May Blizzard, Grandma Jane's 80th, Susan's Visit, Preschool Prom

 




Tuesday

So. When I started this blog last night I was still raving about the four days of spring we enjoyed earlier this week. It was up to 75 degrees. Most of our snow had melted and the grass was greening up; red buds were sprouting on the trees and our perennials were sending up green shoots-- yada, yada, yada. Bliss.

Thursday

Here's what we woke up to today:  almost a foot of snow. And it's still coming down fast. School was cancelled, our sun umbrella was crushed and all of the cute little lawn ornaments we'd fished out of the garage this weekend are buried under mounds of fluffy white IRONY.








Grandpa Jon made Jack a basketball hoop

This new snow won't last long, but still... it's not what we want to see. At least April gave us a few golden days...



"Grandpa" made this playhouse, too



Jon tests out the hammock




Iggy finds a cat-like place to nap

Nice while it lasted-! But so it goes... and why else do we live in Wisconsin but to complain about the weather?


Moving on with "other business"... the last time I posted, I mentioned that a calf born to one of our cows had us worried:  the mom cow seemed disinterested in her baby, and the weather was wet and unwelcoming. Well, I'm happy to report that while mom cow spent a lot of time away from her newborn, she apparently made regular trips back to feed her,  because the calf is doing fine. Now she's big enough to chase after her wayward Mom and hang out with the other calves, as in this photo:


Also, for those of you on Facebook who saw me post about our "disappearing" chickens, here's an update on that, too. Within a period of about a week, we lost 3 from our flock of 10 chickens. The first two were killed on different days while locked up in their coop... something had climbed over the top of their fencing and found a gap between the fence and the roof. We suspect that killer was a raccoon who'd become a regular visitor to our house. We were able to trap the raccoon, and the night raids have (so far) ended.  But then a third chicken was killed in broad daylight by an unknown predator, while free-ranging in our yard. It's body was carried off, so we're thinking it may have been a fox. We're addressing the problem by letting the chickens free range for shorter periods of time and trying to spend more time outside with them. There have been no new chicken fatalities this past week, so we'll see...

At this point, Jack and Iggy are NOT suspects

One fun April event is my mother-in-law's birthday...  and this year "Grandma Jane" celebrated her 80th. As in previous years, Pat and Ann (her son-in-law and oldest daughter) hosted a birthday party for her at their cabin in the woods. All of Jane's children and most of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were present. One of those grandchildren was my stepdaughter Susan, who drove all the way from Kentucky with her husband Jay.

Jane, my mother-in-law

Susan with Leila and Harrison

We had a great visit with Susan... I am always amazed at the effort and time she is willing to give each individual person in her family. She's confidante and role model for 12 year-old Emma, who looks to her for advice; loving book-reader and surrogate mom for 5 year-old Leila; devoted daughter to her daddy and friend to me (as well as co-founder of our two person discussion group). And the list goes on and on, with Jonathan, Michael, David, Logan, Grandma Jane, etc... all of us having a special connection to Susan and considering her our own.

I know it meant a lot to Grandma to have Susan present at her party... for one thing, she was able to get a picture of her with all of her granddaughters:

Left to right: Allison, Jessica, Brittany, Grandma Jane, Leila, Lisa, Susan, and Emma




It was snowy that day but already starting to warm up, so we had lots of fun indoors and out. The highlight, as always, was seeing how all the children have grown and watching them interact with each other. I also enjoy seeing how Jon's nephews and nieces-- most of whom were children when I met them-- behave now as adults and parents. It's fun to see the different family resemblances and everybody together at once.

Kelsey, Harrison, and Luke Meyer

Having trouble getting out of "caption" mode. Anyway, I was going to add here that this was the first time I met Harrison Jack Meyer, and I absolutely loved him. What a friendly, happy, chubby-cheeked baby. Very bright eyes and a snuggle-bug. His daddy Luke is Jon's sister Sally's middle son, so that makes me Harrison's great-aunt. 



The potluck meal at Ann's was great, as always.

Still in caption mode. Sigh. Anyway, I wanted to compliment the cooks who brought such a great variety of healthful and delicious foods to the table. It was nice to see fresh fruits and vegetables alongside the hot dishes.

Jon's sister Ann, our hostess, is pictured in striped shirt under the window

Nephew Joe's wife, Nicole, places a birthday crown on their daughter Lauren's head

We didn't just have birthday cake for dessert, as you can see!

Grandma Jane with most of her grandsons (I think David and Josh are the ones missing in the photo). Standing in back: Nathan, Steve, Joe, and Andy. Seated around Grandma: Michael, Alec, Nick, Adam, Luke, and Jacob. On floor in front: Eric and Jonathan.

Grandma with most of her great-grandchildren: Brent holding Harrison (Brandon not present), Malia holding Cooper, Ellie (but Jamison's missing), Leila (shouldn't be in this photo-- she's a granddaughter), Jackson (wailing), Brooke and Audrey (Lauren's not pictured either). And Blythe and Casen are missing. So I guess this is about half of her great-grandchildren!

Jane with her seven children: Eric (standing), Phil, Mark, Sally, Jon, Ann, and Brent.

Brooke and Audrey, Eric Sime's girls

Emma entertaining the little girls with bubbles

 

Blythe (one of nephew Josh's sons) helping cut the cake

 

Jody and Eric with grandchild Casen (Josh's youngest)
 

 



We also had a surprise wedding shower for Kelsey

Anyway, Grandma Jane's birthday was a fun day for all and we were glad we got to spend it with her.


Susan was able to spend a lot of time with Jack during her visit. She helped me watch him during his weekly overnight stay at our house. We also did some fun things like go to the little antique store and sandwich shop in Colfax that I like. Unfortunately, both Susan and Jay came down with some kind of bug toward the end of their visit... that seems to happen every time we visit each other: the cross-country exchanging of the germs. Here's a few more pics from their visit:

Jon with Susan and Leila

Preschool Prom

Susan and Jay

Recognize the dress? It's her flower girl dress from Susan's wedding

Remember when Susan wore big bows on her head?

Leila and her "king"

Dancing



Loving Susan up

Okay, now I'm stuck in caption mode again. I was going to explain that Susan and Jay were with us long enough to help us take Leila to her preschool prom. The kids dressed up and had a "dance" in the high school gym (which had been decorated for the "real" prom, so looked very fancy). They wore crowns they'd made in class... every boy was a "king" and every girl a "queen". They danced to the hokey pokey, chicken dance, etc. while the parents just shamelessly took pictures.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

I'll close with a picture of my other daughter, Emma, with a couple of signs she designed for an imaginary business. She wanted to combine her love of moustaches (they sell moustache duct tape and other accessories, so it's kind of a design fad) with her love of hot dogs. I was impressed with her creativity and the way she pulled it all together.

Okay, that's enough "bragging" about my kids for one day. Happy May!