Is Spring Here?

We sure hope so after this crazy long winter. With upper 40's and sun today, the warmer forecast for this weekend seems like it just may happen!

Stay, Spring! Please? We'd like to do some more off-roading.

I Want to Remember

Sunday mornings can be a little hectic as we try to get out the door on time for church.  It is for everyone, right?  With Bode still needing a morning nap, we normally try to get him to lay down for a short little while before we leave for Sunday School and late service.

As I was trying to get him to sleep this morning, he was resisting more than usual.  I had finished reading him several books, but instead of snuggling down in his crib with his blue lovey puppy like he normally does, he was standing up and crying for me. Even though time was ticking, I was still wearing my towel with a mud mask on my face, I decided I'd sing him some more songs and rock him for awhile to see if that would help.  After a few of our favorite nap time tunes, he finally started relaxing in my arms and his eyelids succumbed to their sleepy weight.

When he finally drifted off to sleep, I couldn't help but wish I could forget about everything else and just cuddle him all morning.  His warm toddler body just fit so perfectly on my lap with his precious wild blonde curls on my shoulder and his sweet little chubby bare feet sticking out from under the blanket.  Everyone says to cherish every second while they're young.  Often this is easier said than done, but in instants like these, I can't help but wish the world would stop so I could truly enjoy them to the fullest.

Sometimes I really cannot believe how quickly my babies are growing.  I wish I could tangibly remember what Bode was like as a newborn and recall exactly all of Maggie's quirky mannerisms when she was Bode's age.  In the moment you never think you'll forget, but sadly and inevitably the memories do fade. 

So these are just some of the memories I want so desperately to hang on to when, in the years to come, I look back on this chapter of our lives.:

~My darling 3 year old that needs me to hold her hand while she falls asleep at night but then still makes her way into our room before morning.

~The affectionate hugs and wrestles with my little boy.

~A grumpy girl that put herself down for an early nap one day and then came back out of her room to apologize.

~The shrill screams of a 17-month-old who still wants his mommy to hold him and carry him everywhere.

~The belly laughs from my oldest child when I imitate the way she used to say "Grammy."

~The way my youngest coyly looks away and buries his face in my shoulder when a stranger talks to him.

~The random "Mommy, I love you."s from my sweet daughter.

Yes.  We are blessed.

Bode's love even reaches to the cat...who does not share his enthusiasm.

Excitement on our surprise weekend trip to Wisconsin Dells.

Enjoying some homemade oobleck.

Homemade doughnuts, requested by Maggie after reading a Curious George book about doughnuts.

Greeting friends from the window.

Hugs for her bestie.

Wonderful friends, visiting from Isanti.

Sorting seashells that Bapa brought back from a business trip.

Making Waves

My husband is good at what he does. He just is.

This recent article in the local paper highlights his high standards for learning and has received a lot of positive feedback from members of the community.

Way to go, Steve!

What I Did on Spring Break. by Sara Gibbs

Consider this an essay in photos.

Moon sand was a success.

What's spring break without a little Caribou before playing at the Apache mall?

Mouth full of carrot cake muffin.  Yum!

Successful library trip = contented reading.

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa started with some egg dyeing.

...or hand dyeing.

Children's museum with cousins.

Rock star!

Liliana.

Natural climber.

Face painting.

Scanning an animal in Diego's animal rescue center.

Yeah...a picture with the kids on Easter wasn't happening.

Living room painted!

Dining room painted a couple weeks ago -now just need to fill my walls.

Baking cookies on my last day off.

My Love's New Love

My dear husband has developed a new skill - cooking!  Who knew?  Certainly not me after years of him insisting that he could only make frozen pizza.  Turns out, he's quite talented!  He even says it's relaxing.  I could get used to this.

Pork chops with fresh tomato, onion, garlic, and feta.

Oh, and Bode said his first sentence yesterday, combining his two favorite words.  "No, Mama!"  Yup.  I'm proud.  (Later, he said, "Hi, Da!" Errggh.)

