- Darr Family Blog - https://darr.org -

It’s Spring!

Weekly Happenings: Well, I know it won’t officially be spring until later this month, but the weather we’re having sure makes it feel like it is. I was able to take Joseph to the park three times this past week (he was beside himself because of it). Tuesday, I was able to take Joseph downtown to meet up with friends to go see a kids’ play. It was about two characters of a popular kids’ book series called Elephant and Piggie. It was hilarious! After the play, which was only an hour long (perfect for preschoolers), I splurged and bought Joseph one of the books they were selling that also had a picture of the cast (along with their signatures). The book is also really funny. Joseph has had me read it to him so many times that he practically has it memorized. Wednesday-Friday we practically lived at the park, yesterday we had our turn with cleaning the church (Joseph helped me wash windows and also “helped” Paul vacuum, though I’m not too sure how much help he actually was) and then headed home to get some stuff done around the house, and today has been the typical Sunday (get up, go to church, come home for lunch, go to choir, come back, etc.).

The Weekly Weather: The very beginning of this past week was kind of cold and dreary, but by the time Thursday came around, it was beautifully sunny and warm (but not hot). This really is one of my favorite times of the year in South Texas. There was even one evening where I spread a blanket out in the shade (of the fence, our trees are still babies) and relaxed while Joseph played around me (he also joined me on the blanket for an impromptu game of “I Spy” which is one of his current favorites). When Joseph joined me on the blanket, he made sure that we were laying in identical positions (with arms under heads) and then sighed, saying, “What a beautiful blue sky!” I couldn’t agree more, kiddo!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school as usual…he also did a bit of work in the yards, getting them ready for spring.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much, actually. We are having our Easter program next week (what with fast Sunday being moved up and General Conference being on Easter itself), so my choir is getting ready for that. We’re also getting ready for the Easter fireside our stake is putting on in two weeks. Each ward choir from the stake is going to perform a piece, there will be a combined choir piece that all the choirs will be singing together, and there’s even a Primary combined piece that Joseph will take a part in. It’s going to be great!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s had a really good week with hardly any challenging behavior moments. I think it’s partially because I’m trying really hard to redirect him when he starts doing something instead of just snapping at him. He also got to do something really fun with his Primary class today. They cut apart an apple and each of them got to plant an apple seed in a cup. They then got to eat the pieces of apple. According to his teachers, one little boy decided to throw his apple piece instead of eat it, and Joseph grabbed him by the shoulders (not too roughly, they assured me), and said, “We don’t have flying apples!” His teachers said that they were so surprised that all they could do was laugh, especially since the little boy wasn’t in the least bit upset (and he didn’t throw any more apples, hahaha). Oh, and something cool that we discovered is that somewhere, at some point, Joseph has figured out which hand is his left and which is his right (he gets mixed up on occasion, but for the most part, he’s got it). Pretty awesome for being three. 😀

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20150309_125045458 [1]
Tooting a horn.
IMG_20150309_124943344 [2]
He couldn’t choose between his Superman hat and his cowboy hat, so he was wearing both.
IMG_20150310_111222029 [3]
Right before the play started. He really liked the “bouncy” seats and loved it when the actors got the audience involved, but he thought some of the songs were too loud (since the actors were mic’d).
IMG_20150310_133224377 [4]
With his new book.
IMG_20150310_192548401 [5]
Riding around the block. Kind of blurry since I was almost running to stay close to him.
IMG_20150311_113544456 [6]
Munching on lunch. He really likes peanut butter sandwiches, apples (cubed and sans the skin), and celery (on occasion).
IMG_20150311_141346466 [7]
He’s gotten really good at going across the balancing bridge.
IMG_20150311_144149058 [8]
One thing I love, love, love about our park is all of the trees.
IMG_20150311_144421439 [9]
I had him pose for the previous picture and this one because it was just too perfect of a picture spot not to.
IMG_20150311_145746032 [10]
He has discovered going down head-first. Luckily, since the slide is plastic and not metal, there seems to be enough friction to keep him from flying off at the bottom.
IMG_20150311_150732222 [11]
This boy and rocks. Oh, my goodness…he loves them so much!
IMG_20150311_151800338 [12]
He also loves sticks…and digging in dirt.
IMG_20150311_124314689 [13]
He is currently semi-obsessed with Mario Brothers (he even told me that he wants a Mario party for his birthday…almost six months away). Here he is, pretending to be Luigi from Luigi’s Mansion (a game where Luigi has a backpack vacuum and flashlight to spotlight ghosts and then suck them up).
IMG_20150311_124052786 [14]
He is using one of our flashlights and then has his puppy backpack on to be the vacuum.
IMG_20150312_190204798_HDR [15]
Running around in the backyard.
15 - 1 (25) [16]
Relaxing with me on the blanket.
IMG_20150313_143812817_HDR [17]
He asked me if I could teach him to play (since it was Linus and Lucy from Charlie Brown, another favorite). Maybe in a couple of years, sweets.
IMG_20150313_145140804 [18]
Our local grocery store gives the kids “Buddy Bucks” to put in a machine which spins and gives out points (kind of like The Price is Right). The kids can save up points to get prizes, or there is one “Instant Winner” slot. Joseph managed to get “Instant Winner”. His prize was a bracelet with an eraser on it. He was quite excited. He was kind of upset the next time he played that he didn’t get “Instant Winner” again, but I reminded him that he could still save up his points. I think this will be a good lesson, actually.