Spring!!

It's officially spring in Iowa and we are loving it!  All of my kids love being outside and let's be honest the fresh air and sunshine is therapeutic to me too!

We celebrated Easter only about a month ago, but it seems like ages ago already.  The kids and I made these sunset paintings and then cut out three crosses to glue on top and read the story in their Bible.  Amaia particularly enjoyed this, because my big girl could paint for days on end and not get tired of it :)  We also made palm branches out of paper and found a kid's worship song entitled "Hosanna" and danced and sang along.  It was so fun and all 3 kids really enjoyed it, which is hard to find in an activity. On good Friday we washed each others feet and talked about Jesus' example in doing that and they also enjoyed that more than I expected.  I love traditions and really value them so I hope that some of these things become something that we look forward to every year.  On Easter we went to church on Saturday at our regular service and then had some family over for a casual lunch on Sunday.

One thing that I have learned about Haddon this spring is that he is absolutely fascinated by worms!  I fear the day that he picks one up and brings it into my house or puts it right into my face.  Ha ha.  In March we did a lot of jumping in puddles and exploring nature.  I'm a just a city girl trying to encourage my kids to love the outdoors :)

In March we had a really wonderful visit from Grammie and Amaia was gifted her first big girl bike, which she loves! She has been faithfully practicing since that day.  She is definitely slow and cautious  like her mama, but I can already tell that her skills have improved.  Lately when we have going on walks in the evening she rides along with us.

The past week or two it has been pretty warm and we have been all about the park!  My sweet little baby Vera does not enjoy being carried around or pushed around in a stroller at the park anymore, which is VERY dirty because she is not walking yet, but the experts seem to say that dirt is good for you :)  I have been really trying to encourage a lot of walking practice at home with her, because I do hate crawling outside.  I really think that she could walk and she will occasionally take a step or two on her own, but she is currently not so interested and prefers crawling.

And lastly, my sweet Haddon mowing the lawn along side his daddy.  Adam was mowing the lawn and Haddon said "I want to mow like daddy" and then proceeded to run into the garage and get his lawn mower too.  It was a really sweet moment and I'm thankful that Aunt Ash grabbed a picture for us, because Haddon is normally too cool for school when it comes to picture taking.