Family

What a crazy winter/spring season this has been!

One minute we are needing our shorts and short sleeve shirts and the next minute we are needing our long johns here in the south. Our weather is keeping us on our toes for sure. Just last week, I went through my entire closet and packed away all my winter clothes. My closet is pretty bare right now actually. I did not realize that I have such a huge wardrobe of winter clothes. I told myself last week that the closet purge would probably cause the weather to take a nose dive in temperatures. The weather did not let me down unfortunately. We woke up to this yesterday morning…

The girls were so giddy thinking they would have a snow day. Alas, school was on as scheduled. I did remind them though, this is the first year they will be starting summer vacation before Memorial Day. They were all smiles. We only have 23 days of school. I cannot believe this school year has flown by. I just hope that the weather quits being moody and we stay with warm weather for awhile. Believe me, I am a huge snow lover but we are getting ready to move into May. It is time for the cold weather to leave and let us mountain folks enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

What has the weather been like in your area?

We have finally kicked the evil virus out the door. We are in hopes the virus will never visit us again because it will not be welcome in this household. The girls were on Spring Break last week and as you may remember, I had big plans for them. Unfortunately, since I got hit the worst with the virus, those plans never made it to fruition. By Friday, I was feeling really down about the girls Spring Break being ruined. Do you know, the girls never complained one time?

As I was finally getting back on my feet on Friday, I went outside to take a peek at the girls. Hubby took the girls outside for the day to get them out of the house and spend daddy and daughter time. I kept hearing giggles and joyous voices so I had to go see what all the fun was about. As I made my way outside, I was greeted with such a wonderful sight.

The girls were having a blast with sticks, rocks and water. Who knew? M exclaimed: “This is the best day, mommy.” There were no electronics involved or any high price toys. We were talking about only the basics — rocks and sticks.

It brought back memories from my childhood. My brother and I would spend hours and hours outside playing in the dirt. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up so we made do with the best we could. I don’t recall any bad memories growing up or wanting more money. I only recall having a wonderful childhood. At times, I feel like as a society we are way too ahead of ourselves. Kids think they have to have technology in order to have fun. We need to get back to the basics and show kids that they can have a blast with natural resources. Hubby and I vow to get outside more this Spring and Summer with the girls. We want to enjoy our surroundings and leave technology in the dust for awhile.

Do you think America needs to get back to the basics?

I have been counting down the days till the girls are on Spring Break. For one, I love having them home with me, and two, we all love to sleep in. No waking up at 6:30 for 7 whole days. This will be sweet. Unfortunately, that is not how our Spring Break started. How about waking up every hour on the hour? Yes, my precious M either got hit with a mean stomach virus or her body had a sugar overload from Easter activities. I am not sure which, but her little body was drained. She started at 9:30 last night and I would get her cleaned up, sheets washed and finally get back in bed for an hour… only to have to start all over again. I was getting worried but by 9:30 this morning, we were seeing light at the end of the tunnel. She slept till 11:30 and then was asleep by 7:30 tonight

We did manage a few activities today. I knew we needed to get out of this house and get the windows up. Hubby was already cleaning hard while I was making sure to get in all my work hours in today.

Our sweet little Kingston received an over-due haircut.

Afterwards, we made our way to the town park. The girls did different activities such as play in the sand, stand on the balance beam, swing and etc. while I did a rapid 2 mile walk.

It was just enough time to get the girls out in the beautiful weather while mommy could get in some much needed exercise. I have a feeling we will be making daily trips to the park this week.

Hubby has a daddy/daughter breakfast planned for them. I have a few crafts lined up. We have a movie date planned. If the weather can continue to be nice, I would love to do a picnic outside with them. We can include some softball and frisbee fun in the mix. Hopefully the rest of their Spring Break will be enjoyable and one they will remember for a long time.

How was your Spring Break?

The Easter weekend is finally upon us. We could not be happier to begin celebrating. He is RISEN! As mentioned yesterday in this post, we love doing fun family crafts together on Easter weekends. I always want to make sure the girls know why we celebrate Easter. Also, it is always so much fun to add in other sweet Easter activities.

The Saturday before Easter, we always have an extended family Easter cook-out along with a huge egg hunt.

My aunt comes up with old-fashioned games such as the sack race, egg toss and you should see everyone’s faces filled with delight.

I look forward to this tradition every year. It is a time where family comes together and enjoys everyone’s company.

We all relax and get in our PJ’s. It is time to gather around the table and dye Easter eggs. This is usually a tradition of just the four of us. It is sweet memories with our girls.

The girls get all tucked into their beds and excitedly wake the next morning to see what the Easter Bunny left during his bunny hop down the trails.

We usually do not go overboard with the Easter baskets. Just enough fun little goodies for the girls. This year, we are excited to add Hershey’s to the baskets. I was able to meet them at the Blissdom conference in February. They were so nice to let us create our very own unique baskets. They arrived on our door step a couple of weeks later. So, this year we are getting to celebrate with Hershey’s. Check out their Easter site for fun crafts, coloring pages, recipes and puzzles.

We head to Easter Sunday service. I love seeing us all dress up in our new Spring dress apparel. We always grab a picture.

This year, we are doing something new. We are attending sunrise service for the first time with our sweet girls. How awesome it will be to share in this special moment as a family. The girls will also sing during Easter service. We will finish off Sunday morning with a big Easter egg hunt with our church family.

As you can see, we have a fun-filled weekend. We relax as a family on Sunday evening and thanking HIM for our many blessings.

What are your Easter traditions?