Spring in all its glory

Springtime has arrived in a rush of glory, almost to beautiful to stand. 

In just the last 24 hours, the spring green tips of leaves have appeared on every tree in sight.  Magnolias are in bloom and daffodils are near their peak.  The world is greening at an alarming rate.  Squirrels and birds are noisy and joyful and days warm and sunny.  It is as if Cleveland has decided to apologize for its behavior this winter.  It is doing a bang-up job. 

When life is this good, you just want it to stay that way, you know?  Let this moment in my life linger.  Stop time right now, with the leaves not yet burst forth, the sunlit grass a too-bright green, my children little, a free Sunday stretched before me, my life full of people I love and too much to be grateful for. 

There is something about all these new, tiny leaves, their terrible hurry to grab the sunshine, that is making me acutely, achingly aware of how fleeting this moment of my life will be.  Before I know it, my backyard will be blanketed in the deep green of summer and we will be complaining about the heat of this glorious sunshine.  Before I know it my children will be grown and the landscape of my life will be unrecognizable because time will pass and things will change and people will come and go.  And I know, I KNOW that there are good times to come.  That there is much to love in the shady green of full-summer trees, that getting older isn't the end of the world, really.  Whatever the landscape in my future brings, I will be grateful and find joy in it, too.

But this moment, right now, this springtime air and the smell of my children's skin-- it takes my breath away.  

Almost too beautiful to stand. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now for a less melodramatic picture post of the past week.  Otherwise titled:  "Can you see why I want to freeze time right now?"

Ballet is back!

These three are back in ballet together.  As a life lesson to melodramatic Amanda-- two years later, our little ballerinas are longer and leaner but still just as stinking adorable as they were at age 3.  And now, they talk enthusiastically about their hairstyles together and head off to class with an independence that is stunning.  Growing up is ok....

An evening at Edgewater.

No better place to appreciate the perfect weather in Cleveland than by our Lake.  Nat and I had a date night on Friday and spent the whole darn thing at the park, picnicking and spending time with our wonderful friend Keith.

This city really grows on you.

We had the best time with this little boy and his dad.  This photo does not do justice to how gorgeous this child was, thick ringlets and light eyes and caramel skin in the sunset light.  He loved Corydon and threw stick after stick for her, while his dad provided the most hilarious running narrative of it all.

Everyone we met at the park that night was friendly and happy and ready to talk.  Embracing community and sunshine after a long winter.  Glad to see one another and to breathe fresh air.  No one was in a hurry, and everyone seemed to share this look of slightly confused wonder as they ambled.  Cleveland in the spring.

Soccer continues...

Ivy is officially on a team!  Team Dynamo held their own on Saturday despite our daughter's insistence on walking into the crowds of kicking girls and trying to pick the ball up.  Seriously. No less than 5 times.  Jack spent her whole game enthusiastically watching for this behavior and yelling out to her "Don't use your hands, Ivy!!" in an increasingly frustrated tone of voice.  (To his credit, he also patiently coached her goalie skills during halftime, and observed with slight surprise, "Her team is better than I thought they'd be...")

Still, as a friend observed, it's not about whether you win or lose, its about how cute you look in your soccer uniform.

For some unknown reason, the coach of this age 5-6 girls team was given only one size small shirt.   So here's our girl, rocking a Large. 

Time for a snuggle after the game.  It was hotter and sunnier than we expected and we had two tired little players after three hours out there....

Jack also had another fine day with the Comets. After a bit of a frought beginning to the game, where the Comets were down by two, they brought it back with two late-game goals for a tie.  One of those goals being scored by our son.  His love affair with the sport continues...

Birthday Parties and big kids...

We spent the rest of the day at a lovely birthday party for baby Pete, one of the youngest of the Hiram crew's offspring. He's two now so I guess he's not baby Pete any more.  

The rest of them aren't babies anymore either. 

I love these kids, the way they play together so well, looking out for one another, being so kind.  Plus they're all gorgeous, no?  These are some pretty spectacular children by any definition, but the fact that they belong to my friends who I love so much puts them right over the top.  Best kids ever. 

A parting shot of our front-yard daffodils at their peak.  Our new "Tiger Nation" sign has been placed.  Went to Kindergarten Information night for Ivy this week and it's crazy to think that when these spring-green leaves turn red, we'll have two Heights Tigers living at our house.  Whew.  Time and the way it flies!  I tell ya.