Nathaniel's Birthday and More...

Happy Birthday to a brother I admire and am so grateful for!

Birthdays are such fun! :)

A fireman beanie...

...brings smiles to all. :)

Wendy, Ben's goat. We're hopeing she's pregnant--if she is, she's due April 1st (and that's not a joke! ;).

Nabisco was Wendy's baby last year.

Micah!

Making a duck house...

It's so fun to get out in the soil again -- I planted basil plants in my herb garden, and added a gravel spillway.

Mom's tomato plants are such a vibrant green!

Here's an old painting by Jessie Wilcox Smith that I love!

The bouquet the S. family gave us has been a beautiful source of joy!

"When the Spring breeze blows,

And calls the Earth to wake,

The boating blood, the Viking blood

Draws young ones to the lake."

--poem jotted down on the spur of the moment to fill this blog space ;)

"Barging" makes for such epic poses!

(By the way, to calm your fears, the water's only a few feet deep. :) We really need more rain!)

Our gold truck is fixed at last, thanks to the hard work and energy of Nathaniel & Andrew!

The duck house, halfway finished...

Our oldest cat --

--and our youngest cat.

Art

I absolutely adore Redbud!!!!

Love the colors and contrasts...

The evening of Nathaniel's birthday, we played "Rhyme 'n Time" -- a game we haven't played much, but we enjoy when we do!

Darling Stephen tries to describe a word...

...with the help of a big brother who can read. :)

 Now it's another team member's time to describe, and intense concentration shows upon the faces of the guessers... 

Micah looks serious, Stephen thinks talking to himself is the best method of solving the issue, Mom is amused but is thinking hard too, while Nathaniel looks up in appeal to his Muse... ;) ;) (Okay, I'm having a bit of fun with this pic -- I don't believe in "Muses!")

Happy 22nd Birthday, Nathaniel!!!! We love you SO much!!!!

Oh, and by the way:
The site "Beautiful Womanhood," which posted my first published article when I was 17, just published another: Tearing Down Our Defenses With Our Own Hands. I'm thrilled! :)