Spring

The GI Joes can now move their combat operations outside.

The bunnies can eat fresh grass and frolic.

The trees are leafing.

And the children keep on growing up much too quickly.

The past several days have been filled with various children contracting a stomach flu/virus and the joy that illness of this type brings.

It is even more delightful when one has a home inspection during this time and the home needs to look "normal" or even "nice". "Normal" during the stomach flu does not pass muster when one's home needs to look like a million bucks so the bank will agree to refinance one's loan at a happier interest rate.

I can't imagine trying to sell one's home during a bout of stomach flu.
Oh my.

Congratulations Joe and Jenny!

Joe and Jenny welcomed their first child last night- a little boy weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 20 inches long. They haven't settled on a name yet- hopefully we'll hear about that soon.

Edited to add: the baby's name is Elias David :)

The Guest Room/Office

Before- getting ready to paint so things are just a little more messy than usual (sadly, just a little).

Paint samples on the wall.

And after. The wall color isn't showing up too well in this picture.

Hannah is looking forward to creating some art work for the walls in this room.

Hopefully, this will impress our appraisal inspector (for our re-fi) and make our home worth LOTS of money :).

Happy Birthday Jackson! And Cute Ethan pictures, too!

I love this picture!

Cute Ethan!

Braces!

Before

And after. Just on the top teeth. Full braces later on (sigh).

Here Comes the Snow!

My car got stuck just a few feet up the driveway. Brian had to snowblow to get the car out and into the garage. Schools and businesses sent people home early- I've never seen such big, wet snowflakes falling so quickly. We were soaked by the time we walked into the house (from the car stuck at the end of the driveway)!

Abby and I have been watching the Martha Stewart video on weddings (no, we're not planning a wedding for many years yet- we don't condone children marrying at 14 years of age...). We have only made it through a fraction of the video material, but it was fun to see the professional florists make beautiful arrangements for tables and bouquets.

Abby asked to try on my wedding dress (above) and this time when she put it on *it fit her*. She loves to hear how her Daddy sat with me on Sunday afternoons on the back porch and helped me bead all that lace. He didn't see the dress until the wedding day, but he sure did know all about the beads and sequins!

Of course since this is Martha Stewart, only the best and finest is featured. But I have been amazed at how much one could do themselves, based on watching the professionals show their skills. It encourages me that someday we might be able to give a nice wedding on a small budget.

Outside today the weather has been cold, windy, snowy and foggy (with some thunder thrown in for good measure). A big snow storm is supposedly going to be moving in tonight. I'm so glad because we really need the moisture.

And we have a very long video to watch if we get snowed in!

Easter Table Decorations

The children's table- the place where everyone wishes they could sit (at least at our house).

Hannah and Abby made paper boxes with their flowers on top for our names at the table.

Inside the boxes was a surprise- a marshmallow "peep".

The adult table.

20 of us all together. It was a lovely (and full) day. Foggy and snowy outside. Warm inside!

Tip of the Day

Make sure to remove the aluminum foil from the bottom of the oven (the stuff you put down to keep the oven floor clean) after your au gratin potatoes made for Easter dinner spill all over said oven floor.

Because it is possible that when your daughter sets the oven to "broil" the next day, that the entire inside of the oven could erupt in flames. Large bonfire-type flames. Grab the fire extinguisher quick-type flames.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Yet another skirt for Hope

I used some vintage fabric found on ebay a couple of years ago to sew up another summer skirt for Hope.

It seems like it would do well in the fiesta parades we used to go to while living in Santa Barbara.

Or perhaps it's a costume from "Dancing with the Stars". :)

Either way, Hope likes it. I'm a bit pessimistic about this vintage fabric holding up long enough to make it through the summer, however.

Since our yearly state mandated testing is coming up in a week, we have been busy with school and preparations for the exams.

We are also expecting (at least) eighteen for Easter dinner, so much washing and cleaning is going on at our house.

And we've had some snow lately. Winter finally decided to come in Spring. It was cold and windy this past weekend! How are you supposed to wear your Easter clothes when there is snow outside?? Last year we wore our snow pants and heavy winter coats to the sunrise service. Could be a repeat this year...

Skirt from Scraps #2

Another skirt from left over fabric- this time with a patriotic theme.

And the back

Hope's New Skirt

I started a skirt for Hope last night and finished it this morning. It is made up of bits of left over fabric from her new quilt (still in the process of being quilted), two previous Easter dresses, her pillowcase, and the green (which hasn't been used in any previous projects but I had it stored away).

The front

And the back

Hope likes it and I have less fabric scraps laying around!

When Hannah was a baby and we went to Arizona to visit Brian's folks, they brought out a box of old photographs for us to look at. I found a series of photos of young ladies having fun at what appeared to be a summer camp. I asked who they were and Brian's mom thought they might be of her mother-in-law, Brian's paternal grandmother, Charlotte (pictured above).

I loved these pictures so much that Brian's mom let me have them.

They are so different from the photos one usually sees of the past- of somber looking people in their best clothes.

Hannah and I estimate that these were taken around 1910, based on the style of clothing.

Don't these girls look like they are having fun?

I wish I could go back in time and see their adventures!

I wonder what became of these ladies. They most likely married within a few years of these photos and began their families.

Did they tell their children of their youthful adventures?

How I wish these pictures could tell *all* of the story!

Cute Boy Pictures

Ethan

Jackson and Ethan

Daddy and his boys

With Grandpa

A photo of our "Spring Tree". The poor thing doesn't photograph well, but in real life it is appreciated by the family :).

Around the House

Progress is being made on Hope's quilt. I wanted to do a little design in the center of each square and proceeded to try to do this on the machine- with not so good results. I asked Abby if she would mind hand quilting the designs during our group reading time and the darling child said she would! I'll still need to do something in the border area, but I'll think about that later (a la Scarlett O'Hara...).

Hope received a little paintable dog in Sunday School for six weeks of memory verses said. She loves memory verses so much, I don't think she is motivated by prizes. But she was quite proud of her painted pup!

Sunny Saturday afternoon working on more spring paper flowers. Hopefully I can post a picture of our newest project using these flowers soon- our Spring Tree.

And the boy burning twigs in the back yard. Paper flowers just aren't his thing.