It has been a busy week.

Somewhere along the way construction season started.

Here it goes. Leave 5 minutes or an hour early, depends on where you're headed.

Actually, I can't wait for this piece of road to be completed.

If I was halfway motivated, I could bike to work.

At least TO work. Not home. Home would be uphill.

Last Saturday was cloudy, but so springlike outside that I just couldn't bear to be inside. The greenhouse got cleaned out. The garden hose started out with a bit of ice inside, but thawed quickly. Anything to be outside. You know you're hungry for fresh outdoors air when even cleaning the woods of all the trash blown in over the winter is appealing.

Days off work for me always include at least several trips to McDonalds. Thank goodness for jobs ... next we'll be thanking goodness for new drivers licenses!

It was a busy Easter weekend as well. We had services on Good Friday as well as Sunday afternoon, complete with the traditional Easter meal. I love when I don't have to worry about Easter dinner. I much prefer Easter brunch.

This year I cheated. Big. Time. We decorate bags for Easter "baskets". Small colored bags from WalMart have usually been done, this year we went for brown lunch bags. Tia spent Saturday afternoon decorating them, including a bag for the visiting speaker, Eric Jurmu. :) Not only did she decorate the bags, but I sent her and Brock to the store to purchase the fillings. Then she filled them ... and hid them. I'm thinking I'm done with that job. The leftovers started filling a bowl on the counter. I really don't do Fun Dip myself ... and I don't chew gum. It was fun.

Following services on Sunday, we had a happy houseful of visitors for the evening. Tia worked on coordinating some trampoline competition ...

 while Garrett was the time keeper ...

and the bowl on the counter served as prizes. I'm sure the parents were just thrilled about the additional sugar infusion! A very uplifting weekend topped off by warm visits with good friends.

We had to snap a few pictures this week as well. I don't know why. Just because. This is my favorite shot. Anna is my bling girl. She is usually decked out with oodles of it. In her hair, around her neck, on her belt loops, on her fingers. She is serious bling. She can't stand gardening and doesn't have the least bit of interest in playing in a greenhouse ...

Not like her mom in that respect. Her mom could spend her life out in there. Move right on in, except that it has a distinct chicken scent at the moment. They seem to think they belong in there. The feathered friends were quite insistent today. So much so that I had to block their path. It has been getting warmer outdoors every day. I haven't moved the thermometer out there yet, but I think it's warm enough.

Warm enough to move starts outside and see what happens. Grow, please, grow. I should have started peas many weeks ago, not just in the past week. They'll eventually be growing and ready to move to the screened porch. Radishes and lettuce went into the dirt today. I'm planning on picking up tomato starts over the weekend and adding them. The gardening itch is probably an incurable disease once it hits you. At least it feels like it!

The chickens have learned to love roaming around the yard. Oreo loves to slink around and chase them. Duke ushers them back to the chicken coop for us once in a while. The problem is that they are now laying eggs around the yard. Not always, but enough to make it interesting. Too bad they're not laying flourescent colored eggs. We don't do Easter egg hunts here at our house. I'm guessing we'll be having a perpetual one all summer long!

While I'm out playing in dirt and pulla dough (at least that I keep containted to the kitchen), I'm really suppose to be spending some time in this corner of the laundry room. It is a disaster in progress. I'm working at using up all kinds of fabric and not making any great progress at the moment. Instead, I have a serious mess going on. My goal (good thing those things are up for revision constantly) was to spend time down there on my day off during the week as well as on Saturday. Instead, this morning I spent 3 hours on the chair in front of the computer doing some digital scrapbooking. I am nearly caught up in that department! More than a few mornings of that left and I'll be up to date. Then ... maybe I'll spend more time in this corner of the house.

What I really should be doing is spending time in this room. It is called a Mud Room and I am ever so grateful to have one, but my goodness! I could probably plant seeds in here and watch them grow! As soon as I hit the Publish Post button, I'm plugging in my ear buds and going down there. Tonight.

As long as I don't get lost and detour outside again, because right out the door the rhubarb is sprouting. This year I'm going to get brave. I've watched a big patch of rhubarb that is down the road a spell go to seed every year since I've lived here. This year, I want that rhubarb. I need a freezer full of rhubarb punch for summer time. I hope they'll be obliging.

Meanwhile, we're enjoying daylight until 10:00 pm and the sun is up over the mountain when I hit the bus stop at 6:30 a.m. We've moved from my waving to Tia and her not seeing my wave in the dark ....  to making sure my hair has at least seen a brush through once before I bring her. I can still get away with pajamas, but a hairbrush is a must.

Enjoy the season!