Springtime & wildflowers

I'm absolutely sure that I cannot say one specific season is my favorite.  I do prefer warm over hot & cool over cold but that's about it.  Way back in 2014 I wrote a post called Autumn at the Nest followed a few months later by Ice, Snow & a Stomach Bug. The title of that second one brings upon momentary depression. To this day I STILL preface every plan in the making with "if everyone is healthy we will....." Those yucky weeks really took a toll on our family. So far, this is a strange combination of words to accompany Spring pictures in the wildflowers but if you look back at the Autumn & Winter posts you will find a verse of a song called Every Season by Nichole Nordeman. This is me still trying to catch up two years later & (almost) complete the idea of a post per verse/season! In this case it's better late than never. Here is #3 of 4 posts.

This past winter was nothing like the "harsh" winter we experienced the year we returned to Dallas meaning we saw snowflakes once for about 30 minutes. I know my definition of a "harsh winter" shows that I am Texas born & raised...and a total wimp. Still, the idea of winter is important leading up to the verse about spring. So, glance back at those frozen pictures from early 2015 & imagine what happened to the earth underneath & for those of you who live in arctic like climates, don't laugh at me! We did live in the Sunshine State for the 6 winter's prior & was naturally vitamin D deficient upon return to this great state that has shorter seasons than most other parts of the country.

Not only was I cold & missing the sunshine during those months but our family was in the middle of a really difficult time. I had been diagnosed with a seizure disorder in October, took an abrupt leave of absence from my Labor & Delivery RN job & was unable to drive for five months. Without the assistance of someone else I was literally trapped at home with four children 5 & under. The Lord was SO gracious to provide many people to serve in tangible ways such as taxi-ing us around town or being a personal shopper at Tom Thumb (Kate Wallace....you're the best). We were on edge wondering if I would have another seizure & praying that I would be therapeutic on the medication as quickly as possible. I had a repeat MRI at the end of the five months & then the week I was able to drive again we found out that there would be another Valentine baby...best news ever. When the sun came out we felt like we could breathe again.

The final line of the previous verse says "Even now in death you open doors for life to enter, you are winter" & the transition to this verse is the culmination of the song. Instrumentally it's beautiful. The next words are....

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring

It certainly felt like all things were made new. What a beautiful transition it was to witness in the world around us & in my own heart. My medication became therapeutic & we were given the gift of a new baby in the womb. God was faithful to help us persevere & that was a meaningful Spring here at the Nest.

This Spring was uniquely special as it was our first at the new house where we hope to be for a long time. It just so happens that our neighborhood parks were covered in wildflowers. We caught those beauties perfectly in bloom & were delighted to have our friend Brooke (and her trusty old camera) meet us on the windiest day....like 24 mph winds. It was also 60 degrees outside which combined with the wind felt pretty chilly! Thankfully we had some breaks from the hurricane like breeze & were able to get some wonderful family pictures with the help of another friend who jumped around & squealed to get everyone's attention. It worked!

  

Maybe in 2 more years I will finish the series with a Summer post....or maybe I'll surprise myself ; )

When push comes to mud

I have a love-hate relationship with mud which is not the case with four of the five little Valentines. My orders when I lock them out in the backyard usually include "Do NOT make mud & do not hang on Arlo's swing & do not dig in that one spot that Daddy always gets onto you for destroying any chance at growing grass & do not rip the flowers out when you succumb to a wild lizard hunt." I hate when I'm full of rules & regulations but there have to be some.... especially when it comes to mud! I only "lock" them in the backyard to keep Arlo inside with me since he can open the door & it is currently driving me crazy!

 

A few things that must be present to convince me I'm up for the muddy mess are as follows: warm enough weather to strip down & hose off in the yard, an empty washing machine ready to take on a big load, at least a few minutes to scrub mud off the backdoor windows, and on this day the most important box to check was having a camera on hand.

 

I gave the go ahead & they went to town. It was a joy filled bit of time full of laughter not only between them but also with me.

 

 

by far my favorite picture

Arlo & Bella Blue were a little concerned....

Once Owen swiped his cheek with a glob of mud he realized it was quite fun.

It was that good thick mud (if you couldn't tell) that hardens in record time in 85 degree weather.  It was like peeling off a mask as I attempted to clean up Eloise, my aboriginal child. With all the clean up I figured it was worth everyone's skin being exfoliated...maybe I will join in next time. I say that jokingly but it could be really fun. I love when I jump into whatever they are doing & they are totally surprised although then I feel guilty that I don't do it more often.

