The strawberries came in early this year. We made our annual trip out with our friends to pick a few buckets full. With kids in school now, we went out in the late afternoon. While it could have been super hot, there was a nice breeze and the humidity was low, so the day was perfect. This year was the easiest hunt for our family. We had boots to take away the problems of the mud, the girls were able to pick a full bucket themselves, they were busy with friends while they worked, and we came home with plenty of red sweet snacks.

Our friends – only missing one trooper

This is how to pick strawberries – find a good spot, be willing to climb into the plants to find good ones, and hang with a friend.

The girls participated in our church’s annual Christmas program and nativity. It is full of kid cuteness, brave acts, and personally connecting with the story of Jesus’s birth. Emily chose to be a wise-woman again and Julia chose an angel. There was an element of individuality in Julia’s choice, she wanted to be something different than Emily. I love seeing her step into her own. Emily had a short reading part and did a great job of reading clearly and slowly. The little kids were really sweet in the program. They were animals and did their own things. One took his costume off and then was happy to sit on the step. Another child crawled to the manger and spent the rest of the story rubbing baby Jesus’s head. The story is timeless and the kids love telling it. There is no better story to tell than about God coming to us.

The angel watches over her small animal friends.

It seems the Wisemen had secrets to share.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” – Luke 2:8-14

This year we spent our spring break at home playing.

Our first day was spent just getting chores done so we could play the rest of the week. This involved a trip to the grocery. Lately the kids have been making trips in the car-cart a lot of trouble, but after lots of pleading and promising Mama gave them another try. They were angels and despite not fitting well together we finished the shopping with peace. Hurray!

The next day we met some friends at the zoo and braved a cold morning. By the time we make it to the playground area it warmed up and all the jackets were off. The highlight for the day was playing playing with our friends and the second highlight was playing together at the playground. Never fear, we did walk past a few animals.

All the girls can fit on the lion, kind-of.

The next day we had big plans … then we threw them out and just played at our friends’ house. The mamas sewed these Elsa dresses while the girls played. Once they got the dresses on they sang almost every song from Frozen while watching videos of the songs.

What is a week of play without ice cream? Of course we had to go! We sat at the soda fountain counter and enjoyed milkshakes. Emily had a pineapple/strawberry shake. Julia had a strawberry shake. And mama had a cookie shake. While we ate them we discussed a movie we recently saw that had a scene where the girl did exactly what we were doing.

Our last day of break was spent with an evening at Frozen Head State Park. We picked daddy up from work and took sandwiches with us.

We made it to a stream on our hike and played around the bridge. We also looked for animals in the stream. There was a frog we found waiting for a bug to float by. When the hike was over we enjoyed our dinner and then an hour at the playground.

While we love to travel we enjoyed our stay at home too. It was nice for Emily to see friends she misses while she is at school. Julia enjoyed having Emily home to play with, at least most of the time.

Our church Easter egg hunt was an indoor hunt because of a wet morning. This would not dampen the fun though. The kids all wanted to help with the sign coloring. It was very colorful and amazingly still within the lines.

Julia was still hunting in the younger group and Emily was hunting for the second year in the older group. They gave the youngest of the older group a few minute head start so they didn’t get trampled on the steps.

Emily found her allotment upstairs. She enjoyed the hunt.

Who doesn’t love opening and finding all the fun stuff inside of the eggs. Even little Carson got in on this photo. He was not as interested in his first Easter egg hunt.

From the prize table Julia picked out this cute flower-top.

There is always an estimation table to guess at. Mama asked Emily which of the things she wanted to estimate on and she picked a huge container of cheese puffs. She and Mama counted and made our estimate. When it was time to hand out the winners, we had guessed it to the exact puff. Who knew we were such good estimators. Emily was delighted to win her puffs.

Our friends with the girls showing off their matching skirts. Mama made the skirts from left over blanket material. They liked being matching girls.

After all the fun was over Mr. Kenny offered to take Emily, Julia, and Aiden for an afternoon of fun. They went out and visited some horses and swung on a tire swing. A good way to end the afternoon.