I'm beginning to see that I have a lot of catching up to do. These last few months have flown by. Between school, holidays and general adventures in life, it seems like I simply blinked and we're all the way into summer now.
We celebrated holidays like St. Patrick's day.
We love our spring school. We know it's getting close when we see our tree outside turn from a deep maroon to a bright PINK (Ava and I can hardly stand our excitement!). We also have a teeny tiny nest that has been well used each year by a friendly dove in our yard. Each year she lays two tiny delicate pink eggs and we wait patiently for the day they hatch into these fuzzy creatures that as Kurt says are, "so ugly they're cute!"
Spring school also brings our caterpillars to our little school room. We order them from Amazon (yep!) and when they come they're just little wormy guys. Soon, as they eat and eat and eat, they begin to get bigger and fuzzier. We love watching them grow and as the day comes when they start hanging upside down on the cup lid, we know they're ready to start forming their chrysalis.
A few weeks later and they're ready to hatch! I always love this day because when it comes we have to act fast. They usually hatch in the morning so we put their net on the breakfast table and wait with baited breath. When they kids need to get dressed, they run lickedy-split not wanting to miss a thing.
Once they start to hatch, it happens within just a few seconds. They break through their chrysalis and then find somewhere to hang as their wings begin to dry out and unwrinkle. Within an hour or so, they're ready to be set free. We add an orange or a juicy piece of fruit so they spend some time getting some much needed nutrients. After that, they take their time to stretch their wings and fly only short distances. Many times they land on our arms or shirts, or shoulders. We practice standing very still as we enjoy spending our last few minutes with them.
This year we added along with our butterflies, a set of lady bug larva. When they arrived (again from Amazon!) they were tiny, yellow and black and the kids commented that they looked like "tiny alligators". They weren't as interesting as the butterflies, but they were very fun to watch hatch! When they emerged from their skins for the last time, they were bright yellow with a few spots. Once we let them go, they crawled all over us before we put them onto their own little bush. We said goodbye and hope to see them around the yard sometime.
Spring school also brings with it the joy of baby ducks, bunnies and chicks. We visit the farm stores almost weekly to get our fuzzy fill of baby animals.
Speaking of baby animals, on one of our field trips was to PetSmart, we went to check out all of the oviparous animals that we could find (those who lay and hatch from eggs). While there, Vance (as he always does) asked one of the workers if she had "something soft we could hold" and she literally WHIPPED this little sugar glider out of her shirt! We had a great time passing her around and oohing and awing over how sweet she was. Then we held a few more soft animals as well as checked out a teeny tiny finch egg.
It was an "egg-celent" field trip!
Spring also means sweet flowers and this year we learned how to make these 3-D paper flowers.
They were so fun we just couldn't stop!
Spring also brings with it our 100 Days party. For years when the kids were in preschool and kindergarten, we counted and celebrated when we reached 100 days of school. We have enjoyed it so much, that it has become a much loved tradition.
Their favorite part is dressing up like they are actually 100 years old.
This year we started a few more traditions like our "Pajama Day/Reading Party". It happened quite by accident (it was a rainy day and we chose to do our morning work still in warm jammies). This may become one of our new favorites!
Spring also means more adventures. This weekend Chase asked if he could give me a weekend off by taking the kids in the trailer on an adventure.
Part of me wonders if he asked just because he knows how I feel about the kids practicing shooting the gun, but this time I didn't even ask questions. He is such a wonderful Dad- but here's a secret...he's an EVEN BETTER husband!
Speaking of amazing husbands and Dads- one Saturday Chase asked if the kids wanted to go to the Farmer's Market. Of course they all answered with a resounding YES. He asked me if I'd drop them all at Ancestor square in the middle of town and then they WALKED home. Yep. You heard me. 7 miles. They stopped periodically. They took water and snacks and even stopped at the gas station for a quick snack break. I found them just as they were reading our big hill by home so I picked them up all tired, but all of them happy and knowing that as a family, "We can do hard things!"
One of the best (and most surprising things) that happened this spring was my mom and Aunt Veva received their mission call to the Laoag mission in the Philipines. You can find their blog here-
It's a wonderful read! We all miss them terribly but are so proud of them and love to read up on their exciting adventures.
Time has passed on. Grant continues to get owies while his big sister continues to care for him. She's been especially happy lately because we've had Chase's cousin and his sweet wife (with their brand new baby) and she not only gets to hold him whenever she wants, but he fits perfectly inside her baby pram that Santa gave her and she is putting it to good use!
Spring brought this boy new big boy unders! Dad promised him that as soon as he went #2 in the big potty, he'd get to go get a treat all by himself! Not long after that, he promptly went in, finished the job and then yelled, "Dad! Let's go get some ice cream!" True to his word, Chase jumped right in the car and treated him to his very own (man sized!) ice cream at Menchies.
Once they arrived home, Grant ran right to the restroom, went once again and ran back out. So excited to tell Dad (I was worried this would go on and on). Dad (again, true to his form), grabbed ALL of the kids this time (plus a neighbor boy who happened to be here), loaded them all into the van and drove right back to the ice cream place. Once again, proving that he is just the right man for me!
Spring brought more and more field trips. Many with Grandma and Grandpa Julie!
Revisiting one of our favorites- Lytle Ranch together. It was so great to have just finished our science units on oviparous animals, caterpillars, lady bugs and weather- and then to see them all first hand was everything I love about homeschool!
Spring also brought the end of school- I'm going to miss these smiles and gins and working together on projects. I'm going to miss Kurt always taking our learning to new places (like when learning about idioms he created a family idiom jar. We added coins to it every time we used one, or identified one being used. That jar filled up quickly and we enjoyed going back to the ice cream store to celebrate!)
Spring brings with it the boys' Father and Son camp out. Which basically means that Ava and I hit the road and go find lots of girls to hang out with. We stayed with Kale (and loved on her homeless porch cat), ate ice cream with Aunt Joni's girls and then went back to their home to celebrate Gwen's birthday like the true princesses we are!
The weather brought adventures like the Mountain Man rendezvous. Dad's handmade copper and tin wear were a hit! We loved frequenting the homemade rootbeer with our handmade tin cups!
Boy scouts became even more exciting with Dad as the new assistant cub master. Monthly pack meetings are now held in our backyard and Chase spares no expense. We have fires (with fire safety and practicing starting hand fires), drumming and yummy dutch oven cobbler.
And lastly, spring brings with it the last day of school. This year on our last day of school we also celebrated (the kids' favorite day) "Yes Day!" The day when mom and Dad have to say YES (within reason) to what the kids want to do. Our day was filled with chocolate waffles, a new park to explore, lunch at Chick-fil-a, a movie with Mema and Aunt Veva and ended with a pool/pizza party.
Then, just as Yes Day was coming to a close (the carriage turns into a pumpkin at 9:00!) at 8:58 we heard the jingling sounds of the ice cream truck. In all of our 7 years here in our home, I have never heard that sound coming up our hill even one time. As 5 pairs of darling eyes looked in our direction, Chase and I knew we had no choice- it was a Yes Day miracle!
So here we are. Last day of school. Spring has come and gone. We are coming up dangerously close to summer. I know that as soon as it comes, it will feel like it's already gone. That's why I want to hang on to this just a little bit longer. For now, I will spend the time looking at these photos and wishing time could just pause just for a moment. Because I know it's only a matter of time before I look back and compare these photos to their "last day of high school" pictures!
Now, bring on the sunshine and lots and lots of pool time!
Happy spring everyone!
...Summer here we come.
No comments:
Post a Comment