Dad's Away the Kids will Play...Maybe

This is the first day of what starts the kids Spring Break.  Some people may groan when they think of a week where their children are home all day, every day 24/7.  I love it!  I love lazy mornings and an agenda that is all our own.

Tonight we started it with me saying, "yes".  Monkey asked if he could play his DS. I said, "yes".  Peanut asked if she could have a piece of her candy, I said, "yes."  Sweet T asked for milk, I said, "yes". When he came down asking if they could play the Wii, I said, "yes."  See the pattern?  I was being the cool mom that wasn't in a hurry to get dinner on the table.  No game or dance to hurry to.  Bedtime was a way off so it just didn't matter.  Cool right?  I thought that this evening would be so great!

The Wii may have been a bad choice on my part.  The next sounds I heard were not happy ones.  Bummer.
What do you do when you have a meltdown and two of three kids wanting to lay into the other one?  Well there are actually a few options here.  Laughing isn't really very effective when dealing with them in this stage.  Sometimes a glass of wine and letting them figure it out on their own, but not tonight.  I also realized that they were starting to get hungry so, I grabbed the kids and got things out for them.  They were so intrigued by this change of events that the fighting and tears stopped.  I gave them each two eggs and bowls.  I told them to crack their own eggs.  Who knew that the smiles I would get from these two would come from cracking their own eggs and making their own dinner?? I let them make it and cook it.  Sweet T wanted in on the action and so she was in there making her dinner too!  No complaints at dinner.  None!

Wahoo!  Mom-1 Kids-0  Love my kids!  Love how I can redirect them and have a good evening. They were so proud of their dinners and were actually kind to one another at the table.  They deserved a movie night with popcorn and lots of butter.  Yep that's how we roll when dad is out of town!

See how cute they are?  All 3 of them in on the dinner action!  Love these kids!

Snow adventures and faith building

Finally,  we have our snow!  We have been below our normal for so many months now with the lack of snow fall that I was beginning to wonder if we were every going to experience our "normal" winter.

One of my favorite things about the snow is, waking up in the morning to find a whole new world blanketed in the powdery white.  It's breathtaking.  When it's still dark and everything is covered with snow, it's easy to feel romantic about it.  Everything takes on a glow and the world is quiet.  The buses that go by our house are even quiet.  All you can hear are the muffled crunch of tires on the road.  When daylight comes so does the reality of what more you have to do to get your day going.  Shovel the sidewalk, wipe my dogs paws off, make sure that the little dog makes it off of the patio to do his business instead of stepping just outside of my reach and taking care of it on the patio, oh and because we have no garage, you can add sweeping the snow of the cars too.  The thing is, even though these are inconveniences, they are small when you consider the gift that this white stuff can be.  Like listening to my kids laughter as they come sledding down the hill, or the cold rosy cheeks of my kids as they sit around the table cupping their hot chocolate, or building snowman or snowforts.  Oh, I know many people that curse at it and grumble about it, but really, there are few magical moments in this world and I consider a good snowfall to being one of them.

I have to also clarify that I have an amazing husband that does all of the snow clearing for me so I can sit inside with my cup of coffee watching him.  I have spent my time clearing sidewalks and cursing the snow,  but for now, I have a husband that does it for me so I don't have too.

This is Baby T's second winter but really her first experience with the snow.  Last year I put her on a sled so I could get a picture of my 3 kids, which she then fell head first into the cold stuff and ended her wonderful experience.  This year, when she sees my older two get their snow pants, she runs to the bathroom to grab hers.  She points to her head and says, "hat Mama", and her feet and says, "Boots".  She knows what is required to go out into this cold and wintery world.  I love her enthusiasm.  Her excitement to go out and eat the snow.  She saw her older sibs playing and making snow forts today.  She wanted to be a part of it, until I set her in the 12" snow.  Then she looked at me and cried.  She felt stuck.  "Uppee, Mama!"  Sure, I'll pick you up.  It has to be so comforting to know that no matter what someone is always there for you.
This past winter I have been wondering what our plans are going to be.  Questioning everything.  Wondering where are the jobs that we were led to believe would be waiting for us when Jeremy graduated.  I mean, a PhD should get you something, right?  I think of my kids and then think of God.  Our kids rely on us to carry them when they can't walk or crawl.  Our kids rely on us to be their guide when they can't make sense of a situation.  God wants us to do the same with Him.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.


