See. I can finish a project? mostly....

There it is.  Our dresser turned raised bed, filled with dirt.  We had it built and painted a while ago, but were lacking the motivation to get it "planted."  So there it sat, with the roll of hardware fabric,peat moss, and organic soil until I checked the weather for last weekend.
"Honey, it's supposed to be kind of windy this weekend.  50/50 on a tornado within fifty miles.  Let's get the raised bed in place and weighted down."
"Ok."
That was last Saturday before lunch.  Hey, I didn't say I was motivated by logic.
So out in the yard we went....and like any other project with a deadline, children magically appeared.
"Can I help?"
"No, I wanna  help!"
"I'd help, but I don't want to get my dress dirty before the party. So I'll just sit here and watch."
"Mommy, I move rocks!"
"Can I dig?"
"I have the hoe!" (Uh, no.  You're swinging that thing a little close to Dad's head.  Thanks.)
"Wow.  This ground is hard."
"How many rocks are there?"
"Let me break open the dirt with the shovel!"
Exciting times to be a kid.  Digging a hole, moving a box into it, and filling it with dirt.
"So when are we getting cucumbers?"
Not this year.  It's a bit late for cucumbers, and I want to train those to a trellis.
"So what are we gonna grow?"
Tomatoes and peppers.
"When do I get to pick?"
When I have more than one raised bed.  I guess I better start scouring yard sales for old dressers.

      I hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  I know our family did. Those eggs up there were colored on Saturday.  It's so much fun to see each child's unique take on "art."  On Sunday, we had them on the table for breakfast, both to admire and to eat.  Some were also featured, in deviled form, at dinner.  The kid's baskets each had two "spiritual" items.  They ranged from Veggietales to a cross of nails on a leather cord.  They also each received one "entertainment" item, a bunch of candy, and two quarters to symbolize "silver."   Next year I think I'll put forty cents in that egg.  We had several conversations on what "Easter" is about for us.  We talked about why the resurrection is so important.  We had an egg hunt in the back yard.  Grandma & Grandpa came, took us to a movie, and hung out for dinner.  The weather was great, so we were outside a lot.  We basically had "home church" and some great family time.   No, we didn't go to church-church.  We're too introverted for that on Easter.
       We understand for a lot of people, Easter is the annual "church pageant."  The church building has to look it's best, and so does everyone in it.  The regulars want to look their best to make a good impression.  The twice a year peeps pop in to show yes, they get it.  Whole families attend to make grandma happy.  The pews are full.  The sermon, about hope, or conviction, or the cross.   Everyone smiles, waves, and goes to Grandma's for dinner.  Then life goes back to "normal", whatever that is.
    Our family refuses to play that way.
    Yes the girls both wore dresses, and were adorable.
    Yes, we reviewed what Resurrection Day is about.
    Yes we partook of Easter as well, in the nonreligious sense.
   We just don't feel a need to partake in the pageantry, and crowds make us cringe.  Heck, wearing dress clothes and make up make me cringe.  I just don't feel like "me" in that stuff.  I'd rather celebrate the carpenter angle, by working on my new raised vegetable bed.  That covers the new life aspect too, planting seeds or fledglings into healthy soil.
   I do admit, if our church had a candle-lit sunrise service I would probably feel differently.  The quiet of watching the sunrise to symbolize the "SON-rise" holds a lot of meaning to me.  I still did kind of see the sunrise, because the kids were up at oh-heck thirty in the morning,  (upstairs, awaiting us to get out of bed, but still noisy enough to wake us up.)  Once we we did arise, it was a glorious day.

My daughter is Xena, warrior princess.

I'd already had suspicions that Ms. D wasn't as prim as she looked.  It just took laser tag to bring it out.  She scored solidly in the middle of the pack as a seven year old girl playing with nine and ten year old boys.  (No, I'm not comparing her to the teens or "adult" men playing.)  She loved every minute of it.  I have two pics of her there on Facebook.  One is now my profile pic.
   The other kids had a great time too.  One thing I love about my friend J is she has "whole family" birthday parties.  Her baby boy Mr. M was turning 9.  I swear he and E2 share a brain.  Even though they only see each other a couple times a year they gravitate towards each other....even in a room full of Mr. M's other friends.  It's amazing to watch.  Of course given where those brains go, it's probably best we live in different school districts.
  Mr. Man came along on this venture too.  I was absolutely shocked that he *cheerfully* attended a party with me.  It turns out laser tag is a draw for grown ups too.  He consistently came in second, behind J's oldest son S, who is a mere child at 21.   He was sweaty and smiling, just the way I like him.
   So where was I during all this?  Watching on the monitor, cackling with the rest of the moms.  Not one of us went in there.  I thought about it, but socializing just seemed like more fun this time.  Maybe we'll go back another time as a family and I can show Ms. D where her warrior princess tendencies came from.