March 2017

In March we spent a lot of time playing at home and running to play outside when the sun peeked through the clouds. I celebrated my 34th birthday by getting our home professionally cleaned for the first time. Happy birthday to me!

One of the best things about our new house is the island in the kitchen. It provides endless opportunities for chasing games and hide 'n' seek.
We finally got outside a few times after our very long and very cold winter. The kids loved pulling out the swings in the backyard and Clara loved digging in the bark chips for the first time.

All of the kids LOVE reading. Lily has started to read small chapter books on her own after basically teaching herself to read. Tommy loves books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate that are full of funny drawings and easy text. And Clara loves to sit with us and read board book after board book. She also loves to eat the books she enjoys the most.

We go to OMSI every week for Tommy's science class. The girls play while he is in class and one week they had a new exhibit called the Bloopodome. Lily turned into a Bloopologist for the afternoon.

No afternoon is complete without a ride in a cardboard spaceship that turns into a game of DIY Jack in the Box.

We visited the Children's Museum via downtown and took a ride on some statues. They have all kinds of sculptures and statues lining the streets in downtown Portland.

Clara is getting to be such a big girl! She came and sat down on the curb all by herself without any help or support.

We went to The Waffle Window with friends one day. It was actually really chilly outside, but Clara just couldn't stay away from the puddles in the ally. After trudging back and forth in them she sat right down in one and promptly put some rocks in her mouth. They didn't taste nearly as good as the sugar waffle did though!

We walked up to Mount Tabor and found this awesome stick fort. I am glad the kids in the area made good use of all the wind and falling branches this winter!

And of course, the cherry blossoms have been amazing this year. After such a cold and dark winter, it's AMAZING to walk around and see trees bursting with colorful blossoms! Tommy is tired of me pointing the blossoms out, though. He says, "Mom it happens every year, why are you so excited?" My response: "Well, your birthday happens every year, too, why do you get so excited about that?" He didn't have a good response. So I'll keep feeling giddy about spring and annoyingly pointing out all the flowers to the kids.

Tommy and Clara play this hilarious game where Tommy sits on this red foam chair and Clara pushes him out. They end of wrestling and playing like two little puppies.