Spring Things

"Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; 

And give us not to think so far away 

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here 

All simply in the springing of the year. 

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; 

And make us happy in the happy bees, 

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. 

And make us happy in the darting bird 

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, 

And off a blossom in mid air stands still. 

For this is love and nothing else is love, 

The which it is reserved for God above 

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil."

-"A Prayer in Spring" by Robert Frost 

Oh, the promise and pleasure in spring!  We've been relishing in each day spent out of doors (except for the few snowy and very cold days) and indoors too!  Here's a look at the past couple of months of activity around here.

The kids have been saying how nice it's been to be outside again!  They are also always out riding in the bikes (I even borrow Emma's bike sometimes to ride around with Cov), digging in the dirt for bugs, jumping on the trampoline, playing with friends, or hanging out in the hammock we recently set up.  The hammock is usually occupied with someone swinging, reading, doing homework,eating cold treats or playing.  It's so nice to be out again basking in the sunshine! 

We participated in two Pinewood Derbys in one weekend.  We had one with our Branch here in Scobey and invited the community out.  It was a great turn out and we had some really creative cars.  Ours were the "Sizzling Baconator" (Cal and Daddy made that one) and the "Piano Mobile". They were cute, but didn't do very well as far as speed goes.  We won the "most fuel efficient" at this one.  We had a little potluck too and I made car candy awards to give out to winners.  The next day, we had one with the Cub Scouts. I organized the heats for this one and officiated.  The boys had a blast and got some great prizes.  

Emma played basketball with a 5th grade girls team this year.  She ended up not being a huge fan, but stuck with it and practiced hard.  She was able to go to a few tournaments.  Basketball is life for so many here.  She learned a lot and had fun with her friends anyways.  

Now that it's warmed up a bit, we've been grilling again.  Dave's made some killer brisket and other specialties.  Nice to put him in charge of dinner some nights and he's more than happy to do it when he makes things like the best brisket.

We celebrated May Day by making little sucker flowers in baskets and taking them to a few of our older neighbors and friends.  The kids loved doorbell ditching and we made it away without being caught except once.  Emma also got to go to the Flower Bin with the activity day girls and learn how to do some flower arranging.  She made some great little bouquets and loved it!

We also had some fun for silly holidays, including May the 4th, Star Wars Day.  We quoted some of our favorite lines, watched a bit, played Star Wars memory, and made these light saber popsicle holders, which were a hit!  Cov also did that theme for Mommy preschool that day and loved it but had a rough time when we got to these puppets.  Poor buddy!  He's been kind of whiney lately, I think it's the age a bit and the fact that he's not napping anymore.  

The kids had their music concerts at school and it was a patriotic theme.  Emma played "T-Rex" and "The Jolly Coppersmith" with her band, and then the other kids sang and did some sign language and movement to other American classics and patriotic tunes.  They did great, I'm so glad they're learning these songs!  

There was a celebration at the hospital for it's 65th anniversary.  Dave got creamed in the face with pies, everyone got a kick out of that.  They had a community celebration bbq, and Dave smoked some pulled pork for that.  It was a great meal, free to anyone who came.  There were about 300 who showed up, which is large for our town!  Dave also spun some cotton candy, which was a big deal.  There were drawings and prizes, face painting, lawn games, and a bouncy house.  It was a great turn out and our kids loved it!  Cov enjoyed helping daddy make & eat the cotton candy, Lucy liked the bouncy house best, Cal was getting chased around by girls the whole time, and Emma enjoyed her tiger face paint best.

Lots of outdoor work has been going on - weeding, moving gravel around, raking up leaves that have been here for years, pulling out old wood steps and rail road ties, painting, planting our garden, trimming trees, getting ready to plant grass.  We've been really trying to teach the kids the value of hard work.  Most have been doing great, but a few want to leave after a couple minutes of effort.  They've been doing better as each Saturday comes and goes.  Their favorite part was getting the piles of dirt to level out the backyard.  Who needs a playground when you have dirt?  They also loved watching Daddy working in the Bobcat.  It was the best entertainment for them!  

  

Whatever it is we've been up to, we're all smiles about spring being here and giving thanks to our Father above for the beauty of it all!