Artwork

The latest artwork from the kiddos.

Here's Milayla's latest masterpiece. I love the bright colours that she always picks. Also, I love seeing her trying to mimic shapes that she sees Atticus and I drawing.

And here are Atticus' latest doodles. 

We've noticed lately that Atticus thought every time that he woke up it was a new day. So, after bedtime it was a new day as well as after nap time. So I did a little art project with him one day about the different things that we do in morning, afternoon and evening and how all of those make up a day. I think he did a pretty great job; especially on that bed of his which even includes the shoe rack at the end of the bend. Impressive!

And then this great doodle was something he came up with during church. This is our family riding the train. I was a little curious who all the people were so I asked him who each of them were. Turns out there is a man at the front driving the train, then there is Mommy behind him, and Daddy behind her and then Milayla in the last row. And all those little people in the top row? Those are babies; lots and lots of babies. So, where is Atticus on this train ride? When I asked him where he was he matter-of-factly told me that he was sitting on the other side of Milayla so you can't see him from this side. I am quite impressed at his understanding of perspective.

I love seeing what these little ones come up with!

Wishes for warmer weather

The weather here has been playing some cruel tricks on us. We will go well over a week without seeing the sun and have to bundle up significantly. Then we will get a couple days of sunshine, blue skies, and warmth that has even warranted light, spring jackets. Then it is back to the freezing cold (in the vicinity of -12 Celsius - yuck!). The poor little early spring flowers don't seem to know what to do! I'm praying that with Easter, the warmer spring weather will come along soon. In the meantime, we are trying to make the most of every chance to get to soak in the sun, no matter how rare it might be. So we've been spending a lot of time out back working on our climbing skills. 

Cannot wait for some more sunshine around here!

He is Risen!

He is not here, but is risen (Luke 25:6)

Things that make me smile (2nd edition)

Just a few things that always put a smile on my face...

Like these two climbing into the chair together to read books. 

And seeing them being good sports about a little bit of teasing. 

And how excited the kids get about seeing the sun (we seem to get awfully long strings of grey days in Bremen, so when the sun comes out we get pretty excited!). On this particular day it had been well over a week and Atticus was so excited he ran to get my phone to take a picture.

And then he got caught taking a picture on Mommy's phone without asking....

And when the clouds cleared in time to see the sun setting behind the apartments and trees Atticus couldn't resist asking to take another photo. I love seeing these kids enjoying the beauty around them.

And then there is the excitement that this little girl gets about brushing her teeth. I am so glad she enjoys it so much. We had a period with her where it was quite the fight to get those teeth brushed. It is a nice reminder that (most) everything is just a phase that will pass (sometimes with a needed little push).

And even better is watching Milayla try different kind of smiles for each photo :)

A pretty common camera smile

her 'show me your teeth' smile :)

Then there is this blurry, yellow-bathed photo of my Dancing Blurs at a Family Dance we had at our church recently. Not surprisingly, we all danced up a storm. I'm pretty sure Milayla was ready to fall asleep on her feet by the time we made it home (long after her bedtime...). Atticus really broke out all his dance moves and when we were leaving he remarked that it was "a good thing I (atticus) wore my dancing shoes because I dance a LOT.". Yes, we all did dance a lot!

I love having so many reasons to smile. 

Milayla and her Perch

We have a small marble step that leads up to our big glass door at our balcony. It is seemingly insignificant to many, but not to our little girl. That step is one of her favorite places to hang out. If it's snowing, raining or sunny (the latter seeming to be quite rare around here lately) she likes to check out what's going on outside there. If we are rolling a ball to each other, she runs over the door and sits on the step to roll/kick the ball from there. If she is hungry for dinner but dinner is not quite ready yet, she prefers to sit on the step instead of in her high chair. It's peculiar, but oh so very cute. We've dubbed it her perch, because from that spot she loves to watch everything.

We're not quite sure why she has taken such a liking to her perch; maybe it's because it's the best vantage point to see outside, maybe it's because it's the only step that we have in the apartment (no stairs..) or maybe it's the close proximity to the table so she can make sure she isn't late for dinner. But, most likely, it's for her own reasons that we'll probably never quite know and we're okay with that.

Her favorite thing to do most recently is to stock the activity walker with books, wheel it over to her perch and sit down to read. It's her favorite place to read (next to cuddling under a blanket on the couch with Mommy or Daddy).

Love her silly smiles and creative perspective. 

She'll invite us to come read books with her and we happily oblige her. On this particular day Atticus ran to help with reading. Atticus isn't reading yet but he will point out and name the things in the pictures (because that's what he sees us do with her) and spell out the words on the pages (and even try to sound out a few of them; or at least some of the letters :)! ). 

It's cute. And I am happy they get along so well. 

Mind you, it isn't always this picture perfect, but I am happy to see them learning together, practicing communication, and working on building a very special sibling relationship. Good moments. I love these two. 

Easter is nearly here

Did you know we are only one week away from Easter? Well, actually, if you are like many families out there, you will probably have some special events going on this coming week like we do.

