April 12

Although I do not love pollen, I do love signs that point to Spring's arrival.

It was mainly the cherry blossoms on the Mall growing up, but it's also the extra-chirpy birds that sit outside my window during the (fortunately not usually too early) morning hours. 

And it's also the rose bushes in our yard. We have white ones out front that flank the garage and red ones out back, and every year, I'm struck by how beautiful and vibrant and full and fragrant they become when the temperature rises.

So for that gift --for the gift of natural loveliness that is so often inherent in the change of seasons-- I am grateful.

April 11

Although there were moments when rays of sunshine broke through the clouds today, it was a mostly overcast, rainy Saturday. 

That made it a good day to sit and watch baseball on the tube. As raindrops pattered against the surface of the pool outside the window, we took in a doubleheader: a win for the A's in the early afternoon and a win for the O's in the early evening.

We haven't had much rain in recent months (which isn't a great thing since the winter is supposed to the rainy season here), so the weather today was a blessing. And I am grateful for the renewal that the moisture will bring to the earth in the days and weeks to come.

April 10

It feels like we're on a train that's moving at breakneck speed toward graduation season. But I'm trying to gradually complete tasks in order to keep myself feeling marginally sane. So given that Abby graduates in one month (a month! Four years goes by in half a blink) I called her restaurant of choice in Wheaton this morning to make grad night dinner reservations. Check!

And then after I loaded Brady up with cleaning supplies (because he told me he wanted to work on his bathroom sink again), I headed out to have breakfast at Jim's with Nikki and Pam.

I had a great time sitting in a little booth with them (even if Nikki did sneak her way into paying the bill... you've declared war, bestie!). We ate and talked about what's been going on in our respective lives. 

Although the food is top notch (and I recommend the Doug omelet, if you like bacon!), the biggest blessing of the experience was time with two wonderful, intelligent ladies. So for that, I am thankful, because good friends are often hard to find.

April 9

I decided, for some reason, that today would be a good day to clean (most of) the baseboards on the first floor. We have a lot of baseboards. So now I am tired and my arms hurt.

But at least the boys enjoyed another day of their Spring Break week. Isaac made a truly enormous breakfast consisting of protein pancakes, eggs, and bacon (the leftovers of which are on the plate next to Brady) and then a little later, they settled into the living room to play some Mario.

I was in a post-cleaning stupor by this time, but I could still hear them laughing from my resting spot in the bedroom. And it made me grateful to God --once again-- that they have one another and that their relationship is strong. 

April 8

The boys put their raft to the test today by plunking it down in the pool.

And it floated!

Brady, as the lighter of the two, was first to try it out (and the one who spent the most time lounging on it as the day wore on). And after he had confirmed its functionality (which means it didn't sink under his weight), Isaac took a turn.

I'm proud of them for finding something (albeit a little weird but still) productive to do during their break from school. 

And I'm thankful to God for their creativity as well as their shared ability to get along and work together toward a common goal.

April 7

Since there's rain in the forecast later this week, I encouraged the brositos to go outside and play catch this afternoon.

So they grabbed Brady's new ball and headed out back.

Then they came back inside a little later and announced, with great determination, that they were going to build a boat. In the yard by the pool.   

I didn't think much of it at the time because... a boat? In the yard? 

But after Isaac went to the gym, they drove over to Lowe's together and returned with wood --a lot of wood-- and several blue buckets. And screws. 

And then they literally built a raft. They picked it up and lowered it into the hot tub to confirm that it would float. It did, but they still want to add more buckets to add to the buoyancy. So that's tomorrow's project.

But I'm impressed with their ingenuity. And I'm grateful that God blessed them with creativity and a desire to get things done. (And yeah, I'm also grateful that they didn't spend the whole day playing video games. And I think it's a little funny that they built a boat when there's rain a'comin'.)

April 6

I ordered new seedlings for the hydroponic garden this afternoon, so it seemed logical that I start the process of clearing out the existing, mostly overgrown and underproductive plants. 

Isaac had already picked and chopped up some green onion for his nachos, and was actively bagging up the leftovers for later use when I got to work. As I started to wrangle with a particularly stubborn arugula vine, he asked if he could taste a leaf. So I handed him one, and he nibbled an edge. I'm not much on arugula in general --and the one in my garden is very, very spicy-- but he said he liked it, so I plucked leaves and flowers (because did you know the flowers are actually pretty tasty? The flavor is similar but much milder than the leaves) for him to bag up.

He also said he wanted to save some cilantro, so I trimmed several sections for him and put them on the counter. And then Brady appeared and asked if he could bag up parsley. And when he'd finished with that task, he sat down by the garden and pruned an entire large bowl's worth of lettuce. 

So thanks to their efforts, the fridge is now stocked with lots of greens. 

It's the first weekday of Spring Break and it's true that neither of them has any plans, but I was still pleased that they wanted to help with such a practical, arguably mundane task. They're good boys, and I'm thankful to be their mom.