Delia's Open House

Well, like every other preschool thing we've experienced this year, once again we saw Delia finally get her turn to do something she saw Ella do.  Last night it was to show off her preschool classroom at an Open House.  What was cute about Delia was HOW EXCITED she was!  She skipped, hopped and danced the entire walk over, having to be physically restrained at street intersections.  Then she bubbly greeted her teacher like this: "Hi, Miss...Miss...Miss...Miss...I'm too excited to remember your name!"

 

She had to go through each of the books she's been working on this year.

Then we got a tour of her favorites, including her favorite toys and this picture describing more favorites.  I thought I knew my daughter pretty well, but even this was mostly new to me.  Favorite shape, triangle? Who knew!

We got to watch Delia take several rides down the fireman pole, her favorite playground activity.

Then it was time for the cookies and balloons she had been talking about all day.  Poor girl's adrenaline didn't let her get quiet in bed until about 10:30!  Delia's huge excitement and reaction to things is one of the traits I love most in her!

"Let's Grow!"

Delia came home from preschool with this adorable song.  When I asked her to perform it for a video, she was all too happy to oblige!

Things I Love About Camping:

1.  Setting up camp while the girls run around and play things like "Let's make spaghetti (grass) and meatballs (stones) on this pretend stove!"

2.  Watching Dave start the campfire Survivor Style.

3.  Amazing wildlife encounters!  Favorite of this weekend: wild turkeys wandering through our camp.  Not-so-favorite: REAL scorpion in the bathroom!

4.  S'MORES!

5. Bats swooping down at dusk to gobble up mosquitoes.

6.  Nighttime fun: shadow stories presented from inside the tent, reading by the campfire, stargazing.

7.  Tent giggling and sleeping bag snuggling.

8.  Bird song alarm clock.

9.  The hope each new cast of the pole brings.  Watching the giant fish jump, even if they don't bite.

10. My husband wearing my grandpa's flannel shirt.

11.  A good hike.

12.  Exhausted kiddos sleeping in crazy-contorted positions in their car seats on the ride home.

13..  The after-camping shower...best shower in the world!!

My Mother's Day Makeover

Oh my goodness, I had the BEST morning today!  Ella's class invited all the moms to visit for "Muffins and Makeovers with Mom".  I was told to come fresh-faced and bare-toed, with my makeup bag.  Ella would pamper and spoil me.  Did she ever!  First she presented me with gifts: a plate she decorated and a hilarious recipe book each kindergarten student contributed to. Ella shared my secret Snickerdoodle recipe, including tips like "purchase the dough" or "preheat the oven to 10 degrees"!

Next, we loaded up our plates with muffins and fresh fruit. 

Then, the beautification began!  Ella did a nice job applying my blush, lip gloss and eye makeup. 

Since I had to stay at school to work in the library after my makeover, I was happy that she went with subtle and natural, instead of clown! :)  Here is my "after" picture:

The makeup was followed by a foot massage with lotion and then a pedicure, both compliments of my 5 year old.  I was able to talk Ella down from the 5 colors she wanted to paint each toe with.  She told me this design would help me keep my left and right foot from getting mixed up! 

While we waited for my toes and fingers to dry, Ella read me stories from her classroom library.  What a sweet morning.  How can I not just love, love, LOVE being a mom?!

Time for a Change

Allow me to introduce you to the new and much more grown up looking Ella...

This weekend Ella up and decided she wanted to grow out her bangs.  I completely relate, actually.  I too get antsy to change my hair every few months, and Ella's been just growing it long, long, long for over a year now (only about 2 more inches to go until there's enough to donate!).  When I showed her the ways she could pin her bangs back until they were long enough to blend in with the rest of her hair, she was thrilled.  Showing off her new hairdo was her #1 reason for being excited to go back to school today. She asked me yesterday if people at church would recognize her!

Gimme a (Spring) Break!

This Spring Break did indeed fulfill all we were dreaming it would be in giving us a break from homework, youth group meetings, leading Bible Study, trips to school and early mornings.  Though we made "relaxation!" and "freedom from a schedule!" the goals, we still planned one little special thing for each day.  Since I did my research, I'm proud to brag about how everything we did was either free or some kind of great deal.  You've already read about the 5K, our Easter celebration and the big outing to Carmel.  Here are some other things we did during our week off:

We dyed the Easter eggs...with glitter this year!  I don't necessarily recommend this, unless you like your children and whole kitchen and egg salad sparkly.

We took the girls out on dates.  Ella and I went to Color Me Mine and painted mugs on their no-studio-fee Monday afternoon.  Dave and Delia went to visit the big fish at the Bass Pro Shop.  Dave and I both enjoyed our special one-on-one time with the girls and they came back home each bursting to tell the other all the details of their outing.

We tried real (not Wii) bowling with the girls for the first time.  Dave was having an off day, but Ella still only came in a few points behind him! (To be fair, the kids did have bumpers.)  Delia only lasted about 5 frames until the spinning chairs proved to be more exciting.  So, Ella took over for her and perfected her between-the-legs granny roll with this double turn.  Our bowling alley offers daytime dollar rentals and games, so our wallets fared well too.

