Why is it?

In the springtime the dandelions come out. When I see those distinctive leaves pop up in my lawn I curse the day that the little fluffy seed landed in that very spot the year before. My first instinct is to reach down and carefully gather up the fan of leaves and get my hands right down there next to the root and pull ever so carefully so that the entire root comes out of the ground. Complete annihilation is the goal. 

On the other hand, when the girls and I are out riding our bikes, they feel absolutely compelled to stop and admire the beautiful yellow blooms. And to gather as many as possible. I marvel at how fresh and bright they look when they are in a field and we see them from a distance. It's like a solid carpet of yellow. 

 Up close they have square petals! They really are cute, charming warm little flowers. 

So why do we feel the desire to poison them? Who decided that they should be destroyed instead of sold by the flat in the nursery?

Church selfies

Three hours can be a long time for a baby.

Naptime

When you are #6, you learn to sleep ANYwhere.

The swing off

There are some people that are having WAY more fun at the gym than me.

Anna and her frenemy, Holly.

The Great Snow Goose Migration

As was perhaps expected, it only took me eight months to post these pictures for you to see, Mom!

The Great Snow Goose Migration at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Preserve in Missouri.

It's really hard to see how many birds there really were in the photos.

But, to be honest, we were just so glad that the six geese we saw on a grassy knoll were not all there was to see....cuz for awhile there, that is exactly what it seemed we had driven 2 hours to see!

Imagine our joy when we rounded the corner and the geese were there!

Hallelujah!

We also saw a bonus Bald Eagle on our way out of the park.

Ethan was pretty content with life after that.

We feel the dirt....

It's a small miracle, but the snow has finally, FINALLY stopped falling for a few minutes and the gardens are ready to start growing the spring veggies.

The onions, peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes and beets are in!

And best of all... our fingernails are super dirty.

Things to come

It really isn't that warm, but the sun is out and we are wishing that school was too.

So we are pushing our toes into the only patch of sand we can find and pretending we have 3 more months before we have to head back to class.