{P,H,F,R} -- Spring Edition!

Achoo!

Well, spring is in full bloom 'round here.  FINALLY.  We've had some truly lovely days.  And rain.  Lots of rain.  The best thing about the rainy days is at least it keeps the pollen down.

{Pretty}

 Spring.  Pretty much.

pink dogwood

Its no wonder this time of year makes hearts sing and poets write.  When you've just spent several months convinced that the universe is trying to kill you, it's so refreshing receiving a loving caress instead when you open your door.

Camelias.  (and a neighbor -- they haunt the yard on nice days)

the neighbor's dogwood, seen from the dining room deck

a Red Bud tree.  the previous owner raved about these trees -- now I see why

Azaleas -- the day after a heavy rain, so they are not looking their perkiest.  Still, love the colors by our front door.

Pink!

a random vine seen from the deck

one of the yard gates, with a flowering-vine-covered archway. I love the many little beauty-spots in our yard.  (not pictured: the slime-filled fountain to the left.  I'm afraid to clean it out, lest I disturb a Swamp Thing.)

{Happy}

Nice weather means: picnics outside!  This is a pretty nice arrangement: we prop open the screen door to the deck, put baby gates up to cover the steps, and Andy can wander in and out at will.

ahhh, sunshine!  this was taken in early April -- it's much greener now!

...unless, of course, he were to knock over one of the gates, tumble down the steps, bite his lip and wander around loose until Mommy found him bleeding all over the front yard, lost and alone and bawling his eyes out.  Ha ha, not that that could ever happen, of course, because our children are always perfectly supervised and never neglected or allowed to do anything remotely dangerous or unsupervised ever.

(hypothetically, I wish I had a hypothetical picture of his hypothetically fat lip, because, boy, it was a hypothetical doozy!)  (especially because he ran into a chair the next day and bit his lip in the hypothetically SAME PLACE.)

{Funny}

Andrew's Silly Face

it's hard getting a shot of a small boy whapping himself in the head repeatedly...

Katie is our resident nature-lover.  She has no fear of creepy-crawlies.  Exhibit A:

Yes.  That's right.  Katie adopted a pet bumblebee.

meet "Dandelion"

Sadly, Dandelion was not with us for very long.  She had a torn wing when Katie found her.  But she died a happy death, swimming in a puddle of honey in our bug jar.

{Real}

Just getting ready for the practical aspects of summertime...

think these will last us to the end of the month?

This next OUGHT to have been in the {happy} section, but for the fact that a few days before this was taken there were 3 eggs in the nest; now there are none.  The Nesting Curse has followed us to our new home.  So sad.

this wreath was hanging forgotten by our side door, and I was about to pitch it when I noticed a robin flying off squawking angrily every time we opened the door.  I was looking forward to having a nest so close for observing, but, sadly, the location isn't sheltered at all, and blue jays and squirrels are everywhere.  I wonder how a mother robin feels when she comes back to her nest and all her eggs are gone.  What does she do for the rest of the spring?

Also {real} is the fact that we have a Christmas wreath hanging outside our door in May.  Just keepin' it Klassy.