It's HOT!

Just when I thought Spring was here, we woke up to summer! It has been warm here this weekend. Too warm for Spring. The weather channel promises cooler temps for next week, hopefully they are right. We went strawberry picking at a local farm this weekend. The kids really enjoyed it. I didn't know how they would do but they liked it. Andrew enjoyed searching through the plants looking for the red ones. Audrey wasn't too sure about picking them and they were a little hard for her to snap off, so she enjoyed carrying them to the bucket. Audrey even ate a couple strawberries in the car on the way home. I was surprised because she usually won't eat them. However, after they were washed and cut up at home, she refused to eat them. Andrew waited till we got home to eat any ("Mom, they have dirt on them, I'm not eating them till you wash them), although after he ate a few, he said that he didn't really like them. He likes the ones from Walmart better. Go figure?!?!?! Fresh picked sweet strawberries and he says they don't taste like strawberries.

Audrey was Chip's runner. He picked the strawberries and she carried them back to the box.

Going back for more.

So excited to find big ones!

Hmmm...I think I'll try one!

Just getting started.

This is Audrey in time-out. I sat her next to me one night while I was working on the computer for a time-out. She was upset and every time I looked down at her she covered her face. She's never done that before and it was hard not to laugh. Luckily I had the camera right on the desk and snapped her picture before she noticed.

Enjoying some Popsicles in the heat!

Our new neighbors! We noticed a bird's nest in one of the eaves of the porch next to ours. Chip risked being attacked by the mother bird and climbed up in a chair to get a picture for Andrew. We were expecting eggs, boy were we surprised!

Sunny-side

Here we are today, going for a walk to the creek (aka. ditch the city just put in behind our neighborhood). It was so windy and sunny that we had to go back home for all of our sunglasses before we got too far. Andrew usually rides his bike and Audrey pushes her baby stroller with her plastic frogs in it. She has just started enjoying pushing the frogs (or any other creature she can find) around and would rather do that than have me push her on her tricycle. We collect rocks all the way there and then throw them in the creek once we get there. Big time fun! We stopped to visit the playground on the way back home. Oh, and yes, this is 3 posts in 2 days!! I'm on a role. Well, don't get to used to it. I'm sure I'll be back to my slacker ways in no time.

"Cat-a-per!!"

Yes, that's caterpillar for all of you out there that don't have a 2 year old. While we were playing outside yesterday, Audrey found a caterpillar on one of their toys. I wasn't looking at her, but just heard her say "wow cat-a-per"! She was a little scared of it at first and quickly put the toy down but after seeing Andrew hold it, I guess she decided that it couldn't be that scary (if Andrew was doing it!!). I ran to get the camera and Andrew found another one. I tried to get a picture of them both looking at the camera, but there was no way Audrey would take her eyes off of it while it was crawling around on her arm. They both loved holding them. I was surprised by how gentle Audrey was and was expecting at any moment for it to get squashed, but she seemed to get the idea that you have to be really careful. And I'm always surprised when Andrew is willing to let any bug crawl around on him after seeing the way he acts around flys and spiders. Although, I can't really talk. I HATE bugs and am always really freaked out by them. I do remember running out of my parents living room screaming one day, after a pest control company commercial came on it looked like a roach was crawling on the tv screen. To be totally honest, I couldn't even stand to hold the caterpillars and had to use a stick to get the poor little guys off of the ground and into the kids hands. So I guess I know where Andrew gets it from. Andrew found his bug catcher and put them in it for the afternoon. Hopefully they weren't took shaken up when he released them a couple hours later.

Spring has Sprung!

It is most definitely spring here in WF. I don't think I have ever seen as much pollen in my life. The flowering trees (I don't think that is a technical term) are so beautiful. Starting about 4 weeks ago, all the trees just came to life with colorful blooms and a lovely yellow dust started to cover everything. But that's okay. I'll take the pollen for a few weeks, to have all the shade in the summer time. Yes, there are trees in TX but not like here. I remember one day last summer Chip and I picked up some drive thru food with the kids in the car. We wanted to park somewhere and eat in the car before Andrew's t-ball game. I think we drove around for 10 minutes trying to find a parking space in the shade. That's not the case here for sure.

The last 3 weeks have been rather busy for us. We took at trip for Spring Break. First to GA for some camping with my parents (which was fun, except for the rain and cold weather) and then to visit our dear friends who have recently moved to GA. It was so much fun and so great to see them after 8 long months. Andrew and their girls picked up right where they left off, playing and arguing! Andrew has always said that he was going to marry their youngest girl, Belle (their oldest told him that she was already marrying someone else). I even overheard them one morning while we were there discussing this. Belle saying "I'm really not sure if I'm going to marry you Andrew" and then Andrew follows with "Well, you have to because if I marry you, you have to marry me". Belle then says, "Okay, I guess I'll marry you then". So cute! However, it didn't take long before Andrew was coming in the kitchen crying that Belle wasn't going to marry him anymore. I guess Belle figured out that she could use the engagement as a way to get to go first in a game they were playing. You don't give me the turn, then the wedding is off!! It was so funny. Way to go Belle, make him work for that engagement! We then traveled to PC for a week to visit the rest of the family and some friends. The kids loved it. They both slept so great the whole trip, I think from just pure exhaustion. Chip was able to fly into PC for the Easter weekend. We all had a great time there and hope to get back sometime this summer.

Audrey and Elijah on a walk through their neighborhood...

or more like a difficult hike through the GA mountains!

They all loved getting to ride their bikes.

Singing Happy Birthday in PC to all the April birthdays in our family

All dressed up...he was so excited about getting to wear a tie to the church Easter program...

but I'm not exactly sure where he learned to "pose" like this?

Learning to shoot an arrow with Granny and Paw-paw's neighbor.

Easter morning.

Neither of them were very happy about taking pictures, so this was the best one I got.

Now that we're back home, our weekly routine has started up again and will continue for about 4 more weeks, until Andrew graduates from pre-k on May 20th! Audrey finishes her school year on her birthday in June, but then is going to take 3 weeks of the summer program at her school. Andrew will start Kindergarten in July believe it or not. At this point, we're still up in the air about what Audrey is doing next year. She had her evaluation for preschool services through the school district and we'll meet with them on May 8th to see what they will offer for her.

Having a picnic on the back porch.

Playing with our neighbors with Andrew new bubble rocket. He loves this thing... thanks Clay and Marla.

Other than that, we are all doing well. The weather has been perfect and we've been trying to spend the afternoons outside after a long winter indoors. I'll try to start my weekly blog up again, I know you were all waiting for an update (mom). Take Care.