Signs of Spring

It's coming, I know it is.  I don't know when Spring will officially arrive and kick Winter to the curb once and for all, but I know it will!  (hopefully very close to the first day of spring which is next week -- just in case you aren't counting down the days like us ;) ) . 

A few signs from the garden:

paired with happy children playing outside -- I think they are aching for spring even more than me!

Someone had his eye on the prize the second on put him down on the driveway -- he headed straight for the dirt and mulch.  Yep, he's going to fit in just fine with his sisters :)

 if that face doesn't say "look out here comes trouble" ...

 headed for the bike this time -- won't be long before he'll be able to ride around on it!

 he loved swinging and the girls loved pushing him

 Millie did some great weeding around the garden.  The patch under the tree is HER garden, so she tended to it first.  We just finished reading "The Secret Garden" and it really reinforced her love of gardening and taught her that it takes a lot of hard work to grow a garden -- weeding and watering the plants every day.  She took the whole thing very seriously as you can see from the video (which she requested I take).

 Merrill was happy to take her turn on the swings too while Millie took a break from weeding to push Teddy

back to work -- I may actually have a shot at maintaining the gardens this year if Millie continues to be this much help!

I don't think my dad had his future grandchildren in mind when he designed his backyard, but boy do they love it.  All the paths and steps and 'rooms', the woods filled with treasures to find, the hollow logs to crawl in.  Every season has something new to offer.  We can't wait for spring to arrive and the flowers to start blooming!  (I think I've mentioned spring every post tonight .. can you tell I'm ready for it!)  What a wonderfully magical place for children.  And what a wonderful treat to get to see my dad share it with his grandchildren.

 won't be long before these two are down there joining in on the fun!

Sittin' Around

Teddy's latest 'trick' is sitting up on his own.  He spent a lot of time the past couple of weeks playing up on his side and finally in the past week he gained the strength to make that final push to sitting up.  He has gained a lot of independence now that he can crawl and sit up on his own.  He often pulls himself up on top of things on the floor or pulls himself up onto his knees.  He loves to pull the books off the bookshelf, to pull his toys out of his basket, to play with the lids from the tupperware drawer, follow his sister's around ...  So while he has learned to sit, he does very little 'sitting around'  (and neither do I!). It is such a joy to watch him grow and learn.

Finally big enough to play in the Tupperware cabinet at Lainie's!

Snow Days

The snow is pretty well gone around here (I hoping for good, it's been a very reasonable winter, but I'm ready for spring to arrive).  The snow we got a couple of weeks ago was significant enough to close all of the schools.  Scott was able to take the mornings off so I could go to work.  I think he was more excited than the girls to have snow days!  I love that Teddy was right there in the middle of all of the fun.  He does his best to keep up with the girls!

A Weekend of Fun

The girls got to spend a day and night with my parents a couple of weeks ago.  They were treated to a marionette show in the Central West End, lunch at the City Diner (the best restaurant ever, according to Millie), sledding with my dad and Scott in the afternoon and finally dinner and a sleepover.  It was a pretty amazing day for two little girls!

learning about how marionettes are made

sitting with one of the marionettes

taking advantage of our late winter snow and loving every minute of it.  The girls graduated up from the little to the big hill after about two runs. 

Now a couple of weeks later we are eager for the advent of spring!  I hope mother natures obliges soon!