Spring Happenings

 Look who's riding a bike!  A neighbor handed down this bike to Magnolia and by the end of the day she got it!  No training wheels!  That balance bike must really do the trick!  

 The very same day Magnolia's friend and neighbor learned to ride her bike.  Oh, the fun these two girls will have!

 Warm, warm days.  What a wonderful March it has been.  We lived outside soaking up the sun.  The kids were in heaven.  Here they are coloring on the picnic table with the neighbor girl.

 Nani comes for a visit.  The Chicago Judys bring her up so M & G got to play with their cousins, Cate and Charlotte.  Here George and Nani enjoy the sunshine on our new window seat.

 Magnolia and Nani build an extensive sand castle in our sandboat.

  Then we play with modeling clay and make little chicks and bunnies.

 While we were all having a wonderful time with Nani I got a phone call from the school nurse telling me Magnolia had lice!  Oh my goodness,  thank goodness for Nani who kept Georgie very happy while I tried to rid of it.  I felt like I was walking through quicksand, not even sure how to tackle this.  I had heard nightmares of lice, that it was impossible to get rid of.  I treated Magnolia.  Nani left and I had one day to strip everything and wash before Aunt Alicia and cousins Musa and Isa were to arrive.  George was great by taking the kids out of the house.  I vacuumed everything.  I stripped their bedrooms like we were moving out.  I vacuumed mattresses.  George bagged everything. We washed and washed and washed.  We all treated our hair and so far, no return.  Fingers crossed it doesn't return.  While it was exhausting, I'm just grateful it was nothing serious.  Things could be a lot worse.  In the end, it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Magnolia missed a half of week of school.     

Carefree as can be.

 The biggest nuisance for her was not being able to wear her helmet (hence ride her new bike) until we cleaned it out.

 I actually think she thought it was kind of cool to have bugs in her hair.

 And this one sat in the sandbox all day long,

tongue sticking out,

working very hard on his creation.

 And while the only photos I have from Musa and Isa's trip are all on my phone,  I can say we had a super fun time.  We went to the Art Museum, ate mini donuts, went bowling, visited the Sprecher Root Beer factory and sampled root bear.  It was great to see them!

 With such warm weather we decided to give our back porch a new purpose.  Since we've moved in we've kept our grill and stroller here.  Using everything we already had, we now have this great little space.  I can perfectly see the kids play in the backyard yet be close enough to the kitchen if I'm cooking.  

Happy Spring!