My Littlest Girl is Growing

We celebrated Klara's FIFTH birthday this month. 

Each day that goes by, her babyhood and toddlerhood and preschool years are slipping away like sand through my fingers. Its bittersweet. 

Watching her come into her own person is a gift. I treasure with every breath and heart beat. No matter how old they get, their arms around me, hugs and kisses I can't help but stop and breath in their scent. I can't help but brush the hair out of her face while she sleeps and kiss her forehead. 

She talks a lot. When we are all in the van she shouts from the back, (so everyone hears her!) and some times we ask her to whisper because its loud. When we leave the big kids at home she talks and talks from the back seat. She tells me her friends dads names, (I'm not kidding) she reminisces about things with "Do you remember when...?" She helps her baby brother every chance she gets. She wipes up her own messes, but only eats what she wants, and refuses the meal if she doesn't like it. She baths herself picks out her own clothes, and if you look really close, you'll see the earrings she picked out the day before when she got her ears pierced. And didn't cry a bit. 

Her determination spills over in her life in every way. A lot like mine :) She refused to wear that dress all year last year. And a week before her party she decided to wear it for her birthday. 

She has passion for the things she luvs. Things like, 100 kisses from her dad, fairies, her friends from the bus, clothes, sleep (she's the last one out of bed every day) purple and pink cupcakes (determined!) scootering, letters, reading, and swinging. 

i know its blurry but its beautiful

My girl also luvs to dance. She had he ballet recital this month too. She has practiced and worked hard since January. She has this way of sticking her tongue to the side of the mouth when she is watching her teacher and concentrating so very hard. It is so adorable. 

tongue!

tongue! 

Her lovely teacher Miss Sarah. She is so patient and kind, and unconditionally encouraging with every single girl.  

Miss Sarah made book marks for all the girls, and she made a monkey for Klara!

5 years since she had her 1st cry, since i reached for her and held her in my arms. I was in awe that I had another little girls, and so thankful the gift of her. 

Happy Birthday my Klara! 

Cousins Cousins Cousins

The weather was fantastic, the company was great, and the food was good.

 Cousin Kurtis came to play!

they both had a baby to carry :)

 And Abby and Zach came to play!

strike a silly pose! 

cousins

 kiss goodbye

waving goodbye!

There were lots of walks in the sunshine, time at the park, play in the back yard, relaxing on the new (used) wicker furniture (a new project waiting for my itch!) laughing, talking and being together.

It was a great way to start the outdoor season.

Enjoying

It was a day of just that! Enjoying. Friendship, laughter, tears, teaching, watching, sunshine,` food, tidying, laundry on the line, kisses, hugs, more laughter and more sunshine. Man it was a good one :)

Things weren't all roses, but even the thorns were manageable, and dealt with easily. 

So a few pics!

We turned soil over, 

Growing chives, luving given to us by Tony. We'll keep these forever!

They planted. They hardly need help anymore. I just dig around, and make neat rows. And I watch the big ones teach little ones.

These two play a mean game of 'Busses" What else would it be? :D

the gloves are just to make u think he was helping in the garden. don't be fooled!

Our new (used) climber. A little bit every day! We are both home tomorrow, so hoping with team work the kids can play!

The day draws to a close. The washer hums, the dishwasher hums, the children's rooms are quiet, and  me and Sam get some quiet, quality time. Days like this fill me up with contentment and peace. Kind words, soft hands, laughter and joy. I feel like a good mom today. I feel like I did my job well, met the needs that were demanded of me, and more. 

Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a few more posts in before May! 

Ack, its been to long

I was really proud of myself for getting some good blog posts in during March. I am now feeling pretty disappointing as April comes to a close with 1 in the running.

But 1 is better then non. So lets not waste time :)

We greeted April with Easter! It was fast and fun! Eggs, gifts and smiles.

beautiful girl

A few things to note as April comes to a close....

- I'm tired of snow.
- there really is just 2 seasons in Canada. Winter and construction. This is very obvious to me as we maneuver the bus around to avoid long delays.
- ditching the winter coats makes leaving so much easier every time we leave the house!
- the children sleep better the more time they spend outside.
- I'm learning to savor anticipation. You know that feeling of anxiety u get, the excitement you get when something is going to happen, and you want it so bad you want it to happen now, but then its over and so it that feeling of anticipation. I hang onto the feeling now by not rushing the process. Or the other people involved. I sit back and watch. For as long as I can!
- the garden is calling me

We've started/joined a homeschool coop, and we are all luving it. Monday with coop and Thursday with ballet, are Klara's 2 favorite days of the week. Both leave me exhausted, but its a good exhausted, know how much goodness I am giving to these people growing and changing and learning.

I am blessed.

These 2 hang out a lot.

On the floor,

in the bed....lol!

By the way, they are watching Netflix on the ipad. Sam as that figured out better then me! He can find it favorite show (Fireman Sam?!?!) in 12 seconds flat!

And this, the brotherly luv, understanding they have....without words, since Sam hasn't chosen to speak yet...fills my heart with goodness :)

My post is coming to a close, as I can no longer keep my eyes open.

I long for May, warm weather, t-shirts, sandals and sundresses.

We got a new climber! I'll update with pictures on the weekend.

Sunrise

I'm so glad I saw the sunrise this morning! I have never seen such vibrant purple and pink in the sky. 

Doing

The wee ones painted the beautiful bird houses.

Bryan's been doing math, spelling, reading!

Mommy (with Pakas help) made a beautiful new table, and remodeled the kitchen. 

We've been busy!

Realization

The hardest realizations in life don't come to u soft and slow. They come rushing at u, and hit u like a ton of bricks. Knocking the wind of out u, rocking ur world, leaving u hurt, bruised, and shocked. Then u need to decide what to do, while u pick up the pieces.