A Welcome to Spring

We are welcoming Spring in Cincinnati. Brisk air in the morning that smells green and growing (or maybe I just smell fertilizer), we all want to be outside every moment. Of course, Spring is also so unpredictable, we have had rain showers followed by summer-like sun, and are expecting snowflakes this afternoon! The kids are enjoying it immensely. The bikes came out of the trailer; the coats went in the closet. Sweatshirts are about the only thing I can get them to wear, even when it's closer to freezing in the mornings.

Here are a few things we've been doing these first couple weeks of Spring:



James enjoys doing his homework in the tree. The boys spend every minute possible climbing this tree since it's slated to come down anytime now by the electric company. This tree and about five others are getting too close to the 50 foot clearance from the power lines. They would have been climbing it all year had we realized it was on our property the whole time. James says the height gives him a greater clarity of thought. --OK, he didn't really say that, but he always looks very Thoreau-esk when he's up there.

"More bars in more places"
or, perhaps as our neighbors would say with regard to tree-climbing, "More kids in more places,"

Sewing lesson #1. Maggie wanted to learn how to sew, so we have scheduled a lesson for every Thursday after school. We are making a dress for Amy's birthday (despite Brian's better suggestion of making ditty bags for Scot to take backpacking--but how fun is that?). Honestly, I was very surprised at her interest in all the details of dress-making. I expected her just to want to use the sewing machine, but she listened attentively to me describe pattern markings, and how to place the pattern. Who knew?? And, I forgot how fun it is to sew! I'm hoping all the older kids will choose a project that we can do one-on-one this summer.

Garden supplies: take two.
Our 2nd round of soil for the garden boxes. We now have them all filled up, and we were so excited to see the peas & broccoli have already sprouted up in the first box.

Amy helping decorate for Easter. Can you just see plastic grass all over the house? Actually that's not fair, there have only been wooden eggs placed all over, which they hunt for every hour & then hide again.



Art's Night at Summit Elementary. Scot performed with the 5th/6th Grade Chorus. I really liked Take Me Out to the Ball Game (in honor of the Red's opening day on Monday), but Scot's favorite was Angels Watchin', a spiritual. They did a great job on all the songs.
jJames' contribution to Art's Night was his Kenyan necklace. He molded a vulture for the center totem. Art's Night is an evening dedicated to the different arts taught at the school. From displayed projects & poetry reading to chorus performances, I was really impressed with the whole evening. They had samplings from different students representing all the art projects they had done thus far in the year. Very cool.



Paul's obession with balls. Even the watermelon is not safe.

A few other events, each of which has it's own worthy story, but will have to suffice with one sentence for now:
Paul perfected the "mine" from the seagulls in Finding Nemo. I went through Cub Scout training. We attended Cami Winn's baptism. The girl's went to a birthday party next door. And finally, we are enjoying General Conference this weekend & eating our 72-hour kit (mmm...Spam with mac & cheese).