Darr Family Blog – The place to follow the Darr Family

Spring Fun

Weekly Happenings: It seems we’ve settled into spring. The weather is warmer, so it’s easier to do things. Most of the week was pretty average. I did have my friend bring her kids over yesterday for a play date in the morning (since the older kids had school off because of Good Friday). The kids really liked playing outside with bubbles, chalk, and other outdoor stuff. We went to the zoo this morning to have something else fun to do. I love going to the zoo in the spring because it’s just warm enough for the animals to be more active without it being really hot.

The Weekly Weather: As I mentioned before, it’s been mild and sunny. We did have one wild thunderstorm come through one evening, but it wasn’t too bad.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Yard work, more yard work, and a bit of tidying up of the walkway and driveway up front (he just got a pressure washer, so he’s been putting it to use).

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I had book club, which was fun as usual. Other than that, it’s been a pretty typical week for me.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: They had an egg hunt at school which was a lot of fun for him. He continues to be a big help with Abigail. I love the relationship the two of them have. He seems to be very patient with her, which is amazing.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s adjusting to her no-nap schedule really well. She has had a few rough nights, but I think they can be attributed to other factors (an allergy attack that has lasted a few days, for one). I think it will be a good thing for her. One thing I’ve discovered is that if I don’t belt her in when I try to put her into a shopping cart (at various places), she doesn’t flip out and throw a ginormous tantrum. This is something we’ve been dealing with for months, so if that’s all it takes, I’ll do it. We still need to try it at a few more different places, but I’m optimistic, haha.

This Week in Pictures:

She has been big on picking her footwear this week. Good thing we live in Texas, haha.

She wanted him to dance with her and he was very patient.

I have several spots in my house that just make me smile. This is one of those spots. I love the pottery (both are pieces my brother Gary made), I love the plants (the two darker green ones are succulents and the other one is an air plant that just needs to be misted with a spray bottle once a week), and the family picture captures our personalities perfectly.

She really liked pulling these stickers off. I love that In-N-Out gives the kids these sticker sheets instead of a trinkety toy.

Posing with the eagle statue at the zoo.

The Komodo dragon is right above his head. 🙂

Abigail likes climbing on this thing just as much as Joseph did at her age (and still does).

She was excited to see the “big kitty” (caracal).

It wouldn’t be a zoo trip without a stop at the hippo statue.

My favorite animal is the okapi. They seem like such a hodge-podge of characteristics.

They seem a little bit zebra, a little bit deer, and a little bit giraffe.

This is when Paul was half done with power-washing our driveway.

I love this silly little goose who has discovered she can reach the piano decorations if she hauls herself up onto the window seat.

Another “Firsts” Week

Weekly Happenings: The beginning of this week was pretty average. It wasn’t until the end of the week that we did some fun things (an egg hunt in the rain and haircuts for both kids to be specific).

The Weekly Weather: It’s been warm and dry until this morning when it decided to start raining right before the neighborhood egg hunt at the park was supposed to start, but luckily it let up enough for us to still go (with a delayed start) and now it’s just gorgeous, with blue skies and big, poofy clouds.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s really attacked the weeds and bugs in our yards this week. He also has made some helpful posts on our neighborhood Facebook page about yard care (which a lot of people have really appreciated…our next-door neighbor even brought him a gift of a really nice hose that he’s been wanting to get because he found out that Paul had also treated the weeds in his front yard as well as ours).

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Between kids, piano students, housework, and Relief Society planning, I’m quite busy, which is great!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He lost another tooth, had a great time at the park for a play date mid-week, and really enjoyed the egg hunt today.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: After several episodes of “wake up in the middle of the night and just want to be awake for 3-4 hours” that have happened over the past couple of months (and two in a row this week), I’ve decided that she needs to stop napping so that she’ll sleep better at night. So far, it seems to be working. She occasionally starts to fall asleep on longer car rides in the afternoon or evening, but that’s to be expected. She also enjoyed the egg hunt (I think she liked getting rained on as much as she did gathering eggs). She even found a golden egg which garnered a set of outdoor/indoor toys (so think Frisbee, ping pong paddles and ball, and some other assorted items) that are Mario Bros.-themed. She and Joseph are enjoying sharing that fun prize. Finally, we took her to get her first haircut today. Nothing major…just a bang trim. She looks so cute!

This Week in Pictures:

She was hiding from me because she didn’t want to go to bed yet.

I found some really nice artificial plants to go in my hanging buckets in the kitchen. I think they are the perfect addition.

She and Joseph were pretending to go camping and were “sleeping”…until she noticed me sneaking in with my camera.

Yet another tooth gone (to the left of his two front teeth). He was brushing his teeth and it fell out.

Chilling at the park. He really liked this forked stick he found…and he always loves finding cool rocks.

She discovered that she could climb the steps and go down the slide all by herself. She did it over and over again. It was pretty great (and much better than what she was doing right before this: gathering handfuls of wood chips and leaves and throwing them up in the air).

When we were last in California, Paul ended up with my dad’s old yard hat, which he gave a good washing. Abigail loves it whenever it makes an appearance.

She loved getting to pick up all the eggs. She just said, “Egg, egg!” over and over again.

Joseph also got a haircut (though it’s definitely not his first).

There’s some serious cooking going on in here. The red glow is coming from the burners on her play stove, which light up.

Our beautiful front yard after all of Paul’s hard work battling weeds. He also pressure-washed our front walk. It looks so great!

And here’s the backyard. It’s hard to believe that a week ago there were a ton of weeds back here. He’s really worked hard to irradicate them!

Bonus Video: Abigail playing peek-a-boo with the Easter Bunny at the park.

Best Buddies

Weekly Happenings: This was another week without anything too out of the ordinary happening. While not too eventful, it did give me the opportunity to observe just how close Joseph and Abigail have gotten. They are really building a close relationship. I know it won’t be always like this (especially as we approach the teen years), so I’m trying to soak it in while I can.

The Weekly Weather: We had a couple of colder days, but for the most part, it’s been warm and sunny. I think spring is finally in full swing.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy at work and busy at home. He continues to valiantly battle the weeds and it seems like he’s beginning to win. It’s a tough battle, since seeds from weeds are coming from all directions into our backyard. He also has been spending a lot of time with Joseph, who enjoys having “Dad and Joseph time” immensely.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much on my part, either. I did get to go help at a Relief Society activity where we put together bags to donate to one of the local hospitals. The bags are for families that have a baby in the NICU. They have practical things like lotion and chapstick, but also fun things like a banner to decorate the isolette and cards that mark major milestones for the baby (first outfit, first time to be held by Mommy, etc.) that they can use when they take pictures.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a good week at school and enjoyed getting to take in one of his favorite toys for show and tell.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Her speech is really starting to take off. She’s trying more phrases instead of just single words. A few gems this week: “Oh, thank you, Momma!”, “Oh dear! Oh no!”, and my personal favorite, “Catch, Momma!”. This last one was uttered just before she winged the wooden lemon from her play food towards me…luckily I managed to catch it, as it was going right for my face, haha.

This Week in Pictures: