This year for Earth Day, we had a little Family Home Evening about taking care of our earth everyday. For our activity we went and picked up trash near our neighborhood. I think it really got the message across to Heather, who has since said, "I love keeping the earth clean!"
In other news, "our tree" in the front of our house is blooming. And it is beautiful.
While I was taking photos of the blossoms, I turned around to see Heather doing pushups in the puddle.
Totally soaked.
This is what Josh does when every Heather sits on the bike: FREAKS OUT!
The other day as I was checking the Redbox website to see when The Hobbit would be available for rental, I was pleasantly surprised to see it in stock at several nearby locations. I thought about picking it up on my bike ride home, but later I got busy with other things and forgot about it. When I got home that evening, Stephanie said she was finishing up dinner and forbade me from entering (or looking into) the kitchen. It turns out she had a surprise waiting!
She had serendipitously prepared a Hobbit- (and Lord of the Rings-) themed dinner, and rented the DVD for our viewing pleasure after putting the kids down (we don't have a dollar theater in Bloomington and we are far too cheap to watch anything at full price these days)!
Lots of little yummy bites pulled from the text of the Hobbit. She had Keebler elves fill in for Elrond et al since authentic elves are in short supply. :)
Ok, the potatoes quote is adapted from the Two Towers, but it's one that we use a lot around the house.
Perhaps not quite as filling as real lembas bread, but surely more delicious!
Recently I have been struggling with not feeling like I'm making a difference in the world. Not being who God wants me to be. Feeling stuck at home (where, I might add, I volunteered to be), and feeling like I wasn't living up to my full potential. So I prayed about my feelings, I asked God to help me know what He would have me do. He answered, but it was not at the time, in the way, or the answer I was expecting. I received the answer through my sister who posted a video on facebook. This is it:
"Learn the art of letting go by practicing it in the present. Instead of regretting what's over and done with, savor every minute of the life you have right now...It's taken a while, but I certainly do know it now, the most wonderful gift I had, the gift I learned to cherish above all else, was the gift of all those perfectly ordinary days."
I was expecting an answer telling me to do more. But that wasn't it. The
answer was that I needed to slow down and start enjoying the gift of
perfectly ordinary days with my children who are growing up so
quickly! I felt that I needed to do less and enjoy them more. My time
will come when they are all grown. Then though I may have a career, I
will yearn for these days. So I have tried to cherish those days. And
photograph them. So I can remember when they are gone--which seems like
SO long from now. But it isn't. If 4 years can go by quickly, 18 will
too. So here is a glimpse into some of our perfectly ordinary days.
Silly Faces
Concentration
Pretty sure he was thinking about tasting paint.
Messy hands
Triumph grin after getting the bike from Heather.
Showing off millipede.
Digging in the dirt (in white pants?!?)
Perfectly crazy hair...
A walk to see the fishies.
It's the small things...
Stuck in the slide.
"Helping" with chores
So much fun!
Puddle jumping
Splash
SOAKED!
Little Princess
Little stud (and a little ray of sunshine in the back ground)
Here are a few cute pictures from April Fool's Day. Busy as we were, our practical jokes amounted to a silly breakfast for the kids: jello instead of a drink and colored milk with cold cereal. Nothing too special, but it gives us an excuse to share more pictures of the kids!
Wow! Has a month really gone by that fast? Maybe it's because the weather has been warmer, maybe it's because we've all been (mostly) healthy, maybe it's because it finally feels like spring, whatever the case, I feel like this month ZOOMED by! Here's an update in the way I love the most. Tons of photos!
Josh has been fascinated by sunglasses lately. I bought him some cheap-o ones (which of course, he's destroyed now). He sure had fun trying to be like Heather and Mommy.
Oh, just reading Jane Eyre, Mom. A boy after my own heart. :)
Dying Easter eggs. The kit we bought had you dye them in bags. MUCH LESS MESSY!
