It's that time

Spring is officially here, although the way the weather has been lately you'd think it's arrival had preceded the real date. My hyacinths came up two weeks ago and my neighbor, Dena, split some of her daffodils and I added those to my collection. Actually, the kids did it for me. I was so impressed.

The kids have also been enjoying some time outside, which I love.  The winter's are usually long with them cooped up in the house.

And Jason's time off from shoulder surgery has come to an end, so we've been enjoying as much time with him as possible.

As well as enjoying some beautiful days.

Hope you're enjoying your Spring, too!

Happy New Year!

We started, (or ended, depending on how you look at it) our year on a quiet note. We're not big New Year's Eve party people to begin with and Jason had to work at 6 a.m. on New Year's Day, so we just hung out at home. It was so warm on New Year's Eve! It got up into the upper 60's so we went outside with the kids. They put on a lovely concert for us in the driveway.

We are also not typical when it comes to our New Year's Day eating, because we don't like the traditional foods that most people serve. So I made us brunch for dinner. Just don't look at my homemade cinnamon rolls. I was already making the dough when I realized I didn't have enough flour so I attempted to use some wheat flour. Won't be doing that again. Anyway, I got out the china and let the kids drink orange juice with grenadine and some 7-Up mixed in, so it was good enough for them. Added some candlelight and we had our own little fancy evening.

Fabulous Four

Our baby just turned four! It's so depressing. I remember when Xander was the oldest at four and I thought his clothes were so big. Luckily Jordis makes me smile and laugh every day, so it helps me feel a little less sad about how big she's getting.

Doesn't she look happy?

Jordis only poses for pictures at HER convenience and she was less than thrilled that she got a black eye the day before. She decided to ride her bike down the driveway from the garage and the training wheels made it tip over when she tried to turn onto the sidewalk. I was on the driveway painting something for her birthday party when she whizzed by me and I knew it wasn't going to end well, but I wasn't in a position to do anything about it. She landed in the grass and the bike landed on her....with the handlebar on her eye socket.

Ten minutes later she was mad that I wouldn't let her back on the bike, so I applaud her stick-to-it attitude. However, when I called the doctor they said she needed to rest, so no more bike for her that day.

By morning she was fine and once Xander got home from school opening presents made her forget all about her injury.

Sometimes I can't believe how pretty she is. I'm sure I'm a little biased. But she has such a sweet personality, too. Whenever we're in public people talk about her cute voice and big eyes, and she always has friends wherever we go. We gave each of the kids one of the laminated cards from Jason's grandpa's funeral and Jordis keeps hers on her headboard. Last week she was kissing it goodnight and she told me "I miss him, he was so nice." She has such a sweet heart. And you have to be careful what you say around her. The other day when she and I were at the mall I was looking at some shoes when Jordis asked if I was going to buy them. I replied, "No, Daddy will kill me if I bring home another pair of shoes" and she cried out, "Oh, no, Mommy, that's so mean!" She's so mature for her age that sometimes I forget she doesn't understand figures of speech yet.

Here she is on birthdays past:

Happy Birthday, Chicky-Boo! We love you!

Let's go fly a kite!

Xander has a Diego kite he got a few years ago, and we feel bad that he always asks to fly it at inopportune times. But the other day he asked and it was perfect outside....a nice constant breeze, but not too windy.

Jason got it started for him and he was so excited. Aren't my boys so cute? It warms my heart to watch them have fun together.

He tried to guide the kite himself, but it didn't go so well. Thankfully he had a good attitude about it.

The little guy next door came to play on our swing set and he liked the kite, too.

Even Jordis took a turn.

Such a nice night at home, just enjoying the evening as a family.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

What beautiful weather we had yesterday for St. Patrick's Day! I tried to get a photo with Jordis in our green shirts, but she wasn't very interested. The only decent picture I was able to get of her facing forward is blurry because she kept trying to escape.

After Xander got home from school I made the kids a green lunch...green scrambled eggs with (normal) toast, kiwi and green milk. On green plates and glasses that have some green. They were pretty excited until they saw the kiwi and Xander shouted "I hate pickles!" I made them each try a bite. Xander said it was gross, Jordis said it was good, but neither of them would eat any more of it.

Afterward we went outside to play. Jordis has decided to try and ride Xander's big bike, and she can reach the pedals on it better than she can on our big wheel or tricycle.

Then we painted the driveway and played bubbles, then took a walk after dinner.

It was a great day!