Maybe not.....

We were tricked into thinking the weather would get better and planted a few things in the flower pots. That was enough of an invitation to bring back snow and sleet for four straight days. Now we're back to the usual rain. The chickens are my weather announcers as they always come running to the back porch as each new little storm starts up. They are giving us quite a few eggs and we even had a huge...really huge...double-yoker from one of the girls. The kids are enjoying trying to keep track of how many eggs we get each day.

We have two extra kids with us for temporary shelter care. Both are boys...one is seven and the other just turned one. The seven year-old is pretty mellow but the little one...phew! He's quite the handful. He likes to throw things, spit food and loves to scream and tantrum. On top of all of that, he's teething heavily. It will be a temporary situation for sure. Eight kids is busy enough but that little guy is a full day's work on his own. Any babysitting volunteers???

Mom and Dad returned from the Land of Sunshine and are getting settled back into the usual routines around here. They will go check out the progress on the new cabin this coming week. Everything is at the point where we can throw some air mattresses down and stay inside. Yeah! Most of the remaning work is outside (except installing the woodstove) and must wait until the temps warm up and the snow disappears. We will get measurements so we know what size furniture will fit, etc... I'm looking forward to shopping for new things. Since we have to replace everything, Mom has decided we'll all just go to the store, each get a cart and start going up and down the aisles. It's easy to forget about all the basics that we usually just shop for as we need them.

Our little girl is walking now, albeit a bit wobbly. Very exciting. She's loving her expanded skills and enjoys walking up and down the hallway and through the kitchen and dining room. She also wants to walk outside with the boys. We've made a small step ahead in the adoption process but it will probably be several more months before everything is finalized.

Michelle and I are running away from the insanity of our household in May for a trip to Europe. Given our usual crazy schedules, this will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime event so we hope to hit multiple countries and take a zillion pictures.

We hope everyone is doing well and feeling good.