April Rocks!

Okay, so BARELY into the month, but so far it's been behaving VERY kindly and I am appreciating every moment of it!

We started the month off on an overnight camping trip that whet everyone's appetite for more ASAP.

Late night gaming!

AMAZING moths!!

Swimming with da fishes.  And otters!

Hanging out

With friends!!

We took one extra kid with us and came home with a different extra kid, spent Thursday in a lazy fashion before heading to dance.

Friday, Chan and Brit got to spend the day taking art classes and checking out the new art institute over in Decatur.  Since it was a long drive, Matt and I opted to kill time in town until she was done.  We bought herbs and veggies and picked up a couple magnolia trees and had lunch at Bob Gibson's BBQ.  So yummy.

On the way to pick up Chan, we popped in at a music store and they had not only the tiny gig bag for her uke, which we snatched up, but also a Fisher mandolin on sale with ALL the stuff-book, tuner, strings, gig bag, strap and picks for less than I had just priced JUST the mandolin. To make it an even better deal, he assembled the bridge and tuned it and tightened the...I call it an arm rest, but it's a metal thing that keeps you from resting ON the wood of the instrument.  Maybe arm rest is close enough.

I was SO excited! We met her at the art thing and Matt ran around and burst after 12 seconds and ran to the car to show her.  I had told her I was getting her a gig bag, so she was not amazed.  Then she showed us her painting and while I was oooing, Matt hauled out the new mandolin.  She looked at it and then looked back at me and said, "I don't feel you have admired this enough." about her bird painting.  So I had to oooo some more!

Now you, too can ooo.  Brit's on the left, Chan's on the right.

She decided at that point to stay with Brit-we could have been back home by 10 and saved a few hundred bucks to boot!  We took the girls to get some pictures, but the place I wanted to go was full of prom girls, so we went to the art museum instead and then dropped them and the mandolin off.

Matt's photo, I was driving.

Today I got up and did nothing for a while, we got an advance copy of the new Hobbit movie last night and had been up late.  That was a LONG movie and then it just stopped.  BAM.

We watched Odd Thomas today, which was good.  Though I love Anton Yelchin, I have since House of D, so I may be biased.  We also saw 47 Ronin, which I really liked!  I don't know why so many people were griping about it.

When it finally warmed up, I put plants in pots and trees in holes and I planted my new jessamine vine.  I thought I killed the old one trying to move it, but 2 vines lived that we discovered, so I should have an impressive showing in another couple years.  I want it to cover the front fence from end to end.  It won't take long, that stuff is CRAZY.

Yarden, phase 2.

Look at that light, amazing!!

Something is a little off in this one.  Not quite as sparkly as I recall...

That's better!

I thought the hyacinths had come and gone, it's late.  But looking over the small patch, not only are they not gone, they have spread!  I planted 5 bulbs when we first moved in here. 

These did not like the cold or the van ride or the wait to get planted, they are kind of droopy now.
I hope I did not mow through part of my gardening budget only to learn I jumped the gun!

I wandered around and picked a few things to go in our nachos last night.
I have had a hankering for nachos, certain nachos with certain things in them.
We have had nachos three times in the past couple of weeks trying to get what I want, last night was SO close.  Black beans, Spanish rice, tofu, turkey bacon, yard, queso and salty chips.

Finally, this rare event.
All three of my kids and only my 3 kids!
They quickly dispersed and regrouped, but it happened for a moment.
Okay, I had to call Jake over, but there they are!

Off now to smell my amazing hair (Suave is making this stuff called...Natural...well, it's macadamia nut oil and white orchid.  It smells SO GOOD).  Anyway, to smell my hair, drink some Angry Orchard hard apple cider and read more of Switch Bitch.  It's a series of naughty adult stories (nothing explicit, more of 'then it happened' if sex ever actually comes up) by Roald Dahl.  You know, Fantastic Mr. Fox and James and the Giant Peach, The Phantom Tollbooth.  Cracked me up when I found it in the adult section and even more so when I saw they had all been published in Playboy first.