Boys and More for the A to Z Challenge, Four Hop Thursday

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.     

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"Boys, boys, keep it down to a dull roar, please!" Mom tried to get her voice to cut through the noise.

"But Mom, we are being howling wolves, so we have to run and howl!" came the protest from the eldest, and the two younger continued to make the sounds that had both wakened and scared the baby, having a nap in the front room where Mom could keep an eye on him.

Scooping the little one up and trying to comfort him, she walked out onto the porch, where the "wolves" had decided they needed a rest and flopped onto the swing, a tangle of arms and legs hanging off in precarious positions as they were now trying to see how high they could get it to go.  The goal, of course, was to swing high enough to touch the ceiling of the porch with their toes, and they'd never managed, but were determined to keep trying.

Baby brother's tears turned to a giggle when he saw one of the other boys jump when the swing slowed enough and that giggle became a full laugh as the brother tickled his tummy.

"Come on in for a glass of lemonade and a cookie," Mom said, leading the way, hoping that filling their mouths would quiet them for a few minutes, but doubting it would be for very long, she knew them too well.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Noise.     

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Gosia at Looking for Identity has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit other blogs to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.    

Iron fences sometimes have emblems in them:

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

Look beneath the surface,

It's there that you will see,

I wasn't always like this,

A family once loved me.

I gave them months of shelter,

While they cleared the land,

And as they built the bigger house

They left me here to stand.

The children then did use me

For their years of play,

There were lots of games within

On each rainy or wintry day.

The elders now are saying

It's a shame to let me go,

They talk of my rebuilding,

And I hope that it is so.

For a granddaughter just got married,

They need a place to start,

I'm ready if they work on me,

To gladly play my part!

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Brian of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful that Ms.GF, who cannot let me come in her house during this time because of her precarious health, has figured out that i am a great weed killer.  She's got a lot of them, so i can still work for her out in the garden until it's safe for me to go back to regular work.

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Today is

Feast of Acan -- Ancient Mayan Calendar (god of wine, whose name means either "belch" or "groan", depending on your source -- although both seem apt, one during the celebration, the other after; date approximate)

Gio to Hung Vuong Day -- Vietnam (National Day; celebrating the founding of the nation by Emperor Hung Vuong some three millenia ago)

Great Lovers Day -- you don't have to be a Cassanova to celebrate the great lovers in your life!

International Children's Book Day -- on the birth anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen, sponsored this year by the Slovenia division of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People); this year's theme is "Hunger for Words"     

Malvinas Day -- Argentina (honors veterans of the Falklands War)

National Ferret Day -- US (The American Ferret Association)  

National Love Your Produce Manager Day -- with its own Facebook page    

National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day

Ramnawami / Ramanavami / Chaitay Dashain -- India; Nepal (Hindu celebration of the birth of Lord Rama, avatar of Vishnu)

    Swaminarayan Jayanti -- birth of Lord Swaminarayan for followers of the Swaminarayan tradition

Reconciliation Day -- as recommended by columnist Ann Landers, use today to reach out and mend a broken relationship

Sizdehbedar -- Iran (Nature Day)

Spring Fever and Medical Aid Appeal -- Fairy Calendar

St. Francis of Paloa's Day (Patron of boatmen, mariners, naval officers, sailors, travellers, watermen; Amato, Italy; Calbria, Italy; Fossato Serraita, Italy; Sant'Agata di Esaro, Italy; against fire, plague, and sterility)

St. Urban of Langres' Day (Patron of barrel makers/coopers, gardeners, vine dressers/vine growers/vintners; Dijon, France; Langres, France; against alcoholism, blight, fainting, frost, storms)

Taily Day, Scotland (engage in pranks related to your tail end, a second day of April fooling)

Thai Heritage Conservation Day -- Thailand

Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day -- Belarus

World Autism Awareness Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

Napoleon Bonaparte marries the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, 1810

Birthdays Today:

Bethany Joy Galeotti, 1981

Christopher Meloni, 1961

Pamela Reed, 1953

Ron "Horshack" Palillo, 1949

Camille Paglia, 1947

Emmylou Harris, 1947

Linda Hunt, 1945

Leon Russell, 1942

Dr. Demento, 1941

Marvin Gaye, 1939

Jack Webb, 1920

Charles White, 1918

Alec Guinness, 1914

Buddy Ebsen, 1908

Max Ernst, 1891

Walter Chrysler, 1875

Emile Zola, 1840

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, 1834

Hans Christian Anderson, 1805

Giovanni Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, 1725

Charlemagne, 742

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Nickelodeon(TV Cable Channel), 1979

"Dallas"(TV), 1978

"2001: A Space Odyssey"(Film), 1968

"As the World Turns"(TV), 1956

"The Edge of Night"(TV), 1956

Symphony No. 1 in C major(Beethoven Op. 21), 1800

Today in History:

Mehmed II begins his siege of Istanbul/Constantinople, 1453

Juan Ponce de Leon becomes the first European to set foot in Florida, 1513

"American Farmer," the first successful agricultural journal, begins publication, 1819

Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for president of the US, 1870

The first Easter egg roll is held on the White House lawn, 1877

Puerto Rico is given limited self rule by the US Congress, 1900

The first full time movie theater, the "Electric Theater," opens in Los Angeles, 1902

The Titanic undergoes sea trials under her own power, 1912

President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany, 1917

Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia, 1930

Charles Lindbergh turns over the $50,000 ransom for his kidnapped son, 1932

The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London, 1962

Argentine forces sieze the Falkland Islands, beginning the Falklands War, 1982

Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province (British Columbia), 1991

Israeli forces surround and besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated, 2002

Three widows and two daughters of Osama bin Laden were charged with illegally living in Pakistan; they were sentenced with 45 days in jail and fined $114 each, 2012

The Arms Trade Treaty, the first-ever bill to regulate the global trade in conventional weapons, is passed by the U.N. General Assembly, 2013

Eurozone unemployment reaches a high of 12%, 2013

NASA states goals to go back to the Moon by 2024, and by 2033 to be sending astronauts to Mars, 2019