Thursday, April 29, 2010

Easter Dinner

This year we had the pleasure of joining our favorite family, the (dread pirate) Roberts (sorry, couldn't help it!), for Easter dinner and a lively egg hunt.  Diane and Derek (Heather's parents) gave each of the girls a fuzzy fairy coloring book which kept them quite occupied before dinner.  After a lovely meal together, the girls got to join Gryffin and Cordie, their adopted cousins, along with Kaven and Braylen , G & C's "real" cousins, on a mighty hunt for eggs galore.  We're always grateful for good friends, good food, and good fun!

Easter Morning

Easter morning at our house is fairly low-key.  We celebrate the resurrection of Christ with very simple Easter baskets and family time together before we head to church.  We love to honor this day, but don't want it to be, well, all about the candy.  Each girl gets a few pieces of "healthy" candy (panda licorice, fruit leather) and a gift.  This year Joel helped me to make play dough...scents, sparkles and all!  Each little lady got 4 glass jars containing different colors, with pictures they had drawn cut out, glittered, and glued to the lids for a personal touch! (I could personally play with the lemon scented sparkly yellow for hours.)  We love this play dough..and the best part is that when it someday dries out, we can just cook up some more!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Motherhood Moments

 
I had a moment today that I completely attribute to motherhood, regardless of the fact that my children were barely involved.  I stood in the shower, fairly uninterrupted (the girls had all been in, but only one time each)  enjoying the relative silence.  The warm water felt lovely, so I decided to let the chlorine seep in through my pores for a few extra moments (after all, what is a little artherosclerosis in exchange for some peace and quiet.....some time with my actual thoughts?) and simply enjoy it.  I'd think lofty thoughts and actually finish them...something I remember doing once upon a time.  Then I began to realize that the two main items running through my head were: 1.  "Did I shave my armpits?  I can't remember if I shaved my armpits.  Let's see...I washed my, face, my hair, conditioned, shaved my legs....I just can't recall if I shaved my armpits."  It took me probably 5 minutes of being distracted by this thought off and on to think to check my armpits.  (Verdict: I had indeed not shaved.) and  2. The Disney song I believe to be entitled "Kill the Beast" (Through the mist, through the woods, through the darkness and the shadows, it's a nightmare but it's one exciting ride.....Say a prayer, then you're there....).  Now, I admit that this week I am exceptionally tired.  I admit that my mother must be right, and placenta is made up primarily of brain cells (hence the inevitable airheadedness that accompanies pregnancy).  But I also have to tell you that no amount of lofty thoughts could ever compete with coming out to find my children playing their own version of freeze tag (Somewhat like hide and seek, but instead the hiders "freeze" like a statue somewhere in the house and whoever is "it" has to decide if you are indeed a statue or really a person.  Haha.) and all, upon seeing me, drop what they are doing, yell "MAMA!" and run to throw their arms around me as if I had been gone 20 days instead of 20 minutes.  I may have time to complete a thought soon enough, but I have a pretty good feeling that said thought will involve missing the good ol' days when my children were young, everything was new through their eyes, and I couldn't finish a thought.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Fire Station Frenzy

Our field trip last week was touring a working fire station in Vancouver.  Everyone got to explore the ins and outs of a working fire truck and take a turn "driving" both the front and the back.  We learned the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine (an engine carries water, a truck does not.) and saw many "souvenirs" from past rescues.  We got to see how the firemen live at the station (Elora really liked the recliners), where they hang out, cook, exercise and sleep! The gracious firemen answered many, many questions and, as a very special treat, took the ladder truck to the parking lot out back and extended it to the maximum height.  (Wow!)  Seleia's friend Dani was there, so they got to have a lot of fun together.  Amarra was shy and would not let go of me at first, but warmed up as soon as they let them start climbing around in the fire truck.  Elora was one of a few that got to try on some fireman gear, and giggled the entire time she was walking around in it.  (She later told me, laughing, "When I had that stuff on, I was fat!!")  We love Home Schooling!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Seleia's Sewing

Seleia has taken up sewing lately.  All of my fabric scraps head to her "sewing basket" (a shoe box.  I'll have to remedy that.) to join her own personal needles and thread.  From there they become lovely outfits for the likes of Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella.  Here are two of  her designs!

I Pity The Fool!

                                     'Nuff said.

Easter Eggs

Every Easter weekend we, among countless others, color and decorate Easter eggs.  I love the symbol of new life and rebirth to illustrate Christ rising from the dead and the tomb left empty.  (Joel loves all of the deviled eggs he gets with Easter dinner.)  This year was no exception and the girls had a wonderful time!