Oh what a May

Once again it is snowing outside. My garden is suffering and I am thinking about switching entirely to a greenhouse next year. Although, each year I lament that we shall have to wait until next fall for snow and then mother nature surprises us with her final attempts at a winter storm. It is a surprise gift of beauty experiencing the white, stark, greyness of winter and the brilliant, blooming colors of spring at the same time. Picture taking is optimum and I am hoping to capture some beauties tomorrow. Here are some beauties from the first week of May.

Kite day at the park, hundreds of kites in the air and Teilee flying the airplane (you can barely see it in the center but it is there). Go Teilee go!








Landis flying his homemade kite. During the peak wind of the morning hundreds of kites were flown in the same area. And yes there were tangles, and downed kites resulting, but everyone shared a good laugh and each lent a hand to send the kite aloft.







Beltane is a beautiful festival we missed most of it but arrived during the maypole portion. With Landis asleep in the car, Nick brought Teilee down for the kids weaving of the ribbons. Then upon switching, I was able to participate in my first adult may pole weaving. What a beautiful and intimate tradition especially as the ribbons become shorter and shorter leaving you little space to weave in and out. After the weaving of the ribbon, Teilee and I joined in the ritual of jumping over the fire. A symbolic new beginning emerging from the flames (just make sure your pants are hiked up and you jump high enough). Teilee soared. (Teilee is in the green pants with the gray jacket.) The adult May Pole



What better creature to spy near our festival grounds than a curious fox.

















Already we have been hiking and enjoying our sunny days. Nick and the kids went out for a hike and we repeated the venture on Mother's Day. Poor Landis was ill and insisted he needed to be carried (not in the hiking backpack) by Mommy the whole way down. Wishing I had brought my sling we found Plan B using my jacket as a makeshift sling and we successfully made it down the mountain.
Landis slept for most of the day and in the evening his fever broke and he was much better.










The chicks are getting so big! We moved them out into the coop with the big girls. We will separate them until the chicks are big enough to fend off any hen pecking.


The kids bring the chicks and the chickens into the yard as often as possible. They keep to their separate spaces, but we are hoping that eventually they will commingle.




Toothless.....I mean Teilee has popped out her front tooth. Proudly she shows her space and her tooth and she is now the proud president of her Loose Tooth Club. Anyone between the ages of 4 and 30 may join. Although I am hoping to successfully stay out of this club. ;) Of course we had to run to the library for resources. There we found a book about what children around the world do with their lost teeth. There is much throwing of teeth onto roofs or feeding of teeth to female dogs. La Raton is a main character in the business, changing only in language. Apparently small rodents are overwhelmingly popular in the process of losing a tooth. Move over tooth fairy!!


We enjoy every contact we have with our lovely neighbor Sally. She was witness to the losing of the tooth as we were witnessing her brand new yellow kitchen. (Talk about an inspiration!) Smile for the camera Landis, close enough!









On a quick note (okay, nothing is every quick with me), we are pursuing some exciting business opportunities. Nick and I were gifted some guidance, by some wonderful friends, and some free tickets to a convention in Denver last week. Sans kids we wearily went and returned ever rejuvenated in our confidence to achieve a goal. Updates coming soon!