Cute Animal Night, time loops, creme fillings

A few Friday evenings ago, Sam and I slipped out for a walk. We'd been out on our weekly date and gotten back too early—you know what a mistake that is, I'm sure, getting home before dinner is cleaned up and the little ones are in bed! So we went out to enjoy the beautiful evening light. While we were walking, Abe called, so we walked along with him on speakerphone, listening to him talk about his classes and his new job at the MTC. After a while we went up on the hill to look at the sunset.

Suddenly we saw a parade of children running excitedly toward us…

…and a fire engine driving up! The kids told us that some baby ducklings had fallen into the storm drain! The mother duck walked over the drain cover and the tiny babies following her fell in one by one— plop, plop, plop! Luckily our fireman are the best and they come rescue little ducklings all spring long. Ziggy and Gussie were so excited to watch the rescue! After filling us in on what was going on, they ran back for a better view of the proceedings.

We watched from the hill (keeping Abe up to speed, of course). The firemen reached down into the drain with a net and got some of the ducklings that way, and then one of the men even climbed down into the drain to get the stragglers! Sam and I watched the fire chief cross the street holding something carefully in his hands. He had one of the ducklings! He let all the watching children look at it before walking carefully back and setting it down near its mother. What a kind man!

Then, from the other direction, Nutmeg came running up the hill. Goldie had brought him out to play.

He's so cute here mid-hop!

He hopped joyously around the hill, resting now and then so someone could pet him.

The sky was glorious!

Then, after Goldie took Nutmeg back inside, we walked over to see if all the now-rescued ducklings were okay. We saw the good mother duck sitting with her wings fluffed out and all the little ducklings underneath getting warm! (O, how oft would I have gathered you…)

But then Sam heard a sad peeping. And we saw one of the little babies running around in another yard, looking frantically for its mother! So Sam scooped it up…

…and brought it over to its mama, where it promptly scooted up next to her and snuggled under her wing with the other ducklings.

You can just see it peeking out!

And then we walked home (pausing for the little boys to look at and identify every single plane that flew overhead).

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And here are a few more happenings before spring became summer—some cute, some not. (Must manage expectations.) This one is cute. More baby ducks by the lake:

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This one is also cute: Marigold's birthday! She is 11! I got to share Mother's Day with her birthday, which is my favorite because she was born on Mother's Day! So this is the third time we've shared the day. I can't believe it's been five years since the last time!

What a happy day it was for me when she was born, rosy and round and pink! And what a happy eleven years it has been since!

Since her birthday was on Sunday, we did something fun with her on Saturday—Sam took her and me to a Mother's Day brunch at Thanksgiving Point! So fancy and good!

Everything was good. Yum.

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Sam made dinner on Sunday for me and my mom, accompanied by his customary beautiful menu. The girls' friend Daniela came by after church to help translate it. :)

Abe gave me a very interesting present which I still don't quite understand. It's like a domain name, but with emojis…?? So, now you may reach me at 🐰🎹🦈💐.com, apparently. Or something like that. Ha!

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Some pretty skies

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It seems like it happens fairly regularly these days that all the older kids are scattered abroad and I am home alone with the four little ones. It's surreal…it reminds me so much of my earlier years of motherhood when I had Abe, Seb, Ky, and Daisy. Three funny little monkeyish boys and a little girl ready to try whatever the rest of them tried! I don't know quite how to compare those days with now. I feel older and more worn-down now. But also calmer and more reflective. Wiser in some ways but also kind of surprised I'm not wiser! Ha. It is strange. I do know, now, how fast it goes, and I love and appreciate these little moments sitting at the table or in the car with the four of them.

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Speaking of those little ones, here is Clementine trotting down the street with her backpack after some adventure or other.

Caw and Bunny

Wearing some kitty ears Daisy got at girls' camp

Wearing Ziggy's fireman costume 

Mailman Gus out delivering mail with Clementine

Hair getting long!

Cute little people waving goodbye as I drove off somewhere (note Ziggy's ghostly hand waving from around the corner)

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A few family activities: we enjoyed the city fireworks show in early June. It's always our favorite one because the crowds are small and we can get up close to the fireworks! Clementine was especially enthralled.

But Zig too.

And Gus too! I just love their faces.

Layton Temple Open House

Picnic at a playground

Girls peeking in to the car when I drove home, for some reason??

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As part of our school Chocolate Unit we made truffles and chocolate-covered caramels, which are amazing, and then we branched out and learned how to make orange cream (creme? crème?) centers to dip. We hadn't tried it before—it's kind of like making taffy. You cook the sugar mixture over the stove but not long enough to caramelize it. You pour it onto a marble slab (which we just luckily happened to have…the cheese board Sam gave me for Christmas a few years ago).

Then you fold in the orange extract, orange zest, and a little marshmallow creme.

You fold the mixture and stir it and stretch it with a bench knife.

And after 10 minutes or so, it turns into this soft, fluffy orange cream mixture. It's so cool to watch it go from runny and stretchy to fluffy and pillowy! Then you just roll it into balls…

…and dip the balls in tempered chocolate!

 We made so many! They were delicious. The girls are thinking about selling these for Valentine's Day next year. I can attest that they are every bit as good as any store-bought chocolates I've ever had (and better than most)—even if not quite as uniform in appearance! 

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We found a little orange dress for Clementine that almost matched one the girls had! She and Daisy were so cute together.

Not to be outdone, Junie found another matching outfit they could wear, and helped Clementine match her right down to the necklaces they wore and the way they did their hair!

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The roses and irises looked particularly nice at the end of May

A perfect rose!

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We went on a hike with some friends for our last day of school. A little hot, but fun!

My kids have hiked to this suspension bridge before but I never have. It's fun!

It bounced and swung (gently) so you had to be brave to go across it!

Malachi hiked with us!

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And lastly, these are pictures taken in all seasons of the street I waited on for the girls' math class every Thursday. They took math from a tutor at someone's house and it was such a pretty spot to sit in the car and and read! I really liked having that quiet two hours (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) every week.

And lastly-lastly, Goldie has been snuggling with Nutmeg more than usual lately and it's so cute. He loves her so much. He just sits happily on her lap while she reads for hours, and when he needs to go to the bathroom he stands up and puts his paws on her, so she takes him to his litterbox, and then he sits peacefully on her lap again. Cutest little friends! I love looking over and seeing his ears poke up over her book. Nutmeg is almost eleven years old now, that blessed bunny. I hope he hangs on for another eleven!