First Day of Spring!!!

The First Day of Spring happened yesterday and I just couldn't get over how beautiful the day was and how much I look forward to this day!!!!  It gets me every time though because it's now Spring, right?  Shouldn't it then be sunny and warmer and green grass and flowers blooming and the garden planted all happen at once?  In an instant???  Reality hit me this morning because today is a chilly, rainy day outside and I'm so glad it waited to rain until today because then we would have had to stand in that long line for ice cream in the rain!!!

So many local ice cream shops had free ice cream cones on the first day of spring and we chose to go to Bird-in-Hand Café for their free sweet treat!!!  The line was out the door and around the inside of the bakery!  The line was crazy but the ice cream was good!

Since Hadassah has her drivers license, I no longer need to take the school kids to school.  They all go with her!!!  It's SO, SO nice after being the driver for many years, every morning!!!  But, on the days that Hunter goes to school, my nephew lives just a mile out the road from us, Lena picks Ashlyn up.  The upper school begins a little earlier than elementary and this gives Ashlyn some extra minutes at home before heading to school.  All this to say, when Lena picked up the kids at school today, we all met at the ice cream shop for free ice cream cones!

Lena and Bryce.

 

March 20 is always a date I remember so well because it's not only the first day of spring but it's my sister Jody's birthday!  And this year she turned 40!!!!!

A group of ladies from her church invited us to join in on a surprise party for her!  It was fun to surprise her and eat yummy foods!

And when you travel with my mom, you never know how it might all turn out!!!  :)))  We stopped at a greenhouse on the way home and she bought this humongous curly willow branch to put in her flower beds for the birds to sit on.  It was fun and my small bunch of curly willows are going on the front porch!!!

Happy birthday Jody!!!!!  Love being your sister!!!!

Spring is here!!!!  What a wonderful season!!!!

Happy weekend!!!

March birthday celebration!!!

We are having some days where the tempts are rising and we are excited to warmer weather come our way!!!!  I just wish it was here to stay for every day!!!  But it's still only March and I'm reminded that we only have these warmer days now and then!!!

 

I'm not sure if it's the warmer weather and spring fever that it making the kids beg more and more for animals!  It seems to change so much but last week Hadassah was asking for a tiny pig and a bunny!  I made it clear that there will be no pigs or bunnies on our property before we have the proper place for them!  No, not in the house!  Maybe a barn?  Maybe some fencing?  I would actually be all into getting some small animals and make a small farmette here at home but not before hubby gets us a barn.  Ashlyn's been begging for a pony and Austin is even asking for a donkey that he wants to call Bow.

As a joke, I bought Hadassah these two small figurines!  She's laughed!

Mike and I started our weekend with some fun and going out to eat with our 50's group!  We ate Mexican and laughed about some stories we shared and had a good time!!!  (Suz was there too but took the picture!  And we missed JR and Lorene but they were able to join us!)

 Saturday morning, Ashly woke up not feeling well!  I'm so tired of her picking up so many germs and getting a fever and headache!!!!  She's had a rough winter with sickness!  I gave her a dose of Motrin and she played and seemed OK the rest of the day!  But then during the night, she was warm again.  She fought fever all day Sunday and I ended up staying home from church and doctoring her up with more Motrin and elderberry!  I just pray and pray when she gets sick because it always ends up with fever!

Mindy had planned a birthday party for Shaelyn and decided to invite the whole family for ALL the March birthdays!!!  There's a lot of March birthdays in my family and it was all Ashlyn could do to gather herself together and get dressed for the party!  I felt so bad for her and knew she really didn't want to miss out!!!

My sister Jody turns 40 this week and Tyler turns 16 next week!!!!  Two big reasons to celebrate!!!!

It was a fun birthday party for Ashlyn!!!  She got gifts and played til 7 PM!  After that she started to wind down and was asking to go home!

All the March birthdays!

Sunday night, Ashlyn slept on the couch and I was on the other couch.  She was feverish again and I prayed she would sleep OK!  We woke up a few times during the night but Monday morning she took her last dose of Motrin!  The kids didn't have school today because of Teacher's in Service and that meant they got to be home relaxing and playing with all her new gifts!

 We also had planned a day out with my mom and sisters on Monday!  I love our days out like this and we shopped, ate lunch at PF Chang's, touched and smelled herbs at different greenhouses and drank coffee from Latte Luv!!!  It was all so much fun but all the while I kept calling home to check up on Ashlyn.  She was up playing but then rested and then would play again!  I sure hope this bug is out and she's on her way to feeling well!!!

I'm determined to get in my walks and do some extra exercise to work off these extra calories from the winter months!  I've often wondered how it might be to join a gym program and target my spongy stomach and tighten up my muscles!!!  But for right now, in my stage in life, it's using the free, fresh air around the block to work off my extra pounds.  Ashlyn was napping on the couch and so Austin hoped on his little car and we walked out to Hunter and Adrian's house!!!  That's a perfect walk because then returning back home, it's two miles!  Austin ended up staying there, of course, while I walked back!  Then Mike picked him up just a few minutes later on his way home from work!  The sun was shining and we spent the rest of the evening here at home! 

