Out like a lion

I don't know about where you are, but we have been having some wild spring weather so far! Just when we thought we'd escaped a winter of heavy snow, we got nearly a foot in one day! March definitely went out like a lion. We live very close to Target, so some days, the boys and I head there just to get out of the house, walk around, and pick up some groceries. I am so looking forward to going on walks outside soon!

The day that it snowed so incredibly much, I declared it a baking day and made raspberry muffins. 

A little more tart than blueberry muffins, but so yummy!

 They jump at the chance to do dishes. . . aka play in the sink.

Officially around 10 inches! Luckily, it almost all melted in 24 hours.

And thankfully the snow didn't bother the hyacinth!

 On Palm Sunday, the boys got to wave palm branches down the center aisle at the church.

 

And August met a Yorkie, and gave the world's happiest smile!

 The green bean plant that the boys started in January has a little green bean on it! Can you spot it??

 Always playing with his food and making a mess :)

On Friday, we did our usual library + pizza run.

 

Nolan chose the theme this week! He loves dogs, so we found a ton of books for him to dive into. We LOVED "Gaston" and "Antoinette" by Kelly DiPucchio and we want to buy them now. Other favorites are Rosemary Wells' McDuff books, "Talk Oscar Please", and the "Dog Loves.." series by Louise Yates.

Doesn't this look comfy? He slept his whole nap like this!

  

I'm sure I'll get Easter photos up soon!

xo.

March highlights

We've had a fairly relaxing March, which has been nice, especially knowing that things are going to speed up in April with Easter, and traveling, and Nolan starting soccer.

One morning, I was making breakfast in the kitchen and thought this sight was extra cute. August will only stay still for Daniel Tiger. He even yells, "Daniel!" pretty clearly when he sees him!

These were the books we read during our dinosaur-themed week! Camp Rex and Sea Rex by Molly Idle were my favorites of these, as well as Santa Rex and Tea Rex, which we checked out from the library later.

Can't wait for warmer days at the park!

This is my favorite little hat! August likes to take it off and throw it out of his carseat in the store when I'm not looking. One week it ended up in the library's Lost & Found. After spending ten minutes searching for it on the floor at Trader Joe's on Sunday, I decided that we're retiring it now! :)

At Home Depot, the boys made periscopes! It's perfect for Nolan who wants to be a spy/detective!

My New Year's resolution was to read my Bible daily, and finding this One Year version was really the key I needed to start the habit. There are some parts I haven't ever read in their entirety (I'm in Deuteronomy now!) and some stories that I heard as a kid and have since forgotten. I'm learning and growing and realizing that so much of this faith journey is about being disciplined to take the time to be in the Word and to be in constant prayer.

Ephraim went to the dentist for the first time. Both boys got their teeth checked and did so well! Ephraim was proud of the little bag of goodies he got to take home. Nolan was excited about the toy army man with a parachute that he got to pick out. They played "dentist" all afternoon when we got home!

Those cheeks!

August had a fever one day, and he would not let me out of his sight. We braced ourselves that it might be the flu, but the next day he was fine!

Another theme: Outer Space! We liked, "You Can't Ride a Bicycle to the Moon" and "How the Meteorite Got to the Museum".

This boy is the sweetest! The other day, I mentioned how sad I was that I haven't seen any birds eat at our birdfeeder since I put it up in October. When I woke up the next morning, Nolan had drawn a beautiful, big red cardinal and taped it up to the window right next to the birdfeeder! Finally this week, a cute pair of house finches has found us!

Steve had a week off for spring break, so we headed to Pennsylvania to see our parents and friends! I got to visit my friends at my old MOPS group. It was so wonderful to see everyone!! I especially loved meeting this little sweetheart. My friend Kim has SIX BOYS, and on March 1, she had a GIRL! They never find out the gender ahead of time, so it was a complete surprise!

Steve's parents came down with the flu right after we arrived, so we were so sad we didn't get to see them!

We didn't get much snow in Indiana this year, but our "spring break" in Pennsylvania was very cold and snowy!

We bought the movie, "The Incredibles", and Nolan and Ephraim are obsessed with it!

What to do on snowy days? Bake blueberry muffins!

The boys had a lot of fun running through the snow and throwing snowballs!

Our church in PA is doing a major remodel! This is the fellowship hall completely gutted. I have so many good memories from this room that I can't wait for the new, improved version!

Can you spy two little buddies?

Thoroughly enjoying my mom's lasagna!

St. Paddy's donuts from our favorite donut shop. They did not disappoint!

We made rainbows out of Fruit Loops, and they really liked that!

This wooden doll cradle was mine when I was little, and it sat broken in my mom's garage for many years. I asked Steve if he could fix it, and in just a few minutes, he was done! August loved climbing up into the seat - the perfect size for him!

Ephraim is our singer, our piano-pounder, and our lyric-rememberer. He's a little shy, but give him a microphone and he'll eat up the attention!

My favorite view! It was a beautiful, sunny drive back to Indiana. We had a delicious lunch at Quaker Steak with our friends Dave and Wendy.

I hope that this week is treating you well!

XO

Rachel

Goodbye Winter

It's officially spring, but we have some snowflakes falling from the sky this morning. I think August is getting a second cold, piggybacking off of his last cold, so we didn't get much sleep last night. I'm on my third cup of coffee :) 

Sunday night, we got home from a week-long trip to Pennsylvania, so it has taken us a couple of days to adjust back to our life here. Also on Sunday afternoon, my grandma was called home to be with the Lord, so I've been both grieving and also rejoicing for her. Her funeral won't be for a couple of weeks, and I'm longing to see my grandpa and the rest of my extended family up in Minnesota. I'll definitely have to write a post about Grandma after the funeral. She had a really amazing life!

August is so busy and fast these days that I treasure these sweet sleeping photos of him, where he's still very much my baby.

He loves to climb all over us when we're sitting or laying on the floor!

 

Even on days when I think I have given all there is to give, motherhood asks me again to die to self and put my own wants and desires aside. I'll be the first to admit that I get overwhelmed when three kids are asking me to do three different things at the same time. I really see the Holy Spirit working to change me as I pray for patience and gentleness and self-control.

Signs of spring! Since we weren't here last year, I'm curious to see what flowers will come up. I think the red bulbs are peonies!

For Presidents' Day, we made some Abrahams and Georges.

Happy boy!

March . . . in like a lamb, out like a lion??

One of our weekly homeschool themes was MAPS, and the boys really liked learning about the countries of the world, especially after watching the Olympics.

Nolan's joke that he made up that week: "What country is in the middle of an apple?"  "CORE-EA" :)

These were the books we studied that week. I highly recommend the big MAPS book in the center, and also "The 50 States" book. They are SO neat!

Speaking of books, we went to a book-signing of one of Steve's favorite authors, John David Anderson. The boys thought it was really cool!

And the bookstore happened to be next to a cupcake shop.  .  . so we had to try the strawberry and the salted caramel varieties. :)

The best way to spend a Sunday afternoon! He always has to take his socks off before he falls asleep.

I tried Gwyneth Paltrow's blueberry muffins, and I added a sprinkle of raw turbinado sugar on top. It makes for a nice crunch. . . so delicious!

My stepdad bought us a Lent banner with a countdown to Easter. We've been preparing our hearts for the great celebration of Jesus' resurrection. It's been really fun to move the marker every day, and now we're down to just 10 days!

Every time August hears the dog next door bark, he starts making woof noises and finds the closest window. We are a family of dog lovers, and of course we miss our Ivy!

XO

Rachel