A few Saturdays ago I was with Emily and we heard that the boys (her husband and our cousin Steven) were fishing. It had been a crazy day. We had the fashion show/ booth display that morning, I had a photoshoot that afternoon, then I was planning a trip to Walmart that evening. It was so tempting to take some lawn chairs and sit out at the pond and watch them fish though. We only had about 30 minutes, but we did drop by and hang out with them a little bit. Long enough for me to snap some pictures and stir up some memories.

This was my grandparent’s land. It’s where Papaw used to take us fishing when we were little. I wrote about it in my thesis. I hate reading it now. It feels like listening to the sound of my voice on a recording. The writing grates on my nerves. Nevertheless, I’ll share this small part because I can’t think of the pond without thinking about Papaw and fishing trips with my cousins:

“After a day of fishing, Papaw takes us up the road to Rex Morrison’s Grocery before going home. We run in, our bare feet stirring up cool, dark dust and tracking in powdery prints on the cold concrete floor. The slam of the screen door behind us and the familiar smell of old things mingles with the taste of dust in our mouths. A Coke, candy bar, or ice cream? We can’t decide. Papaw sits down in one of the wooden rocking chairs, talking with Mr Rex, while we make our decisions. Afterward, we pile back into the yellow station wagon and ride at a steady pace of 20 m.p.h., the wind blowing our dirty faces and melting our ice cream.”

The Taste of Dust, 1997

It’s nice to think the same place I spent some of the most favorite parts of my childhood are still making memories for my own kids today.

On Sundays, when my extended family gathers after church for potluck dinner, our house has started to look like an internet cafe. In our rural area, DSL hasn’t made it to all the homes yet. We’re one of the lucky ones. My family uses Sundays and my wi-fi to get connected.

And sometimes I just laugh when I walk through my house counting up the laptops and iphones at work. This past Sunday there were 4 computers and 3 iphones going. I don’t mind at all. My own addiction to wi-fi is well documented. It’s just such a change from how things used to look.

Which was more like this. We still take the Sunday paper for those old timers, too.

Warning: Many photos ahead!

We had a great Easter weekend. I did finally (just barely) get a chance to dye eggs with the kids. They pretty much did it on their own after I got everything set up for them. I responded to all the “Look at this one, Mama!” calls while I cooked.

I even left them to clean up while I rushed off to ladies’ Bible study where we stuffed eggs for our church egg hunt the next morning. As we filled plastic eggs with candy, we exchanged Easter bunny, Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy stories.

I learned that my kids are completely deprived because I have totally eliminated the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy from their lives. I did the Tooth Fair for about 3 of Clementine’s tiny, hard won teeth before I realized it was entirely too much work and there were going to be way too many teeth in my future. (If I’d had the foresight to realize then that it might be more prudent to be saving that money for the orthodontist, I might not have even wasted those first three dollars.)

And then I was like, “Look, there’s no more Tooth Fairy.”

When Emeline lost her first tooth she got the token rolled up dollar tied with a ribbon under her pillow, but now the first tooth is the golden tooth. After that they’re meaningless.

They do get Easter treats in their baskets, but there’s no carrot nibbling or bunny nest mysteries left behind like the others told me about. I guess I’m just a lazy mother.

It stormed that night, but the next day was sunny and nice. Tess caught on right away about finding eggs and putting them in her basket. The hardest part for her was walking on uneven ground while holding her basket and bending over to pick up an egg.

I spent the rest of Saturday getting ready for Sunday. Cleaning, ironing clothes and cooking.

Sunday morning we went to church and there was beautiful singing and a wonderful message.

We had the whole family here for lunch. My sister even showed up.

I forced my kids to take a family picture before they changed and went looking for eggs. See how happy they were to oblige me?

Finally, the adults hid the plastic eggs in my mother’s shrubbery. (My kids won’t hide their boiled eggs, those are too special. We will live with those for about a week until the fear of one breaking is too much for me and I force them to throw them in the woods)

Just before they turned the kids loose to find eggs, they announced that there was a dollar bill in one of the eggs.

That got them moving fast!

It was a HOT day. I don’t think we’ve ever had an Easter this warm. If we have I can’t remember it.

After the egg hunt we went to our friend’s house to see what the Easter bunny left for them.

Colored chicks, ducks and a goat!

You think there’s a PAAS dye kit for this?

They were adorable.

Tess tried so hard to catch them.

They always managed to be just out of reach.

The little goat was adorable too.

But the minute they put it down, it R-U-N-N-O-F-T!

They all ran off after it, into the field, to the thicket where it hid. Even Lindsey who is on crutches because a horse fell on her and broke her hip a few weeks ago. That’s her daughter holding the goat.

Then they all came back on the tractor like a bunch of hillbillies. And we laughed at them and I took their picture and put it on my blog so you can laugh at them too. And later, Mr. Doug will make me pay for this. (But really he’s the one who looks least like a hillbilly because he is actually driving the tractor).

My kids begged for their own set of little colored chickens and as much as I’d like to have chickens myself, I know my dogs would eat them right up. I have no idea how people have dogs and chickens.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out outside, making more plans for our flower beds.

We had a wonderful weekend. I hope you did too.

We had a big crowd this Sunday. It was expected to be even bigger. We were missing my cousin and his family of 5 and another family of 2. But, at the last minute I asked our preacher and his family, then my sister showed up.

I think I counted 29 people.

Three of them were preachers. My uncle, who is a preacher, and his wife have moved back to Arkansas from Louisiana. We are so happy they are back close by and can now join us for lunch.

The men always race to the front of the line right after the blessing.

People eat everywhere. I have a breakfast table that seats 5 or 6 squeezed in and a dining table that seats about 7 or 8. Then the couch and loveseat fill up as well as every available chair.

I love it!

I just wish I had more room for everyone.

But then it wouldn’t be as cozy. At least, that’s what I tell myself when we’re sitting on the floor with our plate on the coffee table.

I didn’t quite make it through the whole family party when I attempted to live-blog it on Thursday. Here it is Saturday and I am still thinking about stories from that night I want to tell. In particular, tragic pet stories. But they will have to wait.

I also wanted to talk about how hard it is to get a decent picture of all the kids together.

Especially when your sister zips by on your daughter’s scooter. So distracting.

And when your son bites his nails. Why so anxious Milo? Actually he and Clementine seem to be more alike than I thought. Look back at the first pictures how they are striking the exact same pose.

And when babies crawl out of the frame.

But I have desserts to bake and laundry to fold (I swear I’m going to really fold it all today and put it away.) And a baby that needs lots of attention since she got her shots. Though she is sleeping better. But keep it quiet. If she hears I’m getting some sleep she may kick things up again.

Hope you have a happy 4th of July and have lots of stories to tell and pictures to share after all the fun.