Welcoming Spring with my Little Ones

I cannot believe I am writing these words but … HAPPY SPRING! We did it! We made it through the winter!

Never mind the fact that there is still a world of white outside my door – the promise has arrived, and that is good enough for me. That green grass and those pretty buds and sprouts will be here soon enough.

I have written in this space quite often about how important establishing a rhythm to our days has been to me and my family.  Understanding how to establish a rhythm made my days at home so much more peaceful and enjoyable. Little did I know that this rhythm would be one of the things that has pulled me through the toughest time of my life.

When I delivered my Angel during those last days of Fall my world fell dark. I truly did not know where to turn or what to do. I knew I needed to go through the motions and create some sort of normalcy for my other children as I began this journey of grief. So, I turned to our rhythm.

I knew exactly what to do each day – including my daily time of quiet for tea, our nature walk each day, and time to create the nourishing meals our bodies needed. Slowly, going through the motions turned into more. Those times I carved out for myself and my well-being gave me the time I needed to heal. As the season changes from winter to spring and our rhythm changes to enjoy more outside time, I feel a change in me as well. I have survived.

Of course I am forever changed. My little Oliver is etched on my heart for all time, however I feel a sense of peace. I know that everything has a season and that although my little boys season was far too short, it existed.

I am entering Spring with a sense of lightness and hope. So much of this is due to this deep rhythm we have in our days. What a blessing it has been.

Today I wanted to share with you how we are welcoming spring into our home.

I have shared how we welcomed summer,  fall and winter and today – my most favourite season of all.

Spring definitely means time outdoors around here. We will be hatching chicks once more and also getting our garden ready for the upcoming growing season. While my little ones are great helpers with farm chores, I also like to have a few outdoor activities at the ready. I find they do best when they flow in between helping and playing.

A fun outdoor activity my boys always love is creating obstacle courses. We bring our big DIY wooden blocks outside (though 2×4, chairs, or anything at all would work) and create obstacle courses. When I am creating an obstacle course for my little guys I try to think of getting them to use their whole bodies. I try to think of ways to get them to crawl, jump over, climb onto, go through, go high, and go low. And since my boys are fiercely competitive it always ends with “GO FAST!”

Once I have our supplies gathered I generally set up the first obstacle course. The boys play with it for quite some time and then take turns making new ones. They often struggle with things like this – they find it a challenge to decide who gets to go first, how long turns should be, ect. I try really hard to let them, ‘talk it out’ and encourage them to do just that. Sometimes I make suggestions that give them a way to solve it independently (such as using a timer or flipping a coin) with the hopes they will turn to these solutions in the future. So far that future has not come, but I’m still banking on it!

Finally, I wanted to share one of our favourite spring nature walk activities with you. We are always on the hunt for signs of spring during our nature walks right now. Tiny leaves are beginning to form on trees, and the occasional shoot is popping through the snow. My little ones love making nature belts. We take a piece of duct tape and wrap it around their middles, sticky side out. They then collect flower petals, leaves, anything that catches their eyes.

These activities are a few of the many we will be using this season. Spring is such a busy time for us, but in the most wonderful of ways. I will be sure to share all our gardening fun and the ways my little ones are learning with us outside with you this season. Spring is just so lovely!

Thank you so much for reading friends. I hope you are having a beautiful first day of spring!

xo

Sarah