April Shower Bring May Flowers. And Sneezes.

Quite some time ago, Dan told me what he wanted for his birthday. He wanted me to go with him to see the new Avengers movie. And for me to also not make any obnoxious comments. And to keep my mocking giggles to myself.

I asked him if I couldn't just buy him a skyscraper or something easier like that.

And so we went. We wanted to grab dinner first, but were running out of time so we went to our fave fast food place. TACO. BELL. It's the best. 

During dinner, he asked me to sit quietly as he "set up" the movie, so to speak. He tried to educate me on the background of the characters and the various conflicts.

I asked him if Gandalf was in this movie. He wasn't amused.

We then went to a packed theater and sat next to the most dedicated Avengers fans of all time. The kid next to Dan kept shushing everyone, and his shushing was really loud. So Dan shushed his shushing. It was quite entertaining to me, which is good because I didn't find the movie that entertaining. I know, I know. I'm the worst.

Overall, I was a very good participant and refrained from calling Thanos "Thermos" (except in my mind). But it was all for nothing because Dan didn't like the movie very much either because if there's something Dan Jolley won't stand for, it's a sad ending. He. Can't. Stand. It.

For Mother's Day, Dan asked what I wanted. I told him I wanted flowers, but not flowers for the table (though I do love that). I wanted flowers for the front of our house. We have a huge space in front of our house where we really need bushes or something. But I'm not going to put bushes in this rental house. So we tried to fill up the space with flowers.

Dan sent me to the store, and I picked up all the flowers I wanted. But the space was still too big, so he sent me back to the store a second time, and I picked up more flowers.

The truth is I know nothing about most outdoorsy things. It's really embarrassing. Even at the gardening store, I was barely pushing my cart because I was afraid all of the plants would fall out and then I would have to die. Everyone there knew I didn't know what they knew. If you know what I mean.

So I'm trying to strengthen my weaknesses and getting outdoors a lot more is one I'm really working on.

I wish I had taken a before picture but I didn't. But just picture in your mind a mess of dirt and weeds.

And then Dan planted these flowers around an old bush our landlord had put in.

And then just a couple of days ago, the bush bloomed too!

It's pretty. Our neighbor saw what we were doing and asked if we wanted some of his grasses too? So Dan put those at the ends.

My favorite part of springtime in New Jersey is going on walks with the girls and making them go past my favorite tree of all time.

It blooms pink AND white! I suspect from the odd angle of that lower right trunk part that those are actually two different trees but I love how they are together. They remind me of Gwen Stefani's wedding dress.

Source: Someone's pinterest? Sorry, don't know. But be rest assured, this is not MY picture. She and I were on the outs that year, and I wasn't invited.

Which brings me to the rest of my Mother's Day. I slept in, and everyone brought me breakfast in bed. I have a hard time with that concept but decided that this year I was going to let them do it and just enjoy it. And you know what? I did.

                             

Dan made a delicious egg scramble (with cream cheese and potatoes and regular cheese yummmmmmmm) and served it with sliced strawberries and some Allegra because he knows my allergies are so bad this time of year.

June made me this clipboard at school. Darling.

And we tried to take a picture together, but they all looked like this.

Poor Harris. And POOR ME!

After church, I took a nap. And was sick when I woke up. And I've been sick all week. My allergies are soooo bad. I finally went to the doc, and he prescribed stronger stuff that makes me a little nauseated and a little sleepy, but I'll live.

And also, we had a huge storm this week, and this branch fell down in our backyard.

And we lost power for 6 hours, and our trampoline started moving, and I screamed, "THIS IS THE END!" and then the trampoline stopped moving, and it wasn't the end. Moving on.

I'll close with some pics of the kids.

Gwen finally let me do something with her hair besides a ponytail.

The best hair day of June's life. I wanted to make her get married at age 6 because her hair looked so pretty and I knew I would never be able to emulate it.

Sometimes we put flowers in our hair while we wait for the bus in the morning.

Our pretty pink bush on the other side of the house.

 More Harris crying in church photos.

And last, but not least! I finally learned how to do a fishtail braid. Check one more off my list. I'm convinced I will never be able to do a dutch braid though. Send me your tips!

And now we're getting ready to leave town for the weekend! Stay tuned.