helmet love...

This past Sunday proved to be one of the most beautiful days we've had so far in 2012! The sun was shining. The temps rose all day, finally peaking around the 60 mark. It. Was. Awesome. The boys were itching to get their bikes out, and Daddy gracefully obliged. The tires were pumped, and they were off! Of course, this left Maija wondering, "what about me?"... So, up to the garage attic Daddy climbed to retrieve the little bike that both Caleb and Brady rode for their first "big kid" bike. He adjusted the training wheels, and again the tires were filled with air...and just like that - she hopped on and cruised first around the driveway and then down the street, around the cul-de-sac and back again. No problems! She's a natural. Huh. Must get that from her Mommy.

Anyway, the next day Maija and I went to Target, (oh how we love Target!) to find her a helmet so she can ride her, "beautiful, new bike!" safely. After the first one we brought home turned out to be a bit too small (who knew a 3 year old would not fit into a 3+ toddler sized helmet?? OH! Right, I sometimes forget our children are not, ahem, average when it comes to fitting into ANYTHING!) we made another trip to return it and Maija successfully chose a lovely, purple 5 year old size helmet that even came with a BELL to put on her, "beautiful, new bike!"

Maija has undoubtedly fallen in love with not only her new bike...but also with her helmet. Yesterday was another gorgeous day, which had us outside most of the afternoon. But, before we even got out of our pj's for the day, the helmet was already on...

She wore it around the house all morning. Just going about her usual routine. We did finally make it outside and she rode her bike all around the driveway, talking, singing and giggling to herself. She was indeed in her own happy world. After biking, and scootering, we found ourselves digging into the sandbox for the first time this year! When asked if she'd like to remove her helmet, she gave me "the look", and simply stated, "nope."

After our busy playtime outside we came in to find some juice and a snack. Again, the helmet stayed put and she sweetly snuggled her little elephant on the couch.

And of course, if your Daddy needs help assembling a new grill.... A helmet is a must!

And when you need a little cereal before bedtime...

Oh, our funny, funny girl. We're so glad you love your pretty helmet! It looks GREAT on you... no matter what you're doing!

when Little is Big...

This is another of my blog post ideas that has been knocking around in my head for a while... "when little is big". Huh. I will, a bit shamefully, admit that I am not always able or willing to just stop and enjoy all the little things in each day. Sometimes we get rushed for time, or we are tired, or we are stressed and our patience gets stretched a bit too thinly, and we sort of miss out on all those littles. If you think about it, most of them truly are the essence of life. The littles are BIG. They deserve our appreciation. So, here is my first (of hopefully many!) list of a few of the little things that really are big in more ways than one.

• the three "thank you's" we get after dinner every evening
• Brady never forgetting to seek out a hug before leaving for school
• Mommy & Maija days
• being able to put groceries in the cart
• hearing "I love you", from my husband every day
• warm breeze on a sunny day
• bedtime cuddles
• how excited the kids get when they hear popcorn popping
• Maija's imaginative conversations when she is playing alone in her room
• cribbage games with Caleb
• phone calls from a friend
• hearing a song that just makes you wanna dance
• family fun time
• holding hands
• first sidewalk chalk drawings of the year

I guess I will make myself stop there...as the list could probably go on indefinitely...

Take a moment or two to remember your littles as often as you can.

food for thought...

find some...

HIATUS : an interruption in time or continuity : break; especially: a period when something (as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted

Why, hello there!

Wow. So yeah, it's March....March 12th, to be precise. Once again, I've slacked off on blog posts to keep you 3 or 4 Saari page readers "updated" on the latest. (Hmm. Maybe there are more of you out there?? Most often the only faithful comment writer is Manda...so it's really tough to say!) Of course, Facebook does the job most days... but I consider this blog my digital scrapbook of sorts, so I'm always a bit frustrated with myself for not sticking with regular entries. Another *sigh*...and another "oh well". Maija just fell asleep on the couch, so it is quiet for the next little while...

February was good, and busy. Between every day life, basketball for Caleb, an up and down month for weather, (the kids got their first, official "snow day" on leap day!), and me filling in as daycare provider for Noah, the days really flew by.
We didn't really go anywhere or do anything super exciting, but the little day to day stuff always comes with a handful of special...and that's what counts.

Ok, March... I'm gonna be all over you!

out on the ice...

We got all the kids skates for Christmas this year, and up until yesterday hadn't had an opportunity to go test them out. It had finally been cold enough over the past few days that the neighborhood ice rinks were open again, so we bundled up and headed over to the park! Sadly, once we were there and getting skates on, we discovered Maija's were a bit too small, so she'd have to just "boot it" for this outing.

This also happened to be Caleb and Brady's first time on skates. I know, I know... two Minnesota boys, ages 10 and 7, who have not been on the ice yet?!? Crazy to think since we live in a MAJOR hockey town... but our boys don't play hockey, and we just hadn't really gotten around to doing the skating thing...

Anyway! Caleb was a natural. But he has had experience on rollerblades the last few summers, so he had a slight advantage. Brady was quite wobbly, but by the end of our skating adventure was feeling more and more confident!

Of course, Maija wasn't going to waste a perfectly good opportunity to get some playground action in! If you can't skate, you might as well slide and swing, right?!

All in all it was a very fun and successful family outing!! I think we'll be making quite a few trips over to the rink for the rest of the winter!

***I took a few video clips of the boys and their first time out on the ice! Check them out in the post below! :)

we skate!