the goodest

This morning I told the kids, "Grandma and Grandpa are going to be driving to Minnesota today!" Elsie gasped and said while running towards the stairs, "Then I must wear something lovely!" She came back all ready for their arrival. Which may not even happen today, but at any rate she is ready.

Then, a few hours later, she said to me, "Mom, are we going anywhere today? Because I just look so nice." I looked at her and thought about it for a moment. We have been on lock down since Monday when Rory and Elsie were diagnosed with Strep. Then Tuesday Ivar and my throats started to hurt and our doctor called in a prescription for us too. On top of that, I woke up early Tuesday morning with the world in a tailspin, and an awful bout of vertigo. Usually the half somersault exercises will set the world right again, but this time I got way worse before I got better. Rory called his folks in a panic, as we were both out of commission and couldn't parent. His wonderful mom came for the first half of the day, tag teamed by his wonderful dad who brought dinner and watched the kids the second half of the day. Also, we believe Hattie has her first tooth coming in. She had to do something to get a little attention around here.

So when Elsie asked if we were going anywhere, I looked into her bored eyes, did the math that we have all been on antibiotics now for 48 hours and told her I'd take her out to lunch to her favorite (and mine) hoagie place for soup and a sandwich. You wouldn't want an outfit that lovely to go to waste. She clapped her hands and said to Ivar, "Oh! I am the prettiest! You are the handsomest and Mom is the goodest!"

I'll take it.

We had a really wonderful Easter. I hope you did too. I worked in the church nursery again and like getting to know all the kids in our church. I told them, "now, when you see me, you have to say hi because we're church family. So don't be shy or pretend you don't remember that I brought in my parachute, but instead say, "Hi Becca! How are you?" And I promised to say hi to them too.

Then we went out for Easter brunch with Mom and Dad Groves and Oma Zina. The five in our family and the three of them were the only family in town this year, on both sides! We went back to Marlene and Madison's and I played Elsie Monopoly, a version that keeps you on your toes with its ever-changing rules. Then Marlene hid a whole lot of eggs all over the house, filled with either candy or quarters, and two with a dollar bill, which thrilled Ivar to no end. We rested and ate pie and it was just the perfect relaxed easter for our family, especially since we were about to head into this week of strep, teething and vertigo...

The sun is coming out this afternoon and I am thrilled with how green the grass is already. The lilacs all have huge buds and are about to burst open, the song birds are back and I am again interested in learning as many bird names and bird calls as I can. It's spring in Minnesota, my family is on antibiotics, the Lord is risen, my folks are coming home today and I'm in a good mood! Can you tell?