Happy May Day!

I made this little bouquet a few weeks ago, knowing that it would be the May basket I would give to my neighbor friend. Rory and I delivered it this morning and we ended up sitting down for a while and reconnecting. People, this is why I love May Day. It's just a good reason to get out there and see people you haven't seen in a while.

I used the same jar I used for my fabric flowers, but filled it with coffee beans this time, instead of jellybeans. The bonus? This bouquet of paper flowers smells divine.

I found the instructions on how to make these super simple flowers here. They were really fun to make, and an easy project to do in an evening.

just a friendly reminder...

...that tomorrow is May Day! I have the best memories of celebrating May Day with our next door neighbors, the Andersons. We would make our baskets (theirs out of cups and stickers and ribbon handles, and ours out of paper fortune teller things turned upside down) and filled with popcorn, skittles and rolos. Then we'd deliver them, ringing the doorbell, and running all over the neighborhood, being chased for the thank you hug.

I have talked to lots of people who have never celebrated May Day...which is a bummer, because its basically a fun day to give a thoughtful and easy gift to your neighbors.

Last year, I got a basket from my neighbor friend, Joan, and already have hers ready to go for tomorrow. She reads this blog, so I'll wait to share pictures until she gets her basket. The picture above is just a google stock image, but I loved these colorful baskets!

So, get your game on! Get out and see your neighbors again, pop some popcorn and buy some candy and celebrate spring, community, hugs and friendship.

anticipation

My nieces Mara and Sonna have their birthdays next week. Mara will turn 5 and Sonna will turn 3. This picture is a year old, and I can't believe how much they've grown in one year. Plus, Mara just looks different when her eyes are open! :)

I was on the phone last night with Mara when she told me, "I wish my birthday was in the winter because then it will be more soon. I always say, mom, is it my birthday yet? when is it going to be my birthday? when is it going to be my birthday? But now it is this Monday. And there isn't even another Monday before it. Just today, and then another day and another and another and then it's my birthday."

I started writing that quote down word for word the second she said because then it will be more soon. She has been talking about her birthday for months now, and I'm so happy she finally will get to celebrate turning five!

so excited about this...

A while back I sent an email out to my grandma, my mom, my mother-in-law, my sister and sister-in-laws asking them seven specific questions about mamahood. Their responses have started coming back, and I cannot wait to share their words of motherly wisdom with you. I have already laughed and cried reading their words and know you'll enjoy a week of celebrating mama's and all that comes along with the most important job in the world.

In related news, I'm at 13 weeks, and I think my belly is stretching. I can't see it on the outside, so much as I can feel it on the inside and it is the strangest thing. Things are definitely shifting around in there and I'm excited to see the proof pop out in the form of a baby belly.

weekend at the farm

We spent the weekend at the farm, catching up with cousins and constantly being entertained by this little lady. She is a riot and got me so excited for one of my own. She's a little parrot repeating everything we say and she loves being outside. That's a good thing, because her mama is a farmer, and so she spends a lot of time riding in tractors and investigating the farm yard.

She sports her rainboots well...and puts them to good use.

The boys demo'd this deck on Saturday in order to make room for the sandbox they built. Rory's comment, "last time I was here we shot guns. this time I am swinging a sledge hammer. we have to come here more often."

The new sandbox was a success...but only when her aunt and uncle built the sand castles. She'd tell them "again" or "more" but was leery of getting her own hands full of sticky sand.

Over at my Uncle Jake's farm, a calf was born. I actually heard the labor, but didn't know that was what was happening down there. A while later Uncle Jake told us this calf had just been born. I could have seen the birth! So close! (The black calf by the mama is the brand-new baby. The brown calf is another cow's but wanted to drink this mama's milk because it's so good the first day. The mama cow was not happy with the brown calf and was telling it through word and action to get lost.)

Rory was so happy to get to shoot a gun again. This time they shot clay pigeons and as it turns out, he's a really good shot.

Saturday concluded with a big wiener roast at my Aunt Louie's. Wiener roasts are highly revered tradition in our family...so much so that I had an aunt and uncle who drove from the cities just for supper (a 2 1/2 hour drive each way). You just don't want to miss out on one of these gatherings.

Sunday morning we went to Immanuel, my grandma's church and the church my parents were married in. And we ended our visit with breakfast at the Dunnell Cafe. It was a great weekend, and my heart is full with gratitude for a family that loves each other well.