Spring is my favorite season. Robert prefers the colors and crispness of fall, but I love the new colors, the blossoms, the emerging life and unpredictable weather. I love having a sunny 68 degree day, followed by snow that weighs down the daffodils all morning and melts by dinnertime. Five days of rain is a wonderful thing - I love umbrellas and the sound of the drops on the pavement. And most of all, that brilliant blue, blue sky that stands as a backdrop to the white and pink blossoms, the new-green tender leaves, and the magnificent snowy Wasatch range.
I spent the first half of April in Ohio, and they had a beautiful spring, too. More blossomy trees and green everywhere. The bluest sky I have seen in Columbus before, and more days of sun than rain. Allison and Chris' home is in a small rural area with large green, grassy yards and lots of trees. Their own yard is filled with these beautiful white blossomed ones. Their front yard has a natural depression that fills with water each spring and a family of ducks make their home there.
I went back to visit and to be with Zoe over her Spring Break, while the rest of the family was in school and at work. Jimmy took a couple of days off of school to be home with me, too, plus the weekends. And I came prepared! These kids - especially Jimmy - love to make crafts. So I stocked up on Easter and spring themed supplies and we had one project every day.
One of the first ones was these shirts. I had the pieces from another project, so I just bought the T-shirts and let them glue them on, knowing the shirts would be a one-time thing. But Jimmy loved his so much and was concerned that the glue wasn't holding the pieces on, that I spent hours over several nights hand stitching every little piece on the shirts. And just let me tell you how hard it is to get a needle through felt that has been completely hardened by dried glue! Anyway, by the time I got them finished, the day before Easter, Jimmy had figured out that this was a shirt with a BUNNY on it, and if he ever wore it outside the house someone would probably beat him up! I had to insist he wear it long enough for me to take the photo. As you can tell by his snobby French expression, he is letting me know, "You can make me wear it, Grandma, but you can never make me like it!"
But we did lots of fun things. We stitched and decorated felt bags that they used for their Easter baskets. We made little carrot and bunny cars. We made foam Easter houses. We blew out eggs and dyed them and then made
them into egg animals. Plus animal magnets for the fridge and picture frames with Australian animals. Because one day, Zoe and I are going to go to Australia and go to Steve Irwin's zoo and hold a koala. We have it planned.
One of the first nights I was there, Allison and Chris went out, leaving me to watch the kids. I ordered in pizza and told them we were going to have a movie night. They immediately went over to the 'kids' section of their DVD collection, which are all animated movies and I told them no. We were going to watch a 'Family' movie. This immediately had them both howling and protesting, with Zoe on the floor. I very calmly said that there were movies that were in between kids and grown-ups and we were going to watch a family movie. I went through the shelves and picked "Hatari". Zoe continued to throw her tantrum on the floor, right up till the pizza arrived, which surprised me, because she has watched some of it with me before and liked it. Jimmy agreed to watch it after I described all of the animals that are in it - giraffes and elephants and monkeys and even a rocket - and it opens right up before the credits with an exciting rhino chase. But they were into the movie almost instantly and even though it is almost 3 hours long and went way past their bedtime, by the climax when the three baby elephants are chasing the girl all around the town, through stores and hotels, Jimmy came right up off his seat and said, "Did they make a video game of this movie?"
You would think after this success I would have had an easier experience the second I proposed a family movie, but no. This time, Jimmy had the tantrum when Zoe and I picked "The Court Jester". But, again, he was right into it and the rest of the week went around trying to say, "the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle." The last day Zoe and I were alone we watched the muscial "My Sister Eileen". She loved it. She got up and tried to do some of the dances along with the show. During her bath later she sang the songs at full volume. But I know the next time I suggest a 'Family' movie I'll get the same protests. Why are kids so stubborn?
The night before I was to leave Zoe was very upset. Allison had gone in to put Jimmy to bed and I went in with Zoe. Jimmy could hear Zoe crying and asked why. Allison said that Zoe was sad that grandma was going home because she would miss her. Jimmy said, "I'll miss grandma, too. Am I sad?" And then he started to cry. She calmed him down and I went in and kissed him goodnight and he was fine. But Zoe would not be settled. She continued to cry and got more out of control as the hour went on. After about 30 minutes, Jimmy got out of bed and asked his dad what was wrong with Zoe. Chris said that Zoe was just sad. Jimmy said, "Well, I'm sad, too. Tell Zoe to shut up!" Jimmy can miss me, but there's a limit. Zoe's been fine since I left. We're both looking forward to her coming this summer.
When I got home, a few days after Easter, I thought it was time to take down the Christmas decorations. Well, I had thought it was time since the end of February, but I've been sick and have had no one to help. And, of course, I just mean the 55 or so nativities that actually come down. The tree went away at the end of February. Robert had cleaned the living room carpet so nicely while I was gone and cleaned out the den, so the boxes were easily accessible. He brought boxes up and down from the basement all day and I got everything packed up and stowed by the late afternoon. It is much easier to put them away than to set them out!
And then, the last accomplishment of April - Rob's graduation from BYU with his MBA!! This is such a wonderful achievement for him and for Erin. The hard work and sacrifice they have each had to put in to this degree is amazing. I am so proud of them. I know all the best will come out of it and our prayers for them are constant. Way to go!!!!!!
