what's up April.

My photos!  My preciouses! I will never lets you go, preciouses.  Gollum.

This is the post where I start taking out my long-lost treasures and start examining them in the light.  Join me, will you?  The last photos I was able to post were from right at the end of March, so today let me just give a flyover of our April-in-photos, even though I did post some word-heavy and lackluster blogs after that, but those were dripping with sad colorlessness, so they barely count.  So let me reintroduce you to the faces we all have missed so much.

This little corner of the post is called, "Raising Rising Readers."

Oey looks like she was sleeping and then got blasted out of bed by a fan.  Also, she's reading Avatar.

Finishing up The Secret Garden at the end of the school year.  The ubiquitous Mt. St. Laundry in attendance, as always.

More Avatar.

Lolo, finishing up a school book as the weather warmed up.

And here we have, "Please Join Us For a Party."

Girls and boys are different.

This little section is called "Juni Had a Birthday."

Canus Lupes, Vulpes Vulpes.

She chose Sonic for her celebratory treat.

And this one is called, "PENELOPE Had a Birthday, Too!"

Our teenagers are allowed to have "friend" parties for their birthdays, so Penelope invited a few friends and all her siblings to a book-themed tea party.

These pretty girls dressed to the nines.

Penelope found a sweet vintage dress at the thrift store that was just perfect for the occasion.

They started the afternoon with a Make Your Own Bookmark craft.

Then they had tea and snacks and played a literature-themed trivia game.

Then they tried croquet, but as no one knew the rules, and the only croquet set we could track down didn't have the wickets, and as the boys were involved, it turned into a self-styled version of WhackBat.

Atticus got her a graphic novel version of Watership Down.

And she was thrilled to get the complete set of Avatar books.

And here we have a little section I like to call, "Easter 2025: On Which Day No One Was Sick, Which Was the Second-Largest Miracle to Ever Occur on an Easter Morning."

The big kids planned an Easter Egg Hunt for the afternoon, but it was pouring down rain so they moved it inside. 

I found a little Easter egg who found a little Easter egg.

And this one is known as, "Wait; Back Up a Minute... Maundy Thursday: What Everyone Thought."

"Confusing, but I like it."

"Just confusing."

"I like it."

"This tickles like crazy."

And here we have a little something I like to call, "The Babies, Hitting Milestones and Taking Names."

Remember, this photo is from April, so they were eleven months old then.

Two little hams.

PORK AND BEANS!

Here we have a little something called, "I Know What They're Doing This Summer."

Atticus started working on the Honda.

The kids got Grow Kits from Home Depot and worked on assembling them and planting some basil seeds.  Unfortunately, since it's been a few months, I can tell you how this story ends: the basil died, and then the pots fell apart and started to rot.  Anticlimactic.

And last, to close out our April flyover, is, "Proof That Boys are Cute and Also Super Weird, In That Order."

Whew!  Join me next time for the rundown on May!