Ultimate Spring Highlight

Okay, so I've been waiting to post  "The Ultimate Spring Highlight" until one of my sisters did, so that I could steal their pictures, seeing as I'm a major mooch and have no pictures of my own to share.
Back in April, my sister, Michelle, graduated with her masters in speech pathology.  I am so proud of her because she worked SO hard and endured SO long.  Life after schooling is so different, and wonderful.  There is no other stress in life that replaces that of taking a written test during a set time, of being weighed and measured, proving yourself, and stretching your mind to learn new things in a way you've never thought before.  It's a great life lesson, and a great one to move on from as well.  Good job Michelle!!! 
So, for a graduation gift, my sisters met up with my parents and we all surprised her (one sister had to fly in from out of state, the greatest surprise).  Surprised, she was, and fun we had!  Some great friends and a wonderful hubby helped watch my kids so that I could do this.  I owe them a huge thanks!  It was fun to be with my sisters, but I must say, when we all get together, I feel like the biggest party pooper.  I was the first to fall asleep every night, and lacked the ability (aka, know-how) to play with my phone, so I wasn't in on their bakery games and what-not.  Oh well, they're good to roll with me any ways.  My mom was great - she came with 2 pounds of yummy chocolates for late night chats and relaxing in the hotel room. 
After all the graduating festivities, my sister found a sitter for all the kiddos (I brought Anna with me), and we all went to the temple together.  This was a highlight of a lifetime.  The temple is a special place, because it's a place of reflection and peace, where one can feel close to others who may have passed on.  It is a place where we do ordinances (such as baptism) for those who have died before receiving the opportunity to do so.  This was especially memorable because my dad worked really hard and brought some family names for us to do, including my Grandma Elsie (my daughter's namesake).  What a neat experience it was.  I felt a lot of closure and connectedness, that I never thought possible.  It's a feeling that has stayed with me, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.
Thanks Michelle, Mom, and Dad for all your hard work and providing an opportunity for us all to get together!  It was great.

  If I can mooch any more pictures, I will be sure to do so! 

Renaissance Fair

 Mike and I took the kiddos to a Renaissance Fair this Friday.  We watched some great amateur jousting and ladies dancing on trotting horses.  We also saw some great costumes (some wore less costume and more skin than others), ate some great food, and learned lots about the time period.  My kids all loved it and wore themselves out.  Mike and I agreed it was an interesting experience that attracted some really interesting people.
Elsie LOVED the opportunity to dress up.  She wanted to be a fairy, and I'll have to admit, I thought she was the cutest little sprite hopping around at the grounds.  Kimball dressed up as a knight, and Peter as a pirate.  Even I found a Renaissance dress from my mother-in-law's Halloween closet and joined in the festivities.  It was great.  Here are some pictures.  
 
We took lots of pictures of our favorite "jouster" (is that a word?).  There was another guy who was dressed in chain mail and had the whole regalia.  Impressive!

3rd Times a charm!

Well, Spring has Sprung!  With it is Elsie's apparent favorite fashion accessory.  Okay, not really.  A couple weeks ago Elsie jumped off the bunk bed and broke her arm.  I was pretty quick to catch that it was broken this time, because I'd seen it when she was 2 1/2, and 18 months old.  It's been the same break every time - cracking her ulnus because of the way she tries to catch herself when she falls.  Elsie is very tiny for her age, and it must be hard to have such a bursting spirit in such a tiny body.  She has some big ideas of her physical stamina and forgets about her small build.  Anyhow, she's taken to her cast quickly, and running around just the same as always.  It's been super hot, though, and she's shed a few tears that she can't go running in the sprinklers with the neighbors.
When we came home from the doctor, I asked her if I could take a picture.  This is how she posed....

 

Cinderella Ballet

This all began when a good friend of mine, Steffanie, told me about a storytime at the local libraries she had written out promoting the Cinderella Ballet performed by our local ballet company.  It sounded fun, especially since Elsie has taken an interest in Ballet.  Well, Elsie LOVED it!  They had the ballerina come, who was playing the fairy godmother, and dance beautifully and then she read some great books.  One book was called Elsie Times Eight.  It was delightful.  At one point in time we put our names into a drawing for free tickets to the ballet.  When we walked out of storytime, Elsie said, "Mom, I am going to practice lots so that I can be really good too."  She was definitely inspired.
Well, low and behold, a couple days later, I got a phone call saying we had won 2 free tickets!  Elsie was so excited, and I was excited for her.  We got another ticket for Grandma and had a girls-only afternoon while we went to the ballet. 
As we got ready to go, I went to check on Elsie.  She was supposed to be getting dressed, instead I found her dress-ups all over the floor, and Elsie naked.  She insisted that she needed a purple dress.  When she realized her options didn't include a purple dress-up, she chose the one pictured down below.  I tried to talk her into one of her church dresses, but she insisted it be a fancy dress-up.  Rather than turn a fun afternoon sour, I agreed.  When we got there, 95% of the little girls attending had the same idea.  It was cute to see all these little Cinderellas running around.
Elsie loved it.  She got all silly and was bouncing around afterwards.  I was glad she enjoyed herself so much.  It's fun to do things with just the girls sometimes.  In the pictures below, Elsie and I are doing a ballet pose (in case you couldn't tell) before we head off to pick-up Grandma.

Cute Anna

Here are some cute pictures of Anna.  She was loving watching the bubbles Elsie was blowing.  I loved to hear her laugh.  Babies are so captivating as I watch them see and learn things for the first time. Anna has some great facial expressions.  I love this one in particular with her wrinkled nose.  What a character!

Overdue tid-bits

It's been a while.  I was just downloading some pictures from my camera, and I thought I would share some of them with you with some explanations, opinions, and memories to go with.  These are pictures from our every day stuff.  It's informative to look back on our normal, routine days  through random pictures and see how inspiring (or uninspiring) our home is.  These first two pictures were taken at Biography Club.  Peter and Elsie learned about Beethoven and were each presenting a part of what they knew about his life.  Peter looks pretty comfortable up in front of everybody (a group of 10 to 20, ranging from 3-year-olds to 40-year-old moms).  It was Elsie's first time presenting.  She loved learning about Beethoven and wanted a chance to talk about him.  She did great!

 Here is yet another week of colored foods.  Peter said for the week of Purple lunches, he wanted eggplant to be the grand finale.  It wasn't such a hit at our house, despite the anticipation.  I was trying to make sure the kids liked it, and instead I added too much salt in the process.  I don't think the complaint was that it had too much salt, however.  Oh well.  I did find out they LOVED cabbage for lunch. 

 We have a jar the kids work hard to fill with beans.  When it gets all full we do something fun as a family.  This time we went to the Jump Zone.  Kimball especially had a fun time.  For the first 10 minutes he kept running back to Mike and I and giving us big hugs, grinning wildly.  It was fun to watch them play so hard!

 This is our Kimball.  These pictures were taken within a minute of each other, and they reflect the state of our home.  Kimball is a fireball, and we are constantly trying to keep up with his feelings, frustrations, energy, and off the wall ideas.  He truly amazes me.