Waiting For Spring

When I can't sleep at night because my heart is hurting or my mind is busy worrying, the only comfort I have is my five girls. These girls are everything to me - the five anchors that keep me going and remind me (on those occasions when I think I can't possibly keep going) that there is unconditional love to be found..  I have that from my girls and I am so grateful for each and every one of them!

Another joy in my life is gardening. Two years ago I followed some bad advice and put some harsh compost in my garden and it's never been the same since. (Insert huge sad face here) Although the results are somewhat discouraging these days, I still love to plant things in the earth and do my best to get them to grow. Last Friday was Earth Day. Did you know that?  I celebrated the planet by prepping and planting some spring crops in my veggie garden and by cleaning out my beloved sitting garden. Don't think I did this without any help though! Hubby and the girls were there to help me with all of it and it was a very satisfying day!

I can't wait until it is warm enough to start putting in some lovely annual plants to make this garden burst with color!

Saturday was busy busy! We had made plans to go to Mom's to color Easter eggs with Missy and Ella, but it was also Prom day for Emily and I just could not make our schedules work so that we could color eggs without leaving anyone out. You know me by now... I don't know how many years of egg coloring I have left with my teenage girls so it is very important to me that I don't miss the time I have left. I made the difficult decision to stay home with my girls and color eggs when Emily was available between her "day activity" and leaving for her Prom date. I think there have been times in the past when the girls had more fun coloring eggs than they did this year, but I was happy to be a part of it nonetheless! (I think the girls were really missing Ashley this year!)

It wasn't long before it was time for Emily to get gussied up for her big date. She looked stunning! I am so proud of this girl of mine.. she's growing up so quickly and if I blink then I will miss it! But true to Emily form, she came up with a great idea to have her picture taken in her Prom dress.... jumping on the trampoline! I love her silly side. :) Even better was when she got the other three in her group to join her in some high-jumping hi-jinx! Have you ever seen Prom pictures like these? So fun!

 

I am so happy that I have these girls to remind me of all the important things in life. I love them all to pieces! I even got them Easter treats again this year in spite of the comment, "Mom, you make us feel like we are five years old!"  I know they love it that the "Easter Bunny" still thinks of them and I loved watching them divvy up the treats in the ginormous basket that they have all shared since they were little. *sigh*  I'm just not ready for my little ones to grow up!

  

Visions Of Peeps Danced Through Their Heads

I had some errands to run yesterday and because it was Carley's early-out day at school, she went with me. One of the things I needed to do was pick up some Easter treats for my girlies to put in a basket for them this Sunday. It's probably awful that I was doing this right in front of Carley, but she insists she didn't mind. (She is eighteen, after all)

As I walked through the sweets-infested aisles, I would find things I thought the girls might like and I carefully counted out the right number of items and put them in my shopping cart. Money is tight right now and Carley was very conscious of the price of things.. (one of the reasons I probably shouldn't have been doing that shopping with her) she kept telling me that Easter treats were not necessary because they were all old enough to do without those childhood things and I kept reassuring her that it was okay.

I actually didn't spend that much money when it was all said and done, but I could see that my girl was worried about the expense so I offered her my very best explanation for why I do these things and it went something like this:

When my girls were little and would have bad dreams, they would come  crawl into bed with me so I could snuggle their sleepy heads for the rest of the night. Linzie was particularly prone to bad dreams and sleepwalking so she ended up in my bed the most often. One day, not too many years ago, I realized that the night snuggles just stopped all at once and no one had warned me that I would miss comforting my sleepy girls when that happened. I was so used to little girls crawling in bed with us at night that I didn't stop to think about them growing up and handling nightmares on their own, leaving me unaware of any bad dreams disturbing their sleep at all. What would I have done if I had known that I was sharing my pillow with a sleeping little one for the last time? My point is that I didn't know that part of my little girls' childhood had ended and I didn't stop to think about it until years later.. and then I missed it.

I don't want the wonder of Easter baskets to vaporize the same way the night-time snuggles did, without anyone noticing at all, and so I cheerfully buy chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks, and other assorted sugary treats for my "grown up" girls to enjoy on Easter Sunday. We will color eggs while singing along with our iPod music and there will be plenty of pictures to share! And I will be happy for at least one more year of childhood traditions with my precious girls. 

Then:

Little Madi and Little Carley showing off their Easter eggs

 Now:

We don't mess around! Egg coloring is SERIOUS business!

  

 

Last night we were watching television and a commercial came on for a new product.. "Crayola Bubbles" <-click to see the commercial  I was amazed! I told the girls that I totally would have bought that for them on Easter when they were little. Linzie's response?  "When we were LITTLE? What? Are we NOT bubble worthy?" Oh. My. Goodness! I laughed so hard over her comment that I decided right then and there that I would do my best to try and track down the colored bubbles for my girls' Easter basket this year! It seems they aren't quite ready to grow up either and I am grateful for that!