easter sunday

We got up on Sunday morning and went to our church to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Then we came home and got ready for family. It was a glorious day in Minnesota and soon my parents, my sister and Svea and the entire Groves clan (except Maddie, who was at a wedding...a wedding! on easter sunday!) came to share a great big easter dinner.

In my head this prayer was going to be very moving...but my prayer was interrupted by a hungry rooster. That's what happens when you plan on your prayers being very moving. God calls in the rooster and keeps you humble.

We all fit in the sunny room at one long table. It felt very festive. And here's what is most amazing about my family. I made a creamed corn casserole. And that's it. Every single other part of the meal was brought by someone else. And, get this. My sister-in-law Lisa, made two hams on Saturday for our Easter meal. TWO. HAMS. She continues to out-do her out-done self. And everyone else brought two or three things too. It was a feast and felt completely stress free, because I have such awesome and amazing women in my family.

We had an egg hunt that spanned five acres of our property. It was so huge, and there were so many eggs that we didn't see a single cousin the whole time we looked for eggs! There is no competition when the eggs are so abundant and spread over so much yard.

The day concluded with tractor rides. Here is Svea taking her turn with Uncle Rory.

And then Troy wanted a turn too.

a hard worker

Friday night Rory evaporated our first 15 gallons of sap. Sunday afternoon he went for 20, and during the last five gallons it started sleeting on him. He came inside to watch the fire from the warmth of the living room and watched the syrup unexpectedly catch on fire and burn to char. I asked to take a picture, but he said he wasn't in the mood.

Last night he evaporated another 15 gallons, building the fire at 8:30. It was 12:30 when my sweet husband came to bed smelling like a lovely night of camping. We have rain and snow in the forecast, but sap has a shelf life and can go bad if you don't evaporate it within a certain window of time. We're down to the final fifteen gallons and I look forward to having maple syrup to put in my coffee again (so good...)

I decided to write this post though because of the conversation we just shared. It's 11:00. I am speaking for our women's bible study tomorrow morning and finishing up my talk. Rory is on the couch next to me mapping out a planting schedule and when each vegetable should go in the soil. And here's what's noteworthy: he's feeling frustrated because he's already behind. Which I think is endearing because he planted seeds five weeks ago. And there is snow forecasted for tomorrow. But he's frustrated because we should have had sweet potatoes sprouting in peat moss one month ago.

He's a hard worker, people. And fun to watch work.

april at the grovestead

+ The kids got to ride in the truck with us as we hauled a few loads of branches from the ditch out to the burn pile. Riding with no car seats through the field was pretty epic for them.

+ Ivar has become quite the helper lately. Here he was helping his dad remove the hay from the raised beds where Rory planted a lot of tulip bulbs last spring.

+ We had another great season for sap. We got 65 gallons this year, and have a garage full of five gallon buckets ready to turn into syrup. Rory is in full-on evaporator mode, already having boiled down his first fifteen gallons last night.

+ Thomas and Percy are adorable. Their little eyes always look sad, but I think that's just how kitten eyes look. They're tumbling out of their cat bed and beginning to walk around. They are so cute and make for a sweet way to welcome anyone who walks through our garage.

+ Our little seeds have been growing in mighty ways under the grow lights. We won't plant in egg cartons again...they seem to absorb so much of the water, it's hard to keep the little seeds properly watered. So we ordered a ton of plastic containers for the next round.

+ Our cats, Velma and Vernon are frisky as ever. We will have them both fixed at the end of the month so we don't turn into a cat farm. The way they tumble around the yard, I'm pretty sure we'd have another litter mid-summer!

+ Ivar has been very interested in the chickens lately. He brings them little dixie cups of cracked corn each morning and on this day threw them his yellow ball. He was a little sad that they didn't really play with it, or throw it back over the fence.

+ We had a picnic on Friday. Second of the season. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: parenting outdoors just feels like cheating. Lunch is lovely while eaten outside. I read a book while the kids played in the rock box. Elsie likes to sit in the baby swing, without being pushed. It was a stunning, quiet and warm morning.

don't not read this post because you've seen this book before!