 

It's easy to be busy & not allow time for messes. It's easy (and not looked down upon around here) to tell them they all have to sit down & watch a TV show so they will stop causing trouble. I feel so ridiculous when they are begging to play outside but I know things will go south very fast while I attempt to cook dinner so I force them to zone out. We say "use tv as a tool" & on some weeks it is an abused tool ; ) All that to say, when push comes to mud there are sure to be dirty but smiling faces!

A cross, a bunny & a celebration

Held between little fingers with peeled off nail polish is a cross, a symbol of the good news that Jesus came to rescue sinners, he died, he rose & he lives & will reign forever. There is nothing greater to celebrate than this. With each passing year a kid (or five) are slightly more mature than before, asking more in depth questions is causing us to ask ourselves how to best help them understand the beauty of the gospel.

This year with the help of The Village Church we had a new & extremely simple aid that Owen, Eloise & Anson really enjoyed. They each had a little canvas bag full of items to represent a part of the story of Jesus' death & resurrection. Along with all these (choking hazardous) items that Arlo LOVED was a book with pictures of the items, a verse from the bible & how it represents that part of the story. Within 24 hours they had the order memorized & for the following week they requested our reading to accompany the lined up items multiple times a day....that's where Charlotte & her reading skills came in handy ; ) There was a nail-like piece that after poked against each others hands & feet provoked a lot of conversation about the pain Jesus endured on our behalf.

Anson was found filling his empty egg (empty tomb) with as many other items as possible, it made us laugh. We so enjoyed revisiting this story in a new way with our brood. In years past we made our own set of Resurrection Eggs which were great when the girls were much younger. Owen & Anson would have enjoyed them but last time we gave it a try they spilled the beans everyday. It was time for a change for this year.

All three boys made these pictures at school. Mrs. Sue is a brave woman that most weeks helps these little boys & girls paint. I'm so glad because finger paint is on the low end of my list to increase our excitement during the day.

At the Nest, we read, read, read & then we read some more so I have started to put our favorite seasonal books at eye level on the built-in behind the kitchen table. Here's what we have for the spring time:

• A Nest is Noisy by Diana Aston- We LOVE all of her nature focused books with beautiful illustrations & fun facts
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit & other stories by Beatrix Potter- This copy was a gift to me in 1984 from my Grandma Shirley & my Paw Paw that Arlo Benton is named after.
• Baby Wren and the Great Gift by Sally Lloyd Jones- I cry EVERY time I read this aloud. You just need to get your hands on a copy.
• Bunny's First Spring by Sally Lloyd Jones - This woman is also the author of the tear-provoking book above & The Jesus Storybook Bible.
• The donkey who carried a King by R.C. Sproul- We've had this around for a long time.
• The Tale of Three Trees: A traditional Folktale by Angela Elwell Hunt - A great story that brings about conversation around parts of the Easter story.
• The Best Nest by PD Eastman- A long time favorite of not only our kids but from my growing up years as well AND it is what inspired the name "The Valentine Nest"
• Guess How much I love you by McBratney & Jeram- This is a fairly popular sweet story.
• Bunnies by Richard Scarry- This book has always been a cute one to have around but really took on a new meaning this Spring. I'll give you a clue....combine the name of the book "Bunnies" with the name of the author "SCARY!" maybe it's pronounced "scah-ree" but for the direction we're going, the first mentioned pronunciation is oh so accurate.

In our side garden along the garage lived a little lizard named Rosebud. At that point we had spent multiple hours a day for two weeks playing with her which means we had done extensive searches for Rosebud & her friends (or enemies). She deserves to be featured in her own post since she was the best lizard to ever scamper the earth. One Saturday Eloise & was outside with just Rob & me. She squealed to get our attention & we being a little sick of chasing these lightning fast little reptiles told her we weren't going to look that time. She convincingly beckoned us with her wide eyes & grin & we followed her fingertips as she held back some flowers to reveal a tiny black eye. I jumped & squealed much like her. It was not only one baby bunny but TWO! They had their little burrow all snug & stuffed with rabbit fur & our children could not be happier to have found our new guests. They looked to be about a month old & were sooooo precious. We happily read The Tale of Peter Rabbit & the Bunnies book which had a perfect matching picture of a cotton-tail bunny. I laughed at the page that said "Rabbits have big families" that had about 100 little bunnies popping their heads up between blades of grass. I was picturing that number in in our garden! This is kind of a long story but I think it's worth sharing, at least for our crew to remember someday.

