By mid-morning it had already been a rough day. Shep is on the tail end of sick, as is Ellery. Neko is halfway through sick. Tom is getting sick. Everyone is tired and grouchy. Between all three kids, we were probably up hourly.

It doesn’t help that it’s been grey and overcast for ages. On top of being sick, I think the weather has been bringing us down.

Jen was here to watch the kids so I could log a little time in the shop. Although we tell her to call us with any questions, she’s a super-experienced sitter, and has never called. So when my cell phone rang, and I saw it was her, I was worried.

So now we should backtrack to fall. On one fine, fall day Neko found a fat, green caterpillar in the yard. We humored her by letting her put it in the bug cage, thinking we would release it the next day. But the next day, the caterpillar was gone. Overnight, it had turned into a chrysalis.

We had done the whole caterpillar/chrysalis/butterfly thing before. Wait a week or so, and the buttefly emerges. But once we started doing some research we discovered that this particular caterpillar stays in the chrysalis stage ALL WINTER and emerges as a moth the following spring.

So it spent the entire winter in the mudroom. I’d glance at it periodically and think that I should really just throw the whole thing out. There’s no way that thing is still alive after months in a chrysalis with no food or water. But when I answered the phone today, Jen informed me that the moth had emerged.

I didn’t even know what to say. Although she was bouncing with excitement over the moth, I don’t think Neko ever doubted it would eventually emerge. Perhaps I should think like a four-year-old a bit more often. I can be a real skeptic sometimes.

By evening, the moth was fluttering around the cardboard box we had moved him to, so much that we were worried he would hurt his wings. We told Neko it was time to let him go. My parents and sisters came up to watch, and by the light of the porchlights, she let the moth go.

Later that night, I heard Neko talking to Shep, “I know you miss the moth, but we had to let him go. He has to go find his other moth friends.”

It may not seem like it most of the time, but she’s listening. And understanding. And the sun came out today. So maybe, just maybe, we’re gonna pull ourselves out of this grey-sky, germ covered funk and run headlong into spring.

Tom was in the Big City for a mid-day meeting, so we decided to meet up with him at the end of the day for some time at the park and dinner out. The weather was beautiful and I’d just cleaned the house, so scooping the kids up for some outdoor fun before they could wreck the house seemed like a good plan.

We were going to go to the enormous park, but decided to go visit our old neighborhood park instead. It’s funny to go a place where you used to always run into someone from playgroup or a class, and this time around not recognize any faces.

The kids had a great time, and we all needed the sunshine. And pizza at our old favorite was SO GOOD. I must think of how to bribe someone in O-town to open a new location.

We’re trying to do more local events. We need to find friends in our town that we can hang out with, plus the kids must get tired of sitting in the car so much when we drive to the Big City.

So on a freezing Saturday morning, we headed out to the local Easter egg hunt. Barb came to watch Ellery so she wouldn’t get infant frostbite, and so we could have a 1:1 child to adult ratio, which is always for the best in events that involve wide open spaces and chocolate.

When we arrived, we were amazed to see plastic eggs as far as the eye could see. Neko even let out an audible gasp. The organizers had smartly sectioned off areas for different age groups, so Tom and Shep went to the 2 and 3-year-old area, while Neko and I headed off to the 4 and 5-year-old section. So, Shep, I apologize that there aren’t any photos of you at the hunt…but there is video of you, which, when I am 53, I will make into a nice video compilation.

When the buzzer signaled the start, pure mayhem ensued. Neko froze and watched as the seasoned professionals began grabbing eggs at lightning speed. I finally got her moving, and she was able to pick up around eight eggs with her heavily mittened hands before, in about 43 seconds, all the eggs were gone. Fortunately, she was too distracted by the Easter Bunny to notice all the kids surrounding her with more eggs than would fill their baskets.

Reunited with Shep and Tom, we headed to the coffee house for cocoa. Neko discovered a Disney chess set, Shep discovered biscotti, and Tom and I discovered a few moments to sip coffee.

Ellery, I promise, next week there will be photos of you. As a fellow third child, this is my vow.