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Maggie had her first dance recital/show this past weekend.  She just started attending her Just For Kix class once a week at the beginning of February, so she had limited time to practice her routine before the show, but she has a blast!  That girl loves to move, so it's a great fit for her.

The quality of my video is horrible.  I apologize.  But Maggie is the girl in the middle (the last one to crouch at the beginning).

 

One of Those Days

 It was one of those mornings.  After staying up too late organizing groceries, working out, and cleaning, my short night's sleep was interrupted after about an hour by a fussy 15-month-old and was abbreviated even further by the same dependent morning person of a child wide-awake and ready for the day at 5:45 am.  After I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes, got him a cereal bar, milk, and Sesame Street, I decided that I could at least get an early start on my day's work, right?  I logged into the online school and found both a message in my inbox and a voicemail, though not a rude one, from the parent of an over-achieving 7th grader (I know the type) for whom I had mistakenly tarnished a 100% in Life Science by entering a "0" for one of her assignments.  Oops.  Okay, fine.  I'd eat some dirt, admit my mistake and change the grade.  Easily fixed.  I got the necessary email sent to the office while Bode's pterodactyl-like scream reminded me that he wanted BOTH of my arms wrapped tightly around him, not typing on my barely-in-reach computer with one hand.  As I was trying to maneuver the computer closer to me in order to accommodate his demand, one hand still firmly wrapped around my needy boy, I ended up bumping it, which caused it to CRASH onto the floor.  Noooooooo!!!!!  Fingers crossed, I paused, then gradually picked it up, bracing myself for the worst while hoping for the best.  And this is what I saw:

Oh.  Great.  For the second time before 7:15 in the morning, I had to contact our office administrative assistant in order to have a tech ticket submitted on my behalf.  She responded, "Well, at least the day can't get any worse, right?"  Well...it might not have gotten any worse, but it certainly didn't get any better.

While I was trying to clean up from breakfast, Bode decided to take the batteries out of the remote and hide them, no doubt in order to prolong the morning's television time as I still don't know how to power off our somewhat new TV without it and who knew where extra batteries were.  Without my babysitter that day, I did my best to manage, entertain, educate, and parent my active kiddos throughout the day while performing my teacher duties (now on my personal computer), doing a sub par job at both.  Oops, spilled pop on my other keyboard.  Oh, Bode can reach the light switch from his crib now and filled his room with brightness during nap time. Great, Maggie stayed in her bed just long enough to convince herself she had taken a nap, and after I finally managed to persuade her to crawl into the guest bed in my office while I worked in attempt to truly get her to sleep, she promptly had an accident.  And that was the end of that. Then a work emergency kept my dear hubby longer than expected at his job so that I couldn't get my required parent phone calls in before my two hour parent-teacher conferences commenced at 5 that evening.  At that point of the day, I was thinking that upset parents would almost be a vacation as long as the door to my office was CLOSED.

This kept the kiddos busy for awhile.  Transferring dried rice and chickpeas.

"Oh no!" Bode agrees the house is a mess, even after vacuuming up the spilled rice and chickpeas.

Asia surveys the damage in the living room.

It's on days like this, that despite all evidence to the contrary, full of self-pity, I am convinced I have the worst lot in life.  As a couple days' time has separated me from these events, I can look back and think how completely untrue and awful that thought is.  I know indubitably that I am so blessed beyond what I could ever hope or imagine.  I have two precious and clearly adorable children as well as a loving and supportive husband in addition to the numerous other people and circumstances the Lord has placed in my life.  I'd like to think that these so-called trials, as completely minuscule as they are, are shaping me and refining me.  I know days like this will happen again.  It's inevitable.  But I can choose to let it stress me out and focus inward, or by God's grace, allow it to help me grow. 

My sweet girl trying on my shoes last weekend.

Bode watching Maggie and Daddy shovel some snow.

Hard at work.