This weekend marked the end of the gymnastics season for my girls. They both finished the season strong scoring personal bests on more than one event. After the meet I ran into the grocery store to buy some brownie mix to celebrate and I was literally beaming from ear to ear. I felt like I wanted to tell everyone I saw about my girls success. I restrained myself though. However, I do want to record my emotions and thoughts on here to look back on later.

Spring weather arrived this weekend. We literally spent the entire day outside on Sunday (other than the time we were in Sunday School and church). It was wonderfully refreshing. A friend from church passed down a toddler bike with training wheels. My littlest guy was so excited to ride a big kid bike.  I was impressed with how quickly he caught on to peddling. After two trips around the court, he could start himself, steer, and even ring his bell while peddling.

Every year when the circus comes to Baltimore, they do a special lunch with the elephants at the nearby Lexington Market. It’s a Baltimore tradition. And according to what I’ve read, Baltimore is the only city that hosts such an event annually. When I told the kids this, they said, “Well, at least Baltimore has one good thing about it.” Hahaha… these kids may have been born and raised in Maryland, but their blood runs black and gold….

Yesterday the family celebrated our beloved pup’s 1st birthday. We gave her a giant bone at lunch and after dinner we all enjoyed some Wendy’s Jr Frosties…. seemed fitting. We even presented her with a new squeak toy.  I have never been a dog person, though I have appreciated the canine members of our house. There is something about watching a pup patiently accept the rough love of a toddler that warms a Momma’s heart.

This week I took my girls on a field trip with their classmates from our tutorial. We visited a Science Center run by the local school system. The kids learned how to observe the world around them and record those observations. They studied bugs and wild life found in our area as well as learned about camouflage and even played a game to reinforce the concept. They got to use almost all of their senses.

I read an article a few months back that really made me think. The gist of the article was “Moms, watch the way you talk about your body because your body image will shape your daughters body image .” There was more to it than that, but that was gist. It seemed like wise advice, so I tucked it away. And man, I’ve had to practice it a few times and wow is it humbling.

“Hey Mom,” he said to me this morning. “I figured out how I can fly like superman, look.”

When we switched out history curriculum this year so that the whole family studies the same period of history (with varying level of work catered to their age level), one of the reasons I was MOST excited was that our field trips would be applicable to all. When our tutorial gave off for Presidents Day, I was eager to take advantage of the day free of book work to go on a field trip.

Thanks to the snow fall cancelling our evening activities, we had time to bake and decorate some heart shaped cookies last night. (it should be noted after my previous post on Red Lake 40… that these cookies were decorated with all natural food dye from Whole Foods) The snow looked magical as we watched it fall outside our windows. I called the kids down from bed to watch it for a bit and then let them sleep with their blinds open so they could fall asleep watching it.

…she is fierce.” That William Shakespeare quote has always reminded me of my oldest daughter. She’s small in stature but strong in will and spirit. She turned 8 this week. I am proud of the girl she’s growing up to be. She’s not much like me. So many of her strengths are my weaknesses. She’s logical and practical. She tells things like it is and is a no nonsense kind of gal.