The Sun! The Sun!

What do you do when the sun shines!?
Lots of things!

Take our new kite on it's inaugural flight.

Read bedtime books by the firepit

And play with water on the deck

Severe Weather

You know you've had a lot of severe weather when you have to check for upcoming warnings before going to the grocery store.  Considering our weather in the last month, you're probably going to get rained on, but it would be good to avoid getting struck by lightening or taken away in a tornado.

Since there was a tornado warning yesterday morning, Noelle got to experience the tornado procedures at school.  All the kids went into the hall, knelt down facing the wall and then lowered their heads with their hands on their heads.  I asked Noelle if she was scared at all.  She said "No, but my back really hurt."  She was relieved that they got to sit up straight after a while.  Since the warning lasted about 20 minutes, a teacher read them a book and they acted out "Going on a Bear Hunt" as they sat on the floor.  Such excitement!  Thankfully it was non-eventful.

Easter Joy

First off, I don't think I've ever been so excited about Easter church service.  I wasn't disappointed.  What an amazing service.  It truly is a taste of heaven as you sing Our Savior's praises with hundreds of other people.

Brad's family came from VA to spend Easter with us: Brad's brother, David, with wife Elizabeth and 2 boys, Ethan and Noah,  Brad's mom and dad, and his aunt Judy.  It was a real treat.  Despite the copious amounts of rain, we had many fun times outside.  Here's an overview with pictures.

Play Time:

Newport/Purple People Bridge/Sawyer Point:

Egg dying/egg hunt/Easter baskets

New dresses from Grandma:

The big adult girls (3 of us just happen to coordinate). 

Spring Break - at Home

We had a few fun things to do at home on our rainy Spring Break days.

Decorating Easter Egg sugar cookies:

Making decoupage Easter eggs:

I got the idea from this blog (scroll halfway down).  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the final outcome, but I really like the ones we did with scraps of book pages.  (you could use old church bulletins - or whatever you can fine with print - if you can't bear to tear a book)

And then there's another missing tooth:

 And trying to eat corn-on-the-cob with missing teeth:

Overall it was a great Spring Break and we're jumping back into to a normal week.

Spring Break

This week has been Noelle's Spring Break.  We've tried to make the most of her time off by doing special things.  Our biggest event was camping at Red River Gorge.  We were there Wednesday and Thursday, the only 2 days it didn't rain.

Our Campsite.  Plenty of room for everyone.

Noelle on the Suspension Bridge over the Red River

'Silver mine Arch'; a 3/4 mile hike from our campsite

Our 2 angels at 'Angel Windows'

Coffee and Snuggling in the morning

Sadie sitting on top of 'Sky Bridge'

Noelle, jumping on 'Sky Bridge'

I was there, despite the lack of pictures with me in them.  Let's face it, men and kids do a whole lot better with the 'all natural' look then most moms.  The bathrooms hadn't opened for the summer yet, so I didn't have a lot of options.

Recent Sadie Quotes

"When I had a fever, there were none spots that were cold"

"Obedience is 'gooder' then sacrifice" (thank you Sunday School teachers)

Sadie wanted to cut a strawberry with a sharp knife.  I explained that strawberries are wobbly and the knife could slip and cut her.  I went on to tell her that some knives are sharp enough to cut off her finger.  (I wanted to be sure she was thoroughly wary of knives.)
Sadie asked "Can't we just super glue my finger back on?"

Sweet, Finicky Spring

Spring is so beautiful and refreshing.  She keeps you guessing as she vacillates between turtleneck weather and shorts weather.  She's full of wonder and color.  It's a great time of year to remember how our Creator makes all things new, including me.

Here's the view from our front porch as I wait on the school bus.  The train serenely chugs along on the opposite hill.  It's a sweet memory I don't want to forget.