WOW. What a month. So much - co-chairing several big events (the preschool silent auction, our church's women's retreat), while trying to stay on top of our already full lives. And then the cold way below average temps, a last minute excursion to Lynchburg, Spring Break, Easter, and Grandpa and Grandma's arrival! A LOT of fun, but there's been absolutely no down time.
We started chore charts (at Andrew's request - this boy likes structure). Even Will has gotten in on the fun. The initial excitement/motivation as now worn off, so maybe time to step up our game? Or maybe we'll start something new this Summer.
This was a weekend I'll never forget. Erica got word of a JCrew warehouse sale in Lynchburg, so we decided at the last minute to jump in the car and go for it. Chelsea's sweet family in Roanoke was nice to take us in for a night. We waited outside for 2 hours to get in, and then shopped for 4 hours. It was maddness - hundreds and hundreds of boxes to dig through (I probably only looked through half) - but the deals were incredible.
The haul - and SO much fun to have time with these amazing ladies!
We were braced for a big snowstorm just a few days later. The federal government shut down, we built a fire...and we waited for the snow to accumulate.
And then it turned to rain, leaving us nothing but a littel bit of slush to play in (apparenlty not even enough to bother taking a picture of) - so we enjoyed games by the fire.
Playing Qwirkle (I think Will was just watching)
The following weekend - all set up for our preschool silent auction. I had a lot of fun working with an amazing team of ladies.
A lazy Sunday afternoon, I walked into this.
Celebratory popsicles on their last day of gymanistcs - they ALL looooved it.
We showed up for a playdate at Gabriel's house in matching Redskin's jersey's!
And then came SPRING BREAK! Last year we were doing this:
Eating popsicles under the cherry blossoms in Kenwood.
This year, we were doing this:
Playing in the snow, and dreaming of chery blossoms that were still weeks away from coming.
We made the most of it, and made a "Spring Snowman" - easter eggs for eyes, daffodil for the pipe. And of course a firehat.
What you see here is a smiling happy boy - what I was really experiencing was my tactile/sensory boy screaming about snow in his neck/wrists, or wet gloves every few minutes. We didn't last too long.
This was Will's first real snow experience.
Awww, doesn't this look fun?
Hot chocolate by the fire.
Hot cocoa face and hat hair = snow day musts.
It was so odd to look at my Easter themed dining room table (notice the Palm Sunday branch in corner), with a fire burning just beyond and snow falling outside.
We enjoyed celeberating Monie's 96th bday - she is such a JOY, and a tremendous gift to our family. Caden was especially sweet with her that night.
Lazy Spring break morning, playing with city blocks.
Andrew made a cross and tomb.
We met up with my sweet cousin and her little boy at the zoo on Wednesday. Notice that we are still wearing winter coats and hats.
Andrew's school artwork on display at the Potomac library - we stopped by on our way to meet up with friends at a nearby park. It was so cold (in the 30's!) that we ended up having to bail. This Seattle girl is not usually affected emotionally/mentally by weather, but at this point, I was done. The "Spring" in our break was desperately missing.
And then all was magical in our world - Grandpa Jack and Grandma Kathy arrived for their visit! After lots of morning cuddles...
we decorated Easter eggs.
Andrew was all business.
Grandma was Will's helper- and got her fingers nicely prepped for our late morning manicure. After a long week, this was a heavenly outing. Mani/pedi's followed by brunch at Praline.
And then that evening we enjoyed a sweet evening with dear family friends (the Wierman's), complete with tractor rides and an egg hunt.
We've been soaking up every second of time with Grandpa and Grandma - truly such a gift. Pics of Easter and the much anticipated cherry blossoms to come soon!