I feel like I have to write fast. I feel like you're going to disregard this post from the start.You know the five love languages. You know your own love language. You know your husbands. You have read the book before. Besides, the five love languages are so 1990's.

But wait! Hear me out!

Rory brought this book along to Arizona and actually said, "hey, aren't you proud I brought a marriage book on our vacation?" And I was like, "yeah, thanks for that."

Because inside I was scoffing. I mean, who doesn't know the five love languages, and the seventeen spin off books by now? Rory and I took a class when we were first married so we know them well: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch.

Rory was the one who read the book first on our vacation and then said, "you should just read the first three introductory chapters. They're short."

And people. This is good stuff. It's a bit surprising because the five love languages are so seemingly self explanatory. I mean, who can't figure out what "quality time" means. Except here's the thing: I read that chapter and had a zillion aha moments and realized that I had quality time all mixed up. I read this chapter and realized I am dying for quality time. But before reading the book I would have said I wanted "acts of service" because lately a surprise unloaded dishwasher can get me quite excited.

Anyway. Dig this book out. The content inside is really, really helpful and practical. If you have it on your shelf, dust it off and take a look again. Go to your library and check it out. It is immediately applicable, clarifying and led to some awesome conversations about our day to day marriage and how we want it to look and feel.

joy in the ordinary

The day after my birthday I was sitting in the sunny room while my kids napped. I watched the UPS truck pull up and I went to meet the driver in the garage and wouldn't you know, the package was for me. I opened it up and it was this book, given as a gift from my friend Shannon. Is there anything better than an unexpected gift in the mail?!!

The book is a memoir spanning three years before the author's firstborn goes off to college. She's in the midst of a midlife crisis, looking for her purpose apart from motherhood and making major life changes along the way. She is an eloquent writer, painting her life in brilliant detail, taking us all along for the ride.

A lot of the time while I read this book I had an ache in my heart remembering the truth of what so many older mothers love to remind us moms with little ones: it goes so fast.

So it was a perfect book to read poolside, child-free, while sun bathing and sipping a cherry coke. I read it and thought of the sweet pocket of time I find myself in these days. My kids are awesome, they are so fun. They are determined, hilarious and good company. And I am enjoying my gig as their mom so much. I feel content and grateful.

The book was great. A lovely read, and fun to walk the steps of her life during those huge years of transition. My worldview doesn't line up with hers. And I would have loved to have read of her journey from the perspective of a Christ-follower who believes in a God who makes all things new. But she is an incredible writer, thoughtful and attentive to her life in ways that open the reader's heart along the way.

It's a great book to help keep the long-view in mind. To not get so bogged down in the day to day. Often, my biggest lament to Rory when we crawl into bed is, "I have nothing to show for my day." And after reading this book, I'm not sure I ever will if I continue to measure against an outside immeasurable standard. But if I look a recent ordinary day: kids dressed and to the library, followed by an impulsive trip to the cupcake shop, home for lunch and naps, dishwasher unloaded and loaded, kitchen floor swept and living room floor picked up, a long walk outside with the kids, hamburger helper for supper, bedtime routine, snuggles and just as I walk out the door one last plea, "hey mom?" "yes?" "will you just come and snuggle with me?" "I just did that." "hey mom?" "yes?" "will you come and lay down next to me?"

If I look at this ordinary day, written out bit by bit, I can see a bit clearer. This book reminded me that even in this simple, mundane routine, I have a whole lot to show for my day. They're growing up right before my very eyes.

I read this book in the happiest of places, convinced that I would come home and live out my ordinary days with the unending joy they deserve. But in an ironic (and probably predictable) twist, the kids are really sticking it to me today. They're making sure I feel the pain of having just left them for four nights. They're both super needy, super crabby, super impatient. And the house is a post-vacation train wreck. I turned off Ivar's lamp at naptime and proceeded to step on a minion followed in the next step right onto a hard red parrot. Both feet! I limped out of his room biting my tongue with each hobble. I was so mad.

So there's that too. The gift of an ordinary day is truly a gift. This book helped me remember that, even in the midst of minions and red parrots.