Perfect Pairings Acts 14:17

Acts 14:17

Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

 

 

Spring is here!  Well, according to the calendar, and we did have a nice little spring thunderstorm this morning at 5 AM, and look at this little bud.  There is hope!! Finally!

 

Baloney has some more Sunday Perfect Pairings over in her neck of the woods.  Feel free to add your own!

Just a Swingin'

It has been wonderful weather to be a girl on a swing.  We are up to our eyeballs in Spring. The Captain has the lawn looking pretty spiffy.  I found a cute little table at the thrift store that we can use to eat out on our deck.  Sweet Marissa continues to do her own sort of swinging.  Now I am fearing for my neighbors windows.  She hit one across the street into their bushes the other day.  Will our homeowners insurance cover that?  I thoroughly love Spring.  And what better way to spend some Spring than on a swing?  Princess Maren's got the right idea.

Way to cut off her head, Mom. But I like her expression.

I've heard of bed head, but would this be called "swing head"?

It's hard to take a picture of a girl on swing.

She almost kicked me in the head on this one.  She thought that was pretty funny.

It might be hard, but I think it is well worth any effort it might take.  Happy Spring!

Tiptoeing Through Tulips

Just lookie what we have here!  Our tulips came up!  Princess Maren has been keeping a close eye on things since oh, early March. (or whenever it was that our two feet of snow melted) She was worried.  It had been a mighty long time since we planted those tulips. It was an awfully long winter.

Then one day we saw this:

Great day in the morning!  They were all peeking their little heads out of  the dirt, just looking for their place in the sun.  Maren and I did the dance right then and there.  She did the "tulips are coming up dance" and I did the "I'm not a complete gardenening failure dance". 

We checked on them daily (sometimes more than daily) and a few weeks later we had this.

They look pretty happy in that good old Iowa black dirt, don't they?  We did another small dance. And now we have this:

Pretty maids all in a row.

Speaking of pretty maids, here's  my little color coordinator now.

So, all should be well in good in our little tulip growing world.  But it isn't.  See here in NW Iowa, we have this small event known as the Tulip Festival  the third week of May. Not only are our tulips beautifully blooming, so are every one else's in town. Locally, tulip growing and the timing of their full bloom is a serious business.  Much thought, preparation, and planning go into the activity.  Last year we were dead-on.  This year not so much.  I think we are well on our way to having a "Stem Festival".  

Oh well! There's always next year! We're just going to enjoy them while we can! 

Thwack!

Sweet Marissa has baseball (softball) fever.  This is sort of a new development.  She has played softball before.  Last year she wanted nothing to do with it and tried her hand at tennis instead.  Now we are full on softball mode.  I think it must be the weather we are having.  It begs for a ball to be thwacked.  And loudly. 

She is strong and if she makes that sweet spot connection, I start to fear for my windows.  Is that covered by our homeowners insurance? Oh well.  I think it is great that she has this current obsession.  It is fun watching her.  Wanna see?

Looks pretty happy right?  We were at mom and dad's when this shot was taken.  Note we have combined the sports of tennis and baseball.  Bennis anyone?

She takes her hitting quite seriously. 

Keep your eye on the ball, Honey!

That a girl!  I personally think she has some unresolved anger issues. But what exactly does a nine year old have to be angry about?

Take THAT! Why does mom always make me clean the basement?

and THAT...  Why does my dog smell like such a...such a.... dog?

and THAT!  Why did I inherit my mom's pasty white leg gene!

Whatever it is, Maren ain't sticking around.  She might be next on the list.

I might have to get out there and hit me some balls myself.  Vent a little.  Take out some frustration.  But my legs are too pasty.  I don't want to scare anyone and  I am vastly entertained by all the above.

And it's outta here!  And so am I... gonna go find me a bat.

Spring Break (sorta?)

We had just a teeny tiny Spring Break this year, so looking at our teeny tiny bank account and our teeny tiny amount of free time in our schedule we decided to make a teeny tiny trip up to the teeny tiny Iowa Great Lakes. 

