Out Of Hibernation... finally!

We have been busy getting ready for this summer, that I am SO excited about. Trimming trees, bushes, lawns and gardens. Actually, I redid my entire front garden and added a whole 6 feet of planting space, which is just what I needed... more room to kill the poor plants I bring home and deprive of the water and nutrients it needs and more room to grow those weeds that I seem to keep alive and thriving somehow all year. BUT, I love it so I did it. I have loved being outside putting my bare hands back into the dirt, digging for worms and pulling those dreaded weeds. I even started my own compost this year! The yard smells of spring flowers and freshly mowed grass, my nails are chipped away with a permanent layer of dirt under them. And my vegetables are started and I can't wait to eat the fruits they give, if I can keep them alive. My kids have gotten their first sunburns and I have yet to get any color. My girls hair has even lightened up by about 2 shades from being out in the sun so much, I imagine they will be almost blonde by the end of this summer? Why does their hair go blonde in the summer? I am not sure but I love it, it looks like it holds the sunshine in their hair and it's beautiful.
The fruits of our labor are starting to show and we all did it as a family. That is what I have loved most about it. Yes, it's been a busy spring already but, we are just preparing for a lazy summer. I think if we can get it all out of the way now we should be able to be gone almost every weekend and not feel like we should be at home working on our "to do list". I want a "ta done list"! We are almost done with the girls' playhouse we started last summer, it is going to be so cute that I may just move in permanently. I built my chicken coop and got my chickens, now all I have to do is sit and wait for those delicious eggs I have been wanting for years now. Not the processed, steroid, hormone filled ones at the store that make our children start puberty at 7 yrs old. And not the expensive "cage free" ones I have been paying for. All natural, free range eggs from my backyard!! If you can't tell, I'm totally stoked! And it has been a good project for my kids. I truly think all of our animals have thought my children a sense of responsibility. They have done a great job taking care of and feeding our 2 dogs, 2 guinea pigs, 1 bird and now four chickens (I think that's all the animals we have right now??). Soon, I think I will add a kitten to the mix, whats a house without a cat, right? To be honest, if I had the land we would be milking our own cows too, but that will have to wait a few years.
The kids are all doing so well in school, Jameson is learning so much!! He is entering that kind of annoying stage right now that boys go through (and it probably won't go away until he is about 35. Or does it ever go away?). The stage where they are learning to flirt and they think everything they say is SO hilarious. He is so loud and obnoxious when he is with his friends!! But, I do laugh at the dumb jokes and I can't help but giggle when I see him and his friends showing off for the little girls in the neighborhood. He has quite a few boys his age so they all play together and it is so funny to watch them, they are all lanky and scrawny and yet so big?! I don't even want to know what comes next. But, for now he is still my little Jameson. He still loves to hang out with me sometimes. We ride our bikes together and still have long talks and I hope he never gets to be too cool for mom. And my little Nelly is getting insanely grown up all of a sudden!!! She does more for her 2 little sisters than I do sometimes. She helps me get them ready for the day, she takes them for walks, she teaches them all sorts of stuff, like shapes and colors or how to say things. She reads to them now and will push them on the swings. She is a better mother than I am and she is only 5! She is also loving school and I love seeing her in school. She is very attentive and focused on learning. She just soaks it all in and understands so fast, of course me being her mommy thinks she is simply a genius. And then there are my babies. It's funny because we all call them "the babies". It's always, "where are the babies. What are the babies doing? The babies are sleeping" babies, babies, babies. Those 2 are crazy. They laugh and play ALL DAY! They never stop going, they just keep going and going and going. Right into the night. They hate to be apart and yet they fight and bicker to each other about everything. They do each other's hair, makeup, paint their nails, they even try to match their clothes. If one picks out a pink pair of shoes, so will the other. It's funny how things just fall into place. In my older posts I wrote about me being pregnant with Ava and how I wasn't sure why I felt the need to have this other baby so soon after Rori. Well, now I know. I don't know what life would be like if they didn't have each other and if I didn't have them. They are so entertaining and I love watching them all day. But, don't let them fool you with all the cuteness! Those 2 are TROUBLE!!! They are very naughty and they still draw on each other with permanent markers, they still cut their dolly's hair, they still make messes and break furniture and whatever else they can get a hold of. It really is twice the trouble!
I am going to be better about writing on here! I promise, and I say this mostly to my children. I want them to know what their lives were like growing up. I know I can't remember all these things and I know I won't be able to tell them some of the stories I want them to know. So, I will get better so they can laugh at themselves later as much as I do now.