Midwestern Spring

Yesterday I went for a walk with Clara and came across a lemonade stand not too far from home. What particularly caught my eye was that their sign said that they were raising money for cancer. When I stopped to buy some lemonade the group of 5th grade boys (my estimate) were very friendly. They explained that a kindergartener at the neighborhood elementary school has cancer and they were donating the money they made to help him out. I was impressed with their sincerity and gave them a tip. I was also reminded of how I will miss our neighborhood when we move away.

Spring has finally arrived here in the Midwest and the outside world is gorgeous. The trees are in full bloom and the grass grows so much Brian mows it twice a week. We have a reel mower, so if the grass gets too tall it gets really hard to mow. Some days are still a bit cool, but on the warm days Clara and I go outside. Being outside is her favorite place to be. Tonight we all went for a walk and Clara enjoyed observing the neighborhood from the comfort of her stroller.

Clara is getting better at her army crawl. As you can imagine, army style crawling is pretty slow, but it gets her across the floor. Now she has a second tooth and this mommy is grateful to have full nights of sleep again. We think she might be saying da-da to mean daddy. It's still a little iffy if it is just coincidence or for real.

In other news, my students took their final last Thursday and I'm on "vacation." The summer session starts the second week in June and that is going to be intense. I'll have twice as many students and the class will meet every week day for six weeks. It's a good thing that I'll be teaching the same class I just finished teaching so there won't be as much preparation time.

June will be a busy month. In addition to my class, Brian has finals, we're both in Eleanor and Andrey's wedding, and the weekend of the wedding Clara will be dedicated along with Arthur and Becky's brand new baby. With all of this busyness, when is there time to remodel our house? I'm hoping to get some stuff done over my "vacation."

Here are some of my recent favorite pictures of Clara.

Clara wasn' too sure about sitting in the grass. Notice how she is sitting so that her arms and legs don't touch the grass.

Our friends Edgar and Laurie gave us a tricycle. Clara enjoyed taking a ride even though her feet don't reach the pedals.

This is my latest favorite.