[momraine]

What does spring mean for you and your family?

[Jenmullett]

Great topic! We are just loving spring right now in Nebraska. We are not yet in full bloom, but it is so close!

Spring for me and my husband is a time to get outside, to enjoy the fresh air, the green grass, the plants, the flowers and the great spring storms. It is a time to take walks, watch baseball, and enjoy our friends and family. Winter in Nebraska is so cold, I feel like we just get shut in. Spring changes all of that and reminds us of the changes and cycle of life.

Spring this year is a time that we are awaiting an addition to our family. I don't know that we will have a referral very soon (we sent our dossier to Poland 2.5 months ago), but we know it is around the corner! So we are doing our spring cleaning and readying our home.

[bajj]

I love spring, other than my allergies. For me, it means OUTSIDE! It's so gorgeous outside and my boys love to be out.

We're not out as much this year because we're a bit cold, but it's finally warming up, and we should be in our new house soon, which means we will be OUTSIDE!!!!

[LisArno]

Spring means playing outside and yardwork. All three of our kids got new bikes a few months ago, but have only been able to ride them a couple times. We're all hoping for better (non-rainy) weather. This past Sunday was nice so we grilled outside and played in our yard. Our four year old boy does real well at baseball (I pitch, he hits). Our five year old girl looked so innocent wearing a cute pink shirt, sandals, and pink sun hat - but then she turned into quite the batter and hit the balls harder than our son. Our 11 year old daughter had to be a spectator since she had sprained her ankle a few days prior.

Spring also means that I can get outside to exercise after the kids go to bed. I gained 30 pounds since we first met our children. That's a big YIKES!!!! I'm finally trying to do something about that, and I love biking/walking/jogging through the farmland and along the Rhine River.

[momraine]

Since we are in Texas we seem to go straight from cool to hot in spring, no warm in between, LOL. However, it does mean wild flowers, they are so pretty and bloom everywhere by the side of the road. Spring also means baseball, my son M is playing in a leaugue for disabled kids called challenger, he loves it! All of the kids are disabled pysically or mentally and so the rules are different. The field is wheelchair accessable and it's lots of fun to watch. For two of my other kids it's almost time for dance recital, costumes are arriving and they are working hard to get ready, my daughter is doing a solo again this year, but because she had surgery in December and was not able to walk for two months she is behind on preparing. My older boys have finals at school, plus track and Tennis. I look forward to summer and maybe a slow down in the schedule!

[lastpaige]

Like Lorraine, we in Arizona tend to go from cold to hot with out much transition in-between. We moved in March, though, about 15 minutes north of the valley and what a difference. Spring wild flowers, mountains covered with greens and yellows. I woke up this morning to a sky filled with hot air balloons too. Fun! We’ll enjoy the 90 degrees while it while it lasts – we’re only a few weeks away from 100 plus, and two months from 115 plus. Yuck!

In the mean time, we clean for the holiday, work and study outside, eat lunch outside, and play in the afternoons. Boys come in and shower and then have a ‘quiet’ on their beds. Spring is a wonderful time for us to firm up routines, start new routines that need implementing, etc. It’s a time to see where our family is, where we want it to go, and figure out how to get it there.

It’s also a great time to get referrals, so we’ll be praying to that end for those in the ‘wait’ stage!