Spring is here and the strawberries are ready to pick. Good thing we had some kids ready to pick some strawberries. It was a warm morning, but not too hot. We started in a shady spot where we got wet strawberries and wet hands from our work. It didn’t take too long to work our way back out to the sunny part and as we went the smell from the field was very sweet and warm. There are just some things that can only be experienced and the smell of a field is one of them.

The girls enjoyed playing with their friends. We have some unusual symptoms from allergies (maybe) so the Edwards girls had to remain on their own row just in case. This was not a popular decision. The mud wasn’t so bad in the field this year and most of the scrubbing after picking was to get strawberry juice off of cheeks and fingers. Julia was a strawberry eating machine. Emily picked and ate and sometimes put them in my tray. We were joined by the usual suspects – Ashley, Elena, Maeve, Ariaun, Aiden, Natalie, and a newbie Hazel.

Maybe we will eat these berries quickly and have to go back for more. 

Aiden is showing off what the strawberry patch is for!

One of Elena’s bounty – I wonder if it went into her bucket or her mouth.

Who know what this grin is for? I think she was mid-strawberry-bite. But then again she is five and gives lots of silly faces.

Another five-year-old grin.

Hazel is quiet and seems kind of serious, but that might just be because she was just getting familiar with the situation. She seemed pretty busy in the field herself.

Julia was a serious picker. One day when she learns to put them in the tray she might be the fastest. Instead she shovels them into her mouth about as fast as she can find them.

Maeve is also serious about her strawberries. Fruit being her favorite food I suspect the strawberry field was as close to heaven as she can get.

The girls with our family bounty. Some for jam, some to freeze for later, and the rest for just eating. Yeah!

We celebrated spring with our annual barn dance. The girls were so excited to be going and wearing their boots. They enjoyed swinging, playing with other people’s toys, eating some chili, and playing with their friends. When we were on the barn dance floor and not many people around both Emily and Elena danced and had so much fun. It was so sweet to watch them.

Emily and Elena are practicing using their lassos.

The big happy cowgirl.

The little spunky cowgirl.

Emily is fascinated with volcanoes and talks often of them and her interest in wanting to see one. She has lots of questions. She is also fascinated with the story of the Firebird. We have checked out every book from the library and heard lots of versions of Firebird story. She also likes to listen to the music from the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky.

This week her two interests intersected and she was delighted. The girls discovered that we had the DVD Fantasia (Fantasia 2000 to be precise). Included is a sketch featuring the Firebird Suite. Emily discovered that there is a firebird who is the spirit of lava that chases down a sprite and burns her. It does sound sad, but the sprite survives and brings the forest beauty back. Emily has her own interpretation of the story. In her version the spite is the firebird and the spirit of lava is Kashchei.

Emily had Robby make a playlist of three of the movements from the Firebird Suite and created a dancing version of the story that she has preforming for us. We love her fascination and imagination with the story, but also her interest in exploring different versions of the same thing and make her own adaptation. We also love her growing interest in classical music.

(5 & 3) The silly things you kids do!

• You both have been crawling on the floor pretending to be pets eating spilled cheerios. Generally Emily is the cat and Julia the dog. We hope you haven’t been spilling them on purpose.
• When racing to the car, house, tree, or whatever – when you reach your destination both of you girls say "TOUCHDOWN" and sometimes Emily adds a "woo-hoo" to the end.
• When Mama puts away a draw full of clean jammies or makes Julia’s bed, Julia comes and hugs her Mama and gives a very sincere "Thank you, Mommy". So sweet, she seems to appreciate the acts of service. We will have to wait and see if it continues.
• The two of you have given nicknames to everyone in our house. Daddy is Big Pickle, Emily is Little Pickle, Mommy is Mommy Cookie, and Julia is Little Carrot. Emily named herself and Daddy. Julia named herself and Mama.
• You two seem to have selective hearing. You heard that you could have Easter candy, but you didn’t seem to hear that you could only have one. Several candies later you both were bouncing off the walls.
• If you ask Emily what she is "interested" in, she will answer "I am interested in volcanoes and tornados".
• Julia is talking much more. It is likely you will hear her say phrases like: I just joking, come-on E, Das (That’s) my baby, Mama come-on, Do it myself, Put me down, I do, Let’s go (to the) park, Lemme go daddy, Yep, Shoo, Shush, I want go Daddy work, and Pleaze-pretty-pleaze.

We had a play day with Becky as she took her spring break visiting with Grammy and Granddaddy. She joined us for bible study and then we had lunch together. The girls then introduced her to the kids books at the used book store. While we shopped the kids books, she got to explore the rest of the store. Then they literally drug her around Sam’s. Emily thought it would be fun to race Mama to each location of the next item on the list. She and Julia took Becky by the hand and then pulled her to where they needed to go next. Before dinner we all played outside kicking balls around, coloring and going on adventures. Thanks for playing with us today Becky!

This is Becky and Emily going on an adventure to find the volcano. I’m not sure how the balls were involved in the expedition.

We spent the morning at the park with our friends Grace and Daniel. The big girls had a great time playing on the different equipment. They kept trying to cross the monkey bars, but would get stuck part way across and need saving. They discovered the water fountain had been turned on and turned it into a source of entertainment. I loved that they would use teamwork to get drinks where Grace would push for Emily to drink and Emily for Grace. Julia spent time playing with the bigger girls, with Mama, and by herself playing. Daniel loves swinging and did that by himself for the longest time. He joined in a little, but for the most part he played on his own too.

Emily insisted on swinging on the little kids swing so she could go higher and faster. 😉

All three girls were “cooking” at the diner. Julia kept serving Mama macaroni and cheese soup. The main ingredient was mulch.

The happy swinging boy!

Julia would alternate between wanting to swing “higher-faster” and “slower-lower”. She loves her swinging.

The three girls attempting to slide at the same time.

Grace pushing the fountain button so Emily could get her drink. What great teamwork.