Happy Spring everyone!

lots of exciting things going on lately. spring is officially here, and the weather has been pretty nice, so ed, the girls and i have been working on the garden and the field, which has been lots of fun. the little garden we had last year is already planted with kale, spinach, different lettuces, arugula, peas, beets and carrots. sena and aiyana got their own little corner in the garden this year, which they raked and planted with carrots and beets. they are very excited about this and want to be responsible for everything themselves. they'll be weeding and watering, and thinning, and maybe even eat their own produce.

the big field in front of the house still needs a lot of work, most of which ed is doing. he got his tractor last week, and has been plowing and tilling almost every day. sena, aiayana and i have been helping by picking up stones, which we dump in the woods. plowing is really hard work, but i think ed's really enjoying it. tilling is a lot easier.

after ed plows and tills, the earth is freshly turned over, and it smells so good all around our house. shandra told me that there are some bacteria in the soil, that release stuff which, when we smell it, fights depression. i believe it, it works for me.

other very exciting news is that sena started reading this week. she read her first book on thursday, and i just can't get over it. all of a sudden, things have come together, and she's sounding out the words and putting them together, reading full sentences with minimal assistance. aiyana feels inspired too, and she's trying to sound out words and stuff, it's really cute.

another interest that the kids have shown recently is music. we listen to music together, but as far as teaching them how to play an instrument or something like that, i have no skills. fortunately, we hooked up with our good friends anita and brian, and their daughter clara, and now the three girls and brian jam together every week. brian is a full-time farmer and part-time musician. he has his own band, and lots of really cool instruments. the kids pick whatever they're drawn to and jam. sena played guitar last week, and this week she played the dulcimer. aiyana had some sort of stringed instrument made out of a turtle shell, with three strings. i don't even know what any of these instruments are, but it doesn't matter, as long as the kids are having fun, and getting into it. we can always pursue something more formal later if they want to.

so that's about it for now.
peace and enjoy the spring!!!