Month: April 2011

April Showers bring Muddy Kids

We have had a lot of rain in the last few days. Today, when the rain stopped, everyone ran outside to play.  I went outside with Megan to discover the two older ones having a mud fight. They were laughing and having a blast. So, I went to look for Adrian. I discovered him in the side yard enjoying the puddles. As I came to the back of the house, Andrea fell in the mud 🙂 and the war continued.

Brotherly Love

The other day, Mark and Andrea went outside. I loved catching them reading! Mark was reading a “girly” library book to Andrea.

Another day, during quiet time, Adrian was not resting. So Mark had Adrian snuggle with him to help him stay quiet and rest.

First Easter

Megan enjoyed her first Easter. Just watching her, you knew she knew that she looked pretty :)  Many people at church enjoyed her hat and she had a lot of people compliment her.

We bought the shirt. Since we already had the white hat, I made the bow to match. The dress and bloomers were made by everyone. The girls learned how to sew on buttons and how to gather. They watched how to sew in the zipper, tear it out, and try it again. They also learned how to sew in the bias tape. I would say the girls (with some of Mark’s help) did 50% or more of Megan’s outfit.

It turned out wonderfully! I am really proud of all the hard work the girls did learning how to sew an outfit. I found the easiest patterns that I could, so they could do all the work. They have some butterfly material, now to find another pattern for them to work on!

Easter Dresses

The last few weeks, we have been having a sewing class. The girls learned how to sew their first outfit! Andrea has more sewing experience, but both made beautiful dresses. They did most of the work, though I did some of the more difficult things. The girls also did about half of Megan’s dress and pantaloons.

I am very impressed with how hard they worked. They learned how to lay out and cut a pattern, sew a dress according to the pattern, sew on buttons and how to measure it for the hem (we all hated that part!).They even finished their dresses a week before Easter!

They did a great job and I am very proud of their hard work!

 

 

 

Upward Soccer

Soccer Players with their favorite Cheerleader.

Upward Soccer practice started yesterday. I haver four kids in soccer this year. I am also coaching two of the teams! I coach the younger two and Allan has the older teams. Megan is cheerleader and associate coach for everyone. 🙂

We thought Adrian needed to be in kindergarten to play, but when he heard that he was old enough, he got so excited about it. We thought, “why not?” His first practice was tough. The shin guards felt funny and running in soccer cleats was hard. He spend a lot of practice falling down. He is going to practice running with Mark in his new shoes and shin guards so next week is better. Adrian was very excited about his uniform and could not wait to try it on.

I know very little about soccer, so my job is to learn! Mark and Andrea love the idea of teaching Momma something. They are my helpers during practice to make sure that I do it right. My teams may not learn a lot about soccer, but I will do my best to make sure that we have fun!

Spring Flowers

We are reading a book called Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen. It is a good book! There is a lot in the book about making maple syrup (the reason we started reading it), spring flowers and growing through hard times.

We have been on a mission to find as many spring flowers that the book mentions as we can. We found Spring Beauties and Bloodroot. We are still looking for Hepatica, Trilliums, Solomon’s Seal, Jack in the Pulpits, Twisted stalk, Buttercups, Marsh Marigolds and Violets. I am not sure that they all grow around here, but we are looking.

We are learning a lot of fun names for flowers.

  • A Trout lily can be white and then is called a Dogtooth violet, it is also called an Adder’s Tongue.
  • Bloodroots might be called “Easter Candles”.
  • Hepaticas come in different colors and can be called “liverwort”, “herb-trinity”, “squirrel cup” or “mouse-ear”.
  • The first trilliums are deep red and some call them “wake-robin”.
  • Bleeding Heart can be called Squirrel Corn and can be mistaken for Dutchman’s Breeches
  • Marsh marigolds are also called cowslips, “meadow boots” “crazy boots” and capers.

I would love to be able to make our own pressed flower books, but some of these flowers are found at the park. I am not sure how they would press either. It would be neat to have a book that shows what we find, where discovered and what they look like. I need to think more on how to do that. 🙂 I need to do it soon, spring flowers do not last long!

Wood Anemone (I think)
Dutchman's Breeches
Closed Trout lily or Adder’ Tongue

Distracted By Birds

Today, Adrian had a Nature Nuts class.  I took the older kids along too.  I thought they would want to play outside while Adrian had class.  I should not have been surprised when they wanted to listen to the story and see what Miss Krista had to teach.

We learned about nests and eggs.  After seeing some different bird eggs in a box, Miss Krista took us for a walk to see Bluebird eggs.

I am so glad that you are never to old to learn! I know what Swallows look like.  But for some reason, I thought Tree Swallows were Bluebirds! I never could figure out why they could look so different in the winter.  Feel pretty silly at this little “a ha! Dummy me” moment 🙂 But, in my defense, I do not remember ever seeing Bluebirds near their nests.

So, here are pictures of real Bluebirds and their eggs on the left.  On the right are Tree Swallows, who often use Bluebird boxes for their nests too.

 

Megan and the Hat

Megan has not been feeling well the last few days. Sunday, the sun was out, it was warm and we went outside. Megan wore a hat to keep the wind out of her ears. You can tell by her eyes that she is not feeling the best, but being outside cheered Megan up and she enjoyed herself very much!