The aftermath...

This post has been edited to include photos... and a bunch more words.

Tosca and Jago... Jago is air-scenting passersby...

The baptism, chrismation and party all went swimmingly well.  Son #2 did NOT come up out of the water swearing to kill us all, so what more could we ask for?  Well, we had beautiful weather and a lot of people survived the entire 2 1/2 hour service -- yikes!  Many people came to our house for the huge amount of food we laid out and we're still working our way through it.  The first set of pictures has been delivered and are fantastic reminders of the day.  I'll pick some and put them in another post.  But here's some FOOD pictures:

Pumpkin mini-muffins

4 loaves of Amish White Bread

Apple cake and rice crispy squares

Vanilla cake (two layers) with lavender-tinted dragees

Whole house is freshly painted!  Someone even came in the front door!

No idea what it is, but it was brightly colored.  Placed by the front door.

I'm typing this at the table on the deck.  A wonderful bowl of pansies with curly edges is in the middle of the table — a last minute find last weekend.  I don't remember ever seeing these unusual pansies before.  Today, I added six creeping phlox to the border of the middle garden... They always need a little refreshing... I couldn't resist a packet of sunflower seeds — the giant variety — and so planted those here and there.  Always fun, if they work out.  Then I distributed two bags of top soil on the middle grassy area from where I got lazy last fall and stopped putting up the fence after the lawn guys mowed, and so it was peed on by the dogs.  Then I spread all of an old bag of patch master grass seed and then spread two bags of old grass seed around all the grassy areas.  Better on the lawn than in the bag, I thought.  I also couldn't resist two flats of lettuce and set them out in two small terracotta planters... The place where I put the planters was a little unbalanced, but I discovered that a crushed soda can under each was just the right amount of lift for leveling them.

The curly pansies

Lettuce!

All the pansies from preparing for the party are doing really well.  Various other things are coming to life.  It really IS spring!  But when the only thing at the garden shops are pansies, it's hard to restrain yourself and remember there will be other things you might want to buy LATER.

Son #1 always chooses YELLOW, his favorite color...

Slight purple tint on some, purple centers on all

Two more pots-ful

This wagon was in a 4th of July parade and then became a plant pot...

This morning's dump run included unloading a complete set of four place settings of blue glass dishware -- plates in three sizes, bowls and cups.  We've had them since we were married and they are in mint condition.  Also six wine goblets, same vintage.  Another item not likely to ever be used around here.  And I passed along a set of five wooden salad bowls made in Fairbanks, Alaska, to an Alaskan friend.  With a few minutes to spare before the dump closed, I tackled the disintegrating wooden planter alongside the house, which mostly meant pulling out the big weed clump growing out of the middle of it and then piling the pieces into a big tub and hauling it all to the van.  Still need to shovel the rest of the dirt away.

I remember my neighbor's self-imposed rule of dealing with everything she's bought before buying anything more.  I'm good to go for the next step!  All plants are planted and all bagged dirt is distributed.  But I think we need to wait and see what comes up... At most, I could order a half yard of stone to replenish in the various places the dogs pee.

A couple other stray things... I am the mother of a kid with severe ADHD!  I may not have it, but some qualities of it are definitely contagious!

After the baptism, etc., we kept the twins (our nieces) and what with one thing and another, had them through Friday!  I guess that made spring break a little more interesting for the kids.  Son #2 and the twins love to play imagination games with Angry Birds plush toys and foam blocks and can do this by the hour.

Son #2 and the twins...

While I was rummaging around in the basement for vases and dishes to serve food for the post-baptism party, I cleaned out a box and rediscovered some favorite glassware... And why not USE it?  There are two glasses engraved with "K" from my grandparents...

K is for Kinne

And three of these adorable little bubble glasses in green:

Milk tastes best in green glass!

Next up, though... Jim Malcolm in concert NEXT Sunday evening!!  April 28 at 7 PM.