I do want to target my stomach muscles with my exercising and so Hadassah and I looked on YouTube on the TV and picked a 7 minute work out!  We laughed as we began and the lady kept saying that if you do this 7 minute work out for seven days, you will see a difference!  Every minute we would do another kind of exercise or stretch!  Again, we laughed and I was huffing and puffing way too soon but it was a fun start!!!  Hadassah nicely said, "Mom, some people work out for an hour!!!"  UMMMM, I'm aware of that and I'm not quite there yet.  :)))) 

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and I could shout for joy!!!  The seasons are changing and it will be time soon to get out in my garden beds and plant those seeds that are waiting on me!!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!

First signs of Spring!!!!!!!!!

We are seeing the first signs of Spring and we could not be more happy about that!!!!  The snow is all melted now and weather is slowly warming up!!!  Yesterday was a beautiful day!!!!  The sun was shining!  The tempts were in the 50's!  It really gives energy and life to my muscles when winter is on it's way out!!!

I've been reminded and convicted that exercise is a big health benefit!  I know this and probably you  do to but why then it is so hard to set aside 30 minutes or maybe just even 15 minutes to get in a good heart rate!?!  If you grow up in a culture where I came from it requires energy on a high level!  I was taught to work and to work HARD!  I love this about my heritage and wish to pass it on to our children but I do find that I need to find the balance of working hard and resting.  Or just not thinking it all has to be done in one day!  I'm the type of person that when I get in my head that this is what I'm doing today, whether it's cleaning or laundry or out making errands, then that's what I'm going to get done!  I think that's a good quality to have in a person but I'm reminded to not let that get in the way of helping others.  Or putting others before myself.  Including my husband and children.  Not always being the "Mary" in life but also taking the good from the "Martha's" in life!  Stopping to read the Word!  Taking a break from my every day duties and praying.  Well, this is becoming a little sermon to myself here but I want to challenge myself to grow deeper!  In God and in health benefits!

I've dealt with psoriasis on my scalp ever since Mike's dad was diagnosed with cancer and passed away.  Stress.  Grief.  These are happenings in my life that are all factors in this.  I've tried different shampoos.  I went to the doctor for a medicated shampoo that seemed to help a little.  I've prayed for healing!  I don't consider my case a bad case but it's annoying.  I read the other day that probiotics are excellent for skin issues and psoriasis.  To heal the gut and watch and see the benefits.  So, I'm taking probiotics in hopes to see some benefits soon!

Exercising is also something I am going to do more!  And if I post it here it will be a reminder and challenge to me to get out and get that walk taken.  I wish so bad this would become a yearning and not a chore for me!  Like I said earlier, it's not like I'm lazy on the couch all day or have no exercise in my life.  No!  I'm a fairly active person but there's a difference from walking around the house doing chores or getting on those running shoes and taking a run or brisk walk!  The weather gets me every time with this and I also read a quote while we were in Belize that goes something like this, "If you are not exercising muscle you are losing muscle!"  Instantly that put up a red flag in my mind!!!! Nobody wants to lose muscle and I know by taking one glance at my arms, legs and baby flab, I have muscles that need tightening up!!!!  So, my challenge to myself is to get that extra exercise!  Get determined to start with walks!  Then let that lead to running and get in some miles with my running shoes!  Again, the weather is starting to move from winter to spring and of course this is going to help with getting out and about more! 

I also know that because spring is around the corner that alone will bring lots more outside work for me!  We live on a two acre lot that has flower beds around the house, garden beds that will be worked in very soon, weeds to keep after and lots of grass to mow and keep trimmed!  It will be a benefit to get my muscles stretched and toned up by just doing these jobs!  That's a fun fact about spring … you get to be outside a lot more!!!! 

And speaking of being outside more, it's been wonderful to have the children come home from school every day this week and play outside!!!!  Ashlyn and Austin love to venture out together and the Jeep is alive again!  They spend a lot of time riding this toy!

The grass doesn't look green just yet but I was out blowing the back yard yesterday.  We have so many little pine branch pieces and so much "yard junk" that collects over the winter months that I blew out to the other side of the pines.  When the mower is up and running, I'll mow and clean up more of the yard junk.  Again, it felt wonderful to work outside and start with the beginnings of cleaning up outside around the house!

Ashlyn insisted on playing without a jacket!  These two rode around the house on the jeep or then she would hop on her bike and ride that around the house.  Then they would go check on the chickens!  Or play with the wagon on the driveway!  Meanwhile, Matthew is playing basketball non stop on the driveway!  He bounces that ball and shots so many hoops in a days time!  Matthew's also been hopping on the moped and taking spins on that toy!  Fun, fun!  And Hadassah is staying busy to school, still playing volleyball and we are looking forward to another tournament this weekend!  Hadassah is also picking up some cleaning jobs!  She is currently cleaning some business offices and is loving it!  If you need a cleaner, please let us know!  She hopes to find a few more cleaning jobs for the summer months!

