"Barely" reaching the 100th Post

The wonderful counter tells me that this has been blog/diary/crapbook entry number 100. The years have clicked by and I still take great pleasure in flipping through the older posts and reliving the adventures and smiles along the way. This week has been equally busy as all the others. Friday was off to a bang when Sophia called a friend to come over and ended up at open gym until 'late' in the evening. Merrick and I played baseball and football until the sun went down and then I waited up for Sophia to come home, ah the years add up quickly. Saturday we started off with Merrick's soccer as always and then after a brief trip to Fleet-Farm, where as Sophia points out "no trip is complete without trying on the hats." we were back home wrapping gifts for not one but two birthday parties. Each kid had a party to attend and the times overlapped efficiently enough as to cover a swath of afternoon and well into the evening. It was fun in that it allowed me time alone with each kid. During Sophia's early afternoon party Merrick and I head off to the woods for barefoot hike in the swamp. Needless to say we didn't see anyone else in the swamp as we watched for animal tracks took note of the returning birds and wandered through the woods as quiet as the breeze on our soft early spring pads. During Merrick's party, Sophia and I found some time to bottle up a batch of beer before heading back to pick up Merrick. We then all headed over to 5 guys for a big burgers for the carnivores and some roasted legumes for the little bruiser. Everyone was pretty tired and Sunday morning found a quiet house until after a 7 am, a minor accomplishment for these early rising crew. The kids worked on their morning yoga poses before breakfast and I took care of some basic domestic chores from laundry and dishes to the continual job of roof patching and maintenance. Then it was time to head back out to the woods, we cranked off another barefoot hike this time with the added giggles of Sophia to accompany the singing birds. I am not sure they will ever hike with shoes on again, and that seems fine with me. We also took in the first thrift sale of the year on our way home before stopping for a Frosty. Sophia headed over to a friends house while Merrick and I washed the truck, but all the activity has everyone pretty content to just relax and prepare for the upcoming week. The weather has been amazing for March with the temperatures near 80 today I suspect we can fit in one more short walk this evening just to feel the warmth on our bare feet.

Spring time in March

Spring is here the yard is clean and the robins and red-winged black birds are eagerly greeting each warm morning. We have been plenty busy but finding it hard to do much outside. We did put on some major miles as we criss-crossed the upper midwest for Munkle Arky's wedding. With the church van loaded up with the whole family there were plenty of laughs and we remembered how easy it is to pass the miles with a load of smiles. We are sneaking out for short walks and bike rides but it is only now that the time change has allowed some daylight at the end of our days during the week. The kids are plenty booked up this weekend with double and overlapping birthday parties so I am not expecting a lot of outside time this weekend either. We did head down to the coffee shop after school one day for everyone to work on their school work. Merrick continues to work on spelling and phonics and his penmanship is quite good. He is very eager to learn and it is fun to watch him develop. Sophia really liked the coffee shop idea and a little hot chocolate always helps the math make more sense. She continues to impress herself with her own progress which is super cool to watch her self esteem grow and develop. The kids and I have been doing a little bit of yoga in the evenings to help get everyone relaxed and clear headed from the day. It is pretty to cute to watch Merrick sit ram-rod straight and focus on his breathing. The weather is supposed to hold through Sunday and with the bike tires all fully inflated we can hopefully get in a longer bike ride or hike to see the new plants popping along the hiking trails.