Strawberries

We spent the perfect spring morning picking strawberries last week.  Marcus was even (mostly) a help, picking red strawberries which he collected in his bucket.  We went home to make strawberry shortcake and to eat our weight in the fresh berries!  What a great day of homeschooling.

I love these boys!

Time out

"Apparently, throwing cleats at your older brother is frowned upon in this establishment!"

Eli's First Opening Day

After the last few years of being ready but not being old enough to be on a team, Eli is finally able to participate in Little League!  He is very excited to be playing in games and having his own practice.  (Both boys awakened us the morning of the opening day parade completely naked and asking where their uniforms were!)  Here are some pictures (not of our early morning view) of our little lefty.

This character is coaching Zach's team and assisting Eli's

More April Pictures

Letting our caterpillars-turned-butterflies go!

He's cute.  He's alive.  There's a connection...

Red Sox/Orioles game at Camden Yards

Oh the trauma of watching beloved stuffed animals get washed...

And coming out clean on the other side….phew!

Curly

"My daddy says my hair is too long and too curly…."

"….what does he know anyway?"

Easter

With Gramps arriving after our visit with the
Caslers, we had a quiet Easter weekend at home.
Marcus figured out hunting for eggs very
quickly and actually helped his older
brothers find some of their more difficult eggs
hidden at Yia via and Papa's house! :)

Then Easter Sunday we joined some friends
for a very cold and windy sunrise
service at the beach.

Before France

In April, our good friends came for visit before they leave for France for a whole year.  Even though we didn't leave the house, it was a fun weekend sharing our new home with them.   Now if only we can figure out a way to visit them across the ocean in their 'new' home next year!

Say, "cheese"

When a camera is brought out, these are the faces I get from my youngest:

Once again….

...I find myself with months passing and no blog posts getting done.

I have taken pictures.  I have made a few posts on Facebook.  I have shared pictures and events on Instagram, but somehow getting the pictures off of the phone or camera and onto this blog just hasn't happened.  I guess this is why blogging is becoming obsolete.  But I want to blog and I need to blog so that I have these pictures and memories preserved for me!  So, please forgive me if you have seen some of these pictures or heard some of these stories on another social venue….


Here are some of my favorite pictures of Marcus from March:

After fighting sleep the whole way through the store, Marcus lost the battle while I was distracted at the check out!

Boots and a bike.  We love Spring!!

Eli offered this comforting hug during one of Marcus' many tantrums.

Ready to move!

This Saturday we are planning on moving into our new home!!  We just found out this afternoon that we have passed our final inspection and are waiting for our occupancy permit.  Cannot wait to be living there and to have the move behind us.

Every Day

We are in a coloring phase at our house--which means, that we use a lot of crayons, colored pencils, scrap paper and tape.  And it also means that I pick these same items up and put them back in their container about 100 times per day.

With all of these original 'works of art' casually lying around the house, it is pretty sad that most days I notice the crayons on the floor more than the masterpieces...

Death Valley

This past weekend we ventured up to the Nelson's for a visit.  They had plenty of kids, plenty of snow and plenty of hills... so we went sledding!  Not something we get to do much of around our area.  It was a lot of fun, but climbing the hill was more work than I remembered!

Howdy partna'