I stopped by our local greenhouse the other day to just smell the potting soil and see growth happening in those greenhouses!  I grabbed a bunch of seeds that Ashlyn and I will soon plant!  Also, the winter décor got put away and the spring things were put out!

As soon as Ashlyn saw the pile of seed packs on the kitchen counter she wanted to divide them out!  Some for her and some for me!  She was so excited to know that we will be planting as soon as the ground warms up just a bit!

Rita's is open again for the season and even though we were a big fan of that "first day of spring" being the opening day for Rita's and free ice, we took advantage of them being open last Saturday!  The kids loved the cotton candy ice and gummy bears while Matthew ordered a custard treat!  These are all signs that spring is coming closer!

I love pussy willows and I grabbed a few fresh branches at the greenhouse and set it inside!  It's an easy décor that I love to do!

We are to have "unseasonable warm" weather today and that's meaning we will be outside again!!!!  Yeah!

Happy spring vibes to you!  I hope this is the time of year when you can also get in some extra exercise and extra hours outside!!!!

Happy weekend!!!!

MARCHing through these last winter weeks!!!

With it being March now, we are counting down every single day till Ashlyn's birthday, which happens to be the very end of March!  She's so excited to celebrate and can't wait!!!  In the mean time, it's still pretty much winter around here.  There's still snow on the ground and it's frozen solid because the past few days have only been in the teens.  But for some reason, every time I step outside, or leave the house or look out the windows, the sunshine and birds starting to chirp more is telling me that Spring really is just around the corner.  Now, maybe I'll take back that whole sentence later today because there is snow in the forecast but it's only to accumulate about an inch.  And then the tempts are to rise a bit!!!  Yeah! 

 

My last post, I was waiting for my "Man" to get back home from Arizona!  He did make it back home safely and we were so HAPPY to have him home with us again!!!

  

(And I just love these cute quotes I find on Pinterest!  I sent this to Mike on his way home because it's how I felt!!!)  :)))

 

 The kids are on this "lets make something" binge.  Austin is asking a lot to make clay or just mix some flour and water together and even though I hate kitchen messes, we did do some mixing this past week!

It snowed again on Sunday giving us about 8 inches.  Matt and Lena came over and we played some games and chatted.  But before that, I looked up on Pinterest (what did I do before I had this app???) how to make snow crafts/foods.  This was a recipe that came up and it's easy.  All you need to do is bring in a big pan of fresh snow, boil pure maple syrup for 5 minutes and then pour it into the pan.  The snow hardens the syrup and turns it into hard maple candy!  It was fun to make and eat!

And I'm all into this afternoon cup of coffee right now. Normally, I have a cup of joe in the morning while packing the kids lunches.  Then maybe another cup after supper but lately that second cup is brewing earlier!  It tastes so good after lunch and I can sleep better at night without that PM caffeine!

Monday the kids had a two hour delay.  I was about to head out the door and go for some groceries when Adrian called and said to come sledding with him and Hunter at Mommy's house.  Mike's mom has a small hill behind her house and because Lena was there to clean her home before Mom comes back from Florida later this week, the boys were out sledding! 

Austin wasn't into it at first but I think it's because he didn't really get the idea what we were going to do!  We grabbed his winter gear and his penguin sled and drove to Mommy Lapps!

The boys took turns sledding down the hill and Austin loved it!  It was cold outside and we didn't last for more than an hour but what fun!

And like I mentioned earlier, the kids are all into mixing things!  Austin grabbed the cooking apron the other day and asked for some clay!  I have no idea why clay but instead I left him mix some flour, water and food coloring together and he mixed and rolled and had a blast!

The word "CAKE" was in these two's minds and Ashlyn grabbed the huge cupcake mold and asked to bake a cake.  At first I resisted but then I thought, "But why not? This would be a fun dessert for tonight!"  I helped at school with the Taco Lunch and had to go buy some hamburger for the tacos and so I grabbed a container of Dutch Way's Better Cream!  This is the best icing and so easy to spread on cakes!!!

When Ashlyn got home from school, we got right to mixing the cake batter!  When it baked and then cooled these two decorated it!  It turned out cute and yummy!

I sat down the other day and wrote out my seeds wish list for the garden!!!!  Ashlyn and I are SUPER excited to get in the gardens and smell the fresh potting soil and visit greenhouses!!!  I can hardly hold myself back from stopping in and just smelling the greenhouse smells and seeing all the little greens starting to bloom!!!  I might just go there today!?!  Mike also took the mower to get serviced awhile because as soon as the weather starts to warm up and snow melts and grass turns green, we will be beginning all that outside work!

But today, it's still snowy and freezing cold!  The laundry pile is being attacked!  My first cup of coffee is already drank and I'm looking forward to another winter weekend here at home!!!

I'm so blessed to have a healthy family and warm house to live in!!!!

Thank you Jesus!!!!