April is such a happy, exciting time of year for us but it is busier for me than December. Not only did we have Easter, but we also had two birthdays and lots of honey bee happenings. At least in December it is one holiday and my bees are hibernating for the winter! Will had the first week of April off for spring break, and the good news was we were able to prepare a bit for our busy month. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most relaxing week and when it was over, we felt a little bummed that we didn't relax more. The biggest project we tackled on Will's week off from work was installing a new cedar fence in our backyard. If we decide to get more chickens, they now have a safe area again. I was surprised and proud when I came outside to tour the finished fence and saw the little garden stone painted to resemble the book, "The Secret Garden", we had there last year when the original fence was taken down. Lucy had put it back in it's now "secret" again spot and the world felt a little bit more peaceful and right again.
We also prepped our garden over spring break and planted seeds to nurture in the house while we wait for the weather to warm up some more.
We did take time for some hiking and coincidentally hiked a trail that had thousands of frogs croaking in the pond. It was absolutely fascinating to see and HEAR so many frogs in one place. Later that week Will's brother and partner came to town so we were excited to take them to see the frog phenomenon. We were bummed when there were only two or three frogs visible in the pond and the sound was much quieter too. That first hike was just a happy coincidence and I hope to happen upon those spring croakers next year!
We had quite a few cold and rainy days during spring break, and so we went to the movies with Will's aunt, and spent some time at the book store too.
We also did lots of crafts indoors, danced in the rain in the bed of Will's trailer, had picnic dinners in the living room with movies after, and I sewed a veil for Lucy's upcoming First Communion.
At the end of spring break, we enjoyed two different friends' birthday parties, and also enjoyed a visit with my brother and sister-in-law who were in town from Florida.
We had a very interesting time with wildlife this past month at our house. It started with mysterious happenings in our garage. Charlie seemed to be making a huge mess in our garage - knocking things off of shelves, pooping in corners and the final straw - twisting and ripping out metal soffit vents. At that point, we realized that although it was hard to imagine him opening a Tupperware food container - we couldn't stretch our imagination to see him twisting and ripping metal. At that point we realized that some kind of animal - probably a raccoon - had found it's way into our garage. Will went to the store and bought a live animal trap and we Googled how to catch a raccoon. Imagine our surprise when we found out that CAT FOOD was the best bait. Well, now things were starting to make sense. That night, after the trap was baited with Charlie's food, we were sitting in the living room when something black caught our eye, erratically circling the kitchen, and then the dining room, and finally the room we were sitting in. A bat! Before we had time to register what to do, it flew up the stairs. Will and I exchanged panicked looks and then dashed up the steps. It was headed to where our babies were sleeping! Terror set in when we discovered the bat crazily circling Violet's room. We couldn't even crawl into her room for fear of getting hit in the head with the bat so I crouched on the floor and stuck my arm into her room and yanked her by the arm out of her bed. The poor kid had no idea what was going on but as she opened her eyes, she focused on the bat and sat in surprise, with her head making circles as it followed the flight of the bat. I literally dragged her out of the room, army crawled into Lucy and Emma's room with Violet on me like a baby monkey and slammed the door. At this point Lucy and Emma had woken up and wanted to know what was going on. The four of us sat in the dark and listened to the thumps and grunts coming from the other room. When the silence seemed to be permanent, we slowly opened the door and saw Will carrying a wriggling blanket down the stairs.
The adrenaline took a while to calm down that night, and as we were finally drifting off to sleep that night we heard the SNAP of the trap outside. We had caught something in the garage. Lovely timing. A possum and seven raccoons (over the next couple of weeks) later, our garage is back to itself and we haven't seen a bat since. However, we have one last wildlife story to share and it is the girls favorite. We were running late for piano lessons one morning when Emma refused to go out the back door because there was a bug in her way. In our house, we do not freak out about bugs. That is the message I am sending to my kids, especially since my favorite bug gives us honey and as a result, money. Finally, frustrated with Emma, I pushed past her and saw a slug just inside the back door. I grabbed a stick from outside and as soon as the stick touched the slug so that I could fling it outside, it moved and turned into a giant, juicy spider! I started freaking out and screaming and stomping my feet like a crazy person. I knew one thing - if I didn't have confirmation that this spider was DEAD, I could no longer live in this house. This spider was so big and so juicy that not only could I see all eight of it's eyes, I could also see each hair on it's legs and I had to hose off the back door mat after I killed it because the guts were everywhere. The good news is that I had confirmation of it's death but the bad news is, that if there was one, there is probably more. The above picture is the spider-look-alike that I found on Google to prove to the piano teacher that the fear that made us late was valid.
We all have spring-fever when it comes to homeschooling and it has been a major test of endurance to maintain our schedule for school amongst spring break, Easter and multiple birthdays. To say that we are ready for summer break is an understatement. In the above pictures in clockwise order from top left: Lucy and Violet looking at picture books side by side, all three girls picking out a birthday treat after their swim class (which that same day Emma graduated to a new swim level too), Lucy at piano lessons, Violet waiting at piano lessons, all three girls watching a big truck on our street, and Emma and I doing her reading for the day. For the most part I still love homeschooling and am often overwhelmed with gratitude that we can lead this lifestyle. Other times, the constant driving to and from places can really wear on me and I am hoping next year that I can streamline some of our activities. It will be hard to narrow our activities down though, because we really do enjoy each and every one of them. Below is a recital that Emma played at, at a local nursing home. Emma did great!
