outside!

Everyone is excited to be outside...

 ...even the feathered friends!

beginnings

 I'm just beginning to see a little favor-ship between these two as they spend some one on one time together before Baby Girl arrives and while Jaxon is in school. These two have one thing in common for sure... their love for being outside. It's amazing how differently they play outside together verses being cramped inside together. What fun to see the brotherly bond start this spring as the little one lets his big brother lead the way into exploring adventures in his well known back-yard!

Holy Week 2013

Spring break led right into holy week this year. It was nice to have a down week before holy week to prepare our home and our daily activities for the week.  Holy week is my favorite "holiday" time of the year. There are no extra hyped up commitments surrounding it and it can truly be a week of faith building moments, teachable activities pointing to Truth, and a slower celebration week. I love what the end of the week points to and it is a beautiful yearly reminder that through grace, we are truly loved the way we are, broken and beautiful in our Savior's eyes. Deserving or not. It is our gift, everyone's. The boys are old enough to really know what the lessons are about and each year I have to stay on my toes about how I present God's word and promises in a way that connect with where they are in their years. Here's a recap of some of what we did during holy week in our home...

We added a Grace garden this year. Palm Sunday the boys made their garden with high hopes to see what Resurrection Sunday would bring in the form of "new life" and seeing "darkness turn to light". Ended up loving this and we will do it again!

During the week we spend some time together having Bible breakfast and this year made a point to add some of our Bible reading and connecting time during dinner while Dad was home, since Dad leaves early for work most days. Each day we read a different part of the Bible that tells about his last days leading up to what Good Friday represents and then the day He is risen.

Some activities are enjoyed more then others. This year I made the mistake of showing a video before we washed each others feet using the dialogue from the Bible...the actors also dressed in character. These characters took their robes off and washed feet with what appeared to be a towel around their waist. Needless to say...I had two naked little boys washing feet this year. None of our pics rom that event can be properly shown on this blog. Ha! Oh, and one baby boy taken outside by our roomie since he couldn't stop screaming through the video. "Holy" has a whole new meaning when you are trying to find it with three wildy fun boys!!

Good Friday we talked a bit about the darkness in the world and the darkness that came when Jesus died. To remind us during the day of what the day represented we tied black bracelets on each of us. And were able to share a couple times why we wore them that day with others. I think we'll do this again, too.

Austin had an Easter party at preschool and I had a good time seeing him in his class and helping for the morning...his teacher always plans really fun activities for fun days! 

Resurrection Sunday we made our tomb rolls...

Ate marshmallows while we formed them...

And opened the tomb on our garden...inside the boys found the reading for the day and a "new life" symbol. They were pretty excited to learn that 5 caterpillars would be arriving soon for their own butterfly garden to grow in connecting with the new life theme.

And pictures with these three is proving to be harder each year... typical boys here below :)

And an attempt at a family pic... 

I can't believe next year we will have an almost one year old little girl with this crew. I think they are up for the job!

taste of spring

The wind may be cold, but the snow is slowly melting and we are slowly getting into the front yard to get a taste of spring!!

 One of our first days it was warm enough to be outside for a longer period of time...

 The boys were.so.excited!

 I think they each jumped their heart out...

 Our outside loving boy...who also loves snow...actually said he is happy there is no more snow!

 Carson cries when I make him come in, but he is so happy in the fresh air. (I feel a little the same!)

Spring days almost here to stay...as are our outside playing days! Yeah!