Signs of Spring

Yeah! Spring is finally here. The sunshine of the last few days has really cheered me. I know the boys are full of energy, too, and glad to play outside with the extended evening hours. The little daffodils and hyacinths in front of my house have just opened in the last week. Then yesterday the tulips popped open, too! I love the bright color! The boys and I have been talking a lot about the symbols, parables, and stories that Jesus used in the bible, including farmers sowing seeds in Matthew 13 and stories about God's care for the "lilies of the field" such as in Matthew 6. The new little life springing from the earth is encouraging to all of us. The teacher in me cannot help but use those moments of beauty to point the boys toward God's beauty!

Also, another strange sign of spring celebrated around here is Fasching (a.k.a. Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras). I asked myself, why in the world are kindergartners celebrating Fasching? What are they giving up? No more beer, Nathaniel, at least not for a few weeks...Oh, well, no matter the reason, they had a fun celebration at his kindergarten. They got to dress up in costumes for a few different days, decorate their classroom with balloons and streamers, eat donuts and cake for those days (sweets are not usually allowed), and they had a half day of school on the 3rd day of celebration. Nathaniel looked adorable in his different costumes we made - fireman, cowboy, and horse. Josiah wanted to wear a costume, too, of course, so he dressed up in his mouse costume for a few days and scurried and squeaked around the house and the yard (he really gets "into" his pretending)! Nathaniel has not stopped wearing the boots and the hat from his cowboy outfit for 2 weeks now. He can even talk with a drawl and has become quite knowledgeable about cows and horses.

A friend of ours came by the house to show the boys (all 3 of them) his new motorcycle. Little Cowboy had to go check it out up close and pretend to ride. So, I've included a couple pictures of our daffodils (if Spring hasn't really sprung by you yet, then you can enjoy these) and the boys on the motorcycle.