Welcome, Spring!

It's officially spring, but Mother Nature seems a little confused!  We welcomed spring with a snow storm this week, and more winter weather is forecasted for the weekend.  It seems like it has been a looonng, gray, winter, and we are READY for a little boost of spring cheer.  This week, God showed us some wonderful promises of new life, and this little glimpse of spring is just what we needed.  

In the past two weeks, three baby cows have been born on the farm behind our cul-de-sac.  We visited the calves and their mommies this week, and the youngest calf was only one day old!  They are adorable, and we can't resist stopping at the fence each day to say hi to our brand new neighbors:  

I got lots of great pictures of the backs of my children's heads on this visit.  They were too interested in the cows to turn around to look at the camera: 

I know, it's a lot of cow pictures... but there's something very affirming about baby animals in the spring, and these guys have given us a lot of joy this week:

Baby #1

Baby #2

Baby #3

Another wonderful spring surprise awaited us this afternoon as we took an impromptu drive to nearby Dewberry Farm.  This weekend is the beginning of Dewberry's Springtime on the Farm Event, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  We pulled into the farm, and this is what we saw: 

 (I was trying to decide which of the pictures to post, and decided, "Why choose?"  If you're like me, then every cheerful spring image is welcome!)

The thousands of beautiful, blooming tulips were even more incredible in-person.  It was the first day of the U-Pick Tulip Event on the farm, and L&L each picked a basket of blooms to take home: 

It was so much fun for the kids to choose their own flowers, and we now have bouquets of colorful tulips throughout our house.  We're so glad that we went on this wonderful, spontaneous after-school adventure today (before the snow comes again tomorrow)! 

After we picked tulips, we wandered around the farm to see the baby animals.  Such ridiculous cuteness!

The bunnies were the most active, and hopped all over!

We discovered Dewberry Farm this past December when we visited Santa here, and fell in love with its rustic, winter decor then.  The farm was just as charming on our spring visit today, and I told Mark that it's my new favorite place: 

Welcome, Spring!  We are so happy that you are here!  

(And please stick around for awhile... Tell that groundhog that his 6 more weeks of winter are OVER!) 

Things We Love

 February is the month of love, and last month was filled with many things that we love.  One of the highlights was our school's Father-Daughter Dance.  This is Leah's favorite night all year, and she asked Mark to paint her nails before the dance:

Leah is typically not a girly-girl, so when she asked for a manicure, we were amused.  The fact that she wanted her Daddy/Coach to paint her nails was beyond adorable.  These two are smitten with each other.  Mark brought Leah flowers before the dance, and they went on their annual dinner date beforehand. Leah chose Chick Fil A again, and I bet they were the best dressed couple in the restaurant!  

They had a great time at the dance, and Leah once again declared, "This was the BEST night of my life!".   (She said the same thing last year after her first Father-Daughter Dance!)  

Valentine's week was filled with class parties, treats, and card exchanges.  We decorated Love Bug cookies, and this was a fun afternoon activity:

Valentine's Day happened to fall on Ash Wednesday this year, so we had dinner at church and attended our Ash Wednesday evening service.  I loved having a night off from cooking, and it was fun for the kids to eat dinner with their friends/church family.        

I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's Day, surrounded by my loves, with this reminder of the Ultimate Love.

The kids had their basketball tournament last month, too, and Leah's play-off game was one of the things that we loved the very most.  Our little girl tied the score during the last seconds of the game by rolling the ball down the court and making a shot.  She then won the game for her team in overtime by scoring another basket, and she had the game of her life.  I looked across the court and saw Coach (Mark) beaming, and Leah ran into the stands and collapsed into me with a giant hug, as she exclaimed, "Mommy, I can't believe I did that!".  To think that Leah was on the fence about playing basketball at the beginning of the season (and ended the season on such an incredible high) is amazing.  

Speaking of basketball, Bean and Poppy came for a visit last month (which we always love), and attended their first Wake Forest basketball game:  

Although the Deacs didn't win, it was an exciting game.  Daddy caught a tee shirt that was thrown into the stands, Luke got a parachute that was dropped from the catwalk, and Leah made it onto the Jumbotron!  

Another thing that our family loves is chess.  Each Wednesday, the kids wake up early and arrive at school before 7:00 a.m. for Chess Club.  Every single week, Luke waits for his best friend, Aiden, to arrive, and these two play each other.  The Chess Tournament began recently, and these two were thrilled to be paired up against each other in Round 1:

Mimi came to Chess Club when she visited last month, and we loved having her here.  Leah also loved playing against Mimi, and our little first grader is holding her own in the Chess Tournament, too, as she won her first round!

February also included something that everyone loves:  Girl Scout cookies!  Leah did a great job selling this year, and she also manned several cookie booths at our grocery store.  Who can refuse this cute face?!

Leah loves having loose teeth, and Tooth #5 came out last month.  Peanut pulled it out herself, and was very nonchalant about it, calling, "Mom, I just yanked out my tooth!".  Yikes!

One more adorable picture of something that we love.  Leah's BFF, Connor, invited her to go to see "Peter Rabbit" with him last month.  The moms chaperoned their movie outing, and one of the dads asked, "Are they going on a DATE?".  These two buddies are so cute together and have been inseperable since the beginning of kindergarten. 

We were so lucky to fill February with so many things that we love.  Now we'd just love for the weather to warm up a bit this month, so that we can enjoy all things SPRING!