How many times have you seen a dandelion and dismissed it as a simple weed? Most of us see millions of dandelions this time of year as their bright yellow faces peer out from the green sea of grass. They are so common and numerous that we never take the time to take a closer look.

Like a telemarketer at dinner time, they have no idea just how unwelcome they are. The dandelions are simply doing what God designed, living and growing and producing vibrant yellow blooms.

I was outside the other day taking a few pictures and took this picture of a beautiful yellow flower. If you click on the picture and see it in full size, you can see the intricate swirls of the anther and the delicate petals.

Just like everyone else, I am not a fan of weeds in my yard, but I think that next time I see one (or 25) I’ll have a greater sense of appreciation for the everyday beauty that surrounds us.

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This year, we attended Easter services at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon. At church the previous week, they asked for people who could attend on Saturday to do so and it fit in well with nap/bedtime so we figured we’d go for it. Several other families from our community group also attended the same service, so we got to site together. It was a little funny getting all dressed up on Saturday afternoon and then going to church and seeing so many people in jeans. We felt a bit overdressed. Maybe next year, we’ll wear jeans as well!

The Easter Bunny brought the kids a little candy, a new devotional book, and an umbrella. Grant thinks his dinosaur umbrella is pretty cool.

On Easter Sunday, we ventured out to Sycamore to have an Easter egg hunt and dinner at Grammy’s. Before the kids went outside to look for eggs, I saw a squirrel eating one of the plastic eggs. I didn’t think that squirrels liked candy, guess I was wrong. During the egg hunt, we found several other eggs and candy that the squirrel or his cohorts had eaten. And that plastic egg, yummy!

 

Norah and Grammy with some of Norah’s Easter “loot” from the Grammy (Easter) Bunny.

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At this point, it looks like at least one of everything has sprouted (although I’m not sure that an errant tomato seed may have ended up in the sweet pepper quadrant).

I went to Menard’s and bought wood to begin creating the elevated garden beds and had good intentions to get at least one built. The weather had another idea and we proceeded to get several inches of snow and ice on Saturday and Sunday. The construction phase will have to wait for another day. Until then, we’ll keep watering and anticipate planting once the weather gets nicer again.

Can you believe that each one of those sprouts can grow into a full head of lettuce? The kids can’t wait to see it.

Those aren’t trees, they’re our beans!

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Our seeds are making progress! The kids and I watered the seeds again today and saw that several of our vegetables had seeds that have germinated/sprouted.

To date, we can see lettuce (below), tomato, zucchini, green beans, and peppers. We’re looking forward to seeing the rest of our seeds poke up through the soil to join their brethren!

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