Christ the Lord is Risen!!

Easter is a time to celebrate what Christ did for us on the cross. Alleluia!!

Time spent with family is especially fun on this wonderful day. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. Michelle found all but two of the 65 eggs that I hid for her inside the house and out in the yard. She so enjoys this tradition that today before we had lunch with J's parents, she began the hunt for the eggs. It is so fun to see her get excited about something so simple to do. There were no big surprises of candy in the eggs this year. Instead I filled them with words of encouragement. Hopefully she and J will read through them and receive the blessing that is meant for them to receive.

Yesterday was spent at J and Michelle's house with Eme and Jon with Eko (their puppy); Melanie and her girls; Mary and her girls and grandkids; along with J's cousin Scott and his little boy. After lunch the kids went on a hunt for the eggs that Michelle had Ashley and Kylee hide in the yard and house. When the little ones were finished a couple of the adults went to find the ones left behind. What fun to spend time with family.

Happy Easter to all family and friends both near and far.

Re-ignited Passions

So, with all of my daughters so talented and crafty, I thought I would do something that I used to do when my daughters were little and that is sew some dresses for Danya for Easter. This weekend I finished them and just in time as it takes about 4 days for a box to arrive in Hawaii from here. They turned out toooo cute and I wanted to share my accomplishments. Hopefully, once they arrive in Hawaii, Laura will post pictures of Danya wearing them. My next project -- several different little vests for Oliver. I'm soooooo excited to begin and see how they turn out.



So here is the promised picture of Danya in the dress. It fit and she looks so cute in it.

It's all about the bears!

A couple of weeks ago, I had Oliver for the day and he discovered Mormor's many teddy bears on her headboard. This week I am on spring break and Oliver has come to share a couple of days with me. Although he doesn't say many words his communication skills with signing are incredible. He stands in the living room pointing down the hall to my bedroom and signs please. When I follow him he leads me to my room, points to the bed (which is where he can see the bears best) and signs please. Of course, Mormor lifts him up on the bed to look at the bears. On Wednesday, we even took one of the bears for a walk out of the bedroom through the kitchen and back to the spot where the bear was. It was so cute as he was jabbering the entire time. Although I'm not sure if he actually said the words at one point he dropped something and I heard him say "I'll get it", well at least that's what it sounded like.

What fun it has been to enjoy his company on this cold spring break. I can't wait for the fun we will have on Friday as we are also puppy sitting for Eme & Jon's dog, Eko.

Spring . . . Where is it?

Somewhere I am sure it is spring like. It just doesn't feel like it here in Minnesota. St Paul Public Schools is now on "spring break" for the next week. Looking at the forcast for this week -- you could fool me that it is spring.

But really spring comes in many forms -- bed springs, spring in your step, flowers spring up, spring in your ink pen, spring colors, springs on your car, and so on. But here is what Wikipedia says the definition of spring is:

Meteorologists generally define 4 seasons in many climatic areas, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn (or Fall). These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting 3 months. The 3 warmest months are by definition Summer, the 3 coldest months are Winter, and the intervening gaps are Spring and Autumn. As such, Spring when defined in this manner and when begining on a monthly basis, rather than a specific date, can vary per region. In the vast majority of northerly hemisphere locations Spring occurs during the months of March, April and May. (Summer is June, July, August; Autumn is September, October, November; Winter is December, January, February.) The vast majority of Southern Hemisphere locations will have opposing seasons. ^[1]

According to the astronomical definition, spring begins on the Vernal Equinox (usually March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere, and September 22 in the Southern Hemisphere), and lasts until the summer solstice (usually June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere). In 2009, spring fell on March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere. According to this definition, therefore, the day called Midsummer's Day in some traditions is the first day of Summer.

According to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane).

Unlike the other three seasons, people in relatively cool climates are likely to use the astronomical definition for the beginning of spring in popular jargon but retain the meteorological definition for the other three seasonal turning points.

The phenological definition of spring relates to indicators, the blossoming of a range of plant species, and the activities of animals, or the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. The first swallow to arrive for the flowering of lilac may be the indicator of spring. It therefore varies according to the climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.

Okay, so it's more information than I wanted to know. But spring will come and with it warmer, sunnier weather and the "Hope" of summer.

Simple Fun

Discovery is the name of the game for Oliver. On Monday when he arrived he again noticed Momor's collection of bears on her headboard and wanted to explore. He is fascinated by their many colors, sizes and kinds. Below are few of the pictures I captured while he was checking them out.

Where is this one from Mormor? (Iceland) Can I touch them?

Look Mormor, there are so many to choose from. Not the monkey, that one!



Then it was out to the deck to enjoy the sunshine and wonder, what is Kleo doing down there.
We also heard and saw a cardinal high up in the tree next door.
Can spring be far away?

Oliver amazes me with his many signs and how easy it really is to communicate with him. Here he is signing "bed". You can't see he has placed his blanket and bunny on my lap and is asking to go take a nap. Pretty smart little fellow he is.

After nap it was time to take a spin in our "Bob" to the park. After several times down the slide he stood at the bottom as if to say "what are those guys doing over there?" (There were some other boys playing in the puddle under the swings).

It was a beautiful day to spend out of doors with my grandson.
Thanks Oliver for spending time with Mormor.