I'm in a Zoom meeting about returning to work...

What better time to post a few photos?

May showers brought some tremendous puddles and spawned a little green Edie-frog

But also a monster from another dimension seems to be coming through the ceiling now...some sealant has been applied to the roof and we think that will chase it off.

John and Oscar loved making wishes by flinging crabapple petals all over me

Eric ordered a pallet of edging stones and finally placed them all, uncovering an ant nest! (Not fire ants, of course, but John was very concerned)

Here you can see the stones at work - we're a little bummed we've been doing so much yard work and taking so few before pictures, but this is pretty good! You can barely see Eric hiding in the shadows with the pushmower.

I marked out a space for a gazebo and hung up a wreath Oscar scavenged from the neighbor's trash. And then of course I had to start weaving sticks and ivy through the string...so satisfying!

And then we remembered our canopy and we're ready to host a party! Right here it's a mud-pie bakery.

Oscar and Edie set up a picnic blanket that quickly turned into a car and then a train, and then sleeping bags

But the blanket got co-opted into perfecting the tent

John and I planted a packet of sunflowers - excuse me, sunsetflowers - and just transplanted them into the yard - one was a tricot!

They're all guarded by dixie-cup collars but somebody has already been coming by and clipping off their cots. The army is substantial so I expect a decent number of sunflowers in the end. I also planted some whole flax seeds from a bag I got at the grocery store by mistake - I usually get ground flax seed. They all sprouted too! The grocery store is a great source of seeds, it's full of fruits and veggies!

Sure beats working.

We're still here! The latest stay at home order ends on May 28th and we've been getting urgent emails from MSU about restarting work in the lab. It doesn't really affect either of us, especially since daycare and summer camp don't seem to be happening yet, but it's a change!

Baba Yaga sent us some wooden turtles and John and Oscar got right down to business. Oscar was very proud of figuring out how to make a heart.

One sunny morning we noticed that John's sparkly fish shirt, a Christmas present from Oscar, made beautiful sparkles on the wall. So everyone spent about an hour messing around with rainbows and sparkles.

I've been making lots of bread - there's no store bread that I love, and making it myself always makes me feel proud. Edie is a proud helper too!

And I figured out how to make my own dry yeast!

To a quantity of liquid yeast, add flour to make a thick batter. Let it rise.

Add cornmeal until it is a stiff batter and let it rise again.

Roll out flat, about 1/8 inch thick, and let it dry

 

Then I tested if it was actually still alive! Here's a chunk in some warm water

Not yet...

Ta-da! There it goes!

We're keeping it in the freezer like good biologists.

Some nights we play family Uno with Minecraft Uno cards from Gramma. Edie helps by not kicking over the discard pile.

It's hard to get up sometimes when it means disturbing such a cozy cat!

Oscar and Edie have been getting a chance to play together. Here they are making a house of magnets for Lamby.

After so much agonizing, Eric hung up a wire curtain holder for me in the clubhouse and I ordered some bright curtains to help give the room a different feel. It's a similar effect to putting up the tent but a lot less work! And now there's more of a play area on one side and a quiet reading area on the world's largest couch on the other side. So satisfying!

Edie is a devoted helper. Any chance she gets she will help, even if it means touching the dreaded vacuum cleaner!

All the Asterix & Obelix movies are on YouTube, or almost all, and they are big hits with the sleepyheads.

Good night!

video proof

Obstacle course:


That conga feeling:


Golden Beans finds a hole:

may frosts, boo!

The weather was so great, we got up to all sorts of trouble. But it's been frosty and cloudy and quite cold the last few days. Here's some silly pictures to cheer me up!

 John made a panda mask and shared it with Edie.

The boys occupied a spaceship. 

Oh, brothers. 

Serious drumming has been going on, along with sick and slick dance moves. 

 Buncha goobers!

Oscar collected pinecones for his magic tree, and we had a good morning painting them, and rocks, and paper, and faces.

It's not spring without a flower adornment! Flowers collected by John.

Their looks just say it all. 

Abutilon! Saved from the cats, it has risen to flower again.

Edie found the necklace the next day, and it hung around her neck just long enough to get this pictures before disintegrating.

The boys were so sad I wouldn't let them play in their spaceship anymore that we constructed a new one in the back yard. That way the neighbors couldn't threaten us with their unmasked proximity. First, a tarp was added to the dome. But then they needed another room, which was provided by the hammock. But then, the hammock was too sunny! So another tarp was added, and then...even though climbing on it was forbidden, they found their way onto it. And, well, we reengineered it to be safe to sit on and now it is a favorite reading spot. Or, it was, while it was warm out.

We've been enjoying storytelling in the evening. One child holds the magic lamp and tells a story while an adult provides conga accompaniment! Everyone has a story to tell, and now Edie is telling stories even at dinner time. Her stories go like: "Once upon a time my lamby saw a monster! And a dinosaur! And a dragon! And a panda! And a poopoohead! The End."

The most important part, of course, is that everyone be in their sleeping bags.

Sweet dreams!