I did get both Kali and Jason this morning with a weather-related April Fool's Day joke. As Kali was uttering her first moans of the day (the typical way we know she is waking!), I went in and told her to look out the window, followed by letting her know that once again it was snowing. She uttered a more emphatic moan as she rolled over to see for herself. It was one of those jokes that the pronounced "April Fool's Day" following provides some relief. Jason also showed visible relief upon learning that the 10 day forecast did not include snow or the promise of temps down to 0. It seems like neither of my jokes were that much of a stretch, since we drove home in almost blizzard-like conditions on Sunday from Harman, WV. The full spectrum of delight (my mother - who gets credit for the message on our car) to despair (me - okay, a slight exaggeration) was apparent upon waking to a white world Sunday morning. Thankfully it seems that West Virginians are on top of treating the mountain roads and our journey home was smooth sailing (and I even had to admit at one point that the view out our car windows was in fact quite beautiful as the wet snow clung to every tree branch).
But there are no signs of snow remaining around here and the temperatures are to exceed 70 today. So I've just taken my little mason bee cocoons out of the fridge and will put them out in their little house later this afternoon. I sure hope that they have wintered over okay and that many will hatch. Time will tell! I still have a hankering to get honeybees but I think my desire is just a bit higher than my motivation to do anything about it just yet - still feel like we have our hands full of so much goodness right now. I love seeing things pop out of the ground at this time of year and we are just days away from making stinging nettle eggs for breakfast!
Speaking of growing things, this morning Kali and I took Alida to her 3 year old check up at the doctor. She was both curious and nervous about the whole process, but decidedly unimpressed (though remarkably brave) at a real shot. Every now and then she will remind me that she is "still sad" about it. She's a symmetrical little gal right now at 40 lb and 40 in, and at the top or skyrocketing off the growth charts, which didn't inform us of anything new!
Last night at home we weighed both girls and discovered that Alida was exactly half Kali's weight (37 and 74 pounds). We are not in the habit of weighing each other at home, but unfortunately we had found a first (and oh how I wish the last) deer tick attached to Alida, most likely gotten while playing in the leaves in the woods up by the tire swing. It almost makes we wish for snow! So, since we have yet to learn of any better alternative, we were consulting Grandma Benner on the appropriate dosage for the preventative antibiotic protocol for Lyme disease prevention. I'm definitely tempted to up "acquire Guinea Fowl" on our priority list. The chickens we have free ranging are doing their part but they don't stray as far as the tire swing from their home base - at least not yet.
The lingering signs around our house of the birthday celebrating from last week include cards on the piano (that Alida peruses throughout the day or transforms into a computer), her heavy little money purse (which is a bit lighter after a trip to both Goodwill and the Friendly City Food Co-op), and just a few pieces of her doll cake (which met or possibly exceeded expectations). She received quite a number of gifts of 3 dollar bills, but they will only go so far for a girl who likes to buy multiple boxes of mac & cheese at a time. I was encouraging her today to consider spacing out her spending a bit so she doesn't run out of all her birthday money right away. She nonchalantly informed me that I could just give her more when she runs out. We had a bit more of extended conversation...
I loved watching her enthusiasm when opening presents, which seemed more or less unattached to what was actually in the package. The little video below gives a taste of it - she's so excited but has no idea what she has just opened!
Her unplanned for and unfortunate birthday gift was a very short lived virus of some kind. I headed off to work on her birthday after singing to her and getting a few hugs. A few hours later I got the update that she had not kept her breakfast down and had faded and fallen asleep on her daddy for a morning nap (unheard of at this point unless she feels crummy). I tried to focus through a meeting or two and then realized it was pointless. I hitched a ride home around lunch - it is hard to go to work and leave her in the mornings, it was especially hard to leave on her birthday, and it was just too much to be away on her birthday and with her sick (hearing her say, "I want mommy" in the background while on the phone with Jason tipped me over the edge). It felt like horrible timing for a little gal who had been anticipating this special day for weeks.
But she seemed to take it all in stride and took a long nap, downed 3 bowls of chicken noodle soup and by the time our Tangly Woods meal rolled around she was bathed and in her chosen birthday attire and jumping around with excitement. I figured her adrenaline would keep her going and she would crash by the end of the evening but that was not so! She went strong for hours and from all I could tell had a marvelous third birthday. She certainly is a little life worth celebrating!
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