Rich and Ethan worked together on Sunday morning.  But first, they gazed into the waters of the pond, longing to see their beloved fish.  They saw three under the dock, two by the pipe, and one near the shore.

I spent the entire day on Saturday worried about Sarah because she was running a fever and complaining of a headache.  After her surgery on the 3rd and her procedure on the 10th, everything in me wanted to rush her to the hospital for fear she had an infection, but logic and my husband held me back.  Thankfully, on Sunday she woke up fine but pale so we stayed home from church to give her a day of rest.  (Rich didn’t want to go without me because he’s going to be away half of this week on a business trip.)

The chicken coop needed its spring clean-out.  Rich let Ethan drive the tractor for the first time and the two of them scraped all of the old bedding and hen droppings out of the coop and drove them in the bucket to the vegetable garden.

I watched from the porch as Rich coached Ethan VERY thoroughly in turning the tractor back around.  I wondered why so much laughing was happening, and why Rich was so interested in Ethan turning around “just so” when Ethan has been driving for over a year now……

And why on earth Ethan found it all so very funny……and then…..I saw what was happening…….

Rich was instructing Ethan to back over my shoes which I had kicked off while cleaning up my flower beds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Good boy, E, for not doing it!

After they got all the old bedding into the garden, Rich rototilled it all into the dirt.  I asked him three times NOT to disturb my beloved rhubarb, and he asked me to come over and show him exactly where it was.  And what did I see through the window when I was in the house making lunch? Something that very much looked like running over AND digging through the very spot I had showed him NOT to disturb.  “Did you dig up my rhubarb?” I asked as soon as I got the chance.  “I might have,” he said sorrowfully.  I. could.not.believe.it.  “Why did you ask me to show you where it was when you were just going to run it over anyway?” I cried.  He said, “You are acting like I did it on purpose!  I didn’t!  I just forgot it was there!”

I cannot tell you how many times over the years that this man has forgotten “something was there” in the garden or lawn and ran it over, mowed it down, or dug it up.  And then he wonders why I get upset.   After all, it was only an innocent accident!

(You would think he would be more understanding when I ACCIDENTALLY put his clothes in his son’s dresser! )

David went to his favorite “junk” store downtown and bought an army jacket for 15 dollars.  He said there was a name on it that the lady picked off with a seam ripper first, because the man didn’t want his name out in public.  David had me wash and dry his jacket, although he did enjoy smelling like the store for a day.  (aromatherapy)

David was instructed to prune back branches and briars from the edge of the property and guess what he did?  Because he is his father’s son, he also cut down one of my favorite white birch trees!  And then when I reprimanded him he got offended and hurt that I was upset and bringing it up repeatedly.  He thought I had a mean expression on my face and was treating him unlovingly!  Am I really expected to hold these men in my arms and soothe them by saying “there, there” when they accidentally destroy all my plants?   He spent a bit of time with his friend Michael cleaning up the tree and all the many branches.  There is a pile out by the driveway to be burned.

I didn’t get pictures of Grace’s first driving lesson.  She drove my car (with her Dad in the passenger seat and Ethan in the back) from the top driveway to the lower driveway.  Sarah and I leaned over the porch railing clutching our hearts and watching, running from railing to railing to keep an eye on her.  When Grace got out, Sarah yelled “Good job, Grace!  You only made two mistakes!”  She was very proud of her sister.  Ethan got out of the back with a look on his face that said, “Did you see that mom it was scary.”  Grace had a bounce in her step and thought she did well.  “Although I don’t think Dad realized at first that when he yelled at me to do something it would make me do it faster.”  (like brake?)

Grace read her book all over the place.  On couch, on porch, on patio, on swing.  She was reading a Janette Oke book, remember those?

I began planting spring bulbs.  I saw worms!  I accidentally cut one in two, as a matter of fact.

Rich took me to admire the freshly cleaned chicken coop.

Caleb was coaching his friend Logan across the stream.  Logan was yelling nervously, “Caleb!  I’m on a wobbly rock!”  Once he was safely to the other side, I heard Coach Caleb inform him that it had taken entirely too long.

I sat on the back of the truck and watched the birds come to the feeder which I hung in the bushes by the driveway.  They were chirping and peeping and fluttering all over the place.  It was quite dizzying.  As soon as one took a seed, it flew to a branch to eat it while another bird quickly took it’s place at the feeder to do the same, and over and over they took turns.

There was a male cardinal moving about in the leaves underneath.  I did so want a photo– but they all looked like this:

FINALLY, after much patience on my part, the cardinal went into an open space:

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The neatest thing happened while I was watching.  All of a sudden, another cardinal way off in the distance called, and this one IMMEDIATELY without hesitation flew away to see what it wanted.  I wish my kids were like that.  😉