I'm a touch behind on what has been going on in life lately.
Let's see if I can't catch up.
The weekend after Easter we headed out to sprinkle Dad's ashes where his parents and grandparents are buried.
It didn't even occur to me until I saw this phot that Granny would have been 100 this year. I never met my grandfather (he died in a car accident when my father was 6 months old), but I have always wished Jeremy could have met Granny Aida. I feel like hearing her spunky nonsense would have explained a lot about how Dad and subsequently my sister and I behave.
Humor has always been of top importance in our family. She always had some quip to say, whether she wanted it to be taken as funny or a jab... that was your decision.
The weather was absolutely, in no way at all, conducive for spreading ashes. The wind wasn't just blowing, it was blowing in circles.
So we filled a few odd holes in with Dad.
Go figure, he would have laughed about it.
The wind also knocked my phone over at the exact moment the timer had counted down to take a photo of us, no less than 5 times.
The week of Easter was also Spring Break week for us. We walked to the park, cleaned the house, and piddled around doing all the things we never get to do on a busy regular week.
My grandmother called these pink buttercups when I was growing up, but I'm also seeing them called pink ladies. Either way, you know spring in Louisiana has hit when these pretty wildflowers are blooming.
This creature.
I was really planning on taking Dill camping with us, but after our trip to Dry Creek (I'll post on this later) I think the deranged puppy will be having a grandma camp week. He hasn't gotten "great" at a leash, and the park stresses his out big time. Mainly, the kids not being right on top of him, and him being on a leash causing him to not be right on top of them.
This wild cockapoo acts like they're running away and no one is watching them.
He swaps between parenting the kids an acting like a third child.
For example, he watches Elliot everywhere he goes, and Elliot also tattled on him this morning for "pushing." However you work out that the dog pushed Elliot, go ahead.
When Dad passed away on my birthday week a good friend gifted me a paint over portrait from Laura W. Taylor out of Baton Rouge. I wanted to send in a photo with me, but the one that I liked the most was really Dad, being Dad, in the backyard showing one of the kids a critter. (That was life when I was a kid. Jeans, a white undershirt, and Dad gardening and tending to animals.)
This was last summer, Dad's ducks had decided to sit on eggs for a change and we were seeing what would happen.
What ended up happening was that I noticed a duckling, Dad grabbed it, we played with the baby in the yard for about 30 minutes... made the mistake of putting it back with the dumb ducks to see what they would do. They stepped on it and killed it within an hour.
Motherly they were not.
But it was fun while it lasted and I got a great picture out of the ordeal.
Giving ducks the benefit of the doubt, rabbits are also awful mothers on their first litter.
What's a blog post without Elliot content?
Every morning, I think entirely on purpose with some alarm clock I'm not aware of, Elliot comes marching into the bathroom at 6:30am while I am getting ready for work.
He's recently discovered the magnified side of my makeup mirror and loves to examine "big Elliot."
In case you were wondering, Elliot has still given up naps.
What he hasn't given up on are what I call "Daddy Naps" where you just randomly pass out of weird times of the afternoon.
This particular "Daddy Nap" is brought to you by turning on the water outside, making a mud puddle, and inviting the dog to join in with your escapades. He wasn't happy and being unhappy leads to exhaustion.
I' fairly certain the effort put into toddler unhappiness is of the highest level of energy usage.
Our biggest boy is graduating Kindergarten this year after our "victory lap" year. Holding him back was a good decision, he's had time to mature and develop skills that he struggles with. I can't name a single mother who thought about holding their child back that I've talked to who regretted it. At least at the K level. Boys just need more time.
But instead of jumping down that rabbit hole, just enjoy this photo of him actually smiling in a photo and not making some wild face.
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