Spring Break

This last week was Spring Break for my kids. Traditionally, it has been the week after Easter, but this year, they moved it into the month of March with no association to Easter. Despite the downpour of rain last weekend, we had a beautiful sunny week with temperatures in the 70's, just perfect for outdoor activities.
On Tuesday, we had a party for our stuffed animals, Chester and Tilly. We invited everyone we knew to escort their stuffed animals to the park for a "party". We brought potluck snacks, then traded white elephant gifts at the end. It was fun for all.
On Thursday, we headed down to Thousand Oaks to visit the Gardens of the World. The first thing the kids found was the giant chess board. We played a few games before wandering around the gardens. The gardens were lovely. Despite the warm temperatures that have prompted an early spring showing, only about half the flowers were blooming at the gardens. They were still very beautiful and peaceful.
On Friday, we headed south to spend the day with my sister, Krissy. We went down to the beach. Despite the morning clouds, the afternoon was sunny and warm and the beaches were empty. We enjoyed flying kites and playing in the sand with my two year old nephew.
All in all, it was a great week. We didn't do anything spectacular, but relaxed from our typical hectic schedule, slept in every morning and enjoyed a few activities.

A Ride in Style

For Gabe's basketball team's end of the season party, the boys were picked up in a limo! They were able to ride from the rec center to the pizza place in style. I saw all the boys clamor in with big smiles on their faces. Gabe said it was a lot of fun to ride in the limo.

It just takes a little patience...

Sometimes a little patience and procrastinating pays off. You may be wondering why I am posting a picture of a Christmas tree in March. Well, that would be where the procrastinating and patience come in. I made this tree at Christmastime in 2010. I really liked the tree and the star at the top. It is made entirely from my children's handprints. But it just seemed like something was missing. I added the lights this year (christmas 2011), but something was still missing, there was just too much white space around the tree. I had a few ideas, but they just didn't seem be quite what I wanted. So I did do anything. Then I read in a magazine how to make your own stamps using puffy paint. AH HA! I finally had the inspiration that I had been procrastinating for! I asked each kid to draw a snowflake on a small block of wood. Then I traced them with puffy paint, and used them as stamps to make a nice background design. I am very pleased with the results and I think it will look great in my window....next Christmas!

Dough - Nut Leap

It only comes once every four years.....Leap Day!!! Although it seems to be very underappreciated by the rest of the world, I think that Feb 29 is fairly unique and special. I like the fact that every four years we have this one extra day inserted into our lives, and I think it should be a cause for celebration. Personally, I think that the whole country should have a mental health day and spend a day released from their daily cares, similar to the five festival days attached to the end of the evenly divided twelve 30-day months of the French Calendar during the revolution. However, the rest of the world treats it like a common day, indistinguishable from any other day of the week, or year. It's a shame. Unfortunately, this means that I am unable to throw my cares out the window, I must go along with the schedule of daily routine.
But not entirely. Last leap day (2008, pictured right) I decided to establish a small but hopefully memorable leap day tradition. At that time, I took the kids out of school for a quick trip to the doughnut shop (memorable at my house any time....we never get doughnuts). This year (pictured left), I have kids in two different schools with wildly different schedules. So we picked up the older two from seminary, whisked them off to the doughnut shop for the pastry of their choice, then dropped everyone off at school to return to the routine. It was a small deviation for our day, but I hope that our mini tribute will be a memorable celebration of this unique day.

Mom, I said I wanted A hair cut, not all of them!

Gabe's hair was getting a little long. Normally, I like it a little long, it has a wave and a curl and looks very cute. But this time, it was just looking mangy. So we decided to try an entirely new style. I buzzed his hair off. We paused in the middle to experiment with a mohawk look, but decided it just wasn't Gabe's style. He likes his new haircut, but it may take me a little while to get used to it.

A Bittersweet Valentine

My Valentine was in Pennsylvania this year. I was sad without my guy around, but he didn't forget me. He sent a note, and had a little helper in the midst. Maddie went to the store and bought flowers for me. Then she arranged them so nicely so they would be waiting for me on the table in the morning. It was very sweet. In addition, my sister was here to visit for Valentines Day with her two sons, Collin and Austin. We had a great time playing with them, and it was nice for me to have another adult in the house.
In other news, this week was "Sheldon Week". We have been watching a lot of the Big Bang Theory lately, and we declared this week "Sheldon Week" and we ate all of Sheldon's foods on the correct day, although not quite to Sheldon's specifications. We had Thai food on Monday, cheeseburgers (shaped like hearts, very hard to do) on Tuesday, pizza on Thursday and Chinese food on Friday. It was fun to have our menu directed by a TV show, and we all enjoyed watching a Big Bang Theory in the evening, but as for the food.....it wasn't a big hit.

A Musical Crescendo

After years of saving, searching, hoping and planning, we finally purchased a new piano. We have been using the piano that I grew up with for the past 18 years. In the words of my mother, "It was a lousy piano when we bought it 35 years ago!" We decided to buy a baby grand and finally found a piano that we liked and was in our budget. It sounds so much better, we are having a little difficulties adapting to the improved sound quality. We still have the other piano for now, it will continue to live here until my sister is able to take it in a few months. With the organ, trombone, flute, clarinet, guitar, occasionally a french horn and two pianos, my living room is looking a little more like a music studio!