From a dark corner, a figure emerges.
She moves slowly, awkwardly.
Each step made with much deliberation.
If you listen closely, you can almost hear a creaking sound.
Her face moves into the light.
A layer of dust sits upon her lashes.
Cobwebs entangle her hair.
Cautiously, she opens her eyes. First the left, then the right.
She coughs, clears her throat.
And begins:
"We're BAAAAAACK!!!!"
Never did we anticipate such a long hiatus with our family blog. A treasured tradition. A priceless digital heirloom. Without our photos - and stories to accompany them - we'd forget nearly 98% of everything that happened.
The adventures deserve documenting.
The stories deserves narrating.
Parenting tales that would be brushed off as myth and exaggeration, if not recorded in writing. "Oh yes that DID happen!"
The blog is our family's collective memory. A historical record of every catastrophe and victory. To give up the exercise would be to say there was nothing left of interest to record. But we're far from that.
While it took a motivational pep talk - once a week for 30 consecutive weeks - to finally carve out the time. Here we are.
Let this be the beginning of "The Great Catch Up."
The children in the photos here are one year younger than those scurrying about the house currently. We've completed nearly a full orbit around the sun. We're practically a year behind! Eleven months to be exact.
In many ways, we've changed a whole lot. In other ways, things have stayed exactly the same.
We still love to color.
We still hate to do chores.
Blog posts are rare.
A child doing chores is rarer.
Let this be evidence that it. did. happen. once.
Speaking of rare things...
Taking the boys out to a restaurant? That's a most scarce and uncommon occurrence. Which usually ends with reminding oneself to "not try this again for at least 6 more months".
When you're kids aren't properly trained for public places - it's best to get the food to go.
But this was one of those occasions, following a 6 month hiatus, in which we would test the waters once again. Are they restaurant ready yet???
At Olive Garden, the needle tips towards...yes!
And here's why. Olive Garden isn't your average restaurant. They know a thing or two about dealing with kids who have "ants in their pants."
Game stations, coloring books, and chocolate milks bought me all the time I needed to finish my order of endless soup, salad, and breadsticks.
Look at little Samson with those long luscious locks.
(Rowie has short hair now.)
See this bulldozer in this wide open space? There's a couple of town homes there now. A lot happens in one full orbit of the sun....
Rowan really likes chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup.
Like any child proper.
This child and his outfits.
He's colorful, imaginative, and fashionably shameless.
He knows what he likes, and won't be told otherwise.
Sage is also particular about his style.
But he's a bit more mainstream.
In April, Sage and Kale were invited by their aunt and uncle to participate in a 5k fun run.
Proud of this crew for finishing strong!
Meanwhile back at the ranch....
There is no cuter underwear model anywhere.
And then it was Easter!
The Bunny was really good to us this year!
He hid pennies in eggs, which the kids could exchange for gifts.
But they had to collect just the right amount. The numbers on the packages indicated the quantity of coins required for each transaction.
I'm realizing now that Kale went the entire month of April needing a haircut.
Oh my!
The Easter Bunny knows how to prevent sibling fights. Genius, he is! Each child was assigned a color. So whether you found eggs fast or slow, everyone got the same amount.
Has anyone seen the missing chocolate bunny????
Nope? Ok, I'll keep looking....
An Easter surprise from Illinois.
Well, Kale got that haircut he needed so badly.
But... I'm not sure what hospital he's planning to check into.
(Oh boy. Not our best work!)
What to do.. what to do...with all that leftover Easter egg dye?
Every year we try something a little different.
In 2018 we tie-dyed paper towels.
In 2019, we gave rainbow macaroni a shot.
With plans to save it for a rainy day and all sorts of future art projects.
And we'll end with a little flower farm update.
In April, we continued to lay the foundation for Season 2.
I had a fanny pack full of gear. A map of the garden, a list of plant varieties, blank labeling stakes, and a permanent marker.
While we planted the heat-loving annuals, the bulb from the previous fall were starting to pop up.
Then this happened.
And it would happen again a few more times.
This Spring in particular was an exceptionally cold and snowy one.
Which did eventually delay bloom times for our flowers.
But every grower in Colorado shared that in common.
We weren't alone.
We went back to the Drake Road Farmers Market for round two of summer vending.
This time we didn't feel like such newbies. We knew the drill well. We overcame our impostor syndrome! And we created new signage to highlight all our new offerings.
This year, in addition to Saturday farmers markets, we added new services such as wedding & event design, custom bouquet delivery, and CSA weekly flower subscriptions. We also had a brand new website, and credit card processor.
Bighorn Blooms was moving on up!!!
And with that, we bid adieu to April.
Then May came 'a knock knock knockin.