My brother and his wife have a trailer at the lakes which are about a good hour's drive north and mostly east of here.  Understand that the term "lake" is used loosely here.  I am not even sure how the term "great" even applies if you are talking size. They are more like small water features in the grander scope of things. Now, if you are talking fun, well, that I can understand.  Anyhow, Don and Michelle let us use the trailer for the weekend - bless their soon to be new parents again hearts - and great fun did ensue.  Oh, and sorry we drank all your frozen margaritas and rum.

There were trails to navigate,

waters (might I add mighty cold waters) to wade,

leeches to kill,

and castles to build.

It really doesn't take much to entertain us.  We played a little softball and tried to catch some fish too, but not too much luck with the latter. It was so nice to get away for a bit.  No piles of laundry, no gutters to clean or windows to wash.  And we got to hang out together as a family.  This can be a rare occurence at our place so it always seems to be more special when it actually happens.

Speaking of entertainment, the Captain is entertained by trying to take pictures of me while I am not looking.  I hate having my picture taken and he knows this, but he does it anyway.  We'll name this one Honey, I Forgot my Sunglasses but not my Dt. Dr. Pepper.

We'll call this one Honey, I Still Forgot My Sunglasses and Now Would You Put Down that Camera.

Oh well, guess I have exploited him on this blog with some less than desirable shots of him in the past. 

Whoa! Would you check out that luminous glow on my girls' legs?  They put the pasty in white, let me tell you.  That's what a long cold Iowa winter can do.  Dreadful.

But Spring is coming.  Give this shot a good month or two and it will be nothing but lush and green and full of enough ticks to suck you dry.  Just saying.

There will be a boat in every slip and the dock will be too hot to walk on barefoot - nevermind the splinters.  Can't wait! I am good and ready for some summer.  How 'bout you?

Spring Randomness

It's starting to feel a little bit like Spring around here.  Finally.  I LOVE it!  Have had lots to do and lots to see over the past week or so. 

By Jove, she's got it! After a little run-in with the church parking lot last summer, Princess Maren has been avidly avoiding the whole "no training wheels" thing, stating she would wait until she was six.  I figured what's the use, this child has a will bigger than the ocean, so we might as well not push her.  Daddy came home last Saturday and sweet talked her into it.  So here she is...

Coming....

and going....

...and the crowd goes wild.  Ahhhhhh!

Of course we had Easter this past weekend.  An early Easter in Iowa is not always a good thing, but it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We had some prep work to do though.  The Captain was home for the dyeing of the eggs.  Always a smashingly good time.

That's right, she's Daddy's girl in the sweetest way.

Christ IS risen.  He is risen INDEED. How amazing and how grateful I am for that cross.

Makes me feel like doing this. 

Love you Sweetie! And Happy Easter to you too!

Oh and by the way, my Dad is doing just great! Amazingly great! Here he is holding Lizzie.

Did you figure out what her shirt says?  That's right! I am going to be an auntie again! I am about as blessed as a girl can stand!  Hope you had a wonderful Easter with you and yours!

Seven Signs of Spring in NW Iowa

1. Costumes. It's all about the costumes, baby. Spring means the girl's annual dance recital and the Tulip Festival. Dance and Dutch costumes required.

2. Farm equipment traffic jams. The farmers are getting the land ready to plant. Corn and beans and oats. Oh my. The John Deeres are in abundant supply. They are also doing some Spring Cleaning. I had the distinct privilege of following a "Honey Wagon" while on my way to Walmart the other day. This is not the honey bee made honey variety. Think liquid excrement of the horrendously stinky variety. Here's a picture. That will make the horror last longer. Thankfully they are not "spreading" as they go down the road - but they do drip a little.

3. Garage sales. This marks the weekend of the city wide garage sale held every Spring and Fall. We nearly double our population and there are Dutch people running amok all with the intent of getting a really good deal on someone else's junk.

