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