Because the month of April has been so full of special dates and events, my kids are suffering from a lack of schedule and routine. As a result, I am suffering from their crankiness, mood swings and irritability. Holidays have always been tough on my kids as they still haven't figured out what sleeping in is, and also they struggle with being able to settle in and make their own fun when they have been out of a routine for too long. We've had a lot of crying, fighting, fits and time outs this past month and I am exhausted by it. Probably the most surprising thing to me about being a mom is just how much my kids moods affect me. I wish that I could be more zen when they are cranky, but I struggle with not letting it ruin my day. It's hard to find inner peace when the people you love most in the world are treating each other meanly. Here are my sweet 'n cranky angels below, of course only being photographed when their halos were shiny.
I'm not sure why I collaged the asparagus picture in with my kids above, but it is asparagus season and I am the only one who likes it at my house, so that means it is ALL MINE and for once I don't have to share! There is nothing like fresh picked asparagus from your own backyard that can make any rotten day better! Playing outside is also helpful for shaking the funk off of myself and my children and I am so glad that the weather is finally conducive to a lot of outdoor time. Below are pictures from top left: Lucy and Emma coloring outside, all three girls taking a break in the grass, dancing in the rain, a coloring party orchestrated by Lucy that all four of us enjoyed one afternoon, and finally, a natural greenery arrangement that Lucy designed from our backyard plants and decorated our front porch with. She amazes me with her natural creations and it will be interesting to see how it changes as she grows.
The below pictures showcase more backyard fun, my favorite being Lucy's attempt to alleviate her hiccups in the bottom right hand picture below.
Charlie is enjoying our increased outdoor time, and I swear he thinks he is our guard dog. Wherever the kids are playing, he will park himself right next to them and calmly survey the scene. One day Charlie was watching the girls play with bouncy balls on our driveway and I noticed that Charlie was quietly holding one of the balls in his back paws. Our cat is such a lover and I still can't believe that he picked us for his family. Sometimes I can't handle his cuteness any longer and I scoop him up and give him all of the snuggles while soaking in all of his purrs. The cost is a ten minute session afterwards with the lint roller and a washing of all of my exposed skin with soap and water, but I never regret it.
April was very busy with my honey business. I did a honey bee presentation at our local library, which I feel like was the pinnacle of my honey bee career this far. I have loved our library since I was a kid, and to be asked to speak about bees there was a bucket list experience for me. I couldn't have done it without the help of my kids and Will, and I would say that the entire event was a success.
The day after Easter my new order of honey bees arrived, as did all of the equipment I needed for them. It was a close call because the equipment had been back ordered from a bee supply company in Pennsylvania and the honey bees had arrived several days early from Georgia. It was a rush to get the equipment put together AND painted in time to get my bees comfy in their new homes, but thanks to all of us working together (and let's be perfectly honest, Will's amazing efficiency with a hammer and a paint brush) we pulled it off.
Here I am below installing a package of bees into one of my hives in our backyard. The top right hand picture below is of my worker bees carrying items out to the hives we have on a friend's property in the country. The center picture is what my honey looks like on any given day on my counter.
Last month I was inspired to make a flower crown for Lucy's First Communion and in true Liz style, I couldn't help but notice an entrepreneurial opportunity when I saw one. Before Will knew what hit him, our dinner table became my work station, the chairs were now holding inventory and my kids had visited every craft store in the tri-county area for my supplies. Sometimes I wish I could just enjoy making something one time and not mass produce it but on the other hand, I really do love creating a new product to sell. Will found me the other day sitting at the kids play table in my office stuffing envelopes with dolls watching me in their doll highchairs as there was no other available flat surface for me to work on thanks to the flower crowns taking up all other free space.
After the Earth Day event, we spent the rest of the day on the beautiful island where the event was held and visited the gardens that had more daffodils than I had ever seen in one place in bloom.
These kids drive me crazy and bring me joy and I am so thankful for them, and also for Buy 1, Get 2 FREE sales. That kind of sale was made just for me and my girls and you better believe the receipt from that sales trip was longer than Santa Claus's list. Most sales are Buy One Get One which equates to me buying at least six items in the sale, so that each child gets her fair share and I am maximizing the sale. Will pointed out that the entire reason I was excited for the B1G2 sale was that I wouldn't be forced to buy more than I needed to get the sale, but then I went ahead and pretty much bought every item that was included in the sale. Ah, but what a great deal and so many happy girls!
Below are my spring beauties, picking the spring weeds for me to infuse into my various products. I am quoted by Will quite often as saying, "There is no free ride," but I will say that I do feel like I have my own version of a B1G2 Free sale each and every day and I am grateful to have the majority of my days spent with my girls.
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