Springtime is coming!

Our first daffodils are blooming and make such a bright spot in the otherwise dreary days here at the end of winter. Abigail and Elijah posed for me one chilly day, so we could document and remind ourselve that springtime really is coming!

Recently we have had some crazy rainy weather, but a few days of sunshine mixed in, which have helped keep us sane. We're so thankful for that! Last week we had a playdate with our school group, and Elijah taught himself to ride a scooter there at the park. It was amazingly simple looking for our sweet two year old. We were so proud and impressed! We also went to Aldridge Gardens as a family that weekend to soak up some sun and enjoy the beautiful hiking trail. Here are a few photos of our biggest kids. Owen stayed snuggled inside the Moby wrap the whole time, but he enjoyed it too. :-)


Yesterday we experienced a true March weather day in Alabama. We were at the farm belonging to a friend's family, and had sunshine, clouds, rain, drizzle, and wind, but thankfully no snow. It was a fun day despite the mud (or maybe because of the mud!) and the kids especially enjoyed riding the fun vehicles around the pasture. We cooked out over the fire, and generally just enjoyed awesome fellowship. We love the outdoors and spending it with friends and family make it even better!

A few of my favorite things

Cutting grass on a spring day, with my Elijah in a Maya wrap. Can't get much better than that.

A Berry Fun Trip

We went to a great pick-your-own strawberry farm with our friends Sandi and Grant on Thursday. None of us had ever been to a strawberry farm, and it was such a fun experience. If you're interested in going, we went to Sunshine Farms in Clanton and would highly recommend it. The berries are ripe for picking, and there are tons of them. It's a scenic little drive, but the actual berry picking goes really fast. Their prices were great, at $8/gal. Our families each supposedly picked 3 gals., but when I got home and bagged them, we had 4 1/2, so it was a great deal. We've happily eaten them in smoothies, fruit salad, and right out of the bowl every day. Sandi and I are hoping we can make some jam with some of them soon. I hope we can make this a springtime tradition!

How does your garden grow?

Apparently our garden grows with toads visiting, purple finches dining nearby, children playing in the sprinkler, and with lots of lovely handmade plant markers to boot (see Sunday's post)!

I also had to add one of Abigail, wearing the latest in hair fashion...you may have heard of them, but they've never appeared on her head before today. (This is quite a milestone for us, with her very, um, strong opinions about how her hair is appropriately styled). She calls them "pink tails," apparently misunderstanding my silly name of "pig tails," though I tried to correct her several times, eventually giving up.

And, the last anecdote of the day--
We've had some squirrels giving us fits, trying to eat all our birdseed in our numerous feeders. Today, I bought some capsaicin to sprinkle in and hopefully deter them somewhat. The kids said if that didn't work though, we could always just get a porcupine. I replied that I'm not sure why they think porcupines would scare squirrels, but I'm certainly willing to give it a shot. If I just knew where to find one.... Or, maybe Alli the possum slayer could help me out!!