Spring

Warm days, sunshine, green grass. Love this!
Love when I look out my kitchen windows I see leaves on the trees rather than bare branches.
Love that my flowers are coming up, and everything seems fresh and new.
Love that my lilac bushes have buds on them.

Brandon's Confirmation part 2...

A few pics of Brandon with the Haycraft crew. Kevin and I are his godparents, so fun to watch him grow into an amazing young man.

Brandon's Confirmation

Today was Brandon's Confirmation. A beautiful day, sunny and warm. So fun to watch the service and see what all these young people have accomplished...wonderful to gather with friends and family after to celebrate this milestone. The pics above are of his poster, Brandon and his family, and with Grandpa Plath.

Camping out..

Haycraft style!
I am not a outdoorsy, camping, nature loving individual. Don't get me wrong I love the outdoors. I will even hike along nature trails on occasion. I love the beauty of nature that surrounds us and more often than not I chose to walk along the trail that surrounds the lake rather than thru residential areas. It's the camping I have issues with. The sleeping on the ground, no running water, no electricity, serious issues. I have camped, many times when I was younger in tents, campers or cabins. I can only say I was simply too young then to no any better. We did try camping when the kids were young, we went twice, after rain, cold, one child throwing up in the middle of the night, and snow. It was enough after that the Haycraft's camped at Holiday Inns. One thing I do love about camping was the fire. Love the smell of wood burning, sitting near the warmth of the fire when it's dark and only the stars are out. Love that peacefulness, that atmosphere. A few years ago I found the best of both worlds, when I discovered the portable fire pit. That first year we used it endlessly. We have used it consistently each summer a few summers not so often. Life you know. Last night we began what I hope is a frequent tradition this summer. We started the fire pit. The kids were the first to pull their lawn chairs out around it. We roasted marshmallows and consumed a few s'mores. Attempted to find the little dipper, sigh anyone know where that darn thing is located? Nice to hang out with the neighbors and enjoy this first taste of summer.

Sun Bathing...

Minnesota style....

The girls have spent a lot of time looking out the windows, planning what they will do when the weather finally cooperates and they can actually play outside, but until those warmer temps arrive they have settled for looking out the window, recently they have started to sit or lounge while enjoying the view...sigh, reminds me of the cat who was always in the window, especially wherever the sun happened to be. If they start meowing I think I might get concerned :)

You make me crabby....

That sentence was uttered by the two year old in my life. Earlier tonight she looked at me and said quite clearly and to the point "You make me crabby." I was not letting her have her way, seriously crimping her style you might say.
Sigh! I know she hears everything and repeats most of what I say. Yes I have uttered that phrase a time or two or three.
So what are the chances that next she will say "You make my head hurt." ummmmm pretty good I think. That would be my other favorite phrase these days.

Happy Birthday to me....

43 years?
Mind boggling isn't it?
So ready to try 43 on, see how it fits.
It's going to be an amazing year, I can't wait to see what it brings!

Dancing...

Gracie sent some clothes for Yahaira. She immediately found this dance leotard. Naturally she has been wearing it since. I caught her dancing in the driveway the other day. She is so excited that next fall she can begin dance classes. Of course her concept of time is a bit off, she thinks that means tomorrow, or right now. With all this practicing I imagine she will be more than prepared when classes actually do begin. So a big thank you to Gracie and her mom for sharing such fun clothes with Yahaira. It truly made her day!

Josh's Birthday party...

Celebrating 20 years.

Beckie was home for the weekend, family and friends joined us on Saturday for a BBQ. Yahaira was certain it was her "party" and was quite disappointed when she didn't get to blow out the candles on the cake. I ordered the cake from the local bakery this time, along with cupcakes. Of course there is no picture of the cupcakes, (yes I the scrapbooker did miss that photo op) I honestly can't believe I paid someone to make them. They were awful, Rosie could have done a better of job. They did taste great tho.

Outside

Loving this weather, the sun, the warm days.
Simply loving being outdoors after a long long winter.

Today he is 20!

20? 2 decades? honestly where does the time go?
He continues to amaze me. He has a quiet strength, a big heart and a sense of humor that just sneaks up on you.
It is his golden birthday 20 on the 20th.
Happy Birthday Josh! As always being your mom is one of my greatest gifts!
So do you suppose one of these years you might actually smile for the camera?

It is built...

and I did it! Amazing I know. Love when it says some assembly required. Sigh, that always means a challenge. After borrowing the proper tools from my sister to complete the task (I don't own tools, it would be dangerous) I spent several hours yesterday afternoon putting it together. Seeing the faces of the kids when they went outside was worth any and all effort. They loved it!

Baking muffins....

from scratch...

insane....I agree!

messy....still finding flour.

time consuming.... hours not including the baking time.

seeing her grin.... priceless!

The Haycraft Bunch

Our spin on the Brady Bunch.
Ok I realize no one is in the order they should be, I simply was happy to get the family pic in the center...I am sure there is a way to tweak this but, for the sake of time, and brain cells (mine) we will settle for this.

The Crucible

Friday night Linda, Katie and I attended the opening performance of this play, performed by the High School Junior and Seniors. I was a big reluctant, simply because I knew it was going to be a heavy subject to watch. Cassandra was in the play so the mom in me knew I had to go. So glad I did, they did an amazing job. So unbelievable to see this group of kids handle a subject matter as this and do an excellent job. Ok i admit the mom in me had a bit of stage fright on Cassandra's behalf, but of course she did a super job.

My Prize

This is what I won for finding the most eggs during the online egg hunt at A cherry On Top (it's an online scrapbooking store)
Over the Easter Weekend they hid eggs and baskets throughout the store. You had to search thru product and click on the eggs to gather them. Each egg was worth 1 point, each basket was worth 50. I found 14063 eggs. I think I hunted eggs in my sleep. The prize package arrived on Wednesday, there was so much stuff in there I was speechless. Many things I hadn't seen yet, imagine that product I hadn't seen. A stack of paper 2inches high..so loving all this paper. Overlay's, chipboard, flowers and adhesive. It was well worth the time I spent hunting eggs.

The Harlem Globetrotters

Last night Anthony, Alonso, Gracie, Brandon, his friend Derrick,and Jay joined me at the Mankato Civic Center where we got to see the Harlem Globetrotters! Wow! It was so fun to see them perform. (perhaps a bit sad that it took me over 40 years to finally catch a performance) Anthony was quite impressed and hearing his laughter was so cool! Gracie sat by me and I loved talking with her...simply fascinated by her view on life. The kid cracks me up. It was a great night, so amazing to see such a legendary group. So fun to hang out with this special group of little people.

Talking on the phone...

to Beckie. 30 seconds earlier she had been screaming at me...I handed her the phone and she instantly stopped crying. Of course she still doesn't say too much while on the phone...she tends to just listen. She certainly enjoys her conversations tho. Later she brought me the phone and said "Beck?" guessing I was suppose to call Beckie for her.