On Monday morning as we were getting ready for school I had told the kids to not go back outside again but they opened the door & were wandering around in the wet grass WITH BELLA. Within seconds Eloise was screaming some combination of the words Bella, bunny & help which got my legs moving & my heart beating faster than they had all year long. I ran to the far side of the yard to see a little bunny hopping as fast as her legs could carry her which was actually really fast. I was shocked to see our twelve year old lazy dog right on her puffy tail. All the kids were screaming like maniacs (at 7:00 in the morning next door to our retired neighbors) & come to think of it, I was screaming too like it would make any difference at all. I tackled Bella a moment too late but got her to drop the bunny after a little love nibble as I decided to call it. Thankfully Robby was halfway across the yard telling me to lay on Bella till he could grab her. Anson was next to me, watching this horrified little bunny trying to hop away, squeaking & failing miserably. The rest of the kids were panic stricken on the porch while Rob tried to get them all inside. In the process as he held Arlo in one arm & dragged the 75 pound huntin' dog into the house he hooked his leg around Anson the shoo him inside. He was so mad that Daddy "kicked" him. He talked about it ALL day! He also told everyone else about how cute it was that the bunny was squeaking. If he only knew!

Back to the bunny. I scooped her up & carried her over to the garden. Robby came back out & we sat her down to see if she was moving her back legs & she was not. I was completely distraught. We decided to tuck her back in & re-evaluate in a bit. We didn't share the full story with the kids but I know they were concerned when I couldn't fully calm down. I may have over-reacted. We headed off to school & were over-joyed at lunchtime when Robby texted a to say he could see the "love-nibble" marks but the bunny was moving around just fine. We check in again later & decided to relocate them to the neighborhood forest the following morning. The kids of course wanted to keep them as pets saying that there are predators in the woods. We tried to convince all that Bella was quite the predator. Anson reiterated his concern that the predators were zebras, tigers & monkeys. I was actually thinking about owls rather than jungle animals & singing to myself "The Circle of Life" still feeling a little sad but over it. So, the next morning the girls donned rain boots, they captured the wild cotton tails & took them to their new home. Robby said they hopped away SO fast...I might have too remembering the previous 24 hours! Here is the animal rescue team. Charlotte was heartbroken & only smiled for the picture.

It was a great sigh of relief for this mother when it was all over! We moved along through the week & were excited to participate in a worship service that weekend.  It was our first time to go since moving back due to illness. One year Charlotte threw up as we were about to walk out the door, so sad & so defeating that we were only making it to worship seemingly once a month due to someone being sick. So we put on our Easter best which is way on the casual side & were on our way! It was a little ironic that all the kids started with a stomach bug the following day. We are skipping out on that service from now on ; ) We were able to go on Saturday evening then had a spontaneous (because that's what you do when your kids aren't sick) dinner at Chick-fil-A with another family. Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast together then headed over to the Valentines to share a meal & an Easter Egg hunt...or five. Here are the bunnies...

Our oldest & our youngest "babies" because at 7, you're still a baby right? ; )

Mr. Cutie got a kick out of this egg collection  business & the twins cracked us up struggling to play the colder, colder, warmer, warmer, so hot, on fire game.

We hid & re-hid, Owen ate all his candy while no one paid him any attention & we all enjoyed a little old fashioned, traditional fun.

Aunt Anne & Caroline joined us for lunch. We always enjoy our time with them & thankfully, she was up for coloring....my hand needed a break. Anne's oldest son is a Marine & is stationed in Okinawa, Japan right now. The kids LOVE him & wish he would be there for every holiday. The week following Easter we were playing the "What if" game & I asked the kids if they could fly anywhere on a plane that day, where would they go. The answers are as follows: Anson- Candy Land, Owen- Ice Cream Land, Eloise- South Africa & Charlotte- "I would fly straight to Japan so I could spend time with Jack." Sweet girl. I messaged Jack later to tell him thank you for serving our country, that he was dearly missed & apologize that Candy Land & Ice Cream Land won over him! He replied that he & his friends might choose Candy Land & Ice Cream Land too, hahaha!

While singing with others & having the truth of the bible spoken to us over the weekend coupled with the fact that Steve, Jenny, our nieces & nephew are in Poland, Jack is in Japan, others we love are in Australia & the Philippines, we are reminded of people all over the world celebrating the God that reigns over the heavens & the earth. He has always been & forever will be. He is worthy of honor & praise. He gave his son that we might know him & it is to that end we share his story with others. Resurrection Sunday is a day to celebrate that life changing event but really, it is to be celebrated everyday.