Weird Weather

Why do kids despise quiet time so much? I mean, honestly, if somebody gave me a blanket, a cup of water and book and told me to just stay in my room for a half an hour, I’d be grateful.

Anyway, I move on…

As I sit here writing this, I am watching some cows play in their new-found freedom. Obviously, our nearest farmer’s fence is broken. I should call it in, but they look like they are having so much fun…

Monday was rainy and cold, but we were glad for the spring moisture, just not happy that we had to stay indoors all day.

Tuesday was beautiful and sunny. My yard was aerated that morning and I was ready to fertilize. As I was listening to CNN on TV, a weather alert came blaring over the voices and told me to turn to channel 8 for further information. I was immediately disappointed that the 65 degree weather might be marred by an oncoming tornado or something. How wrong was I?! In disbelief, I listened as the computer voice told me that the entire panhandle of Nebraska was under a winter storm warning, and that by Thursday, we were expected to have 6 inches of snow. Not exactly what I wanted to hear on this gorgeous day.

Wednesday, the winds came. They howled and whipped and screamed through the house. Eden refused to even step outside. She has a great fear of the wind, due to an incident where she nearly blew down the back steps when we first moved out here. She’s never been the same since. We couldn’t walk to church for choir because the wind was too strong, so we strapped into the car seats and drove.

Thursday & Friday were just as windy, with wet snow blowing around, not really sticking to the ground, but not really blowing away, either. Thursday was game one of the NHL playoffs. Detroit is up against Tennessee for the first round, and I, for the second time in two springs, was glad we have cable so I could watch my Wings defeat the Predators on home ice in Hockeytown!~

On the day off, we bummed around the house watching cartoons for part of the morning, then played “Eden games” until lunch time. Eden took a nap while Lars was still down, so I took the opportunity to work on a scrap booking page. Didn’t get to finish it, but got the layout all set, which is more than I’ve done in a long time. That evening, we went to Mark and Laura’s for Mexican and Margaritas. The girls played together and I got to sit and relax for the first time all week.

Eden has started coming downstairs in the night to crawl into bed with Mom and Dad. This is a habit that was started by Grandma when she came to visit in February. I’ve been able to curb it for the most part, but this week has been especially brutal on me. Even if I do put her in bed with me, she wants to go back upstairs to her own room with in about 30 minutes, then she comes back down an hour or two later. If she cries on the way upstairs, Lars wakes up. Vice versa, when Lars gets up to eat in the night, she gets up and wanders downstairs. It’s a cycle I’m not sure how to break. Smiles and suggestions are welcome. Laughter, however, is not.

Saturday was game two of the Red Wings vs. the Predators at noon. Al came home for lunch just in time for the puck drop and we all curled up on the couch, while the wind blew little tiny snow pellets all over the earth. Eden spiked a temp, which explained her crabbiness all morning, and she dug her finger in her ear and said, “owie” over and over again. Of course, the clinic had closed just minutes before. Saturday night, she came downstairs about six times until I finally gave in around 0430 and put her to bed with me.

Sunday morning began early, with Lars getting up shortly after 0600. The sun was shining and he was all smiles. He is really beginning to take to solid food. I wasn’t so sure he was ever going to eat real food, but just this past week, he started opening his mouth when he saw the spoon come close. We’ve tried and liked bananas, peaches, yogurt and sweet potatoes. (But not all at the same time.)

When I drove in the driveway after church this morning, I noticed a lake forming at the foot of my sidewalk. I knew right away we had another water main break. By mid- afternoon, the road hand sunk over an inch, the dirt had pushed itself out onto the street and my daughter was playing ‘pine cone boat races’ with her friend, watching the cones race to the sewer drain at the end of the block and disappear.

Since the snow was gone this morning, and the NASCAR race was on last night, I had no excuse not to mow the lawn today. I got the front yard finished when Al came out to tell me that Mark and Laura were on their way over to help move the fence back. This was exciting news, partly because they would bring their girls, and Eden would have an instant play date slash babysitter. The fence was moved back from it’s original location (flush with the front of the house) to the backyard, where it is now flush with the back of our house, about 25 foot in all. Much more practical for our needs, and accentuates our neighbor’s beautiful garden. The chain link was kind of an eye sore and now I can have more garden space of my own. We also moved the swing set from the side of the back yard to the space in front of the alley. It’s farther from the house, but I can see it better from the kitchen. It’s not any easier to mow around, however. I then took the sod from the back alley vegetable garden and put it where the swing set used to be. I wanted my vegetable garden to be bigger, anyway, so that works out perfect. I then mowed the back yard and got the whole thing fertilized. Big project checked off.

The best part of the week was supper tonight. One child was downstairs watching cartoons and the other was sound asleep, so Al lit some candles, uncorked a bottle of wine and fired up the grill. It was quiet, calm and delicious! Eden came up as we were nawing on the pork bones, looking for supper. She ate the last piece of bread and settled on some popcorn after that.

Looking forward to a sunny, warm week. Blessings to you all.