We pulled out the ole' free mini-golf pass that we enjoy as ministry workers and spent a fun afternoon at Funworks.

One night we enjoyed a family date with the Wickers.  We met up at Baskin Robbins for $.31 scoop night.  This was a special promotion to honor firefighters, so Steamer, the firehouse Dalmatian, entertained our kids while Lloyd, Dave, Heidi and I had a nice long visit! :)

We had our share of productivity this week too.  I am finally tackling the 12 tubs of baby clothes that have been living in the attic.  I was reluctant to sell or donate them in hopes that we could share them with a family we love.  Alas, Miles ended up being a boy and Grace, Giada, Ellietta, Anja and Danielle were born in the opposite season of my girls.  So, after reminiscing, sorting, stain-removing and washing, it's off to Once Upon a Child and the crisis pregnancy center I go!

On our last day of Spring Break, we took advantage of one last free activity-- a big medical fair sponsored by our community ambulance group.  Since we live a ways away from a hospital, our small town privately funds, staffs and operates several of its own ambulances.  Today they thanked us supporters with this party.  We watched gurney races, hit the bouncy house, had a delicious BBQ lunch and climbed in and out of all the emergency vehicles.  The coolest was the Medi-Flight.  We've never been so close to a helicopter and were excited to actually sit inside and hear about the emergency procedures from the pilot and EMTs.

So you see, without going on any major vacations or even spending any major bucks, a pretty cool Spring Break can still be yours!

Spring in Carmel

Today we took our one big outing of Spring Break.  With all the sunshine, baby animals and blooming flowers we saw today, it couldn't have been a more seasonally appropriate day off.  We started the morning at a favorite oceanside park-- the massive Dennis the Menace park in Monterey.  I think all the natural smiles I captured from Delia show what a great hour and half of pure play this was for the girls.

Then we pulled over here to eat our picnic lunch.  Isn't it lovely?  It smelled nice too!

The park, the views, the flowers, the ocean waves crashing...all this is nice and what always makes a trip to the coast a treat, but what was INCREDIBLE today was to be there during seal pupping season!  Each cove (and there is one around every bend of the twisty coastal road) was refuge to whole communities of pregnant or birthing mamas and their pups.  We just couldn't get enough of watching the baby seals nursing, getting swimming lessons, flopping around and annoying the other moms or crying out their little bark when their moms were swimming without them.  Some helpful docents were wandering around answering our questions and pointing out which fuzzy pups were mere hours old.

The main destination today was our favorite coastal hike, Pt. Lobos in breathtaking Carmel.  The last time we went, Delia was just a baby and Ella still rode in the backpack.  It was fun to have bigger girls to hike with today.  They took great delight in finding lizards on the path and hermit crabs in the tide pools. 

With older kids we were also able to venture down the long flight of stairs to the beach for a game of tag with the lapping waves. 

The girls also made friends with this random seal lying right in the middle of our beach!  He kept tossing sand on himself, so Ella and Delia had to imitate him, of course.

We saw so many cool things today; God is a good creator.  We had much to thank him for in our bedtime prayers tonight!

An Easter Full of Kites and Cows

Hallelujah!  Christ is risen, conquering sin and death and hell!  What better reason could we have to celebrate than this?  Our Easter celebrations and traditons include gift giving, dressing up, praise singing, feasting and fellowship.  We love Easter every year, but this year's was an especially good one.

Shortly after waking up, the girls dove into their Easter baskets.  Here they show off their favorites: matching nightgowns for them and their best stuffed animals and butterfly wings. 

Then we got ready for church.  We are blessed every year to have hand-me-down dresses from a church friend with two older daughters.  We have several sizes of these fancy princess dresses lined up in the back of our closet.  You can't wear such a fancy dress without fancy hair, though!  We girls monopolized the bathroom with a hot roller party yesterday morning.

In the afternoon, we headed to the California VM Easter Party, an annual tradition we look so forward to.  Once again, hundreds of Easter eggs were hidden and spread across the lawn and the kids had a ball collecting them.

Delia didn't even have the self-control to finish the hunt.  She just declared herself done, so she could plop down and check out her loot.  Besides candy, the kids came away with lots of little toys and about $3 in quarters. 

Our hostess has been collecting kites for a year.  After the egg hunt, she delighted everyone when she handed out a kite to each of the 20 kids.  Our day was just breezy enough to make it perfect kite-flying weather.

When I wasn't tossing Buzz Lightyear and Elmo back into the air or unwrapping Delia from her kite string, I loved stepping back to look at all the kites in the sky and all the kids and parents in the yard having a great time together.

When our lines started crossing, as 20 kite lines are prone to do, we spread out into the hay field.  I just love this view too: kids, kites, cows and mountains.

Since our hosts own a dairy, we had to stop and visit the cows.  Then, a giant potluck dinner, with tons of salads, fruits and, of course, ham buns, ended a great Easter together.