Easter Garden Video

We made an Easter garden this afternoon!  Not at all like I remembered, with a walk in the woods to discover any spring growth and to harvest mats of moss for our hillside and tomb.  But quite successful and satisfactory for all creators none-the-less.  Grace and Jasmin decided to make a movie tour of their creation:

Imma's Here!

Aiden so excited to go pick Imma up
It wasn't till we were leaving out the door
That I realized he thought we were going on the airplane!

Still, he was quite content to be the proud first greeter
To not be competing with big sisters straight away
And he made the most of it -
No room for words from mom to Imma all the way home.

Amazing things happen when Imma is here
Bed times fall at the right time more consistently
Meals appear more quickly - and sometimes without my help
School goes slower and calmer - but we finish the day's work all the same

Late night talks and companionable silence
The sharing of household tasks builds a smoother rhythm
Industrious crafting picks up again
Kids seem to disappear less and want to be around more

Wood walks and river trips multiply
Biking and other outdoor play without resistance
How much is Imma's presence
How much is simply the hints of Spring?

Freedom for shopping or errands alone
No wasted brilliant sunny days for kids because there are mom jobs to do
What a much nicer smoother rhythm to family life
Why can't she stay longer? - or forever!

From Storm to Spring

Nearly a month later
Ice storms and lights snows
Have come and gone
Lent begun
"Proper" school reconvened - and dropped again

Day following day
February ended March begun
Where's the time gone?
What have we done?

Easter choir practices kick off with a full Saturday of song
Grace tags-a-long as eager as Mom to sing
Now Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons full of song:
Exhilarating, enrapturing, exhausting!

A lunchtime swim for a month well done
A different pool that we all enjoyed much more
Diving, swimming, jumping, chasing, losing, finding
Coming home ravenous and delightfully tired.

A Rideau Hall tour with some other homeschoolers
A skate at Landsdowne
In bright sunshine and just right temperatures
Hot chocolate at a friend's before hurrying home
to leave again for AWANA

A few day visit from a dear friend
Walks in the woods
Many conversations
The sharing of life
Prayer

Cyclical checkups for Jasmin & Mommy
Still questing for learning helps
Hearing good news of normal results
March seems full of appointments!

Days of slow melt under grey skies
Piles and piles of silently shrinking old snow
The smell of spring in the air
The joy of being able to walk to the store
Without freezing, slipping,sliding, or crunching
Noting the orangey-brown mist on the trees
Anticipating it turning green
The longing in Aiden's voice, "When can I play outside without snow?"