Happy Spring Day...

David and I spend a lot of time talking about gifts for the boys. We try to be very intentional when it comes to what we give them for their birthdays and for Christmas. This previous fall, David and I were on a walk and we were attempting to plan out the upcoming gifts. It occurred to us that Jonah and Judah both have birthdays in the cold months and that Christmas is obviously in a cold month as well, not times very conducive to giving outdoorsy things and telling them they will have to wait months before using them. At that moment we came up with the idea for a new tradition that we would call "Spring Day". Spring Day would generally occur on the first day of Spring unless schedule or whether did not allow. On Spring Day, the boys would be surprised with some sort of outdoor gift...something that would encourage play and encourage the enjoyment of spring.

So on March 20th, 2010 the Smiths celebrated our first Spring Day. The gift choice for Jonah was obvious, a bike. He was able to ride his cousin Moses' bike last summer and he was often telling us that he wished he had a bike like Moses. Now he does. Seeing the look on his face when he saw "a bike just like Moses'" was priceless. Hearing him say thank you at least 5 times while he rode his new bike made it all worth it. Choosing a gift for Judah was not quite as simple. We decided to get him a soccer ball that is attached to a band that brings that ball back to you. He likes it but he really just wanted to put on Jonah's helmet and ride the bike like Moses'. We also decided to get a gift for the two of them (mostly because daddy could stand the idea of them not having a functioning basketball hoop outside where they could improve their skills:)). Judah just thinks he is a big boy. It might be due to him being around older kids a lot of the time or it may be because he is just daring and likes to think of himself as older. Whatever it is, he seemed to like all of the Spring Day gifts.

Unfortunately, Spring is a time of unpredictable whether. The morning we celebrated, it was warm and sunny. That night, the temps dropped 20+ degrees and it rained for two straight days. Fortunately, as I look out the window, it is sunny and fairly clear which gives me hope that we will soon be able to enjoy our Spring Day gifts again very soon.