Strawberry Picking

Today we went strawberry picking with our MOPS group.  Normally this annual event is a moms and dads event so that there are two parents to wrangle each set of kids, but in the past the turnout hasn't been stellar.  So, we decided to brave it this year with just the moms!  The turnout was great!!  I think we had close to 20 mommies and 50(ish) kids!

We've been picking before, but hadn't been out to this particular farm.  I'm so glad we got the chance to, though.  It's a little bit of a hike to get out there, but the atmosphere and quality of service were 100% worth it.

The kids all enjoyed playtime while everyone was arriving.  They had an old Cessna plane set up and the kids had a great time taking turns in it.

Logan was so excited to see Julianna when we got there.  These girls have been friends since they were about a year old.  We've lived about a block away from them the whole time we've been here but her dad recently accepted a church position and they live in the parsonage there, now.  It's only a 10 minute drive away, but certainly not as convenient!

Brody was excited to be on the playground and wanted nothing to do with pictures. 

After playtime, we headed out with the group to pick strawberries!  Logan was in heaven.  Her favorite food is strawberries and she got to pick all of her own out.

Brody was happy for a few minutes until he spotted a giant tractor.  Then it was a mission to keep him in the strawberry fields.

Sweet little siblings:

Pick, pick, pick.

Logan's basket filled up very quickly.  She was thrilled that she picked more than B and I did.

Here is Logan with her picking buddy, Eliza.  They stood on opposite ends of a patch for almost the whole time and chatted away.

I finally got Brody over to the tractor and he was in heaven. 

After picking, we went back to the playground and had lunch and wore the kids out.

Brody wasn't sure about going too high until he let me try it...

...then he was thrilled!

More with Julianna (and Adalyn!)

I love that I get to be home with the kids so we can do things like this!  It's such a joy to be their mom.

We ended up bringing home about 6lbs of strawberries.  We've got all kinds of plans for them!

And now I'm off to enjoy the chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake I picked up in their general store...

Grandaddy's Visit!

Grandaddy came to visit this week!  He needed a little getaway and we were happy to provide entertainment when he needed it.  He flew in Monday afternoon and keeping the kids busy until we had to go pick him up was no easy task.  We blew bubbles outside, we played games, we sang songs, but the hours could not pass quickly enough for the kids.

Logan even changed outfits four times in anticipation.  Actually, this is a pretty normal occurrence, she just used his pending arrival as her excuse this time.

Grandaddy came bearing gifts!  Outfits for Logan and books to complete her Molly set and a basketball and hoop for Brody.  I took this as my opportunity to clear out the junk from the patio and do a little spring makeover.  We got new mats for it and purged several items so that there's a nice giant space for picnicking and playing this spring/summer.

Brody was excited one night, after Logan went to sleep, to sneak out and find Grandaddy watching basketball.  He was happy to provide some snuggles in exchange for a little extra time up to watch the game.

Both kids had so much fun exploring new apps on a different ipad.

Then we caught a few pictures outside before he left, yesterday.

When we got home from the airport, Logan asked if we could go take some "head shots" outside.  Oh boy.  This girl is a handful.  But I can't say no when she ASKS for pictures!

We had so much fun this week and look forward to spending some time with Grandaddy AND Mimi in Miami this summer!

Happy Easter 2013

Happy Easter!!  We headed over to the seminary after church, today, to take our annual family picture there.  Unfortunately, it rained all night and most of the morning so we couldn't find another family to swap photo taking with.  So, it's mostly photos of the kiddos and then attempts at self portraits.

The kids both got glasses in their baskets this morning and wanted to sport them in their pictures.

They also got some rainbow sandals for the summer.  But it was too nasty to try and wear those.

We're finishing up our resurrection eggs today, watching movies and doing our annual resurrection buns.  We're excited to relax together and enjoy the good news of a risen Savior.

Easter Egg Hunt

I wasn't sure that we'd make it to an Easter Egg Hunt this year.  Our MOPS group usually does one, but opted to do Resurrection Eggs this year (which we're also doing at home).  I appreciate it and found it really appropriate, but I know that Logan was itching to get her hands on some eggs.  So, when our neighbor's invited us to tag along to their church hunt, I was happy to accept.

I got their Easter shirts last year.  I had hoped that we'd get two years out of them and was happy when I pulled them out and they still fit!

It was so much warmer last year...

The kids played outside for quite a while as we got ready to head out.  They were excited to be out there--it's been a cold week and momma hasn't wanted to go out!

This is our neighbor's little girl, Claira-lynn.  She's about 6 months younger than Brody and comes to play with us once a week while her parents work.  They l-o-v-e each other.  I had to include the whole series of pictures, it was just too sweet to only post one or two.

Then we got a group shot of the kids!

We arrived right after they had started the 2-3 year old hunt so we had to wait for the next age level to go.  It worked out well because all three kiddos were able to search for eggs together, this way.

Egg hunts stress me out a little bit.  Lots of people all vying for the same things you are.  It's a good opportunity for people to let their fleshly nature come out.  So, before we went in, I reminded the kids that this God was giving us a really good chance to love our neighbors.  Even though we wanted to get as many eggs as we could, it was also important to make sure everyone was able to get eggs and enjoy themselves, too.  On a couple different occasions, I saw Logan either pass an egg by because she saw someone else go for it or she offered one of her eggs to someone who wasn't collecting many.  It's good to see lessons in practice!  And don't worry...she still ended up with a bazillion eggs, anyway.

We didn't last long after the hunt was over.  It was cold and it started to sleet so we passed by the bounce houses and rock climbing walls, ate some lunch and got back in the car.  I think it's the first time that Logan has actually understood my warning about being cold without a jacket.  

This was Brody's response to my asking him to take a picture with his eggs:

"But....why?"

Now that the hunt is out of the way, we're back to focusing on the real reason we celebrate Easter!