A Scherden Saturday

Our weather on Saturday was the best we have had so far in 2011. The temperatures were in the middle 70's and it was a perfect day here. We started out the day at Jackson's t-ball meeting then came home and got the bikes ready for our ride. We rode around 3 villages, stopped by the Blockhaus for a treat and by the time we got home we rode almost 10 miles. Jackson did great and was in front of us for most of the ride. We were so proud of him! It is so nice to see all of the green popping up all around us. After having the winter months behind us now, spring is just a tease to what summer is going to be like!

Grace loved seeing these horses. Right when we stopped to watch them about 6 horses came running full speed out to the other horses. It was so neat to see the horses excited about seeing each other and nudging their noses.

If you look back in the distance at the hill you can see the green growth start to make its way down.
Jackson ready to make his way up the "big" hill!
At a break at the Blockhaus.

The kids had so much fun running around the place.
Here is a shot of Jackson and Grace playing hide and seek. This is what their game consisted of:

Jackson: "Grace, go hide and I'll count to 10."

Grace: "Okay, here I go."

Jackson counts to 10 while Grace hides behind a bush. After Jackson is finished counting he looks around and Grace says, "Jackson, I'm here!"

She hasn't quite learned the concept of the game just yet...but it's funny to watch their own way of playing!

These trees have been popping up in full bloom the past couple of days. They are absolutely gorgeous! I learned they are called Bradford Pear trees. When I got close to take the picture you could hear hundreds of bees in the tree. It was an eerie sound!
Here is a pink version of the tree. (I think)
Jackson loves cutting away at branches and sticks while at school. Jason gave him a new pocket knife with a saw. Here he is putting it to good use. Who would of ever thought I would let my 5 year old have a personal pocket knife! But the good thing is, he has really learned how to use it responsibly.

The many faces of Grace

Grace is a girl of many faces.

Her happy face...
I'm not quite sure what this face is.
Her funny face...
Her pouty face...
Her confused face...
Her sad face...
Her surprised face...
This face she said "the face that Ella makes."
She has such a funny personality!

Now that's fresh!

I love getting our eggs from the local market. For some reason they just taste better than the ones from the commissary. You know they are fresh when you find chicken feathers still on the eggs!

Check out that feather. I love it!

Spring!

The weather has been nothing but gorgeous these past few days. I have officially packed away the winter shoes, hats, gloves and scarves and brought up the spring/summer shoes. Yes, the kids are in flip flops! I miss the days of wearing flip flops everyday when we lived in Okinawa, but now I just appreciate them even more. I am so excited for this change of weather!

Grace's Little Ponies

Grace has been playing with her My Little Ponies quite a lot lately. She carries them around in a bag just about everywhere she goes. We take them in the car, to bed, and she even tries to talk me into taking them into the store. I let her take two of her favorite instead of the whole bag. It's just about too heavy for her to carry. It's fun to see her playing something new instead of her babies. She still loves to dress up her baby dolls, but doesn't play with them as much as she used to. We had some cardboard left over from a big box and we made a barn for her ponies. She loves to put them in there and gets a little upset if I put them in the wrong stall. She'll say, "No, Mommy...they have to go in this one!"

Funny story... (It seems we have a little comedian on our hands lately!)

She was up early this morning (oh, wait...that's every morning! ;-) and she was laying in bed with us until we decided to get up. She asked for her ponies and I told her that she had to stay here because her ponies were still sleeping. She told me, "Mommy, their eyes are open...they are not real!" Why, yes... Miss smarty pants...they are not real... Jason and I just started to laugh at her reply!!

She really turning into such a little girl lately. Hard to believe she will be 3 next month...

AJ learned to tie his shoe!

Jackson has been bound and determined to learn how to tie his shoe. He made a goal for himself (which I think is so cute) to learn by Grace's birthday because that is the day of his first t-ball game. A friend of mine let me borrow a book that has laces on it to help him learn. The book is called "The Zoo's Shoes" by Lynn Brunelle and Emilie Chollat. It is a great book to teach kids how to do it. I especially like that the laces are different colors. I think it helps him differentiate between the two bunny ears.

He was so proud of himself when he did it! He still has a little more practice to make perfect but at least he has figured it out for the most part.