Springtime in our neck of the woods

Jessie taking more pictures for her Photography class.  The little white flowers and violets are volunteers we found.Neil was Jessie’s photo escort.  One picture with the flower in focus and one with Neil in focus.

And don’t let the toes give away who grabbed the camera next.  This is one of Neil’s favorite books right now.  He also loves Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson, all really cute books (her other bear books are ok, but these three are the really good ones). Abbie has been dying to make some clothes for a couple of her bears. This is the little dress we came up with.  And she was so excited.  We have another dress cut out for one of her brown bears we just need to sew it together.Since we’ve been home from Washington, Isaac has gone gung-ho on this walking thing.  He looks so big standing up!He and Neil really enjoy the newly discovered Marble Works toys (new to them.  They’ve been hiding in a box in the basement).  Isaac’s favorite part is swatting at the marbles as they go around and around in the funnel piece and Neil loves to watch one marble go all the way from start to finish.  I think my favorite part is keeping a steady constant flow of marbles going.Isaac also LOVES Jessie’s music stand.  Every time she sets it up he makes a bee-line for it and messes with every part he can reach.  The little pieces that hold your music in place are especially neat.  Usually I have to take him upstairs and play with him while she is practicing because anything downstairs is just not distracting enough when there is a music stand out.I love that my kids love to watch each other play games on the computer.  They are usually quite patient and wait their turn and enjoy rooting for the person who is playing.  This morning Isaac discovered Spencer’s remote control car.  So fun!

Look mom!!

Here’s our front flower bed.  A little sparse straight on, but from the road you can mostly just see the flowers and so it’s so pretty.  Some close-ups so you can enjoy them a little bit better!

Still practicing this walking thing.  He found this yo-yo this morning and has been dragging it around all day.We made duck tape flower pencils for Activity Days and they were a huge hit.  The next day Abbie had a friend over and they made some too.The swords from Grandma and Grandpa get played with all the time -- as do Halloween costumes :-).

Yeah it’s beautiful outside!  Let’s play!  How about Four Square?

Ever since Jessie and Mark’s April Fool’s Day prank of colored milk Neil has insisted on coloring every gallon we open.  Today’s variety is bright blue.  Now that should make you smile in the morning.This morning’s color was an attempt to make purple.  This is before they shook it; all the red had sunk to the bottom and the blue was on the top.The best thing about springtime snow is that it is beautiful and you don’t have to shovel.And besides, more snow is a great excuse to make a fire, right? A pretty bright yellow bird that came to our feeder one day.  Jessie and I looked up it’s name, but I too lazy to go find that information again tonight.  :-)

Where the Fire Bug went

This is a Ken-post, and I just couldn't resist this one.

When I was a kid, everyone knew I had a fascination with fire. Scout campouts were glorious times because there would be fire! I still get teased about it at family events. Now however, the pyromania has gone away. I learned this week where it went - to my son. Mark has it as bad as his father ever did!

On Wednesday I told Mark I wanted to help Grandpa Woodward burn some branches that were piled up and needing to be burned. Mark's eyes lit up and he eagerly volunteered to help. He spent the entire afternoon outside tending the fire, and burned every scrap of wood that needed to be incinerated. When he was done, all that remained were some campfire-sized logs that I told him not to get rid of. If I had told him the trees needed to go to, he would have found a way to add them to the conflagration.

I have a great family! Have a wonderful day!