Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Of mayhem, mischief, humor and reptiles.

Spring has sprung at our magical house. And I've got the proof in pictures.



Once again, snakes! And you know, after a couple of years with a backyard teeming with snakes, they don't fill me with horror the way they once did. At least not our friendly garder snakes. They've become inevitable visitors and I've developed somewhat of a morbid fascination with them. I stood, staring at and taking photos of this beauty, for about 30 minutes this afternoon.



Weird, huh? I was almost happy to see him.

"Well, hello little guy. Have a good sleep?"



After all, he hasn't poisoned, bitten, bothered or eaten any of my children yet. Why should I worry this year?

And then there's this Mashuga kid I'm expected to raise. Can't quite figure him out yet. How do you raise a child who really doesn't care a whit what you think about him. Especially when he is so much fun to be around. Honestly, if you had told me that I'd get this much pleasure out of being ignored and deliberately disobeyed, I would have laughed you to the ground. But Mashuga is fun, even if he acts like he's only putting up with me until he turns 18 and only does what I say if he doesn't have anything better to do.


Case in point.

We were in the car on the way to get Scud from school. I was talking to him about keeping his pants dry or cleaning his room or some other such nonsense.

Suddenly he breaks out in a refrain of:

"I'm closing my ears! I'm closing my ears! Hi ho the cherry-o, I'm closing my ears."

I look in the miror, expecting a fight. But, no. He has his fingers in his ears and a jubliant smile on his face.

He kept singing all the way to the school, fingers firmly in his ears.

And he can also be so sweet, I must say. I frequently awake to his little voice saying, "Good morning beautiful! I love you!" or "Mommy, will you please roll over so I can see your beautiful face."



My Dad turned 50 on Sunday. What a good guy he is. We had a surprise birthday party/open house for him on Saturday and it was such a joy to be there and to see everyone else there. I put together a slide show for him and am just so amazed by what a good life he's lived. I planned to write a whole post about him on his birthday, but alas, I slept most of the afternoon because I was so tired after driving home from his party. I will write that post soon, I promise.

Coco is growing and getting chubbier and chubbier. He laughs and smiles and is just delightful for our family.



I hope you are enjoying life wherever you are. I'm loving it here. This time of year is powerfully enlivening for me. I find myself rejoicing as each crocus peeks it's head through the soil, as each blade of new green grass appears, as buds begin on trees. The weather is so perfect now. Warm enough to be warm and truly appreciated after months of winter.

I drove home this afternoon with my windows down, Impromtu in F minor by Schubert playing loudly, wind whipping through my hair.

There are fleeting moments when I wonder why we think we have to wait to taste heaven.