Bring it on!

After our constant state of winter wonderland the past two months, it was a bit of a shock a couple of weeks ago to start to see the lawn again. Every day the snow banks shrunk a little, one day the garden beds reemerged, and eventually all we could see was grass. It has been incredible to feel somewhat back to normal.

All that melting snow, plus a couple of heavy rainstorms, brings the danger of flood. Having taken a clue from the last few years’ experience, we dedicated our family work time one Saturday to cleaning the basement. I’m delighted to report that the bazillion random articles that swirled through last spring’s deluge are now up and out of the way, as are the few larger articles that find their place on top of the washer and dryer at this time of year. Let the rain fall – we’re ready for spring!

And today, it felt enough like spring that I let Arwen pull me into the front yard after school to dig in the dirt. We were in search of last year’s carrot crop which ended up frozen solid before we could get to it. (A friend told us their carrots always taste better if left until after the first frost – has anyone else found that to be true?) I was afraid they might be mushy or nibbled by our friendly neighborhood grubs, but we were in luck. And what a delicious crop – sautéed with a little butter, salt, pepper, and thyme they made a tasty addition to tonight’s dinner.

One of my favorite sights these days just before breakfast is to find Gavin sharing in on Arwen’s scripture study time. While she’s reading verses from The Book of Mormon with little help during our family scripture study, she gets the most out of watching the Church-produced videos for her personal study time. It’s amazing how much both Gavin and Arwen already know from ten minutes on their own each day.

Last week I hosted my book club where we read Anzia Yezierska‘s Bread Givers. I dearly love this tale of a young Jewish immigrant in New York City who bucks the old ways to make her place in the world, without ultimately giving up her ideals of family and faith. In honor of the theme, I made potato latkes for the first time, dusted off a recipe for black Russian bread, and tracked down a can of herring (one bite was enough for me). It was a fun evening with my wonderful book club friends.

Somehow a portion of our stir-crazy energy has transformed itself into a raging home improvement bug. One of the many projects in our far-off dreams is becoming a reality, with some help from Arwen. Hopefully we’ll have ‘after’ pictures to share soon.