March Madness

March marks the downhill slide of homeschooling for us as well as warmer weather and more outdoor fun. We've certainly kept busy this month!

Our co-op had a slow start this semester, but we finally got going at the beginning of March. Nathan and Daniel were busy building towers in their STEM class. 

 Since the weather has been warming up, we packed up school, grabbed lunch and headed to the park one day. We ate and played and did a little bit of school too. Even though we dealt with some grumpy attitudes, most of us had a good time. 

That day wore Katherine. Naps are rare for her these days, so I always have to snap a picture of her sleeping beauty. 

I looked over at this kid and was shocked at how fast he is growing up. Sitting in the front seat, usually with a book in his hands and a smile on his face- he's the best. 

We celebrated Laura's fourth birthday this month with a pajama party. 

The girls were deep in conversation during breakfast. Katherine never lacks a good expression while she's talking. 

Every once in a while, I catch a picture of these kids in their Sunday best. The knotted headband and jean jacket look is Elisabeth's style right now. No more bows and not as many frills for her, but she's just as beautiful 

The kids were excited about church that Sunday because donuts, of course!

Elisabeth gifted Sarah a sleepover as part of her birthday gift this year, so we picked her up on Sunday afternoon, and the girls spent the evening playing and creating and giggling.

Elisabeth wrote the menu for breakfast the next morning- eggs, waffles and bacon. 

In the middle of March, we were surprised by a quick moving snowstorm. We missed an earlier snow while we were at Disney World, so we were all happy to enjoy snow for a few hours at least. 

The snow was melting quickly enough that there was no need to shovel, but the kids asked, and I wasn't going to ruin their fun. They were proud of their hard work. 

The perks of neighbor friends is that icy roads don't keep us from seeing each other. 

The kids played outside for awhile and then joined us for lunch 

Our neighbors moved here from Illinois, so Elena is much better at organizing all the snow gear. She has a whole system and everything. I'm learning from her!

Spontaneous get togethers/lunches have been such a blessing to all of us over the past year. 

Elisabeth and I were matching for church, and we had to document it!

And of course, this Little Girl wasn't going to be left out of the picture taking. 

Katherine is an independent Gal, and most days she insists on doing her own hair. On the rare days when she allows me to do it, she always asks me to take a picture of the back so she can see it. It's a sweet little part of our routine that I don't want to forget. 

Elisabeth always joins me during Katherine's dance classes on Monday mornings. She's supposed to be working on her schoolwork, but most of the time she ends up practicing her gymnastics and dance moves. 

Since the new Discovery Lab opened a few months ago, we've been wanting to visit. Matt was able to take a day off work and we spent hours and hours exploring and playing. We were joined by several field trips in the morning, but by the afternoon, most of the crowds had cleared out, and the kids had more freedom to run and play. We packed a lunch and spent almost the entire day there. We forced the kids to leave about 3:30 that afternoon, but they would have happily shut the place down if we had let them.

The ball area was a favorite!

But these huge foam blocks were the hit of the day. The kids spent hours building and rebuilding forts and houses. I couldn't believe how much those blocks entertained them. 

I was a little sad that my kids have almost completely outgrown the little kid area. Katherine spent a bit of time in there, but she's about to age out of it. I remember the first time we visited the Discovery Lab, Nathan was 2 and Samuel was a baby and we spent our time almost exclusively in that area. And now that season is over. It's a good thing, it's a joy to be able to watch them exploring and learning in the big kid areas. 

The next day we spent the morning at the Gathering Place for an event with Matt's work. One of his coworkers had arranged a scavenger hunt, and those are some of my kids' favorite things. After we finished hunting we spent some time playing. That was a full weekend of fun!

At the end of March, we celebrated Daniel's 11th birthday with a birthday lunch and games at his house. 

Daniel showed off his drone, and we played several indoor games. Their family knows the best group games. My kids love playing at their house. 

This picture shows how much fun we have playing and celebrating with these sweet friends.