4. Reflective white skin. We have had some nice weather here. Enough to get out the shorts. It is a sad thing to see exactly how pasty everyone has gotten over the long winter. There is a low glow emanating from the elementary school with the kids showing their pasty white legs. They could seriously give Edward Cullen a run for his money. Refer to my ghostly girls in their dance costumes. They look a little anemic, huh? But adorably cute anemic. There's a difference.

5. Street Sweeping. Yep, we get out the old street sweeper out here in these parts. Blame it once again on the weird Dutch gene. They seem to add to the aforementioned traffic jams in number 2. Remember the term traffic jam is used loosely in NW Iowa.

6. Parental Birthday season. My Dad's b-day is tomorrow. My mom's is May 2. Then there is Mother's Day. The Captain's dad's b-day is on May 19. Father's Day. Then July is Birthday month in our household. Both M's have birthday's in July. I must have only been fertile in late October.

7. End of the school year just around the corner. I have been out of school for 20 years now, yet I forget that I actually don't get the summers off. I get this expectant hope of a break and then I remember I am an adult and I still need to work through June, July and August. Let's get Obama on the line and see what he can do about that. That's a change that would do us all some good.

Happy Spring!! I LOVE IT!

Breng ons een bezoek! (Pay us a visit!)

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring! Princess Maren triumphantly told me so as I was picking her up from pretty school.

So that means we are a little closer to this.

Where you can hear a little bit of this.

And there will be tulips (hopefully) and green grass, and leaves on trees and lovely warm breezes. Oh My!

Or if you think all that Dutch stuff is way overrated, just stop by anyway and we can sit on the deck and have a beer or a glass of wine and we'll write sonnets to Spring. Either way, fine with me.

THUNDER SNOW

This morning we woke up to the weird weather phenomenon of what these NW Iowa weatherpeople like to dub THUNDER SNOW. The radio, the TV, even the Captain (those flying types really get into the weird weather phenomenon) they were all loving the THUNDER SNOW. A bit dramatic don't you think? But, I guess there is no other way to describe it. Partly thundery/partly snowy? Snowy with scattered lightning? Looked it up on Wiki and it is the real deal. They even have a little diagram about it.



The weather here in Iowa often makes an awkward transition to spring, and that is just how it felt this morning. Seven AM or so and we heard our first peal of thunder. Hmm, was that really what I think it was? Flash of lightning later, followed by another boomer - yep I guess so. Immediately thought of green grass, smell of rain, tulips, POD marching band practice, and all that other good spring stuff. But, looked out the window only to see a driveway covered with sleet and ice and a bit of THUNDER SNOW. Decidedly awkward.



We now have blowing and drifting THUNDER SNOW. Actually the thunder is long gone, but some of the snow that fell while it was thundering is still blowing around. So that would count as THUNDER SNOW in my humble non-weatherperson-just-a-nurse opinion. Of course, now there is just plain snow added to the THUNDER SNOW. It is having a hard time living up to the hype of the THUNDER SNOW. I feel sorry for the plain snow.



SOOOOO, as an IA Pilot Wife, who is desperately wishing, hoping, praying, for Spring, I have had to lower my expectations once again. I will say I do have an absolutely lovely, mesmerizing, unbelievably hot fire in the fireplace right now. I am in love. Take that THUNDER SNOW.

Fickle

I know what you are tying to do. I have your number and it is 52 luscious Fahrenheit degrees on 2 (as in February)-10-09 in Northwest Iowa. You are easy come, easy go. Here today and gone tomorrow. You tempt me with your warm breezes, those glimpses of green grass peeking out from the dirty worn out snow, mixed with the heady perfume of thawing Iowa black dirt. I know how you are. You want me to think that you are committed and here to stay, but I am not easily fooled. You are a one day stand and tomorrow you will give me the cold shoulder.


I will, however, tip you back and drink you in and relish every drop. I'll get tipsy on your excess. It makes me think of this:


and this,

and this.

Lovely apparitions all, but, in my heart, I know you will just give me much more of this.

So, I am waiting on the real deal. You will not break me Fake and Fickle Spring-like Day. I am just not that into you.