Headlong into Spring

Wait!  How can it be that winter is almost over?  That soon we will be planting a new garden and spending our evenings outdoors?  I'm still holding the stories of the first three months of this year that I haven't written.  Too much time has passed and the emotions of those events are hard to describe.  What I didn't write about:

My baby's 13th birthday!  How did this happen?  All of you with little babies right now--people tell you to enjoy these days because "they grow up so fast."  Believe me, it is true.  There is no way to recapture those lost days.  But Fred and I will rejoice in a new stage of life with two teenage daughters! 

On a wintry night in February with a Nor'easter moving in, we drove to our school for a talent show.  My Arielle played a beautiful song with our good friend Julia and one of my students on the drum. I was just getting used to my new camera and did not take any good pictures.  I even thought I'd taken a video, but no, it didn't work.

 

 

Also in February we celebrated Joey's first birthday.  It was a big party NOT at our house!  How liberating!  It was fun to all be together at Anthony and Kim's house.  They put out a big spread and welcomed us all. 

 

 

 

And now we come to Easter. It was a rainy, cold day and we had a wild egg hunt in the house.  Everyone brought good food and we made it a casual dinner.  Liana and the little girls played American Girl dolls (love it!) and Arielle joined the adult conversation.  This picture was not taken at my house, but little Jordan portrays my sentiments exactly at the end of the evening.

 

 

Our newest family member was missing from this celebration!  We will be leaving soon to meet baby Caden. I can't wait until he is here in Pennsylvania to meet his many cousins and join in the fun.