So Pretty

"Mommy, my sister looks so pretty today." The voice from the backseat was almost dreamy.

The blonde curls hung down her back as she walked towards the school. Her baggy pale pink sweater hung off one shoulder and the grey skinny jeans were accentuated with cute sandals.

I knew without looking that Chayse hadn't missed any details. She probably even noticed the sparkling pink eye shadow and white eyeliner that I had missed. I know her adoring eyes followed her sister until we were out of sight.

My heart flutters when my girls reveal their love for each other.

After school, the love continued as the girls teased and wrestled each other. The shrieks of delight were almost ear piercing, but still I smiled. In those rambunctious moments the carefree heart of childhood plays uninhibited. A fleeting moment at best...so I tried to etch it into my heart.

Uuummmm...

I posted yesterday. I know I did. I even read it after posting. But it is gone??

Strange. I also saved it and it isn't there either.

I seem to be spinning in circles these days. Maybe the whirlpool swallowed it.



Maybe I should go back to Grass Valley and retire to this rocking chair?



Maybe this twenty page mine story that is due on Monday is over-loading my brain circuits?



Maybe I need to live in this cottage? Fully staffed, of course.



Maybe my mischievous adolescent children are making me lose my mind?



But they were oh, so sweet at Mother's Day lunch playing with their cousins.

Driving my life away...

waiting for a sunny day...

Eddie Rabbit sings my song these days especially as the clouds cling to the California skies.

2 weeks. Nikela will be out of school.

14 days and I will be on vacation from my daily route to San Mateo.

When asked what the kids are doing this summer, I respond, "I am keeping the schedule clear."

Shocking in California, but I simply refuse to drive my summer away with four kids. I will be my own camp director and the adventures will continue on my schedule.

Summer vacation...here I come! Well, not really because I have to wait until June 15 when the rest of the kids are out of school.

Bridgeport Covered Bridge

Mother's Day brought me to the longest single span wood arch covered bridge in America. It was constructed in 1862 as a toll bridge across the Yuba River between Marysville and Virginia City.



Leave it to me to calculate the toll!

8 horses mules ox team up or down $6.00
6 horses mules ox team up or down $5.50
4 horses mules ox team up or down $4.00
2 horses mules ox team up or down $2.50
1 horse mule or an ox up or down $1.75
2 horse buggy each way $1.50
1 horse buggy each way $1.00
Horseman .50
Footman .25
Loose stock .10
Hogs sheep .05




The Yuba river winds through the Sierra Nevada Foothills.



The hillsides were scattered with grey trees.



In the morning, we paused in the crisp morning air on the veranda to mark Mother's Day.

PS Kiahra spent the weekend with a special friend...perhaps just to avoid the bridge??

As I head into the weekend with a getaway planned with my family, I pause, wishing I could share the day with my mother and sisters too.

As a child I loved Mother's Day. As a mother, I love Mother's Day too. Today, my youngest daughter brought a gift topped with a huge bow out of the classroom, grinning from ear to ear. She is so excited. A more noncholant fifth grader handed me a handwritten letter, but his eyes still were twinkling in anticipation.

The moments I love most are the hugs.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Auntie Love

Aunties love baby girls. This baby girl has 5 aunties. How lucky can a girl get?



Look at those cute little toes and the inquisitive look...and the cute outfit, of course!

I also envision that she is leaning forward trying to figure out what her crazy mother is doing. Her mother is just trying to appease a crazy auntie who lives oh so far away and wants assurance that "My Auntie loves me" is recorded in baby photo history!



Look at those curls...fluffy cheeks...sweet smile...twinkling eyes...

Aawww...thanks for indulging me a proud auntie moment today.

Roses

My rose trees are blooming. My favorite is the color of the California sunset.



Quack, quack, quack. My "decoys" are trampling my corner flower bed(their marshes) and drinking from the sprinkler head at their leisure in the afternoons. Perhaps a few cute ducklings would make it all better!



Utterly irresistible roses--if only they smelled as good as they look!