Commencement

She graduated from high school!   Still 17 years old.  Two teenager girls, two little boys and two parents...make up our family of 6.  

Monday evening, we had a memorial service for my dad, exactly 6 years ago he passed on.  We went out for ice cream after.  The next morning, some 5 year old lost another tooth.  He will emphasize that he's 5 and a HALF to anyone that asks his age.  This is his fourth tooth.  And both his top teeth are out, the adult teeth coming through already!

Gorgeous flowers at the farmer's market.  And my mom!  I bought a bouquet for the graduate.  

Do you have cicadas?  They are out in full force now.  It's fun finding a cicada shell and touching it. My mom came over to babysit and noticed that little George gently turned over a cicada who was on it's back. Their chirping is resonant and pleasant, I think.  I only hope I don't inadvertently step on one.  

Farewell

Friends from Massachusetts came for 2 nights and the younger children especially had a great time together!

Our peonies are blooming!  Do you like these bracelets I made?  I gave a few to our friends who visited.  

Our girls made homemade lasagna over the weekend!

We went on a one night camping trip!  We saw the 1st cicadas and have since seen more.

He kayaked, I went on the paddleboard.  We took turns with the kids and the water felt so nice and refreshing.  We saw a heron by the shore and watched it fly away as we neared.

Picking wildflowers in a meadow is such a sweet thing.  Buttercups and daisies, which he gave to me.

Hope you have a nice week.  It's 84 F here and starting to feel like summer, not spring.  One month until summer.  

Lettuce

Look what grew in our backyard, without us planting it, between a few bricks, we did have this variety that we sowed by seed in the very back of our garden last year.  

Our rhubarb flowered, and I cut it so it can focus its energy on the stalks and leaves.  It was so tall, I had to take a photo of someone beside it first...

There is also an adundance of dainty blue flowers on the borage.

Our nearby YMCA is filling up the pool today.  We're looking forward to swimming outdoors soon.

Checking the chicken coop for eggs daily.  Our hosta are full now and their leaves are just beautiful! And the 1st radish:

Prom

Today is Olivia's senior prom!  She'll graduate in 2 weeks.  How time flies!!  

I took those with my good camera...and these on my phone:

They went out to eat here before going to dance.

Pascha

Yesterday we celebrated Pascha!  So, Christ is Risen!  We had a midnight church service and all 6 of us went.  We went to my mom's house for dinner yesterday.  Bright Monday Liturgy this morning.  Do you know the story of the RED egg?  Mary Magdalene, who was equal to the Apostles, wanted to spread the news of Christ's Resurrection.  Due to her status as a Roman patrician, she was able to get an audience with the emperor, Tiberius Caesar. The emperor scoffed, “How could a man rise from the dead? It’s as impossible as this white egg turning red!” Immediately, the egg turned a brilliant red color. Many icons of St. Mary Magdalene show her with a red egg.  And so, we color eggs with yellow onion skins boiled in water.  

Our youngest is officially 2 and a half!  He's still breastfeeding.  I am trying to get him to drink more cow's milk, but he begs and cries for mama milk several times a day.  We've been getting local Snowville Creamery milk, which is nice.  I'm thankful I've been able to breastfeed.  

Have a great week!