Ok.  I get it.  Instead of asking questions about why is it not working out the way we had envisioned, I should be relying on God.    Well, here goes. " Uppee God!"

Being goofy with my Peanut!

Baby T showing off her smile

Helping Daddy shovel snow.  Maybe just supervising!

It's too deep! "Uppee Mama!"

Showing me the snowflakes on her eyelashes

The month of April

April started with the 1st.  As does every month.  But we know that it is April Fool's Day, and until you have kids it is a day that gets a little forgotten.  My older two kids are now truly understanding the "Fool" part of the day.  Starting off the morning with a "Mom, there is a horse coming down our road! Come look!"  Let me set up the scenario for you.  We live in town and on a road that is a main bus line.  So while this may seem like a gimme in the "I'm fooling you" department it wasn't.  Just 2 summers ago we had a moose that was roaming through town and we see the occasional coyote too.  Oh, and may I just add that this was done BEFORE my morning cup of coffee!  So, both Jeremy and I went to look out the window and before we could say anything we heard the snickers of Monkey and Peanut going on behind us.  Then they both loudly said, "APRIL FOOLS!"  "WE SO GOT YOU!"  Yes you did, my dear children.  Yes you did.  When did they grow up?  I can remember trying to explain jokes to them and it not really registering in their little minds.  Now I am thinking about all of the future April Fool's Days that we have to look forward to!  I am hoping that they are all as benign as this past one.  Somehow, I doubt it.
We have also been madly finishing our basement.  This is a huge time vacuum.   It is almost there and this requires a whole post on it's own with pictures.  Maybe another time.
As the month progressed I was thinking about T's birthday.  She was turning 1!  In all the preparations of that I nearly forgot that my own birthday was the day before.  I said nearly.  I didn't forget and neither did my wonderful husband.  Sweet baby T and I shared our cake, because really, how much cake can one person eat in a week!  Ok, don't answer that!  My folks and one of my brothers came over to help celebrate an eventful weekend.
After the birthday celebration weekend we had a fairly low key week before we celebrated Easter.  I love Easter.  It is such a great reminder of why I am a Christian.  I am so humbled to think of the love that our Savior has for us, for me.  Mind blowing really.  Anyway, the Saturday before we had our town egg hunt that even the baby was able to participate in.  Then Sunday, the kids donned their Easter outfits and did quick Easter basket hunt and then we were off to church.  After church we were invited to some friends farm for Easter supper and egg hunt.  It was fabulous!  Ever have one of those friends that when you walk into their home you immediately feel as if it's your own?  Physically, it was so different than our own families, but the energy, chaos and warmth felt the same.  There were ALOT of kids running around, which was so great!  And plenty of grown ups to just hang out and be together.  We had an amazing time and I am so thankful for these friends of ours.  We love them!
Now this week, we are slowing down and having a quieter week.  I am thankful for the eventful month that we have had.  Next month looks to be a little less hectic but then we have to gear up for Monkey's 8th birthday at the end of it!  How is he going to be 8?

                               Peanut, in the brown sweats and white shirt, loves soccer. 

                                              Sweet Baby T, 12 months old.

 Monkey wanted his hair cut into a mohawk, until he saw what it looked like and then he had me shave it off!  The idea appealed to him but he isn't a boy who likes to experiment with hairstyles.

                                Peanut and the rest of the town at the egg hunt.

                                     Going through their loot at the egg hunt.

                                                             At the farm on Easter.

                                          I hope that everyone has had an amazing and blessed April!