We love Easter around here. We count down to it starting 30 days prior as we read through progressive sections of The Living Christ (which we memorized a couple years back. And we got the idea and the free printables for the easter countdown here). All sorts of Savior-centred music fills our home more every day. We focus our family scripture study on the Saviour, the atonement and the resurrection and what exactly that means for us. We sing more (which Atticus pointed out to me is not such an easy feat as we sing a lot around here). We make bouquets of lillies. We watch video clips of the Saviours ministry. We slow down more. We simplify (at least, we try!).

I love Easter because it is where the feeling of Christmas emanates from. "There would be no Christmas if there was no Easter. The fact that he was resurrected gave credibility to his whole life's mission, and that's the essence of it." (President Gordon B. Hinckley). Easter is where testimonies are fueled, faith reaffirmed, miracles concreted, and a truer realization of eternities realized. My soul seems to yearn for Easter; to revisit the garden, to stand before Christ on the cross, to celebrate that glorious Easter morning and, most importantly, to remember that he did it all for us in an act of unselfish love. 

I feel a deep sense of gratitude to my Saviour for what he did for us so that we could live with our Father in Heaven again. Yet even with my gratitude, my service, and my testimony I know that it will never be enough to repay the sacrifice he made for me to become my Redeemer. Though, even with that in mind I will continue to thank him and do my best to live my life in a way that is representational of my gratitude (and there are certainly some days where I need a merciful hand extended to me from my Saviour more than I would like..). 

As Jason and I try our best to create a home (and experiences) that will plant seeds of testimony into the fertile soil of our children's hearts I pray that those seeds will take root, and that wonderful memories will be made; not memories of the crafts we did or the food we ate but rather of the feelings we felt and the love that abounded for each other and for our Saviour. It's a large order, I realize that, but I know that it can happen if we give it all we can and put the rest in His hands, our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Week; celebrating the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

To help you get into the Spirit of this coming week, please listen to this song below. It is from one of our favorite CD's from composer, Rob Gardner, that we love to listen to, particularly at this time of year. The CD is called 'Lamb of God'.

 Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Jason's birthday starts a plentiful string of holidays and birthdays for our family and friends so there is a lot of extra excitement surrounding his birthday as we usher in many more cakes and parties to come.

Of course, birthdays are about a lot more than cake; they are about celebrating a person's life and all the incredible ways that they bless your life. And boy, does Jason bless us in so many ways. We're pretty lucky here!

So to kick-off the celebration of Jason being one year older (and wiser too) we, the kids and I, put together 31 reasons why Jason is just plain awesome (and why we love him :) ).  

Here we go!...

31 Reasons Jason is Awesome!

1. He is extremely patient.

2. He is really good at knowing when to take things lightly and to laugh at himself. (Like when his wife and kids pick embarrassing childhood photos to put on a birthday blog post all about him...)

3. He is a great Daddy

4. Because he is BIG like I am (this one is 100% curtesy of Atticus)

5. He is super forgiving.

6. He has great work ethic and always does everything in his power to see something done

7. Because he is a great bike rider (the kids came up with this one! I love the way they think; it gives way for more childhood photos :) ). 

I loved Atticus' reaction to this photo... "THAT's Daddy? He has no clothes on! That's silly."

8. He is a great example to me and the kids in so many facets of his life.

9. How well he speaks french. It is so impressive that he has kept it up since his two-year mission for our church in Paris.

10. Because he is awesome (yes, he is awesome because he is awesome...it seems to be a continuous feedback cycle)

11. How willing he is to try new things (new foods, languages, cultures etc.)

12. His love for learning.

13. His love for reading.

14. How dedicated he is to following the Saviour

15. His mischievious smile that gives away any trouble that may shortly come around due to his actions. Both children seem to have inherited that smile...

pretty sure he's got a little "crazy" in there...

16. Because he gets to spend Saturdays with us. 

17. He can bake some pretty awesome cinnamon buns (and Lemon Meringue Pie!!)

18. He builds good towers

19. He has great hair (and when/if it all falls out...he'll have a lovely head :) ). 

20. He has awesome eyes!

21. He is a talented Piano and Organ player (even though he hasn't had time for much practice as of late..)

22. He is crazy handsome!

23. He's kind to everyone (even when it sounds like they are saying something mean in a foreign language...)

24. He sings songs with us

25. He's a good climber

He's the one up top...

26. He is genuine and cares about everyone. 

27. He is determined and goal-orientated

28. He knows how to make the most out of otherwise icky weather.

29. He has a great smile.

30. He gives awesome hugs, kisses and cuddles.

annnnd

31. He is just the best person that we could have ever prayed/wished/hoped for to be husband and father in our little family. He's awesome. We love him. And we feel so blessed to have him as the head of our household and all the incredible ways he blesses us and the world around him.

Yep, reallllly grateful he can laugh at embarrassing photos. I love him :)

Happy Birthday, Jason! We love you! Thanks for being so awesome!