Fall pics

First day of 1st grade

First day of Preschool

Polish Festival

Pumpkin Patch

Signs of Spring

I actually wrote this entry a month ago, but didn't get around to publishing it since I didn't have the time to upload the photos. ~ M Mod 6/14

I realize that I've already posted about our Spring Break, which should count as a sign of spring - but in these parts, it really is not! Ditto for Easter. However, since I have yet to post Easter photos, I'm going to count it. At least it's a sign that spring should be coming.

At our house we have two Easter celebrations; Easter Saturday is when we go to Easter egg hunts and the Easter Bunny visits our home, and Easter Sunday is when the girls first don their new seasonal dresses for church and we try to focus on the religious significance of the holiday.




This year we went to the egg hunt hosted by the church where the girls go to school. M was pleased to meet up with her best friend there, and we also brought one of our cousins. (Who wants to go to their sister's lacrosse game when there are eggs and treasures to be found?) A fun time was had by all. Their cousin won several prizes, many of which were too girlie for him, so the girls benefited too.

In C's age category there was a differently-abled boy who really struggled to make it to an egg before it was picked up by another child. Noting that his basket was practically empty as the hunt was wrapping up, I asked C if she would mind giving him some eggs. She enthusiastically handed him an egg, but then she hid several around a nearby shrub so he could find some of his own. Most of the kids had left the area, but those that came by we shooed away. It was so much fun watching his excitement. I was so proud of C for her willingness to give her candy away to help someone else; she would have emptied the contents of her whole basket had I let her.





One of the great things I love about being a mom is that now I have a good reason to do things I wouldn't have made time for before. One example is the annual tulip festival. I have long wanted to see the fields of blooming tulips, but when I worked full time it just never made it high enough on my priority list to make it a reality. From what I understand, traffic around the farm on the weekends is horrendous. It's bad enough to battle gridlock Monday thru Friday, who wants to do it on a Saturday too?

I went with the girls and my parents two years ago on a weekday, and we practically had the farm to ourselves. This year I'd totally forgotten about the festival until I heard that it was being extended because the flowers had been so late to bloom this year, so once again I made plans to take the girls during the week. As luck would have it, we were blessed with a beautiful day! The sun was shining and the temperature was slightly coolish, but still quite comfortable. I took a ton of picures, and while the girls got tired of trying to smile for the camera, they had a great time looking at all the flowers!







Last week was M's Mother's Day luncheon. Guess what? I got a mug with her handprint on it! What a surprise! Although, oddly enough, that day was the only day she whispered to me that she had a surprise, but didn't tell me what it was. What a funny girl.



That day was also P's birthday. We had a very low key celebration since P decided Wednesday afternoon that he was going to fly out Wednesday evening to go to an auction in California. If he came home as scheduled, it wouldn't have been until after the girls had gone to bed - so we wouldn't have been celebrating on his actual birthday anyway. As it turned out, he finished early and was able to get on an earlier flight home. We picked him up at the airport, went out to eat, and then came home for presents and a hastily made cake.



Our observance of Mother's Day is kind of hit and miss, kind of like Valentine's Day. Some years are great, and other years the day is just like any other but with the obligatory card. This is only the second Mother's Day that P hasn't had to work all day - so already it's shaping up pretty good. This year there was no pampering, but I did get a great gift! At breakfast there was a gift bag sitting on the table. The girls hadn't had a chance to spill the beans because the gift had just been purchased the evening before while I was at a girl's night out. As I approached the table, C started bursting with excitement so P told her not to give me any hints. Still, unable to contain herself, she exclaimed that my present started with a K - to which I added that it could also be a C. (In practicing her spelling, she usually guesses words that start with a hard c as starting with a k.)

So anyway, I got a new camera - a Canon Powershot SX200 IS. So far I am loving it, and taking boatloads of photos, so I'll save those to share with you at a later date.

Below is a little video of M's Mother's Day program.

Is it too late to post holiday photos?

I seriously considered backdating this entry so that it would appear I had created it in a timely fashion. But that would be cheating, and for those of you who check in semi-regularly, I know I wouldn't be fooling you for a second. So here's my brief post of the holidays, in February.

Thanksgiving at the beach

Christmas Eve with my brother's family.

Christmas Day

I love that they love books!

Grandma & Grandpa's first MP3 player.

Snowmageddon

My friend Laura used this term on Facebook when describing our weather, so I'm stealing it since it seemed to so aptly describe my feelings regarding the snow.

Now this is going to seem really strange to hear from me - but I have been sooo sick of snow! I know, there's just no pleasing me, huh? I pratter on and on about how much I love the snow, and I was so bummed that we didn't have a snow event our last winter season. Now here we get a lot of snow, and all I do is complain.

So when we last left off, it was bitterly cold and we'd gotten a few inches of sticking snow, thus cancelling church on Dec 14th. Thankfully work was NOT cancelled, so I was able to go in Monday and Tuesday, although driving conditions were not great. School, on the other hand, was cancelled - for the entire week before Christmas break! While I appreciate the safety issues that have to be considered, I really feel that school should have been held on a couple of the days that were cancelled. We did drive in to school that Thursday and Friday anyway since the teachers called to say they'd be in the classroom for a few hours for the students that could make it in to pick up their Christmas presents and crafts.

During that week it continued to be exceptionally cold, so the snow remained in our yard and residential streets - but the predicted waves of snow and ice storms never did seriously materialize. At this point I was becoming a little snow weary. Although we weren't completely homebound, our excursions were few and far between. After all, who wants to risk a car accident for petty little errands (that's the insurance adjuster in me speaking)? Since we were having a small Christmas this year, all my shopping was already done, so other than work or fresh milk and eggs, I didn't have much need to get out.

Then on Saturday the 20th, Mother Nature began her shock and awe campaign. With temps in the high teens, nine inches of snow dumped on us. I can't ever recall a snowfall around here like that before! It was beautiful, and we had a great time sledding down our street. Then we had even more fun four wheeling with my brother in law's ATV.











That night, and throughout Sunday we enjoyed some freezing rain. Needless to say, church was cancelled again. I do enjoy a freezing rain storm when you have nowhere to go. Nothing is more beautiful!





Luckily for me, the office closed on Monday - I was really worried about how I'd be able to safely get in, and beyond that day I was home free as I was already scheduled off for the rest of the week.

That Monday and Tuesday we continued to be amazed at how much more snow fell. We had nearly two feet of snow! I truly felt astounded every time I looked out the window. We even decided we should shovel our deck lest it collapse from the weight.




One of the best things about the snow was the fact that P remained home with us for four full days. His phone hardly rang so we really had his undivided attention - even more so than when we were in Maui. We had so much fun those days just hanging out, playing in the snow, watching movies and enjoying the company of our family. I wouldn't trade that for anything. It was probably the best Christmas gift of the season.

Another great feature of the snow was how beautiful the valley was, particularly at night. We loved looking out the windows at our neighbors Christmas lights, and how bright the nights were.





By Christmas Eve day our temperatures finally lifted above freezing, and the melting began. I had mixed emotions about this. While I was ready to get back to our normal routines, I did have a little part of me that wished we'd have some fresh snow accumulations for Christmas before it started melting. Nonetheless, we did still have a white Christmas, with plenty of snow - but it was now too wet for playing in, and by Christmas Day night the streets were just a deep mush (which made it even harder to drive in).

I don't ever recall a time here when we've had our yard covered in snow for two plus weeks. Hopefully the girls will have fond memories of this winter, because who knows when they'll see another one like it again.

And at long last, after a whopping three weeks of no service, our final day of rejoicing came when our garbage and recycling was FINALLY picked up!!!