Easter Celebrations!

After our long first winter in Springfield, we were all so excited for Easter weekend.  At times this winter it felt like we had never left Canada.  But we finally thawed out just in time to celebrate Easter.     We put on our new spring clothes, ran around the yard in bare feet hunting for eggs, enjoyed a beautiful service at church followed by a fabulous French brunch at The Aviary.  All in all it was a glorious weekend.

Our Mackie is a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl.  I rarely buy dresses now because getting her into a dress is an hysterical-inducing sobbing ordeal that results in Mack wearing exactly what she wants (life's too short to force my baby to wear outfits she absolutely despises).  But call me a hypocrite, I couldn't help myself and bought a beautiful dress for her.  Well, we made it through the sobs and screaming - and got that dress on her.  You'd never know from these pics that at 9 AM she was screaming at the top of her lungs - I don't want this, I don't want this!

Mackie in her Easter hat and jammies - she seriously dislikes dresses, but loves her accessories.  Go figure!

Ready for the hunt!

While in Canada I think the bunny left eggs inside our house because it was so cold.  Having the bunny leave eggs in our yard was such a treat this year.  Mack and Campbell's unique and individual personalities continue to develop, and I love seeing how different they are.  Mack attacked the backyard with gusto.   She sprinted from egg to egg filling her basket as fast as she could.  Campbell would find an egg; sit down in the grass; carefully open the egg; discover what was inside and then ask if it was okay to eat it.  After Mack filled her basket she helped big brother to fill his.  Great team work!!

Springfield's First Fall

Fall came and went.  That was quite obvious last week after we got a foot of snow some of which is still on the ground.  Fall was great though.  We got moved into the "new house" as Campbell still calls it.  We've watched Mackenzie grow up so fast it's blinding.  She has become so independent and doesn't want help with anything!  It seems like she only started talking two months ago but now has more words than I can count.  She will steal something from Campbell and then run around the house at full speed squealing.

Campbell did great in his first year playing soccer.  It was more about the overall experience this year; putting the jersey and shin guards on and being with the team.  I do think he got it more toward the end of the season, but there were a few times he would just take off running in the opposite direction; pretty Forest Gump-esque.

September brought our first fishing experience.  We had a pole and lots of worms - we were ready to catch fish!  I was surprised how quickly Campbell grabbed the worms and held on to them tight.  He normally is very particular about clean hands, but he was fascinated by the gooey wiggly worms and held onto one the whole time fishing.  Sadly we didn't catch anything, but it was a great experience.

With our birthdays in September and October, we've had lots of cake.  The kids have quickly figured out that with birthdays comes the good stuff - lots of icing!  

Mackenzie has really gotten into drawing.  She will grab her tin bucket full of crayons and markers out of the drawer and then sit down and go to work.

Halloween was a ton of fun.  Campbell was a velociraptor and Mack was a pumpkin.  We have gotten a ton of use out of that pumpkin costume!  Three times now.  It was great trick or treating.  We met a ton of people in our neighborhood, and they couldn't have been nicer.

So far we are loving our new home and city!