beloved pre-school!

Baseball

If we haven't written in a while, it's because it stopped raining and we've been playing baseball every possible free moment. The kids are loving it and when I'm not home catching up with laundry etc, you'll find me at the ballfield cheering them on.

Some years ago, I "swore" I'd never join the crazy baseball frey, and certainly not with more than my boys. Naturally, I'm now eating my words and my hat (and getting a sunburn, bugbites, and wet depending on the day and the weather). Dante, Constance, and Patience are all playing, and Vivace can't wait until he is old enough next year. I've learned how to rake and line fields, I'm team parent for both teams (that means I get other folks to sign up for stuff and if no one does, I either beg or do it myself), and I actually have learned a lot about the game these past several years. Of course, there's still a lot I don't know, but more important than anything else, I'm seeing growth in character, both mine and that of my kids, through this sport and these crazy weeks.

That is why we keep signing up.

When it doesn't rain (and pour), we can be found at one of the village parks every day but Sunday. Last week, on the only "off" day, Patience and Andante had fun with their Dad practicing - yes, voluntarily and eagerly - at the park. They wanted to improve their pitching, batting, and catching. Both have pitched twice now, Dante has done a LOT of catching (he loves that), and both are really improving in their batting. Patience even said Dante is one of the best hitters on the team. We'll see (and yes, they're on the same team this year - yay!). Constance meanwhile can be found telling the other kids on her team (Coach Pitch) to pay attention, and she herself can be found making pictures in the dirt moments later when distracted. It's fun. She even sometimes hits the ball, but that's not her strength.

In any case, it's fun, and we'll be busy most nights every week from now 'til mid June at least, and then there will be the playoffs. Nevermind the rain or the need to get the garden in (and yes, I have begun that, but it'll be several days before I have chance again thanks to the current deluge...) I doubt you'll hear often from us 'til baseball season and school are over and the garden is in. Naturally, I'll try to write when it rains and I have a breather (if there is such a thing), but when the weather is nice, you'll find me outside cheering on the kids!

And there's more!

Ezekiel 18:23
"Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?"

....and lest that not be adequate in and of itself, try repeating it a short time later....

Ezekiel 33:11
"As I live!" declares the Lord GOD, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?"

And then a facebook "note" link entitled Tragedy of Tragedies. Read it - he says what I was trying to say so well, and so much better than I ever could.